I haven’t had a phone for the last three months. I know it sounds hard to believe, but that’sthe truth. I’ve been using my tablet for calling and for all my other work. In field conditions,carrying a tab everywhere is not easy at all, and when the Republic Day sale came, I finally decided that it was time to buy a new phone. That’s when I realized that the real struggledoesn’t start after buying something-it starts while choosing it.
There are so many options that instead of clarity, you only get confused. Somewhere in this process, I understood that nothing is perfect. You always have to compromise on a few things, and the real choice is deciding what you are willing to compromise on. Just like in the field, where you can never compromise on your values-community interest first, honesty with people, your work, and most importantly, your intentions-even if it costs you personally. For the phone, my priorities were clear: I needed good battery life and performance. I could compromise on the camera.Once the phone was selected, the next reality check was money. Honestly, I didn’t have enough. So I reached out to one of my school friends, Pulkit, and without any hesitation, sent me the money.
That instantly reminded me of fieldwork again. When projects face financial challenges, you don’t stop-you mobilize resources. Sometimes the support come from old friends of the community: different government departments, CSOs, or even community contributions. Help shows up when relationships are strong.
After I go the money, I saw an offer on Amazon-₹750 discount on an SBI credit card. I didn’t have one, but this time I remembered my elder sister, Palak didi. Just like family supports us in our personal lives, there are many government schemes that provide subsidies and support to communities. In that sense, the government is also a family of the community, when system work the way they should. Next came the delivery date. Amazon showed delivery by 25th January in Kanker, but I had to leave for a meeting on the 22nd. I called my college friend Ankit Swami and used His amazon Prime membership. The delivery shifted to 23rd January, which was still late. This reminded me of something we often ignore in the field-timelines. We focus so much activities that we forget how critical timelines are, and how ignoring them can cost an entireproject.Trying to manage this, I thought of a close friend in Raipur who could receive the phone.When Ankit checked again, it showed delivery in Raipur by 19th January. That moment made me realize how important connections are. You never know which connection will rescue you from a difficult situation, or when.
Some people might wonder that if I survived without a phone for three months, why not waitfor a few more days and order it once I returned to Kanker. But by the time I would have come back, the sale would be over, and with the global shortage of components, mobilephone prices are already on the higher side. Waiting had its own consequences.Just when everything seemed to be in place, one small mistake changed everything. Ankit accidentally ordered the phone to his address in Delhi. The order had to be cancelled and placed again for the Raipur address. It felt like another familiar field lesson-when multiple stakeholders are involved, every small detail matters. One small oversight can undo all theeffort. As I write this, I still don’t have the phone. But I’m surprisingly calm. I’ve done everything that was in my control. The rest is not. This reminded me of a shloka from the Bhagavad Gita,Chapter 18, Verse 14:अधि ष्ठानंतथा कर्ता करणं च पथृ ग्वि धम,्वि वि धाश्च पथृ क्चेष्टा दैवं चवै त्र पचं मम.्Every action involves five factors- the place of action, the doer, the instruments, the efforts,and the fifth, destiny.
The instruments and efforts are in our hands. The fifth is not. So why worry about that? The same applies to fieldwork. When you are working on the ground, you have different instruments, different people, and different constraints. Your job is to make the right efforts,align everyone and everything at the right place and the right time. That’s our responsibility,and that’s why we are here. Soon, I’ll know the result of my mobile phone project. For the field project, you’ll have to wait till April.Till then, bye bye-see you all soon.
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