Full Report of Chitrakoot

My visit to Chitrakoot

Before I start writing I would like to thank Shobit for suggesting me this place. It was a great learning experiance for me to have spent 18 days there and these days will be very important throughout.

It is with great difficulty that am writing this report short and yet am sure it will run pretty long.Today I happened to hear the speech of Dr.Kamal Narang who said that volunteerism is not helping others but ourselves to become better human beings.This is exactly what my experience to CHITRAKOOT is.

I read that India is in a transistion phase and I feel it convincing. After my Fellowship program of YFS I believe it. To see the change we wish to see we need not have macro institutions in the play. It is all about Will to change and patience for that change. In Chitrakoot its not the volunteers of DRI but results that spoke to me. Success, success and success in all aspects.How? The answer is pretty simple for the complex question and in fact the answer solved many complex questions. Self Help and People Participation is the key for wonders. Every work starting from Hygiene to watershed, done by the villagers themselves for themselves with little expertise provided for them by a non voluntary organisation, DRI ( Deendayal Research Institute) . They have done this not in the best part of the country but in the most challenged and neglected part where majority of people, as high as 93% of them, were below poverty line. They had no water to drink and the agriculture was left to monsoons which troubled them almost every year. Every project was undertaken based on necessity and suitability. They have truly developed model villages. So inspiring that APJ Abdul Kalam presented Chitrakoot Model of PURA ( Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas in his website.

Any place on earth I believe has two parts-geography and people. In this report I would emphasise more on the latter part. Meeting people always excite me. I claim myself to be blessed to have met spectrum of people throughout my visit to Chitrakoot To name a few, I met Agricultural Scientists, Labourers, Farmers, Ex civil servant, volunteers, Indian and foreign doctors, research specialists, botanists, professors and American students. List is huge, so is my learning and experience. Many intellectuals that I have met till now gave beautiful analysis of the problems that our society and country in particular is facing and it is in Chitrakoot that I found the answers. Zero unemployment and all children in schools, zero water problems and high levels of hygiene.

I visited a village by name Kalla in UP around 30 Kms from Chitrakoot on Masik Shraad of Hon'ble Nanaji Deshmukh.The village got no electricity.That wondered me as I never visited a place which has zero electricity. But much is in store for me that day. The world in which sons are are skipping monthly rituals of their parents, people here perform rituals of Nanaji with whom they share no blood relation.People of that village collected Rs 40000/-...i repeat...Rs 40000/- for the masik shraad of Nanaji.Total self contribution. Village volunteer by name Shukla ji told me about the progress in the village and claimed that all the houses in the village that day were cleaned and neatly kept. He asked me to choose a house in the street and made me visit it to show me how clean it is. Am dumbstuck. The feeling of gratitude for which Indian people and particularly Indian villages are known for was experienced for the first time in my life .At that point of time I found Nanaji to be the most richest man. I learnt that when one truly works for his brethren without any personal motive , he lives with them for generation although he may not be in this physical world.

I visited Babupur Village and Patni Village and saw the developments there.I felt happy seeing the contentment of the people.I think even Ratan Tata has many problems but these people are happy with sufficient food to eat and savings by the end of the year.I think this is the true enjoyment of life.Loving the work to do and returning everyday with a satisfied heart is what I learnt that life is all about.

Many projects of DRI like Arogyadham,Udhyamitha,Education research center,Goshala,Rasshala, Naturopathy center and Krishi Vigyan Kendras ( KVK ) really inspired me as they provide best training and other facilities at the most reasonable cost possible for the people of 500 villages. They are totally self sustained. They have their own ayurvedic hospital to treat them, their own medicinal research center, their own medicine manufacturing unit, their own entrepreneur workshop.

Visiting of KVK's is very special to me as they are involved in Agricultural Research and they provide best seeds to the farmers after testing them thoroughly. It is by their efforts that the farmers are having two crops per year at least. Visiting KVK's is like visiting a place in fairy tale for me. Green fields with modern agricultural practices with ponds in between and solar street lights. Great experience.

Another important innovation of DRI is to encourage kitchen gardens. More than 95% of the houses in almost all the villages have their own kitchen gardens. Their own livestock provide manure for them and they were almost maintenance free. Just imagine how wonderful it is to have many vegetables grown in the backyard as it saves the important expenditure of the village folk. Barter system crept in as villagers exchange vegetables with their neighbors. I thought these were not possible in the modern world but they made it possible at Chitrakoot.

