Pravasi Bharatiya Samman: Meet the winners

New York and Philippines-based Dr Pratima Kale, 67, is President and CEO of the American non-governmental organisation, the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). She is, however, adored the world over because of her concern for "the poorest of the poor." Although she migrated in 1963, she became a US citizen in October 2005. She is a no-nonsense, simple and truly a citizen of the world.

She feels 'Indian' and doesn't have an identity crisis because she has identified with her work so much that people know her through her work. IIRR is an American non-profit, non-government research and training organisation working to improve the quality of life of the rural poor in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America through rural reconstruction.

Kale's forte lies in her ability to understand well the complexities of problems arising out of poverty, illiteracy, disease and a lack of civil structures in various societies around the world. She has, for over four decades, striven hard to attain concrete results with the help of education, livelihood, health and self-governance.

She migrated to the US in 1963 when her husband Pramod got a Fulbright scholarship. Their baby was 2 years old, but both preferred to study. Kale got her doctorate in sociology, returned to India in 1971 and worked for the Ford Foundation. In the next four years, she travelled across India and founded her network with Indian NGOs. After 1975, she has been constantly on the move, to African jungles and along Asian rivers, and has even reached villages in the mountains of South East Asia to reach out to the poor. At one point, she worked for the Save the Child organisation in America, which had country programmes for South Korea, Malaysia and Bangladesh. In the 70s, she started more such programmes in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. She then joined UNICEF and worked there for 14 years. She was Country Head at the Philippines, regional director of UNICEF Asia region and advisor to the Executive Director. This is what she had to say about herself and her feelings on receiving the award:

"I feel honoured. It has come as a total surprise. I don't have the network to lobby for such an award. I have been involved in rural development for the past 35 to 40 years, not in India but abroad. After coming here, I have got some idea of issues concerning the Indian diaspora for the first time. Right now, what is coming out is a bunch of ideas, issues and concerns on paper. It is a challenge for the Overseas Ministry, organisers and maybe the Ministry of External Affairs to help Indians abroad."

"I am passionately interested in education for all, but particularly for women. I feel they should have the option to work. Women should become independent as much as they can while being together with their families. I have managed to do both. I generally feel pretty good about what I want to do."

On the issue of the identity of American Indians, she says, "I don't have any message for them because I don't have enough knowledge. I don't have a recipe for anyone. Each one has to find his or her own identity. They have to find the work they like, find the opportunities and set up family support. It is an individual struggle."

And despite her age, she is still looking for new ideas and opportunities. She is still on the move because, as she says, "I like what I do."

She doesn't subscribe to the concept of Eastern or Western values in bringing up children. "Each person is a combination. A very complex being. How can you put a certain proportion of Eastern values and a certain amount of Western values and think a nice package will emerge? I feel this way so I have no expectations. As a grandmother, I am fine as long as the children are happy and doing things they want to do."

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