Why I join the band wagon?

Yesterday Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee along with Micheal Kremer had won the Nobel Prize for Economics - ironically with the aid of Poor Economics!

I see the entire development community trying to post their alliance with the Nobel Laureates on social media, and I, unlike what I usually do, have joined the band in posting my alliance to them. Opportunist, yes. But I am seriously proud to be associated with the growing tribe of development professionals who are committed in tackling the global poverty in their own stride.  

On a very personal level, I am re-ensured that the decision I made 9 years ago, based on pure instinct is not in vain. I am in a sector with no godparents, no one to guide. All decisions were gut instincts and I knew deep inside if I didn't want to do something, or if I was inclined towards something. Choosing and leaving SELCO, Kudumbashree, SERP and CGG was that easy or tough, and gave me more clarity as I moved on. Bumping into Global Value Chains was an accident, a happy one, for it again showed me the way forward. 

In the same exploratory mode, I bumped into Impact Evaluation, and just like Rural Management, which I knew nothing about when I chose to do a Masters in it, I narrowed it on Impact Evaluation as a Technical area that I want to specialise in. I did a summer school at IRMA in 2015 to get introduced to Impact Evaluation, but that was that. Never had the time to put into practice what I learned. 

I was lucky to bump into the MIT online course on Data, Economics, Development Policy micromasters course and started doing the course in bits and pieces. Well, this is where I was introduced to the nobel laureates,  Esther and Abhijit. I was pleasantly surprised to see an Indian heading The Abdul Lateef Jamal Poverty Action Lab in MIT, J-PAL for short. Consequently, J-PAL became I place I wanted to be associated with, and a Masters in Development Practice seemed my ticket to the organisation. This been said, choosing not to study came with its loooong thought process. I did do another Summer School on Impact evaluation in Trinity College, and did spend a bomb on it. I definitely have a better understanding than before, but I also know my gaps and need to work on them. Only if I get a chance to work on a live project!

Anyways, now that Poor Economics is all over the Development spectra, I am both happy and sad. Happy that the sector and the work is recognised and sad that well, in a saturated small sector, competition is only going to increase! Buckle up Sammy.. Pull your socks up and run the rat race, join the band wagon :D

For now, I am excited, high spirited and just glad that I am on the right track. And as always, trying to mentally isolate from the crowd and run my own marathon ;)