MILKY WAY

“Everything is possible, especially the impossible” – Remo (song – Bombay City )

When I was a child, milk was sold in glass bottles. An aluminum card identified the number of bottles every family was eligible for. However, due to shortage of milk, only one bottle would be given at a time and one had to come back in the queue for another bottle. People would start queuing up at the milk booth, as early as 4 am in the morning, since the early ones improved their chances of getting more bottles… Some started “fixing” their position in the queue by marking their position with a stone; so that they could do other chores till the milk van came… others would throw way these stones and “usurp” a “better” position in the queue.

My childhood was full of incidents of “gentlemen” and “ladies” fighting out, every morning… over missing stones at the milk booth. During those days, if somebody were to say that it was possible to have as much milk as one required, he would be considered a fool or a madman. However, today India is a world leader in the production, distribution and consumption of milk. Today, milk is available in abundance and more importantly at any time of the day, anytime of the year. All this transformation was possible due to the vision of V J Kurien.

Kurien and his team have taught us a very important lesson: nothing is impossible if you are ready to explore new dimensions to what seems to be an unsolvable problem. It is said so well that answers are found in the questions themselves. Kurien identified that the shortage of milk was not in dearth of milk collection. The problem lay with the manipulative exploitation by the private traders and middlemen who controlled the marketing and distribution system. The alternative dimension was developed of milk co-operatives where the farmers were the sellers, with no middle men in between.

Thus the success story of the White Revolution in India was scripted.
The neighbours still fight, but not over milk!

Do not be overwhelmed by the hopeless situation,
Unravel the question to “develop new dimensions”!

Regards
Pravin