Hamlets Ahoy! - How We Came To At SIDH

My first really enriching experience of village life came about due to a part of my college curriculum; which went around by the name of ‘Rural Internship’. Our seniors had already warned us of the devil citing it as the hardest part of our four year engineering studies. So naturally all of us were quite curious and were already digging up details about it even when we were being ragged. There was mixed opinion about it. Some asked me to conjure up some NGO from the recesses of my wild imagination and cool my heels for the entire duration of 4 weeks while some asked me to enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity. I initially decided to go with the former but as time passed and some sense was drilled into me, I chose the latter. I also learnt that the internship came as a part of a Semester I course known to all as ‘Approaches to Indian Society’. The primary aim of the internship was to give all of us an exposure to rural life in India. At the same time we could serve some small purpose in the work of the NGO we would be assigned. So far so good.


When we were nearing the end of Semester II, it was informed that the duration of the internship had been extended to 8 weeks. As can be expected, there was a huge hue and cry over it; resulting in the duration being slashed to 6 weeks. The administration would hear no more from us. So there we were. Thinking of some decent place where we could spend the next 6 weeks. Right now our main objective was to somehow manage to escape the blazing heat of the plains. Our savior came in the form of SIDH-Society for Integrated Development of Himalayas-a NGO situated right in the lap of the Himalayas in Uttaranchal. We gobbled up the opportunity and packed our bags for the mountains. We didn’t care about the kind of the work the NGO was involved in but from the website we came to know that its primary concern was education in the remote villages of Jaunpur, a district in Uttaranchal.


So that was all about how we came to be in SIDH. It’s not important what all we did there (though I will not say that the work done was insignificant). What is more important is what all we got to learn during our stay. And that is something that at leant I will cherish forever. It was not only a once in a lifetime experience for me but also a life changing one. Be it the realization that it is up to us to write the fortune of future India or all that was said during the week long JIVAN VIDYA camp towards the end of the camp. As I might have said earlier, a seed has been planted somewhere. When will it grow into a full fledged herb, shrub, bush or tree? This is one question even I am not in a position to answer. But it will someday. About that I am sure.


Now I might like to discuss a bit about the week long camp near the end of the stay. I had hardly imagined that it would be affecting my conscience in such subtle a manner. I thought that I was not paying attention. So you can very well imagine my surprise when later in the evening I found myself mulling over whatever was said. And to confess the truth, it was a blinding realization. So simple and yet so obscured. It is surely going to change the way I look at life in several subtle ways.


But that was not the only thing that has made me look back at that one week. During those seven days I came to know many other people who had come to attend the camp. There were from all walks of life and that might be the reason westrucka chord instantly. People so varied often tend to flock together. I will always remember the downhill treks with them to the neighboring village for a steaming cup of coffee or tea. Then there were the discussions about each other problems in life late into the night. But to top it all were the dance and singing performances by several of the youth brigade (not to mention I also joined in the fest).Ah! Those were the days. Well I guess that’s the story till now. When changes take place in the plot (for the better), I’ll make sure to let you know.