UNE FILLE TRES EXTRAORDINAIRE!

From Barefoot College Tilonia, Rajasthan my next stop was in Gujarat to explore the amazing 80-year-old Shri Premji Bhai Patel from Upleta (the man responsible to change the ground water table of the region from salty to sweet), the Mitti Cool Man Shri Manshukh Bhai Prajapati from Wankaner village and interaction with some farmers from villages in Rajkot (to understand the progress and agriculture related problems)... and I owe my humble gratefulness to one friend for making my stay in Gujarat worthwhile, memorable and simply blissful...

We became friends on Facebook and initially used to interact with comments on status, reading poems and once in a while through messages... how she became part of my destiny is truly mystifying to even me as I often wonder... she is an amazing writer-poet and has been actively supporting the movement from an early date, even when we hardly knew each other... Amrita Vardarajan works for Raman Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd in Ahmedabad... she was there at the station to receive me with her infectious smile...

Amrita enjoying the birthday cake...

She was very helpful during my trip and it is because of her that I got to meet the Mitti Cool Man from Rajkot... always ready to help her needy friends Amrita got the phone number from her contacts to help me out... her selfless act has surely impressed me many times during our interaction over phone since last couple of months... she was there when depression took a toll on me and I was all alone... her pep talk, reasoning and teachings about life surely made me wonder how she has grown in life at such a young age... she was always there with her phone calls whenever she read my status which reflected my depressing state during my journey... friends like Amrita is really rare to find and I feel so-so blessed for her presence in my destiny.

She has been very encouraging and supportive ever since I have known her... and meeting her for the very first time, I felt as if we knew each other since long... no hang ups, no strangeness and we connected as long lost friends... she even told her boss Shri Rajendra Jani about my visit, who expressed his desire to meet me... so I was invited at her office... well, words are truly not enough to describe the small beautiful world Shri Rajendra Jani had created over the years... I was amazed to see how beautiful an organization can be when everyone is treated as family members... the lunch at Raman’s office was an experience of a lifetime... blissful, full of fun and the joy of sharing with everyone... I had a lengthy session with the boss and we were both happy to know about each other...

The birthday party...

I also interacted with most of the staff at Amrita’s office and it was a pleasure to share information about each other and then I was invited to join in the surprise birthday party of one of the staff Kishore Bhai... oh the enjoyment we all had during our trip and party surely will remain with me for many-many years... to be accepted by the whole staff with so much love was indeed an awesome feeling! Everybody treated me as if I was one among the staff and for this I wish to thank each one at Raman Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And a special big thank you to Amrita for making my trip so-so memorable and worth...

Some souls are truly extraordinary and I am lucky to be in touch and blessed by beautiful souls like Amrita Vardarajan, Shri Rajendra Jani and all the staff of Raman Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd... Apart from meeting few farmers, Shri Premji Bhai Patel & Shri Manshukh Bhai Prajapati, my Gujarat trip exploration was so-so special because I met the rare friend Amrita... Sai Baba bless you always Amrita and keep up the good work always!

Thank you Facebook for giving me such a rare precious friend!

THE LAST DAY AT BAREFOOT COLLEGE TILONIA (14th April 2011)

Saying ‘goodbye’ is one of the most difficult jobs when you have been surrounded by genuine love from every single individual that constitutes the beautiful small world of Barefoot College Tilonia, the world that exists parallel to the big world... Deep down while I am glad to make so many friends and gurus during our week long stay... somewhere in one of the corners of my heart, today, I am feeling sad for tomorrow morning we will be leaving Barefoot College... and I am sure to miss all the beautiful people that I have interacted with – smiling, laughing, learning, teaching, sharing, giving, grasping, wishing and above all to feel the power of humanity in true sense with all of them... YES, this beautiful small world very much exists in our big bad world of greed... I know I will have to come back again and again here during the course of my life...

YET, I am sad deep down and I am touched when I told that we are leaving tomorrow early morning... everyone had only one loving request – “Phir zaroor aana (do come for sure again)” – their eyes sad and their smile magical touching the hearts to the deepest abyss... and so much blessings for the work in Vidarbha even though many of them don’t even know exactly where Vidarbha is... they don’t even know about the farmers’ widows that I am working with but deep from their hearts their blessings are unmatched and I feel so much strengthened from within and I know if these women can do it, widows of Vidarbha can definitely do it too!

I have indeed become rich in many aspects after watching carefully the will to work hard with contentment, no greed, everyone helping one another working in unison and everyone confidently saying that they have not gone to school because of various reasons, poverty being one of the major reasons... however, their zeal to explore and master the unknown territory with the help and guidance of Shri Bunker Roy that YES, WE CAN AND WE WILL DO IT COME WHAT MAY... HARD WORK CAN ACHIEVE BIG RESULTS TO SOLVE THE BIG PROBLEMS LOOK LIKE SMALL EVERYDAY AFFAIR!

