Well I am back! After a self imposed 3 month blogospheric exile, which was partially due to the fact that I had nothing to say and partially due to the fact that I was still adjusting to life in a B-School. But it took a really eventful trip, to a wonderful place to finally bring me back to my blog. The place we went to is this amazing but little known place called Anandwan.
Anandwan for those who don't know about is a small community, situated at a few hours drive from Nagpur. It was started around 1951 by Baba Amte as a refuge for lepers and other sections of the society who were treated by outcastes by the rest of the society. Today Anandwan spreads over 200 acres and houses 3500 people all of whom have been rejected by our so called 'normal' society. Yet these people run a self sufficient, self sustained community which is as good as an example of innovation and management that I have seen in a long while. The people at Anandwan have turned the barren land in the middle of nowhere into a fertile, well irrigated area which significantly outperforms the rest of the region in terms of agricultural productivity. Their industry is not limited to agriculture alone, they also have workshops where they manufacture all the various tools and implements that they need, include wheelchairs for lepers, which have come into high demand across the country. They also produce exquisite handicrafts, garments, beds, artistic wall hangings, greeting cards and much much more. In fact anything and everything needed in the colony (except salt and oil) is self generated. And you will be immediately struck by the serenity of the environment, and the greenery and cleanliness. And I was amazed by the amount of technical creativity that you could find in this place. One example was a dam used for water irrigation which was constructed by using discarded rubber tyres and reinforced by using waste plastic. They manufacture solid damage proof houses without any steel or timber and make slippers out of rubber tyres.
But what makes this place really amazing is the dedication of the people out there.We met a few members of the Late Baba Amte's family, who have dedicated their lives to their father's ideal and have even taken his cause further. Dr Vikas Amte, Baba Amte's son and now the head of the organization, is currently working in a small town of Yewatmal (an isolated forest area), looking for solutions to the problems of farmer suicides plaguing the area, through irrigation and rain water harvesting, with a team of only 100 men. The group of Anandwan have even extended their activities to nearby tribal areas to improve the poor living conditions there.
So why am I writing about all of this? It's because amongst all the amazing things that came out of Anandwan, what was also glaring was the fact that this incredible place is still mired in anonymity. And the fact is that the stigma associated with leprosy has ensured that these people who were treated as outcastes in 1951 are still treated the same. And worse still, in a nation where we are so quick to applaud and hail the so called miracle workers, we still have not begin to recognise the true workers, like the people at Anandwan. The politicians, the media, the corporates, everybody stays miles away from this place. And consider the fact that this is a place which has received international acclaim and awards, with several documentaries and business studies being done on it and it has been so grossly overlooked by our countrymen. The very fact that no one (myself included) I knew, had even heard of this place, shows how fickle minded a nation we truly are. So I come back to the point, why this post? I don't want to be over-dramatic and say that this place has inspired me to devote my life to social service, I don't know if I will ever have the courage for that. But I can at least do this one simple thing, spread the word about this place. At least let people know that in this insane, competitive world, we have a place ruled by humanity and compassion. So for all those who read this, please do me a favor, tell someone about this place, anyone, your friend, your neighbor, your family, whoever is the nearest to you. If you don't want to, direct them to this post. But tell them. This is an extraordinary place, which has been forsaken by our leaders, ignored by our media and abandoned by our society. At least lets give them the recognition they deserve. Who knows you might just lead the next bright social activist towards a great cause?
"If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died" - Nickelback
