Swades: Training and Development Lessons Essay Example

on the surface, Mohan is troubled by memories of his childhood nanny, Kaveriamma (Kishori Balal), who still lives in India. Driven by these thoughts, he spontaneously decides to travel to India in search of Kaveriamma. His investigation leads him to a remote and isolated village called Charanpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Unlike his life in America with its modern amenities like clean water and electricity, Charanpur lacks these basic necessities. This stark contrast overwhelms Mohan as he struggles to adapt to his new environment.

Mohan is baffled by the local residents of Charanpur as their views, beliefs, and attitude contradict his own. Mohan's main objective is to bring Kaveriamma back to America, but he encounters an obstacle in the form of Geeta. Geeta has been taking care of Kaveriamma during Mohan's absence, and her unwillingness to part with the elderly woman, who is also like a mother to her, adds further complications. As a teacher at the local school, Geeta is a young and educated woman who proves to be a formidable opponent for Mohan. This becomes evident through their conversations. While Mohan criticizes the villagers' resistance to change and their passive approach towards their government's failures, Geeta questions Mohan's own contribution to society and India.

Kaveriamma is faced with a difficult decision that will inevitably hurt someone close to her. She decides to make her choice once Mohan completes a small task - collecting overdue rent from a poor farmer who leased land from Geeta. Surprisingly, this task leads to a complete change in Mohan's attitudes and views. He takes it upon himself to bring change to the people of Charanpur by providing electricity

through a simple act of powering a light bulb.

In the movie, there are four characters identified as trainers: Mohan, Geeta, Dadu, and Kaveri Amma. Each of these characters plays the role of a trainer in the movie. We analyzed the significance of training for each character:

• Mohan: Mohan's main objective in coming to India and involving himself in the village's affairs is to bring Kaveri Amma back with him to America.

He actively engaged in village activities, with the goal of boosting student enrollment and preventing the relocation of the village school. Geeta, on the other hand, possessed a deep passion for educating and teaching children within the village. This was her way of honoring her parents' dreams since they were the ones who established the school. She was resolute in her determination to improve conditions in rural India by any means necessary.

For this, she had come back from Delhi after graduating and has dedicated herself to teaching. Dadu: He was enthusiastic to teach and was fully involved in teaching the village children. He also had self-actualization motives as teaching was his passion and he loved to teach. He was also a person who was aware of his duties to his nation and was an activist by nature. Kaveri Amma: Kaveri Amma was keen on getting Mohan to stay in India. She also wanted to make him understand the significance of his country to himself.

Trainer Mohan played multiple roles in his venture of producing electricity – he acted as a facilitator, leader, organizer, and motivator. As a facilitator, he took the initiative and utilized his technical knowledge to generate electricity for the villagers. He served

as a leader by directing and unifying the people towards a common goal. Additionally, he organized the entire process by providing guidance to the village people and ensuring their collective efforts. Through understanding the needs of the villagers, he effectively motivated them and achieved his purpose.

On the other hand, Geeta primarily functions as an initiator and motivator. She is dedicated to teaching the children and actively advocates for their rights. Acting as an initiator, she takes the lead in initiating actions. Furthermore, she serves as a motivator by setting an example and demonstrating personal involvement.

Dadu provides silent support to Geeta and serves as a motivator, while also being a pillar to the school through his personal involvement in teaching. He employs resilient techniques and tries to convince those around him. On the other hand, Kaveri Amma's role is based on individual interactions. She acts as a facilitator, exemplified by her sending Mohan to collect rent from the farmer who resides on Geeta's land.

Based on the analysis of the movie, the characters of the movie and their various interactions, we have identified the skills and traits of the trainers. The scene-by-scene analysis of the film is attached as an annexure. Mohan possesses knowledge, communication skills, negotiation skills, self-awareness, teamwork abilities, leadership qualities, sensitivity, consideration, result-oriented mindset, and motivational skills. Geeta is straightforward, responsible, disciplined, idealistic, dedicated, persevering, insecure, headstrong, and arrogant. Dadu is respected, humorous, endearing and draws strength from beliefs. Dadu also has a love for teaching and emotional awareness. Kaveri Amma is sensitive and considerate, understands people well, has persuasive skills in conveying messages that are hard to refuse and takes responsibility. The

trainees benefit from training objectives for several reasons including reducing anxiety related to the unknown, focusing attention, and increasing the likelihood of successful training.

Uncertainty about expectations in a specific situation can lead to high levels of anxiety, which negatively impacts learning. However, training objectives can alleviate this anxiety by providing a clear understanding of the activities and events that will occur during the training period. In the movie Swades, various trainees exhibit unique qualities. A closer examination of each trainee reveals that Mohan stands out due to his strong sense of responsibility. He not only fulfills his job duties but also takes on the responsibility of caring for Kaveri amma.

