Swades Report

8/8/2019 Swades Report

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Introduction

Swades is inspired by the story of Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi the NRI couple who

returned to India and developed the pedal power generator to light remote, off-the-grid village

schools. Ashutosh Gowariker is believed to have read Rajni Bakshis book Bapu Kuti, through which

he got to know about Aravinda and Ravi, and the Bilgaon project. The idea of lighting a village

appealed to him. After spending considerable time with Aravinda and Ravi, both

dedicated Association for India's Development (AID) volunteers, Gowarikar supposedly visited

Bilgaon, an adivasi village in the Narmada valley, which is the back drop of the Narmada Bachao

Andolan (NBA) movement. The people of Bilgaon are credited with doing 2000 person-days of

shramdaan to make their village energy self-sufficient. The Bilgaon project is recognized as a model

for replication by the GovernSment of Maharashtra.


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Movie Summary

Swades is not just a movie, it is a re alization.

Mohan Bhargava, an NRI working at NASA, returns to India to bring Kaveri Amma, his nanny, to the

USso shecan s

end her remaining life in comfort and luxuryIn India, he finds her in a remote

villagecalled Charanpur whereshe now lives with a young woman named Geeta, who runs the local

villageschool and was once Mohan'schildhood

friend.

During the next few days Mohan adapts himself to

life in thevillage and befriends its inhabitants- an

elderlyex-freedom fighter who teaches history at

theschool, thevillage postmaster who wants to

know about 'e-mails', and a cook who harbors

ambitions of opening adhaba

in the US.

Kaveri Amma is undecided on going to live in the US. In anycase, shecannot leave till Geeta is

married and settled, which seems unlikely to happen soon. Geeta is busy trying to stop the

local Panchayat from shifting theschool, which suffers from low attendance, to smaller and far-away

premises.

Mohan admires Geeta's determination and efforts for theschool and decides to help out. This is

difficult since thevillagers are unconvinced of the benefits ofeducation, and the problem is

compounded by issues likediscrimination and child marriage that are rampant in thevillage. Mohan

argues against thevillagers' mindsets and manages to change their perspectiveenough for them to

start sending their children to school. Theschool retains its premises and iseventuallyexpanded to

includestudents irrespective ofcaste or gender.

Meanwhile, in spite of having many arguments with

the headstrong Geeta over various other issues

where they do not sharesimilar opinions, Mohan

starts developing a liking for her. He isvisibly

pleased when she turns down a marriage proposal

(because the groom's family will not let her work

after marriage . Geeta, however, resents Mohan

having come back to India, though sheseems to like

him on a personal level. She believes he wants to

take Kaveri Amma to the US to work for him and do

hischores, though she later confesses that, having lost both her parents (like Mohan), she does not

want to be left alone.


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Kaveri Amma, who has made her decision, tries to

find a way to get Mohan himself to stay in India.

She sends him to another village to collect dues

from Haridas, a farmer who had taken land on

rent from Geeta. On the trip, Mohan is confronted

by the extreme poverty that most people in Indialive in. Haridas, a former weaver, was left

impoverished after the villagers refused to

support him in his change of profession. He now

has no money to feed his family, let alone pay

rent. Mohan returns to Charanpur, deeply disturbed and decides to become more involved in the

matters of the village.

The village lacks a continuous supply of

electricity. The villagers are content in blaming

the government, but Mohan attacks their

apathy. He convinces them to takeresponsibility for their own problems and

marshals a group of hundred men. Under his

guidance, they build a small hydro-power

plant that uses water from

a perennial spring on a nearby hill to generate

electricity, thereby making the village self-

sufficient.

Back at NASA, his ongoing project is entering its final stages and Mohan, being the project-manager,

cannot afford to delay his return. Kaveri Amma is happy with friends and life in Charanpur and fears

not being able to adapt to an alien culture. Geeta is unwilling to settle in the US as she wants tocontinue working in the village. She rejects Mohan's proposal of marriage and he returns alone.

At NASA, he takes over his project and proudly sees it to completion. Nevertheless, he cannot seem

to forget his stay in India, and memories of his visit keep coming back to him. He believes he can use

his knowledge to help improve the quality of life of people back in India and decides to return. He

resigns from his job at NASA, and when his boss remarks that he could have gone places, Mohan

replies that he is going places.


