FW: An invitation to meet Sri. Shyamji Gupta- All Bharat Organizer of Ekal Vidyalaya

September 21, 2002

Friends:

I received the following note from

one of the senior US coordinators (and son of the founder) of Ekal Vidyalaya

which I thought I would share with you all.Â

Ekal Vidyalaya is dedicated to providing primary education in rural

areas, concentrating primarily on poor and disadvantaged tribal peoples.Â It is

this, which distinguishes it from

ASHA, which happens to be better known being campus based more than community

based in the US.

Education of the tribal (Vanwasi)

populace (approximately 100 million) is vital so that they can become

productive and fulfilled members of an increasingly technological society, even

in India.Â From a political standpoint,

as well this is critical.Â Aggressive,

extremely well funded, Christian, Muslim and pseudo-secular Marxist

proselytizers, have targeted this community in particular.Â Bluntly speaking,

for the most part these

parties have anti-national or transnational loyalties and agendas These

religions (yes Marxists are in one sense a religion) measure their piety by

their success in increasing nose-count and then leaning on other more liberal,

easy-going, and tolerant religious traditions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism

Jainism, Parsis and other Indic religions.

The Pope, when he came to India,

made a public statement that the people of India were ripe for harvesting as if

we are fields of corn or wheat.Â I found

this insufferably arrogant and grossly insulting.

yes">Â However, such attitudes and comments are characteristic of the

insularity, fanaticism and bigotry of the current Pope.Â The Catholic Church in particular has been

devoting herculean efforts to converting these simple and innocent people,

destroying their sense of cultural identity with mainstream India, and

introducing alien cultural values.Â

Having said that, in all fairness I should add that there are (a very

few) Christians, Muslims, and even Marxists who are doing educational and

social service for these people with no ulterior or political motives.Â We

welcome, support and would work with all

such truly disinterested Good Samaritans.

The Vanwasis are illiterate, poor,

and caught in a vicious bind.Â Because

they are uneducated, they are poor, and because they are poor, they are

uneducated.Â This makes them easy prey

for the blandishments of perfidious proselytizers/evangelizers whose agenda

often is anything but otherworldly and spiritual.

Ekal Vidyalaya (literally One

Teacher School) Movement was started to give the tribals a place in the sun,

faith, and hope through providing them with primary education at virtually no

cost.Â THE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN A

RESOUNDING SUCCESS SO FAR.Â It is now

growing by leaps and bounds.

There is a gathering at the Shiva

Shakti Temple, Newark (details below) on Sunday, September 29.Â Please come to

hear the touching and truly

inspiring story of the efforts of Ekal Vidyalaya and Shyamji Gupta who is today

its All India Coordinator.Â Also, think

about contributing your mite to it.Â The

cost is only $1.00 per day or $365 per year to fund a school for 30 or 40

children.Â

Always remember that Sanatana Dharma

says Manava Seva â€“ Madhava Seva, Nar Seva â€“ Narayan Seva, Jan Seva â€“ Janardana Seva.

For

your tax-deductible contributions you can contact any of the people below or

send checks to:

color:blue">Ekal Vidyalaya

color:blue">15455 Empanada Drive,

mso-color-alt:windowtext">

color:blue">Houston, TX 77083

Please do send this

notice on to your mailing lists, as Ekal Vidyalaya is a truly worthwhile

cause.Â I send out or sponsor

solicitations very rarely, as those who know me personally will attest.Â If you

think there would be interest from

either the ethnic Indian or mainstream news media in publicizing Ekal Vidyalaya

or meeting Mr. Shyam Gupta we welcome this and can arrange for interviews.

I am sending this to multiple

mailing lists.Â Please accept my

apologies if you receive more than one copy of this notice.

12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue">Have a nice day now.

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12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue">

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color:blue">Nagendra Rao

-----Original

Message-----

AAgarwala (AT) aol (DOT) com

[AAgarwala (AT) aol (DOT) com]

Friday, September 20, 2002

1:56 AM

N.S.Rao (AT) att (DOT) net;

nadi715

An invitation to meet

Sri. Shyamji Gupta- All Bharat Organizer of Ekal Vidyalaya

12.0pt;margin-left:.5in">

color:black">Nagendraji & Dinesh Bhai,

When I downloaded the invitation on my computer, I found that it was not sent

properly as an attachment so now I am doing copy and paste.