During his stay in the village, he maintained constant communication with his office. He kept his superiors informed and continued working from his caravan. His decision-making skills were evident as he carefully analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of any action, refusing to blindly trust others. This was seen when Geeta and Kaveri amma tried to convince him to stay in India, but he didn't immediately accept their arguments. Instead, he carefully considered everything in his own mind before making a decision. He was receptive to the ideas of others, as shown when he patiently listened to the ideas and arguments presented by both amma and Geeta. He also accepted counterarguments from the villagers regarding India's growth and the merits of Western people. Despite expressing his own ideas and thoughts, he remained open to new ideas from others.

The Post Master is a graduate who has a strong desire to continue learning. In the movie, he admires Mohan for his knowledge of upcoming trends like e-mail and the

internet. The Post Master is also receptive to new ideas, particularly when Mohan explains the benefits of more students attending school. He is portrayed as an enthusiastic individual, always eager to try new things and embrace new concepts. Additionally, he is open to change and supports Mohan's ideas that lead to progress and development. Melaram, on the other hand, actively seeks opportunities for personal growth. He sees Mohan's visit to the village as a chance to improve his life by partnering with him to open a restaurant abroad.

• The Panch Head (Panch 1) is both supportive and enthusiastic about Mohan and his objectives throughout the movie. Despite resistance from others in the village, the Panch Head remains supportive due to prior experience and faith in Mohan.
• It is evident through different scenes in the movie that the Panch Head has complete trust in Mohan and his ideas for village development.

•The protagonist of the movie, being one of the most responsible individuals, actively seeks opportunities that would benefit everyone. This includes ideas such as improving the high school system and generating electricity for the community. These initiatives aim to address various problems and promote overall development.
•Regarding his attitude towards change, this trainee displayed resilience and a closed mindset. He was content with his current situation and resistant to embracing new ideas or transformations.
•Moreover, he demonstrated unsupportive behavior by attempting to undermine the confidence of other trainees in the trainer. He conveyed his skepticism that the objectives could not be achieved.
•Furthermore, he held a conservative approach, strongly adhering to traditional customs and beliefs, particularly those related to the caste system.

Challenging the tradition was

not his preference, depicting his closed mindset of being resistant to new ideas. The children demonstrated their enthusiasm for learning and were being prepared for a better life. They also displayed curiosity about the new stranger in the village, his ideas, and his vehicle. The villagers showed support for the changes Mohan wanted to bring after realizing the benefits it would bring them. Lastly, the villagers had faith in the trainer.

Despite their lack of education, the villagers backed the trainer's requirements without completely understanding them. They aimed to grasp the benefits of the suggested change before embracing it. At first, they resisted sending their children to school but later desired education for them upon realizing its advantages. The trainers utilized diverse strategies when dealing with trainees in different circumstances.

Since the trainers in the movie lack expertise in training people, they have relied more on emotional connections when handling trainees. The ways in which different trainees were handled are discussed below:

• Mohan
• Kaveri amma employed an indirect approach to help him better understand the true picture of India.
• Kaveri amma utilized her personal connection and emotional attachment to convince him to stay in India.
• Geeta
• Geeta used a box that symbolized Indian culture to make him realize what he would miss if he went abroad.
• Post Master
• Mohan used a method of involvement to increase motivation from the post master's side.

It is beneficial to understand the trainee beforehand in order to tailor the training approach. The trainer found it relatively easy to handle Panch Head as he had faith in them and was motivated to achieve the objectives set by Mohan. Panch Head was an enthusiastic learner, as he recognized the advantages of generating electricity for the entire village. On the other hand, Panch 2 had a negative mindset and was resistant to any changes in the village. Training Panch 2 proved to be challenging, as he would only accept new ideas once they were implemented and shown to benefit the people.

Children Mohan uses singing songs as a way to train and open children to new ideas due to their young age and the interest they have in learning through music. Dadaji teaches children based on his personal experiences, helping to train them. Mohan allows curious children inside the caravan to expose them to new things and luxurious lifestyles they may have never seen before. Classroom teaching also prepares children to face future challenges and competition, fostering their independence and development. Potter Mohan empathizes with potters, highlighting the benefits of education and protecting them from potential deception by city dwellers.

Through this connection, he was able to help the potter understand his point more effectively. Various types of training methods were used by the trainers. Mohan utilized straight lectures to convince people from different castes, as well as the panchs, about the importance of education and the need to

eliminate traditional beliefs and practices. Additionally, he provided on-the-job training to the villagers in the process of generating electricity, utilizing their skills and resources to make them self-sustainable. Geeta used straight lectures to teach children at school, while Dadaji employed the same method for teaching children as well. Kavari amma, on the other hand, used on-the-job training to make Mohan realize his responsibilities by allowing him to experience problems and hardships first-hand.