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What is Change Management?

Change is a concept that runs through all businesses regardless ofsize, industry and age. Along with

this rapidlychanging world, organizations must change quickly too.

Change Management is the process of developing a planned approach to change in an

organization. Typically the objective is to maximize thecollective benefits for all people involved in

the change and minimize the risk of failure of implementing the change. The organizations that

handlechange well thrive, whereas those that do not struggle to survive.

The concept of "change Management" is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how

businesses managechange (and how successful they are at it) variesenormously depending on the

nature of the business, thechange and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how

far people within it understand thechange process.

The process of Change Management requires both an individual and an organizational perspective.

y Individual Change Management: It deals with understanding of how one person

makes a changesuccessfully. Thesuccess of a project depends upon theemployees involved

in that project. Its not the organization that changes rather it is the individual who changes.

y Organizational Change Management: It deals with understanding of what tools we

haveso to help so as to makechangessuccessfully.


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Different individuals react differently to change with varying degrees of acceptance:

y Some thrive on and actively seek change

y Some simply accept change

y Some resist change

Individuals that resist change have usually developed a psychological barrier to change causing themto go through a reaction cycle which affects their productivity negatively.

Organizational changes effected through individual changes in key members

Change is a multistage cycle and all stages must be planned and negotiated. Management of change

is not necessarily only rational management but also emotional management of people

Resist

nce toCh

n

e

Resistance to change is defined as an inability, or an unwillingness, to discuss or to accept

organisational changes that are perceived in some way damaging or threatening to theindividual or

the organisation.

1. I v r t c y Habit

y Security

y Economic factors

y Fear of the unknown

y Selective information processing

2. Org t o r t c y Structural inertia

y Limited focus of change

y Group inertia

y Threat to expertise

y Threat to established power relationships

y Threat to established resource allocations

3. Ov rco ! " # g r $ " $ t% # c to ch % # g y Education and communication

y Participation

y Facilitation and support

y Negotiation

y Manipulation and cooptation

y Coercion


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The Change Management Process

Habits are a normal part ofevery persons lives, but it is often counterproductive when dealing with

change. As humans we are not very good at changing. We see changes as a negative thing,

something that creates instability and insecurity. A normal change management process oftenevolves through number of mental phases

(

1. DenialWhere we fight thechange and protect status quo.

2. Frustration and anger When we realize that we cannot avoid the change and we

become insecure because of lack of awareness.

3. Negotiation and bargaining Where we try to save what wecan.

4. DepressionWhen we realize that none of the old wayscan be incorporated into the new.

5. AcceptanceWhen we accept thechange, and start to mentally prepare ourselves.

6. Experimentation Where we try to find new ways, and gradually remove the old barriers.

7. Discovery and Delight When we realize that the change will improve our future

possibilities.

8. IntegrationWhere we implement thechange.


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and they also hav to play an important part in bringing about the changes and not

depend on the govt only.

He here fights the change and protects the status quo. At the same time hefeels angry and frustrated about not able to do much about the situation.

Scene 4: Mohan is sent to collect rent from a poor farmer deliberately by Kaveriamma. He is

taken aback by his helplessness and inability in feeding his family. On his return he saw a

child selling water for meager 25p.

Observation: Mohan feels the urgency of the change required. He speaks about that

in his conversation with kaveriamma.

This represents his stage of Depression. He then accepts and mentally prepares

himself for the change.

Scene 5: Mohan discuss the status of India as compared to America with villagers. He pin

points the regions requiring immediate attention and the need to change each other at

individual level.

He starts to experiment different ways in removing the old barriers.

Scene 6: Mohan interrupts the villagers during their celebration of Dushehra to bring to

their notice that something needs to be done and takes the lead to improve the conditions

with the help of villagers.

He takes the initiative to lead a team to build an internal source of energy which will

drastically change the future of the village.

Scene 7: Mohan is reminded by one of his colleagues back at NASA to return to his duty. He

asks for the extension and even briefs him about his on going project.

He feel delight in what he is doing and enthusiastic implements the change.