color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext">

font-family:"Century Gothic";mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:

bold">An invitation to meet

font-family:"Century Gothic";mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:

bold">

color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext;font-weight:bold">

color:maroon;font-weight:bold">Shri Shyamji Gupta

font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold">

color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext;font-weight:bold">

color:black;font-weight:bold">(

font-weight:bold">Akhil Bhartiya Sangathan Mantri of Ekal Vidyalaya Movement)

font-weight:bold">____

windowtext;font-weight:bold">

font-weight:bold">Sunday,

September 29,2002

windowtext">

font-weight:bold">Time: 10:30

AM to 12:30 PM

font-weight:bold">Place: Shiv

Shakti Temple, 200 Badger Ave, Newark, NJ 07108

color:black">

Arial;color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext">

font-weight:bold">Sri Shyamji Gupta, M.Sc., after his post-graduate

education, has fully dedicated himself for the cause of a comprehensive

all-round upliftment of our Vanwasi (tribal) brothers and sisters.Â Working in

the remotest tribal villages of

Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal & Northeast Bharat since 1989, he has built

a team of 1500 full-time volunteers for this cause. He has extensively traveled

in every nook and corner of Bharat including all of the North Eastern tribal

states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc., Jharkhand,

Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar

Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh. He has in-depth knowledge and profound insights

about the complex problems and challenges faced by the Vanwasi brothers and

sisters. Sri Shyamji is currently visiting USA and UK to share his passionate

experience and vision of Ekal Vidyalaya movement, with concerned Bhartiya

Americans who deeply feel for the future destiny of this long neglected section

of our Bhartiya society which has been left untouched by the educational,

economic and health related developments enjoyed by the rest of the countrymen

and world. In his very busy schedule, he has

accepted an invitation by the participants/donors/well wishers of

the movement to visit Tri-state area from 9-22-02 to 10-12-02.Â You are invited

with your family and friends

to meet Shyamji and attend his presentation. Please do not miss the

opportunity to become an active participant of the Herculean Movement taking shape

to be confirmed by history in retrospect.

line-break">

color:blue;font-weight:bold">EKAL VIDYALAYA MOVEMENT

color:blue">(For Total Integrated

Development of 100 Million tribal people of India)

font-weight:bold">Ekal Vidyalaya Movement (one Teacher School)

aims at taking the torch of basic non-formal education to the remotest Vanwasi

villages of Bharat. Currently it has established about 8,000 schools educating

over 300,000 tribal children in 16 states of India, and plans to set up over

100,000 Ekal Vidyalaya by year 2010, broadly covering about 100 million Vanwasi

population of Bharat. It is thought provoking to learn that the literacy rates

amongst Vanwasi Bandhu are only 12% and 5% for male and female respectively

whereas the national averages are 65% male and 40% female.

windowtext">

font-weight:bold">The Challenge:

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The

neglect of Vanwasi people has prevented Indiaâ€™s advancement in

post-independence period.Â Illiteracy

makes them an easy target for political and economic exploitation, social

unrest and religious conversion. Decades of neglect have resulted in a

shamefully poor level of literacy as reflected in the following statistics:

windowtext">

National

literacy average:Â Â Â maleÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 65%

3">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tribal literacy

average maleÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 12%

National

literacy average:Â Â Â femaleÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

40%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tribal

literacy average femaleÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5%

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Total

number of tribal villages:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,33,913

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Total

tribal population:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Million (approx.)

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Tribal

villages having schools:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 13,400

or less than 10% approx.

font-weight:bold">LET US LIGHT THE LAMP IN THE LIVES OF VANWASIS

windowtext">

font-weight:bold">An Appeal: We urge you to attend this meeting to

learn more about the movement and participate in open discussions

windowtext">

font-weight:bold">Website: For more information on the Ekal

Vidyalaya movement, please visit its website:

font-family:Arial;color:red;font-weight:bold">www.ekalvidyalay.org.

font-weight:bold">

color:black;font-weight:bold">Contact persons:

bold">

Arial;color:black">For more information, please contact:

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Anand

Agarwala

Arial;color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

973-822-9355Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Arvind PatelÂ Â

973-256-2472Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dr. Nirmal

Matto

color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 516-671-1615

color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext">

Prakash

Waghmare

Arial;color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

973-731-6717Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Arvind SantÂ Â Â

718-979-6144Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dr. Rajesh

Shukla

color:blue">Â Â Â Â 201-941-7704

color:blue;mso-color-alt:windowtext">

Dilip

Amin

color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

973-361-8072Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Nagendra

RaoÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 718-886-1230Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dr. Ila

SukhadiaÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 718-981-0752

windowtext">

Girish

Gandhi

color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

908-901-9380Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Rajen

ShahÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 718-229-0496Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Shiv

ThaparÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 732-390-1980

windowtext">

Praveen

Sharma

color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 718-987-8565

color:blue">Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Gaurang

Vaishnav

Arial;color:blue">Â Â Â 732-603-7740

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Note:

Snacks will be served after the program.

color:black;font-weight:bold">Directions for Shiv Shakti Temple:

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Rte 78

East or West > Exit 56 > After Ramp make 2nd Left onto Bigelow

Street > then 3rd Right onto Badger Ave. (2 story white building on

right side)

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