The drive to change!
It is highly unlikely that you would have ever heard of this tiny village in Tamil Nadu on the border of Karnataka – Noorundumalai and even more unlikely about a transformational man there – Nagabhushana.
Well, this tribal village should be known to all of us as it is the first alcohol and tobacco free village of India and the man responsible for this is Nagabhushana. And this is not something which happened now or even last year – it has been alcohol and tobacco free since 202 and in fact there are no shops in this village which sell liquor and cigarettes.
Armed with a Masters in Social Work, when Nagabhushana came back to his village, he saw that alcoholism was the root cause of all sufferings and decided to root out this evil from the village. He began the process by holding informal talks with villagers, then started teaching in the village school and soon, slowly started winning the trust and respect of villagers. It took him 20 years but he eventualy got there where he could motivate the entire village to give up liquor. But after giving up alcohol, Nagabhushana knew that to sustain this, he needed employment opportunities. Thus started Namanam, a de-addiction and rehab center near his village. Here, apart from helping people get our these addictions, he started cultivating employment using local farm products. The individuals who sought rehab were given jobs at the factory. They soon had an engaging time that would make their rehab route fast and fulfilling. In the last ten years, over 1,000 youngsters have found a new direction for their lives through Namanam.
And Nagabhushana did all this while working full-time in Bangalore. He needed the job to earn the money to plough it back for the development of his village and Namanam. He currently works as the Deputy General Manager of HR at Robert Bosch, Bangalore and drives down to his village, some 100 kms away, every Saturday morning. He comes back Sunday night while his entire family – mother, brother and others manage through the week. Now this is what we call the zeal and drive to bring about a change!