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ADKAR Model

The ADKAR change model was first published by Prosci in 1998. Prosci is the recognized leader in

business process design and change management research, and is the world's largest provider of

change management and reengineering toolkits and benchmarking information.

ADKAR model is based on 2 basic ideas1

y It is people who change, not organizations.

y Successful change occurs when individual change matches the stages of organizational

change.

It has fiveelements that define the basic building blocks for successful change 2

1.Aw

arenessof the need for change2. Desire to make thechange happen

3. Knowledge about how to change

4. Abilit3

to implement new skills and behaviors

5. Reinfor4ement to retain thechange once it has been

made

This model also helps to identify gaps in the change

management process and to provide effective coaching for

theemployees. The ADKAR model can be used to:

y diagnoseemployee resistance to change

y help employees transition through the change

process

y create a successful action plan for personal and

professional advancement during change

y develop a change management plan for your employees

The ADKAR model has the ability to identify why changes are not working and help in taking

necessary steps to make the change successful. It enables breaking down the change into parts,

understand where thechange is failing and addressing of that impact point.

The power of the ADKAR model is that it creates focus on the first element that is the root cause of

failure. It immediately helps in identifying where the process is breaking down and which elements

are being overlooked. This results-oriented approach helps focus energy on the area that will

produce the highest probability for success.


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By its nature, ADKAR is an individual change management model. It represents the essential

elements of change for a single person. When a group of individuals experience change, ADKAR can

be used:

y As a coaching tool to support individuals through the change process.

y To guide change management activities like communications. sponsorship, coaching and

training

y To diagnose a struggling change by performing an ADKAR assessment.


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Appli ati n f ADKAR el t the

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Awareness:

At various instances Mohan makes the villagers aware about the problems surrounding them such as

illiteracy, caste discrimination, absence of various basic facilities, etc.

He makes Nivaran Dayal (the postman), and many more aware about the importance of education in

the life of the children and even makes Sarpach aware about the fact that girls education is of equal

importance. During another discussion with the villagers held before the celebrations of Dushehra,

he quotes a point by saying India is not a great nation, but it has the capability to become one.

Desire:

Various villagers show desire towards sending their

children to the school, but gives Mohan reasons school,

but he tells Mohan about the caste discrimination being

followed inside the village, thus preventing him to do any

such things.

Also Nivaran Dayal and Hari Das not only get ready to

send their children to school but also actively helps

Mohan in extending the message related to importance

of education.

Knowledge:

The various methodologies and the kind of approach adopted by Mohan to persuade villagers to

send their children to school showed the presence of right knowledge required to bring about the

change. For e.g. while interacting with the postman of the village, he related importance of

education to the postman himself.


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Also during movie screening he passes the message of Importance of Unity by showing how different

stars can be joined together to get any

shape.

Toh samajhne ki baat yeh hai ki, agar hum

in taaron ko milla kar ke dekhein toh kuch

bhi bana sakte hain, lekin inhe alag alag

dekhein toh sundar hain par sirf tim-timate

taare hain.

Also Mohan had proper knowledge and skill

set to put up a project in the village so as to

counter the problem of electricity.

Ability to Implement the Change:

Mohan had the ability to bring about the change in the thinking of the villagers. He made them

aware about the importance of education which eventually led to an increase in number of students

enrolled for school. Also various villagers were keen to bring about the change in the village but just

needed an initial spark. Gita had been working hard to bring up the education level in the village by

teaching in the school. Also Nivaran Dayal and Hari Das extended their support to help Mohan.

Mohan knew how to go about the electricity project, the requirement and importance of

involvement of the villagers in the project, and hence was successful in bringing about the change in

their thinking.

Reinforcement to keep the change:

Gita argued for the importance of a high school in the village, as she knew education only till class IV

is of not much importance, and also with the high school coming up, more people will send their

children to school.


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At the end Nivaran Dayal

tells Mohan that by the time

he comes back hell see the

facility of e-mail being

started in the village, and

about much other suchadvancement. Also Hari Das

refuses to go to America with

Mohan, as he realizes that

bringing about the change in

his own village is of utmost importance to him.

Swades Report

Documents

Transcript of Swades Report