My friend, Venkat, was thankful as the bumpy ride in to
Purulia District came to an end and his car stopped over at the Chargali
Village (a remote location in the midst of nowhere!!!). He badly needed to step
out of the Ambassador Car and stretch. With a population of around 2500, this
village has a small school with around 150 children. eVidyaloka (www.evidyaloka.org), a not-for-profit
social enterprise, has set up a Digital Classroom for remote education and
works with around 90 of these children providing them with high quality
schooling. Education that is carried along in the 3G networks from over 110
cities across the world to remote villages like Chargali.
Akbar Ansari is there to ensure that this school functions
and children are all studying instead of working in the fields. He has
influenced people and the government to set up this school and get in children
to study. He is putting that society in to the digital and development orbit
that they could not have otherwise imagined.
Chargali, is a story of hope and aspirations being delivered
over 3G Networks – not just education. And Akbar is leaving no stone unturned
to make this happen – literally, he is in the farm the whole day and then comes
over to the school. To ensure safe keeping of the systems, he sleeps in the
school itself.
As I tuned in to the English News Channels that evening, all
channels seemed to be carrying news of someone taking objection to the way a
lady had dressed herself as his religion, he said, didn’t permit this kind of
dress. As I watched in absolute disbelief, I could not but remember how Akbar was
working hard in Chargali to empower children of the new India. And, here was
someone else on TV being divisive. And the fun was that the TV Channels were
not giving air time to Akbar but to this other person!!!
I couldn’t help but think how two inventions of humankind
were at work – first, the divisive lines of religion that has ripped apart
humanity and secondly, the wires of data that are helping connect them
back…time will tell whether better sense prevails or not…maybe, it is time for
another Krishna or for the Krishna of our Collective Consciousness to surface.
As this thought came to me, my friend messaged me the lyrics of the song
Krishna Nee Begane Baro (sung by Hariharan of Colonial Cousins) – “Come back as
Jesus, come back and save the world. Preserve the future of every boy and girl.
Come back as Rama, forgive us for what we’ve done…Come back as Allah…Come back
as anyone…Krishna Nee Begane Baro.”
Akbar and Venkat - two individuals separated by many rivers
and mountains – one who wants to make a difference to the children of Chargali
and the other who wants to make a difference to the children of India. Both,
driven by a common goal – make this world a better place to live in!!!
It is people like Venkat and Akbar that bring out the
Krishna/Allah/Jesus in all of us. As Venkat got in to the car to head back, he
was lost in thought. His mind wandered to a quote he had read, “Sometimes, you
find yourself in the middle of nowhere and, sometimes, in the middle of
nowhere, you find yourself.”
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