The text discusses the impact of training on various individuals in different aspects of life. The protagonist, Mohan, is compelled by someone, possibly a woman, to experience the depth of life's miseries by entering the water. The effects of training on different groups are highlighted:
- Mohan realizes his responsibility towards his country and its people.
- Children, after receiving training, show eagerness to learn and strive for a better life.
- Low caste individuals are persuaded to send their people to school in order to improve their living standards.
- High caste individuals are convinced to eradicate caste discrepancies and embrace equality among all human beings.
- Panch1 realizes the importance of equality between genders and allows his granddaughters to pursue education for their self-sustenance.
- Panch2 acknowledges the wrongdoing of accepting old practices that divide the country and offers his assistance in bringing about change.
- Villagers learn self-sustainability methods, such as generating their own electricity, instead of relying on others.
- Melaram recognizes the need for his contribution to his country and lets go of his dream of moving to America.
- The postmaster aspires to follow in Mohan's footsteps, working towards improving the village by providing necessary amenities.

The story

takes place in modern-day India and addresses the issues faced by its citizens at a grassroots level.The film juxtaposes the advanced NASA world in the USA with the vibrant villages of underdeveloped India. Unfortunately, while the world advances towards space exploration, Indian villages still suffer from a lack of electricity, caste discrimination, degraded ethics, and inadequate necessities. Swades sheds light on an unfamiliar side of India that many are reluctant to acknowledge. This is an India that surrounds us but differs greatly from our own reality - one that we cannot ignore.

The presence of poverty-stricken children begging outside our car windows makes us uncomfortable, and we wish they would go away. This image represents the India that exists amidst the growing high-rises and shopping malls, making us wonder if we can eliminate these eyesores. This version of India is encountered occasionally during trips to our ancestral hometowns, where we notice that time has seemingly stood still. Swades, a movie about rural India, highlights how the problems of urban slums cannot be ignored. It also addresses the challenges that India has faced post-Independence, such as poverty, overpopulation, illiteracy, malnutrition, and darkness still persisting in various parts of the country. The film advocates for a hands-on approach to "Development," encourages people to take "Responsibility," and highlights the potential for individual empowerment. It conveys a message not only to non-resident Indians to return home and contribute towards making a difference but also emphasizes how one determined person can bring about change in a community.

India needs a bottom-level revolution, with a million Mohan’s instead of just one. The movie reflects a disconnected part of India, prompting us to consider

how we can individually make a difference. It inspires us to sincerely work towards improving public policy and envisioning a better future for India, creating a better tomorrow for all. Rather than settling for a superficial democracy, it urges us to contribute to the ambitious goal of establishing a true democracy in India. This is a rallying cry for all of us to drive change.

It's about improving life and the choices we make. Many problems are faced by all of us, but no one takes initiative to solve them. We readily accept wrong actions and rely on others to fix the system. We all wait for someone else to act, but no one steps up to take responsibility.

India is lacking in vision, will, and coordination. There is a general acceptance among the people that things will remain as they are. Although the British left over fifty years ago, many parts of India still have a mindset of subjugation, some due to circumstances and some due to ignorance. It is within each of us to bring about a transformation that can impact the lives of a thousand.

The transformation needed is not a sudden and drastic one, but a gradual and organic process. It requires numerous small revolutions occurring everywhere. The film "Swades" serves as a reminder that while one part of India progresses, there remains another part that lags far behind. It is important to recognize that both parts occupy the same land, and one cannot advance too far without addressing the needs of the other. Solutions to the issues faced by the underdeveloped India do exist, but we must be willing to let go of

outdated mindsets in order to implement them.

This movie promotes the triumph of the individual spirit. It revolves around the concept of "lighting a bulb", symbolizing an individual's personal beliefs conflicting with a hypocritical society's blend of traditions and culture. It tells the story of a person who aspires to transform the lives of those who resist change. The movie follows the journey of an indifferent and cynical individual who eventually rejects the status quo and becomes a voice for the people, challenging societal norms. It serves as a cathartic exploration of the fundamental emotions anyone experiences when confronted with the need for change.

It is about life. It is about a billion others who wait for Mohans to change India. The movie is a slice of life, providing motivation and emphasizing the need for a complete change in perspective to bring about systemic change in organizations and nations. This is crucial in training, as demonstrated in the movie where trainers handle the training process in various ways to meet the needs of individuals being trained.

Highlighting the trainer's self involvement and optimal use of available resources, the training mostly involved on-the-job training utilizing the skill sets of the trainees.