The Sachiv
Shared his experience of working in another village and his approach to carrying out his responsibilities diligently. He explained the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), Panchayat meetings and Special Gram Sabhas — showing me that village governance involves many processes and opportunities for participation, and making me think about how these translate into action on the ground.
Sarpanch Mr. Chandravanshi
Brought my attention to a serious concern: substance abuse, particularly alcohol and weed — and that even students were being drawn into it. He viewed it as a community-level problem, He also mentioned that many initiatives took place to lessen the spread of substance abuse but all the effort eventually goes to drain.
Teachers
Expressed how painful it was to see their own students getting into substance abuse and waste their life. Substance abuse was not only an individual choice; it was affecting the people responsible for guiding the next generation. They highlighted a strong mechanism is needed to deal with substance abuse.
Villagers
Described that there are people who start their day with alcohol at 6 in the morning and end their day with alcohol, this made me question how substance use becomes normalised and continues across generations. No Surprise kids fall in this trap because they are ultimately following the path of their elders.
In the school
During my school visit, I asked the students what they thought was the most prevalent problem in their village. Their answer was substance use. What struck me was that even children as young as 10–12 years were aware of the issue. It made me realise how deeply nasha had become a part of the community's reality, reaching even the minds of children at such a young age.
In the community
The same concern — substance abuse — surfaced across generations, each seeing it through a different lens. For some elders, it had become so normalised that alcohol was woven into their everyday lives. What stayed with me was that even children as young as 10–12 could recognise it as a problem. It made me wonder whether the cycle could be broken by starting with the younger generation — not by expecting them to fix the problem, but by giving them the awareness, confidence, and space to imagine a different future.