Dare like eagles....

Dare like eagles....

The emblem of Umed MSRLM are the wings of a bird, rightfully depicting their take off to great heights.
Talking of birds , I find myself thinking of the different species, the chirpy parrots, the cute little mynaahs, the peaceful doves, the tiny sparrows but it was the eagle on which my mind rested ultimately.
Last month, my son and me had gone on a vacation to Chandigarh and visted the Kalesar national park at Yamuna Nagar in Haryana. We were the only people in the national park that afternoon.
Nestled in the Shivalik Hills the national park is beautiful with thick sal trees. The stillness of sound , coupled with a mild breeze was soothing. Monkeys and langoors jumping from tree to tree, peacocks dancing with gay abandon greeted us. Spotted dears flitted away on seeing us, nilgais posed beautifully for our camera. The twiterring sweet sounds of the birds floated through the air.
Our guide told us that elephants were often seen there in herds. However , Kalesar is a popular destination for bird-watching. It is home to the red jungle fowl and birds like the tree pie, horn bill, blue peafowl, drongo, partridges etc. Many threatened animals like the leopard, barking deer, sambar, chital, python, king cobra, are found there.
We were lucky to see many of these birds, a barking deer, spotted deer, sambars and nilgai. What fascinated us most were the variety of birds and the soaring eagles.
I remebered them today as I happened to attend a training session of SHGs at MSRLM. The speaker, our State Mission Manager, Mr. Ramdas spoke about eagles and why they were different from the other birds.
The eagles always soar high up in the sky undaunted by the rains. While the other birds search for shelter to avoid rains, the eagle cuts across the clouds and rain to overcome them. They fly into the storms purposely to gain strength. And however high they maybe, they never lose sight of the ground and their prey. Their vision is clear and steady spotting their prey from great heights. Unlike the vultures, they always eat fresh food and adapt innovative methods to catch their prey. They are ever ready to accept a challenge. Their nests are made of thorns to enable quick take off, of their young ones. They also move in groups. They do not trust blindly but do all tasks by themselves to ensure success. They symbolise strength and victory. No wonder they are the emblem of the military in Mexico, Austria and USA.
Their mythological counterpart is the Garud, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, symbolising capability and skill. Chanting of the Garuda Dandakam, composed by the revered Sri Vaisnava saint poet , Vedanta Desikan, improves concentration. My son often mesmerises me with the lyrical chant. Medieval Hindu kings used the Gandaberunda, the two headed garud, possessing inmense strength as their symbol. I remembered my university days of being a student of history when we learnt about the coins of this name by  Achyutdevaraya and other kings of the Vijayanagara Empire. 
These examples were given to bring home the fact that SHG women were similar and are no less than eagles waiting to take off in their lives on some enterprise.
Eagle's are large and powerful birds with strong wings to fly high up to an altitude of 10,000 feet. They also have the ability to land very swiftly on the ground. Their eyesight is excellent. They glide effortlessly in the air for hours.
Drawing an anomaly with the eagles, SHGs needed to take up new challenges, adopt innovative methods for their self development and growth of their enterprise.
Change was the need of the hour. Dinosaurs and eagles existed together but the dinosaurs became extinct and the eagles survived because they adapted to change. SHG women should also accept and adapt new changes and pave the way for their own growth. They needed to study the market, understand the needs of the customer and modify their products accordingly. Innovative methods of packing, branding and marketing needed to studied and understood. The dedication and devotion of an eagle and desire for perfection of the self, to achieve their own success could be emulated. Evidently their success was in their own hands.
Umed MSRLM was building their capacities and enabling them to stand on their own feet by taking up new enterprises. At times, it is extremely disheartening to see that the enterprises of women are looked upon as "paapad-pickle" enterprise and belittled. While decrying the fact that they have moved up and diversified to many more products including handlooms and handicraft, solar lamps, even brick making yet food products are an important sector. And why not? Is it possible for us to remain without food? Don't working women and other needy women and families require this support in the food sector? Aren't we all preferring organic food to whose production most women SHGs are contributing as women farmers under the Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana?
Someone no less than our Hon"ble Prime Minister conversed with these women to understand their development and growth. His appreciation and directions may have trigerred more interest of all stakeholders in the state and country and will show us new pathways to take women SHGs forward.
It was the own efforts of the SHG women as individuals and as a group which had helped them to achieve success and ultimately , their own efforts would take them to greater heights. And for this, they needed to be like eagles, willing to soar high, accepting new challenges, learning new things, gaining new confidence and reaching new horizons.....