We wake to a very simple, quiet and peaceful place, away
from the ever moving ways of the city, here in Gangangaon village. We’re
staying in a hostel where aadiwasi
(Backward class) girls and boys stay and study in the schools nearby. They are
all between the ages of 16-18 or so and soooo very bright! Everybody always
talks about that flame burning so brilliantly in a person that it shines
through their eyes and through the way they speak and whatever they do. Here we
got to see that ourselves. In their
movements, their actions.. The way they speak.. The energy and potential of
these young people was phenomenal.
Being in a village, they were really simple, spoke mainly
Marathi and Hindi, and very little English, but their ability to grasp and
understand things spontaneously was amazing. Their intense desire to rise and
become something was evident. And they were just ecstatic about learning stuff
about the world outside.
What really stood out for me was that they were so
hardworking. They did everything themselves and apart from that, when we were
there, they did everything for us too. Fr. Joel was telling us about the system
they followed in their work – They had ‘ministers’ for various things like
there was a Home Minister and a Food Minister and a Chief Minister and all.
Girls for girls and boys for boys. Each had their own responsibilities and
coordinated with each other and got the work done. Like the Food Minister
supervised the cooking process and informed the Chief Minister about the
progress and the CM organised the lunch in coordination with the Home Minister
by arranging the location. I really liked this exercise a lot because it helped
these young adults learn responsibility and so many processes of life and
coordination and collaboration and effective communication.. This was really
inspiring. Doing all of these things really helps build character and makes
them strong individuals and they are fortunate enough to have this system in
place for them to imbibe while their minds are still moulding. Knowing all
these life skills gives them so many opportunities to grow.
I spent some time with the girls while they were sifting
through rice to clean out the stones and stuff. They were showing me the
technique how to do it correctly and they kept asking about how things were in
the city and about different kinds of technology and how it all works. And they
had such vivid interest to learn about all of it!
I was so happy to spend that half an hour with them..
They were so chirpy and bubbly and so delighted to include someone else in
their activities and share experiences. I realized later that joining in something that they do on a
daily basis instead of just standing and watching from the outside made a whole
lot of difference in relating with them and become closer to them on a deeper
level. It broke that imaginary barrier between people of different places and
cultures. Because you’re doing the
same things, at that time – you’re not different.
You become one consciousness. Will always cherish those 30 minutes.
At the program, everybody really appreciated the dances
of our girls and they also put up their own, both traditional and
filmy/contemporary. There was like a mutual respect going on and for each
others talents and a very open acceptance of it all. Then the interactions
started. One of them shared what life is like on their side with all the
customs and traditions and it was interesting to note the differences in our
lives and theirs. And just how many misconceptions we had about people who
lived in villages. Someone actually stood up and said how important it was for girls and boys to spend time together and interact with each other. That they should go out and be able to be comfortable with each other, that's how they will learn to respect one another.That was an interesting eye opener. In cities, we hold such a narrow minded view of girls and boys spending time together..
And Rakesh spilt the regular stuff on the crowd about poverty,
women empowerment, child mortality, the environment and all. It was routine for
us, and almost everywhere we’ve been before this people were familiar with all
of these things to some extent beforehand. I felt it was more effective here
than other places because the awareness about these issues was less. The people
learnt here about these concerns in a more informed manner and what they can do
to change them. So this gave a very satisfying feeling..
At the end of the program, our hosts started dancing a
traditional dance and just folded our team into it too! The steps weren’t hard
to learn, and it was something else for everyone to just integrate like that
and do the same thing..
Its stuff like that which creates this realization within
that, in essence, we all are truly the same. We may look different or come from
different places and cultures, but when we join together, we become one.
Even one of our drivers Swami chetta busted out a few moves!
Some of the youth out here showed us crafts they made
here. Soooooo beautifully done! It was so expertly done and with such grace and
finesse.. The youth were actually very shy to show it to us because they
thought it wasn’t all that special, but we truly marvelled at it and spread it
around and admired it. These brilliant artists were undervaluing themselves.Their
efforts need to be encouraged more..
They gave us roses too, at the start of the program.
These were soooo huge!! Dont know what variety it was, but haven’t seen such
large flowers like this anywhere else. Savita’s hand was small in comparison!
I really enjoyed the peaceful pace of life here. Things
moved at their own pace and nothing was rushed or hurried. It was a very stark
difference that everyone felt, so far away from the city’s run-around-and-work-and-run-around
culture. It would be nice to be able to stop, breathe and think without an
agenda and have that comfortable easiness in the cities too, even if just for a
while.
When were were leaving, it was the weirdest thing. We had barely spent half a day with the people here, and they were actually in tears telling us not to go. They had grown so attached so quickly! It was really something... They were hugging us and telling us to stay and how much they're gonna miss us.. And that when we stay we teach them English and what the internet is and how things work and stuff. Their purity in their simplicity was really something beautiful. Coupled with their desire to learn and grow.. There is sooooooo much to learn from them. I wish we could have stayed just a little while longer.
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