May 28th, 2008 Jo
And now for something entirely different.
When Baba Amte died in February at the age of 93, the world remembered him as this century’s mightiest champion of people affected by leprosy. He was that indeed, but his vision was more complex and more compelling than any one issue could elicit and the more I read about him, the more amazing I see his story is.
The morning of his funeral, Ravi happened to be on a flight to Nagpur, just an hour away from Anandwan, the Ashram Baba Amte founded in 1951 in Maharashtra. On the flight, he met a friend who was going to attend the funeral and Ravi decided to tag along.
Indian crowds are always large, but this funeral was staggering in its sheer numbers. The people were overwhelmingly poor. From every corner of the state, they came on foot and on cycle to pay their last respects to a man who had devoted his entire adult life to inclusion, the environment and the common good.
It began with leprosy. Baba was born in a wealthy Brahmin family and trained to be a lawyer. Along with his wife, he had already abandoned the comfortable life he had been born to in favor of a life with the poor and the marginalized. He had worked to organize the untouchables, the lowest of the low, the people who cleared away “night soil” and for nine months he had worked as a scavenger himself, carrying baskets of human excrement on his head as they did, enduring the filth and the stench. He thought of himself as a man of the people, one who knew no fear.
Then one evening, coming home in a heavy downpour, he passed a leper lying on the road. To his shame, he was disgusted and repelled by the sight of the half-naked man whose hands had been eaten away by the disease and whose body was covered with maggots. He went by quickly, but found, when he reached home, that he could not get the man out of his mind. He forced himself to return with food and a bamboo shelter to protect him from the rain. But that night, he couldn’t sleep. The fear that had overcome him when he saw the man’s wasted limbs now haunted him.
I have never been frightened of anything. Because I fought British tommies to save the honour of an Indian lady, Gandhiji called me ‘abhay sadhak’, a fearless seeker of truth. When the sweepers of Warora challenged me to clean gutters, I did so. But that same person who fought thugs and British bandits quivered in fright when he saw the living corpse of Tulshiram, no fingers, no clothes, with maggots all over.
Baba lived in an agony of spiritual doubt for six months. Finally, he made his decision, not, he said, to do good, but because he could not accept the idea of himself as a person who was afraid: That is why I took up leprosy work. Not to help anyone, but to overcome that fear in my life. That it worked out to be good for others was a by-product. But the fact is I did it to overcome fear.
He and Sadhna, his wife, then immersed themselves in the study of leprosy. Baba went to the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine to learn more and returned with the then new discovery of diamino-diphenyl-sulphone, the wonder drug which could cure the disease. They began opening clinics all over the area until there were 11, with a total of 4000 patients. But the cure wasn’t enough. The stigma and the taboo would not die.
“Joy is more infectious than leprosy,” Baba Amte insisted. The government gave him 50 acres of desolate, dry scrub land and along with a few of his patients, he and Sadhna set out to create a community they called Anandwan or Forest of Joy. It took them two months to dig their first well. Food was difficult to grow and what they did manage to harvest, they were unable to sell because people in the surrounding villages feared infection. It took a contingent of volunteers from the Service Civil International to turn the tide. These fifty young workers from 36 different countries spent several months at Anandwan building a clinic and two hospital wards. Somehow, their presence broke the barrier between the ashram and the local people. The villagers offered to help themselves, bringing food and tools and sharing in the building projects underway.
That was the beginning. Under Baba Amte’s guidance, the ashram grew to become a totally self-reliant community in which only salt, sugar and gasoline had to be purchased from outside. Soon, more homes were built, schools were established, and dozens of cottage industries flourished. Rainwater harvesting, tree plantations, dry toilets, and solar power were just some of the innovations Baba Amte introduced.
His generosity and kindness did not stop with leprosy. He also established schools for blind and deaf children as well as orphanages and old people’s homes. No one was ever turned away. His institutions remain today as models for how such things should be done.
For the last 23 years of his life, Baba Amte was bedridden with a crippling and painful spinal injury. During these years, he turned his imagination to wider issues of peace and justice and lent his influence and his intelligence to movements as diverse as communal harmony, anti-big dams campaigns and environmentally sound development in tribal areas. 
He had a deep and abiding respect for Christianity, and particularly for Jesus: What is your plan of sacrifice today? You and I, petty souls, sacrifice for our children. Christ sacrificed for tomorrow’s whole world. Whenever I see slum-dwellers, with their hunger and poverty, that obscene poverty, I feel He is crucified like that. When I come across a person suffering from leprosy, foul-smelling, ulcerous, I can see the imprint of His lips, His kiss. What did they not do to sufferers of leprosy in His time, yet the carpenter’s son cared for them and touched them. That hand is an emblem for me, that hand which cared for the loneliest and the lost. The Christian is … he who not only lights the darkest corner in the world but also the darkest corner in his own heart.
He was a legend in his own time and a man of humor, integrity and charm. Even at the very end, the photographs are of a man with sparkle and energy. The smile is wide, the message is clear: “Joy is more infectious than leprosy.”
