As part of its Training and Capacity Building efforts, TARA, the social enterprise under Development Alternative Group, teamed up with the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) to deliver the Realising India component of ISDM’s Post Graduate Program in Development Management (PGPDM). Realising India gives aspiring development professionals a chance to experience the cultural depth of a district while understanding how different stakeholders shape local development.

This partnership created a two-week immersive journey for a Professional Learning Community of eight students in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. The district’s political, administrative, historical, and geographical layers offered the ideal setting to study on-ground realities, development challenges, and emerging opportunities.

For many students, this was their first real exposure to grassroots India. Meeting communities, civil society groups, government officials, frontline workers, and local leaders helped them see how governance, culture, community action, and NGO roles intersect in everyday life.

During the immersion, students worked across the Moth, Babina, and Mauranipur blocks, engaging with a wide range of institutions. They saw women-led organisations building non-traditional enterprises, the evolution of self-help groups from savings to entrepreneurship, and visited primary health centres, local journalists, and village pradhans.

The partnership anchored by Development Alternative Group guided the collaboration and ensured that the orientation, field visits, and stakeholder interactions were aligned with the learning goals. Before travelling, the group completed an online orientation that helped them prepare for the field. In Jhansi, they visited TARAgram Orchha, they were introduced to DA Group’s work on water, livelihoods, education, and agriculture. This grounding gave students a clear sense of how systemic interventions can shape resilient futures.

Khushboo, one of the participants, summed up her biggest learning: “The most important lesson I’m taking with me is to enter any field without judgment. Preconceived ideas can block you from understanding people and their realities. Going in with curiosity, humility, and openness helped me build trust, observe more honestly, and learn directly from the ground. This approach will stay with me as I grow in my career.”

The immersion pushed students beyond theory, encouraging systemic thinking and practical understanding of development practice. It showed how structured field experiences can turn young professionals into reflective practitioners who bridge academic training with lived realities.

In the end, this collaboration highlights the strength of CSOs and academic institutions working together to prepare job-ready professionals — people who carry not only knowledge, but empathy, systems awareness, and the confidence to enable real change.