Professional Wisdom

After working hard in the farm, a peasant was resting, leaning at the bottom of a tall tree. His quietude was disturbed by the noise of a motorboke which stopped near the peasant.


A well dressed young man stood before him and said to him, "Are you the man working in this farm ?"

"Yes, I am working in this farm for a long time," replied the peasant.

"What manure do you apply to this tree ?"

"We normally apply cow dung and mulch."

"You are wrong. I am an agriculture consultant and I tell you if you apply nitrate, phosphate, urea and other such fertilisers, this tree will yield another twenty-five to fifty coconuts every month," advised the consultant.


The peasant on hearing this, looked up and down and said, "No, I am very sure, we will never get that."

"Why do you make such a strong negative statement ?", said the consultant.

The peasant replied sarcastically, "Because it is not a coconut tree."

[Read in the newsletter 'Data' of Palmyra Workers Development Society].

There are quite a few variants of this theme. Supposedly being a professional myself, I have to agree with the underlying message of this story. But, definitely professionals can add value working in villages or with rural communities. We can make a difference - if we spend some time learning which is coconut tree and which is not.

One thing is good. From the days of urban folk making fun of 'illiterate' villagers, we have come quite a long way where rural folk are making fun of the literate fools.