Posted in Inspiration | 3 Comments »
May 28th, 2008 Jo
Here’s a dynamo. Shaheen Mistry is young, brilliant and very articulate. She is also fearless and a natural leader. Akanksha is her brainchild and it is a rare pleasure to watch her in action with the team of dedicated and creative teachers who have been drawn to her vision of bringing education to children from the slums and bastis of our cities.
Here are some of the very practical things I learned watching her lead the meeting on Monday:
- Don’t be afraid to take charge! It was a participatory and energized gathering, but she was clearly the leader. She came across sure and confident and we all responded to that.
- Move! So often when I am in charge of a meeting, I allow people to meander, repeat themselves and waste time - their own and that of the group. Shaheen helped people stick to the point by carrying the mike to the person who wanted to speak, and then holding on to it while they did. It’s a human characteristic with many of us - once we’ve got the mike in our hands, we feel like rock stars and we think everyone’s been waiting just to hear what we have to say.
- Get people to think. Some of the comments people made stopped just short of coherence, or wandered around, seeking their point but not nailing it. She listened well and pushed people to go further. to analyze and understand.
It’s what leadership is all about.
Posted in Bright Ideas, Out of Dehradun | No Comments »
May 27th, 2008 Jo
I’ve been looking forward to this since January - Shaheen Mistry, whom I admire to the point of hero-worship, invited me to come and speak at Akanksha’s annual Education Convention - a colorful, creative extravaganza in which bright, lively young teachers come together to celebrate the Akanksha vision, re-dedicate themselves to its mission and pick up new skills, ideas and strategies to make themselves more effective educators and change-makers. It was a marvelous and inspiring experience - I had been so impressed by the agenda Shaheen sent me back in January that I asked Manju to attend the whole thing (I had been asked to do one presentation at the Mumbai event and another at the same convention, but in Pune, the next day) - I can’t wait to hear how she enjoyed it.
My one day with the team was enough to make me re-examine the whole way we conduct our orientation for new staff in Dehradun. I got so many wonderful ideas from watching the Akanksha style in action.
“Be the Change” is one of their credos - it’s what they ask their children to strive for and what they give them the tools to achieve. It reflects their understanding of the need for systemic change in India’s political, economic and educational systems as well as their faith in the power of ordinary people to bring those changes about.
I loved so many things about the convention. Here’s Vandana (a transplant from Northboro, Massachusetts who spotted my accent and practically knocked me over in her enthusiasm at meeting someone from “home”!), leading the crowd in the signature Akanksha clap - two beats, which signals that everyone needs to settle down and pay attention. They clap back the same two beats to indicate they got the point. Then three beats, repeated by the crowd, and then silence falls and the work begins. It’s simple, effective and so much more fun than “Quiet, please! May I have your attention, please? If we could all just take our seats now!”
There was a whole session on Akanksha sign language - hand cupped behind the ear to indicate it’s time to listen; hands over both ears to say it’s too noisy; baby finger up to say I have to go to the bathroom; fist up says I’m finished and two fingers pointed towards the eyes means look at me.
It’s all simple and easy for children (and adults) to relate to -without language, so much can be said! Which reminds me of our sign language course!
Posted in Bright Ideas, Fun!, Out of Dehradun | 1 Comment »
May 24th, 2008 Jo
There we are, in all our glory! Of course, as usual, there are a few missing - most of the Core Group for starters, with Sebastian goofing off in Holland, Savita in a training for counselors in Delhi and me behind the camera; as well as most of the Latika Vihar staff - but it’s a fair sampling of the size and scope of the foundation: truly a Rainbow Coalition!
Posted in Growing Up, Staff Stories | No Comments »
May 24th, 2008 Jo
I was so excited when Vandana called to say she was in Dehradun for a meeting and would like to drop in to visit. Vandana has been a legend in my mind for as long as I have known her. I first met her in 1995 when I took Moy Moy to be assessed at the Spastics Society of North India (now AADI). She is a pediatric occupational therapist and at that time she was working full-time at SSNI. Later, she became the director, and now, while still heavily involved in its work and on its Board of Governors, she works as an independent consultant on disability issues.
The Foundation owes a tremendous debt to AADI for all its support, advice and guidance in our early years. Vandana, Gloria, Shaymala, Shalini, Madhumati and all the other lovely people who work(ed) there helped us in more ways than I can count, including introducing us to Shaila Faleiro, our very first special educator, and to Mr Gulati, the talented orthotist who still comes to Dehradun regularly to assess and treat our kids. It’s been a wonderful association and it continues to grow.
Now when I meet Vandana I try to drop the hero-worship thing (I just discovered I am a few months older than she is, so it’s suddenly easier!) and relate as a colleague. Moy Moy found a bit boring, as all we did was talk shop, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear the views of this very wise, very experienced woman. She stayed for a little over two hours and we had dinner together and traded stories and ideas and reflections and the time flew by and she was gone before I knew it, leaving me eager to continue the conversation - in Delhi, or in Dehradun again. Some people are too good to be true!
Posted in Little Notes | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2008 Jo
Here are three of our best and our brightest, conferring over the latest acquisition: Boardmaker! Thanks again to the lovely students of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island for their efforts to raise the money to buy it for us. Don’t you love college kids???!!!!
