The 40 years relentless servics of Vivekanand Kendra have emerged as torch-bearer of social change in the north-eastern region of the country
MR Lalu
Nothing happens by chance. There is a reason behind everything. A seed to sprout and a child to be born in the world, everything happens with a reason. The reason and the output are correlated. A seed sown on the ground sprouts and grows and becomes a tree. The purpose of the seed sown on the ground is to grow into a big tree. Every thought and every act ideally fulfills this seed theory. Such was the process of sowing the seeds of quality education in Arunachal Pradesh by Vivekananda Kendra. It was in the year 1977 that the organisation with its visionary founder president Shri Eknath Ranade’s great efforts did start seven Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas (VKVs) in different areas of the state.
Tremendous was the hard work, unfathomable was the enthusiasm, immeasurable was the dedication and gigantic were the hurdles. But never did he give up half way. The goal was already set. The plan was worked out and the work was planned out. As an organisation that was the childhood stage and now the Kendra has branches across the country. Many young men and women who joined as full time workers were posted in different areas of the state to take up the task. They left their homes willing to embrace service as their mission and Arunachal as their home. Some are alive today, but some are not. The educational scenario of the state has changed a lot by now. But the days of tremendous hard work can never be forgotten.
Dedicated persons were appointed from different parts of the country as teachers. They belonged to all the states of the country, who left their luxuries as youth and decided to serve the land of rising Sun. Meager was their salary and minimum was the number of the students enrolled in the beginning. Many of the parents did not want their children to be sent to school. They thought tilling the land was enough to fill their stomachs. Finding children for the school was one of the hardest tasks. Teachers climbed up the hills and crossed the rivers and slept in village huts in the intricate areas of the state to convince the villagers about the importance of education. They were initially misunderstood and doubted by the innocent villagers.
Convincing People
Convincing the public about the need of educating their children was not easy. Who would believe someone who comes from the other corner of the country wanting to take the kids to a far away school? What would happen to the kids when they are away in their schools living with strangers? All these questions were patiently heard by the life workers and the teachers. They never argued when they were orally injured. They never complained when one of them fell sick. They silently took care of the other until he recovered. Sometimes they had to carry one among them on their shoulders to the distant medical centre, sometimes a dead body to the distant village. They walked for miles on foot and had blisters on their souls, but never slowed down their pace because the goal was already set; to bring education to the people of the state and help them come out of the world of illiteracy. Scholarships were granted to those children who were admitted to schools. Essential things like bathing and washing soaps and clothes and other materials were provided free of cost. The teachers helped the children to take bath and brush. Sometimes the teachers had to give the children a nice bath and dry them with towels. Life-workers and the teachers carried rice bags on their back to the schools. They went to the forest together to collect wood. They cooked food for the kids and took them to hospitals when they fell sick.
Shri A Balakrishnan, vice president of Vivekananda Kendra, the person who was instrumental in establishing VKVs in Arunachal Pradesh with Eknathji, elucidates an incident. “I personally had the opportunity to listen from him about the hardships of those days. Once a teacher fell seriously sick and had to be carried on the shoulder by him and another person to Tezu for further treatment. The man who was recently appointed then got seriously depressed and fell ill feeling isolated in the wilderness of the mountains in the interior village. The teacher had to be tied on a long piece of bamboo and carried on the shoulders all the way to Tezu,” says Shri Balakrishnan. The most thrilling part of the incident was that, the teacher having been treated and cured in his hometown in the southern part of our country came back and worked in the same school for some more years.
Steady Progress
Obviously, progress is a slow process. Nobody expects it to happen overnight. What we require to do for it is to have patience and wait as it happens in the case of a seed which falls in the land and sprouts and grows into a gigantic tree. It happens with individuals and societies and even with nations. The stories of civilisations are the stories of this slow and steady progress. People often look at the top of the tree, its might, beauty and the fragrance of its flowers but never the roots that lie underneath gradually struggling to feed the branches. The underlining principle, which needs to be focused on, is the process of sowing the seed, without which dreaming a tree becomes impractical. The tree gives us shade and flowers and fruits and behind its expansion lies the selfless hard work of people who tilled the soil and watered it. Celebrating its 40 years of service in the state the VKVs are giving a tribute to those who sacrificed their yesterdays for our today.
By establishing schools with residential facility, the Vivekananda Kendra was reinstating the ancient Gurukul system wherein the students stay with teachers in a homely atmosphere. Slowly, situation began to improve. People were convinced of the purpose of Vivekananda Kendra’s presence in the state. The systematic initiatives by the VKVs brought smiles to both parents and students. The entry of VKVs in the field of education began to accelerate the speed of educating the youth. The concept of telephone, TV and internet was a remote idea in those days. Road connectivity was poor. Except for the letters, no communication with the family members was possible. Still the schools functioned and prospered. The teachers sat with their children and taught them. They sat together and had their food. Sometimes, they had to stay awakened throughout the night to fight the wild animals. They beat drums and yelled at a seasonal visitor, a tiger from the hills. Many a times it was difficult for them to save the bamboo sheds from the trampling of wild elephants. They washed and cleaned the others’ wounds. Such was the dedication and love they had for each other.
Thousands of children have passed out from different schools with flying colours. Let us remember the unsung heroes of those days who tilled the land for us. Many of the students became doctors, engineers, politicians, journalists, IAS officers and many hold good positions in the state administration. Above all, the underscoring contribution of the institution in the state has been its molding of a new generation with a great optimistic and patriotic approach for the society and the state and thereby for the country. It is a matter of great pride for the organisation and the state that the students who had come out of the VKVs have become the torch bearers of the state by becoming the messengers of the man-making principles of the patriotic saint of India, Swami Vivekananda. The alumni of VKVs have been instrumental in bringing out positive changes in the state with respect to education and social development. The State Government has always been helpful by strengthening the VKVs in its mission of imparting quality education.
The world is becoming more chaotic day-by-day with conflicts and skirmishes everywhere. The main thing that we can do to establish peace and tranquility in the world is to bring back an attitude of gratitude for everything which is capable of making positive changes around us. Everyone has one’s squirrel’s share to do and we in VKVs have been trying to make our generations of students aware of this holistic approach towards social life. We need to do a lot for the state and for the country just like the roots which lie under the soil, without being bothered about the name or fame but fully conscious and aware of their duty, to strengthen the tree, to help it flower and bear fruits and help it survive for years giving shade and solace to generations who take refuge under it. Celebrating forty years of service in a grand manner the Kendra is once again reminding its slogan to all the stakeholders that service to man is service to god.
(The writer is coordinator of Vivek Kiran Project in Arunachal Pradesh)
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