Is it magical? Well, the hard work of every single individual to trust the vision of Shri Bunker Roy and work sincerely towards that goal... that is how Barefoot College was born almost 39 years ago and their journey have seen various twists and turns, dedication and devotion, trust and hope, zeal and passion, hard work and no substitute... well... Sandipta Dhar... you certainly are the beautiful destiny child of this great Indian nation for sending me to this small beautiful world, which has been irrigated and cultivated with so much of love and affection that it is difficult for people to leave so easily... yes... I am sad to leave Barefoot College Tilonia but I have to...

There will be a series of some amazing individual that I shall be introducing to the world in my posts soon... and I am very confident that it will definitely open the eyes of many from all over the world... And lastly, I wish to say to Shri Bunker Roy Sir... grateful to be blessed by Smt. Aruna Royji and you! There are many dark villages that will be illuminated because of your sincere efforts in coming years worldwide!!! And yes, I shall put in my best efforts to see many dark villages of Vidarbha see illuminated nights where children can read and families can enjoy to live a beautiful life!

EXPLORING BAREFOOT COLLEGE IN TILONIA, RAJASTHAN

Sandipta Dhar came in the journey of my destiny as a divine intervention, all the way from USA... we connected on Facebook and after a brief introduction through mails, started exchanging ideas and knowledge about each other’s life... and needless to say even before I said anything to her, she was part of the movement in her own ways... her inquisitiveness made her to ask a number of questions about ‘support 4 suicide farmers families’ and was surprised when I replied all of them... and soon, she started informing about various things and one of the most important pieces of information was the Barefoot College established by Shri Bunker Roy in Tilonia, Rajasthan... with a simple request that I should explore to strengthen the movement in Vidarbha...

Honestly, like millions of Indians, even I had never heard about the Barefoot College but online I got the required links and I was very-very amazed to read everything about how the small movement which started way back in the early 70s would shape up into one of the most amazing colleges of India, where no degrees are given and where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher... with a simple idea that teach the villagers how to earn a living in whatever best possible way and change is bound to happen... the movement has spread its action of imparting knowledge and training villagers in more than 26 countries and in as many as 14 states and 200 villages of India.

The journey to Jaipur was amazing with my Brazilian co-worker Sherlene Lopes and lovely locals of Rajasthani families as company in train... it is our first visit to Rajasthan and I must confess Jaipur looked so familiar like all other cities look... heavy traffic, multi-storied buildings, malls, branded shops, swanky offices, education institutes and what not... similar as it is in every big cities in today’s modern times...deep down I was sad because earlier every city had its local flavour and identity... the only thing while travelling by bus was that some ancient architecture stood tall among the modern creations... so you know you are in Rajasthan... Sandipta I am truly-truly grateful to you for introducing me to the Barefoot College.

After a nice lunch near the railway station, we boarded the bus for Tilonia... meanwhile I was in regular touch with Shri Ram Karanji about where we have reached... once we reached near Pattan, he told he was sending a vehicle to pick us up... the journey with Vishramji, the driver (associated since last 15 years with the college) was making me feel so-so lucky... really I have no words to describe how I was feeling from within... from Bombay to Vidarbha and now all the way to a small village of Rajasthan Tilonia... SPEECHLESS! As I was enjoying the breeze, I was excited and looking forward to meet Shri Ram Karanji... Shri Bhanwarji (in administration since last 25 years) met us and it was lovely to hear everything about the college... and after a little while, the meeting with Shri Ram Karanji was simply an occasion of joy... he talked to us about the history of the movement with so much passion... we truly feel blessed to be under his spell... yes, it is difficult to feel otherwise according to me...

After the brief meeting, we watched a short film about Barefoot College and how the movement changed lives of the villagers... and then it was time for dinner... self-service, and lovely home food is an enchanting experience that I recommend every Indian to visit the college to learn so many beautiful things of life... and yes, one of the first person we met after reaching the college was Kareena.... a beautiful village girl, a student of standard two, smiling and sipping tea...our first friend in Tilonia... almost everyone wishes everyone with no bias or prejudice and it was so-so lovely to see smiling faces wishing us and when they were reciprocated... our first day has been a great experience and there is this new energy in me like the solar energy, which electrifies the whole college... as I am writing this piece lovely breeze is blowing, sound of dry leaves along with folk songs at the background sung by villagers are making this night to remember forever with amazing insights from this beautiful institution... tomorrow will be a lovely day to start meeting and learning from all the Barefoot engineers, scholars, technicians and interesting and amazing achievers of beautiful India!

Sandipta... I am so glad to be here today... Sai Baba bless you always!