Posted in Bright Ideas | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2008 Jo
Rama Bhandari retires today, after working in the Foundation for 12 years. Rama is a special educator with a heart of gold, a teacher who is universally loved by her students and deeply respected and admired by her peers. At her farewell party, tears flowed as one after another staff member stood up to recount the many ways in which Rama had supported them at work and in their personal lives.
“She’s been like a mother to me,” Sunita said. Pooja spoke movingly of how much wonderful advice Rama had given her over the years, advice which had helped her through so many challenges in her life. Others spoke of her amazing abilities in the kitchen, the garden and at the sewing machine. It seems there is no domestic task she hasn’t mastered.
But it was her kindness and her dedication which really made her shine in the Foundation. Always self-effacing, she stayed in the background and did her work quietly and devotedly, never worrying about whether she was acknowledged or thanked. The children could not have found a finer, more loving teacher - all of them will have a difficult time adjusting to the CVT without Rama didi.
We feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have known her and to have had the remarkable experience of working with her for all these years. She is going now to Assam to be with her son and we wish her the very best in her life. We know that she will continue to bring joy and happiness wherever she goes, as she has to so many and for so long here in the Latika Roy Foundation. Thank you, Rama didi.
Posted in Staff Stories | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2008 Jo
I caught this moment at the farewell party - Anne saying goodbye to Chhoti Manju in such a lovely, ashirwad sort of a way: it seems to me to sum up what her time here with us was like. Anne, age 65, brought not only her professional expertise as a speech therapist - she also came with her years of wisdom, maturity and experience, and she created an atmosphere of calm assurance wherever she went. Everyone loved her. She was full of energy and good humor, endlessly adaptable and accepting and a wellspring of the most amazing ideas about communication, stories and language development. During her stay, we got a glimpse of what a really good speech therapy department might look like and we’ve set our sights on creating just that in the near future. Anne has promised to return next year and we look forward to continuing this wonderful friendship. Thank you for everything, Anne!
Posted in Volunteers | 1 Comment »
May 22nd, 2008 Jo
Meeting Aruna Roy was one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. I have heard about her for years from Ravi, and from Dunu, and from reading about her work in the press - but nothing prepared me for the real thing - the woman herself, so fiery and passionate she makes you believe in the possibility of a new world order.
We had asked her to deliver the annual talk in our Sir Ratan Tata Distinguished Lecture Series on Education and Inclusion, and she had said yes instantly - no standing on ceremony or acting too important for such a small-fry organisation as ours. Of course, I did have to pursue her somewhat relentlessly for a pucca date, but she had warned me of that in the beginning, and it only added to the fun and put us on easy humorous terms by the time she finally got here.
On the day of the lecture, she asked me to come and meet her to go over the plan and to get to know each other a little in advance. I’m so glad I did. I took Moy Moy along and that added a whole different level to our discussions. Moy “keeps it real,” by her nature, and it’s easy to see a person’s true self in the atmosphere that she evokes.
Aruna shone.
She has a gentle way of accepting people just as they are while simultaneously inspiring them to become whoever they could be. What amazed me about her was her engagement with life. Everything seems to interest her. She is vivid, radiant, and unbelievably PRESENT. She brings her heart and her soul and her mind to everything she encounters.
While we were together, we talked about her work in Devdhoongri village in Rajasthan, about my work in disability, about Moy Moy, about tribal activists in Chattisgarh, globalization, schools around the world and the rivers of Uttarakhand. On every subject, she was informed and inquisitive, analyzing, making connections and eager to learn more. It was inspiring and remarkable. It is rare to meet a person of such integrity - I mean that in the true sense of the word: she has an understanding so strong and clear that it works the same way no matter what it is she is looking at.
I also had the pleasure of meeting her famous husband - Bunker Roy. I had met him once 27 years ago - I was a shy, overwhelmed newly-arrived young thing and he was a famous activist even then. He was tall, angular and severe, dressed all in black and, it seemed to me, frosty and remote.
Nothing could be further from the truth (a good example of how we project our own insecurities and inadequacies on to others). Bunker is a charming and a courtly man - an old-fashioned word that seems to suit him. He has a dignity and a presence which seems inclusive and all-encompassing. He was so considerate of Moy Moy and her needs and genuinely curious about what I do. It was a treat to have my old image of him adjusted! And I got one fabulous idea from listening to him talk about what he does - one of his many programs involves training women to become solar engineers. Anyone can sign up, as long as they are grandmothers. He said they are the ones who are committed to their villages; they are the ones who will stay.
Posted in Bright Ideas, Little Notes, Serious Stuff | No Comments »
May 15th, 2008 Jo
My posts have mostly been about my travels for the last month, but I’m back in India now and I’ve spent most of this week visiting the projects and re-acquainting myself with the children, some of whom I was meeting for the first time - like this little charmer here. . .
It’s wonderful to be home, to be re-submerged in the Foundation, meeting the kids, the parents and the amazing people who do the work that keeps it all going.
Posted in The Babies | 1 Comment »