The Last Village or The First Village!

The Last Village or The First Village!

This year's Republic Day was special for me. I was at the last village ‘Kibithu’, on the Indo-China border. With local villagers, Indo-Tibetan Border Security Force, and Indian Army.  I participated in a joint flag-hoisting and cultural program organized at Kibithu. In the evening, we visited Wacha Post, the last military post on the McMahon Line of the India-China border. In China, across the border, we could see village houses, developing roads, and mobile towers. During this trip, we met with government officials, security forces officials, NGO workers, members of women's self-help groups, school teachers, medical staff, and villagers from nearby villages and settlements along the border, and learned about their culture and different challenges. The purpose of the trip was to understand the ‘Vibrant Village’ Scheme and explore opportunities to participate in it.

The Vibrant Village Programme is an important and priority project of the Government of India. The program plans for the holistic development of villages in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh on the northern border of India along China. The scheme focuses on the speedy construction of essential facilities like roads, electricity, telecommunication systems, education, health and provision of livelihood tools to stop the migration of villagers from border villages.

Last week at the India Today Conclave, while presenting the topic 'India Moment', the Honourable Prime Minister informed about the Vibrant Village Programme. He said, “Now there is Vibrant Village Programme. For decades, our border villages were considered the last villages. We gave them the confidence of turning those into the first villages of the country. We prioritized development there. Today government officials and ministers are visiting these villages, meeting the people there and spending a considerable amount of time there.”

A village on the border is called the Last village or the First village.

Does it really matter?

Kibithu and Kaho are the last settlements along the Indian side near the China border in the Walong area of the Anjav district of Arunachal Pradesh. If we go back to at the time of the 1962 invasion, these are the first villages to stand against the Chinese invasion. As they first took the waves of Chinese military aggregation, it is right to call these villages the first village. When a village is said to be the Last Village, in the structure, the Ganga of development reaches there last. A country's defence priorities may change; if we want to strengthen the faith of the border citizens towards the country, these villages have to be rightly called the First villages as they are gatekeepers.

Whenever we change the phrasing,

like 'Last village - First village,'

we see the same thing from a different point of view,

from a different perspective.

Thus, the goal is seen anew.

The last step to be crossed by gentleman cadets during the passing out parade at the Indian Military Academy, National Defense Academy, etc. is called 'Antim Pag-Last Step.' A few years ago, 'Antim Pag-Last Step' was changed to 'Pehla Kadam-First Step.'  

‘Antim Pag-Last Step’ indicates completion of training, but training is the first stage i.e., starting point in services. The real work is to be done after joining the service. Considering that training is the beginning of service, ‘Pehla Kadam’ represents a journey towards a greater goal and evokes the sense of ‘kam abhi baki hain.’

The Farewell observance in school-college, at jobs!

Why should we coin the event as the farewell ceremony..

indicating the end of relations 

instead we can greet the person for his future 

& can call the observance a Goodluck greeting ceremony.

Farewell ceremony or Goodluck greeting ceremony!

Prime Minister (Pradhan Mantri) or Chief Servant (Pradhan Sevak)?

The India-China war, ‘A story of defeat’ or ‘A story of valour’?

Day of the battle of Panipat, the ‘Day of defeat’ or “Day of bravery’?

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj murdered (hatya) Afzal Khan or strategically eliminated (wadh) Afzal Khan?

Did Vasco da Gama discover India, or did he merely reach its shores?

1857 Sepoy mutiny or 1857 Revolt or Indian rebellion

or First war of independence?

Organization of words and selecting the proper scheme of words

can change the purpose and narrative,

thereby affecting the resulting outcomes.

The values and Attitude of a person are shaped by the stories he hears,

& Conscious of Society is moulded

by how the stories are narrated.

While listening to the story of Jungle, it is important who is narrating the story,

Animals of the Jungle or the King of Jungle or hunter in the Jungle!

That why

When it comes to our cultural heritage,

how should we present Bharat i.e. India?

more precisely Bhartiya Culture

not only to the world

but most importantly to our own people is important?

&

This is the Question that should be answered by us, as Bhartiya.

Prashant Divekar

Jnana Prabodhini, Pune