Optimism in India's villages, India New England News article by Bal Ram Singh

[Guest guest]

>Bal Ram Singh <bsingh

>bsingh

>Optimism in India's villages, India New England News article by

>Bal Ram Singh

>Fri, 20 Feb 2004 12:54:35 -0500

>

>Dear Friends and Colleagues,

>

>My latest observations on conditions in India, which will, in my humble

>opinion, have impact on the global conditions sooner than later.

>

>Bal Ram Singh

>

>___

>India New England - Opinion

>Issue: 02/15/04

>http://www.indianewenglandnews.com/news/612327.html

>

>Village visit sparks optimism for India's future

>By Bal Ram Singh

>

>My recent visit to India brought perhaps the freshest air of my life, and

>it was not because compressed-natural-gas-driven automobiles have reduced

>pollution in Delhi. Nor was it the company of many non-resident Indians who

>can be found dwelling around the land of their ancestors, taking or

>managing some of the outsourced jobs.

>

>It was also not the relief one feels with government regulation of bottled

>water to keep an acceptable level of pesticides in them. No, it was none of

>these or many more such items of modernity that can be listed.

>

>The freshest air came from the hope and inspiration of Indian youth and

>villagers, which I saw throughout my direct interactions with them.

>

>Although my visit was limited to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, my feelings seem

>to resonate with not only rest of India, but with Indians living outside

>India.

>

>India has always represented stability in the face of all kinds of oddities

>- exploitation, poverty, misrule, corruption, conflicts, etc. And India has

>been able to maintain its sane stability through many of its eternal

>traditional values now mostly limited for to practice in the villages.

>

>Villages in Uttar Pradesh are taking charge of their own destiny, and there

>was only one overt reason I could gather from them. It was a promise of 14

>hours of electricity by the new chief minister, Mr. Mulayam Singh. This

>promise of a stable supply of even 14 hours of electricity has triggered a

>hope in the villagers who think they can now make a stable planning of

>their crops, small-scale industry, social events, and rest of their lives.

>

>Looking for some sympathy, the headmaster of my village school told me that

>government is not replacing teachers in the primary schools, which are

>operating with only 20 percent teaching staff. But, he does not realize

>that his school now serves only less than 20 percent of area students.

>There are many private schools being run by people in the area, which

>provide a better education to students than government-run primary schools.

>Villagers are taking charge of the education of their children.

>

>I met Shree Shiva Das Atreya, from a village next to mine. He is a

>60-year-old farmer, and has only a middle-school education from a local

>school. But he has composed several books of poems depicting epics and

>philosophies of India, including one titled "Hanuman Charit."

>

>"Hanuman Charit" is a 470-page book of couplets written in Avadhi in the

>style of Tulsi Das' "Ram Charit Manas." Shree Atreya does his own research

>on the topics he writes, and even traced his ancestry to Rishi Atri, the

>son of Brahma, after being mocked about his last name "Yadav."

>

>Shree Atreya represents a true tradition of India in asserting himself on

>the side of truth and knowledge. His new identity (or jaati) not only

>represents his ancestry but also his real qualities and actions (gunas and

>karmas). He couldn't care less for any help from government or social

>activists to provide him with a social equity, even though current ruler of

>the state is Mulayam Singh Yadav.

>

>Shree Atreya is my idea of an ideal Indian. He has given his hand-written

>"Hanuman Charit" to me so that I could perhaps get it published, as he

>could not afford to do that. However, he does not want or expect any

>remuneration or copyrights for his compositions.

>

>Imagine that level of selflessness and trust! Although we live in a society

>of rat race with patents and publicity, it will do the whole world some

>good if at least NRIs stopped for a moment to remember such a powerful

>heritage of theirs!

>

>Much of the ancient Indian texts remain author-less and copyright-less, a

>tradition borne out of public good and humility, the true practical basis

>of Indian-ness.

>

>Although down at the bottom of the recognition list in modern India,

>700,000 villages of India are well and alive on many crucial social,

>environmental, philosophical and traditional issues.

>

>For example, villages account for the least proportions of dowry deaths,

>female feticide, pollution, bribery, murders, etc., and the highest

>proportions of self-sufficiency in food and shelter.

>

>People of the stature of Mrs. Aruna Roy, the 2000 Magsaysay Award winner,

>have quit Indian Administrative Services and are devoting their lives to

>the cause of Indian villages, and find strength in villagers for living a

>purposeful life.

>

>Many Indians living in the U.S. have started working with villages of

>India. While the stories of people like Virendra (Sam) Singh and Jagdish

>Shukla have been reported in the media, there are many such people working

>on their own to help villages (http://nri-home-coming.com) modernize their

>education, training, and living standards, while still maintaining their

>traditional strength of simple and peaceful living.

>

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, the director of the Center for Indic Studies at the

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, may be reached at bsingh.

>

>

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D.

>Director, Center for Indic Studies

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

>285 Old Westport Road

>Dartmouth, MA 02747

>

>Phone: 508-999-8588

>Fax: 508-999-8451

>Email: bsingh

>

>Internet address: http://www.umassd.edu/indic

 

_______________

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