If you were impressed by the above activity, then the concept dispute free villages will only make you wondering for a long time if am cooking up a story. Am not. All the villages under DRI were dispute free. From almost past 9 years , no cases were registered by anyone against anyone from these villages. Apart from that they also withdrew old pending disputes in courts and solved it among themselves. Few days before I visited Patni village, there was a theft in the village and yet there was no complaint to the police. Villagers got themselves into a team and began to hunt for the culprit.

Another important thing that I had noticed in the activities of DRI is the value addition they bring in to the products. With Amla, they make juice, pickles and even sweet called Murraba .In Goshala they make variety of products from Health products to beauty products .I just learnt how cow urine can be used in so many ways. They even generate power in goshala and make manures for the fields. It is with this value addition that income of many farmers was doubled.

To discuss in short about the Educational Research centers that I have visited, they are helping students to develop many skills to sustain themselves if they stop their schooling after 10'th standard. Skills include stitching, Agarbati making, soap making, toy making, washing powder making and cooking. Basically it is the education with a difference that I have seen in these schools. Students are so sweet that they performed a dance for me and made me taste sweets prepared by them. I took a few classes for children of 12 standard and upon the request of principle gave a presentation to them about various opportunities available to them after passing out.

A concept school called Nanhi Duniya ( Children World ) was developed for children up to class 1.Beautiful with outdoor classes in winter and garden which has prototypes of wild life. Big prototype of India was also being made which shows all the terrains and rivers flowing and important places. I liked the idea of involving education in the play style. I believe that students will inculcate interest towards education which will definitely help them in the long run to enjoy education.

One of the best projects of DRI,at least for me is its Watershed Management project. It is by this project that the water problem became a history in all the villages and hundreds of acres of barren land was brought under cultivation. Project is pretty big and the canal through which water runs is around 11 Kms. Ground water level rose by 10-15 feet in a matter of years and problem of soil erosion often caused by runoffs is eliminated.

I talked to many members of DRI, many of them highly educated from very good institutions and yet working for very meager salaries. When I asked them the reason they told that they were all emotionally attached to Nanaji and his activities. They all have a sense of satisfaction in them and which I can find in very few professionals these days.

However my most memorable moments in the visit is my travel with Hon'ble Bharat Pathak, the general secretary of DRI.I visited KVK along with him and had an opportunity to attend a Bandara ( Villagers common lunch ) with him. Spoke about a lot of things during the travel with him and he told about the open secret of DRI.” We will not work for the change we wish to see..we work for the change villagers wish to see”. When I asked about the problems they faced while dealing with people, he said that when people see something done to their benefit they will follow us. I've learned lot travelling with him than I learned reading books for many years.

Next important person whom I met at DRI is Dr.Nandita Pathak ( Wife of Bharat Pathak ).She spoke Telugu as she is from Hyderabad and I felt extra pleasure speaking to her in my mother tongue. Spent lot of time with her during my 18 days of stay and learnt a lot from her experiences.

I met a very interesting man at Patni village who I feel can be a true role model for many. He is versatile. He is an old tribal man who teaches farmers how and what to sow for effective results. He is the chairman of Watershed Management works, a singer and a musician. He sang for me when I visited that place and no words to describe it.

Finally, I had an opportunity to spend some quality time with students and professor of IOWA university from America. I spent around 4 days with them. Good experience particularly with the professor. Had lot of discussions with him on a variety of subjects starting from some books to economics

Before I sum up , I always read that religion is to bond people but never to divide. But the events like Ayodhya, Godra,etc made me believe that religion today is no good. Am again enlightened regarding this at Chitrakoot.I found the power of religion there. Breaking the barriers of caste and class everyone joins in bhajans and kirtans praising lord Ram. I myself for the first time in my life spent DEC 31 in Ram Bhajan. Ironically I enjoyed it the most.

These are all some of my experiences at Chitrakoot and I thank YFS for giving me this opportunity to enhance my knowledge along with offering some service. I wish every volunteer of YFS will take out sometime from their busy schedule and visit places which can make difference to the people whom they visit and also to themselves .Its just win-win situation. It is for me and it will be for you.

JAI HIND

-----Ravi.K.Varma

ravikanthvarmag@gmail.com