Thursday 25th September 2008, 02:27Celebrating Vishwakarma DivasCelebrating Vishwakarma Divas
Last week I had the honour of speaking at the Global Skills Conference in Delhi called “Celebrating Vishwakarma Divas
When I had the chance to look this up on Google I discovered that the 17th of September is the celebration of Lord Vishwakarma Diva who is the god of electricians, carpenters, plumbers, builders, metal workers etc. This day in India is recognised as National Labour Day. One this day the craftsman of India, clean their workshops, they decorate their vans and wear their smartest overalls to celebrate Lord Vishwakarma Diva and their skills and craftsmanship. Wow how great is that? I wish we had a day like that in the UK.
The event was very high profile; the Minister Oscar Fernandes opened the conference to a packed hall with an overflow watching on a web cast screen. International speakers from around the world gathered to share and learn from each other about how the skills agenda was being tackled on a global basis.
Australia’s Government was the partner country for the conference and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had organised the whole event under the watchful eye of I S Gahlaut and the amazing energy and passion of Pooja Gianchandani.
I had been asked to speak and chair the first session of the conference after the Minister had set the scene. In preparation I sat and pondered, I read up on all the technical stuff, OECD papers, Venice Agreement, Lisbon Strategy, I asked Mark to send me his latest ideas and innovations on skills development, our skills team sent me their ideas and targets, I scoured the web and libraries. And then I sat and pondered some more.
Eventually it came to me. My Grand Dad was a plumber – no qualifications, he was just the person everybody turned to when the tap leaked, the gutter rotted and the drains backed up. And I told them about my Dad, he wasn’t just a plumber, my Dad was a master plumber, time served, the best sweated joints in Liverpool. And I told them about my big brother, he is not just a plumber, time served, but he has studied and become a heating and ventilation engineer (and a multi millionaire as all plumbers are these days). I had family photos of all of them, including me with my Dad at the age of 4 in a very cute pair of shorts. My skills lay elsewhere and my Dad and brother politely told me my career would most probably take me away from working with tools (I was a local disaster with pipes and drains and water).
I got the chance to celebrate my Vishwakarma Diva and my Dad would have been proud to hear me recall his skills and craftsmanship and also his humour. A true story – the phone rang one night at approx 10pm, my Dad answered it to our family doctor who explained that all his toilets were blocked at home and it was making life miserable. My Dad recommended he put two Aspirin down the loo and if it was not better tomorrow to give him a call the next day – then put the phone down before putting his coat on and going round to the doctor and unblocking the blocked.
The skills agenda in India is one of mammoth proportions and we are so excited to have been called upon to support the efforts. We need to engage the unrecognised sector, the rural communities, to drive large programmes, with recognisable qualifications, to offer quality and work in partnership with all the local providers.
This is a mindboggling opportunity to be a part of something very significant in a wonderful country. And no update on India can be complete without applauding Sidharth for his unswerving leadership and passion. Thank you Sidharth for the opportunity to work with you on this very special skills mission.
Thanks roy
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