Travel..Pause..Write.. Travelogged

We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us. This particular piece of my writing is about my experience of probably one of the best trips that I have had until now. The trip was to Nasik. As the legend goes the name is associated with Ramayana. Epic says that when Shoorpanaka tried to woo Rama and Lakshmana towards her and when she forced Lakshmana for marriage, he cut her nose and that is how the place got name as Nasik. In a similar way - all the emptiness and void in my life(at least the ones which i thought was a dependency), the ego and some part of anger was actually trimmed off my life too.

Let me begin with the journey. We were 8 of us from Bengaluru and 2 of our collegues were to join us directly at Nasik. So we started from Bengaluru at around 11.20AM(Bus was to start by 10.30AM actually). We got comfortable and  thus began a beautiful journey that would change our perspective of life once and for all. We played a lot of games such as cards, the contact game(more of a dictionary game) and the legendary Mafia game. Amidst all the conversations, we started speaking about our experiences of life and night was filled with nerve chilling horror stories ;)
So we reached Nasik around 9 AM in the morning and checked into our rooms by 9.30. We then freshened up and reached the Bosch plant by 11.30AM. We were greeted really well there and then we got an opportunity to visit the CSR - Bosch India Social Engagement forum to understand more on what is going on in and around Nasik. This is the exact point where there was some input given to our brain to start thinking on a wider perspective.

Bosch stands for the following four values : We Skill, We Care, We Share and We Empower. and true to its synonyms - they have helped educate youths,provide with healthcare support for the school going kids, helped the neighborhood which have serious water issues and also empowered woman to be self-sufficient! More details coming in in the part part. Here, we were given about hint of particularly a village where the tribal are dwelling- their life style and the problems they are currently facing. So after almost a hour and a half of introduction, were headed for lunch wherein again we had discussion about our interests in CSR activities and exchanged views on our experiences and thoughts with the others there. By 2.30, we headed towards the first project.

We reached the first project, a school - "Maa Vittal Rao Pattvardhan Utkarsh Aashram Shaala, Vagera" in Triambakeshwar Taluk, Nasik. We were greeted in a traditional way - all the 10 of us. They had the pooja thali ready, so all of us had theeka on our forehead before we could step in to the school. We were escorted by a Boschler from Nasik and there in we had a local teacher to take us around. We were first shown the art gallery of the school. The school lacked a drawing teacher and Bosch has now provided them with one - who is taking art to a totally new level. We were taken by surprise when we watched the different kind of paintings that we saw and were in for a shock when we went in the Physics, Chemistry and the Geography labs. Each of these labs were painted by the art teacher himself and all of the ideation provided by the teachers. Now is it not something great to be done in-house?

We then moved on to the next section for sports and were happy to know that they had representatives in State and National Level games and have already won laurels for the school.
We then moved to the KG section and trust me we saw the happiest of faces there. kids with teeny tiny hands and  the broadest of smiles were all into the learning mode - this place truely defines "where learning meets fun!". Yes, the speciality here is that unlike us - who were confined to four walls of a room, these kids had drawings on the floor and working models for learning. Yes, right from tables, basics mathematics and learning alphabets - everything was so beautifully being taught practically. We saw them learn alphabets by merely singing songs, add numbers by merely playing with toys prepared by the teachers and learn tables by just moving objects/dice on the square boxes drawn on the floor. So much fun right from Kindergarten. We also saw them answer all the questions the teachers popped to them. At that time, each of us were jealous for the childhood that we had wherin we had to by-heart things for the sake of moving on to the next class and here what we saw was learning out of interest and not out of compulsion! This was just a wow!!

We then moved on the to look at the kitchen in the school. As this is a residential school for the tribal community, there are an approximate of 500 inmates - both boys and girls in the school. We were happy to know that Bosch has provided the school with water purifier and also providing the kids who are into sports with nutritional diet along with the food which includes dates and other necessary dry fruits. Due to this aspect, we can see a positive curve in number of kids actively participating in sports and also the increasing number of trophies for the school!
We also had a look into the hostel stay. Separate sections for boys and girls is maintained,  bunker beds and trunks provided to the inmates. We also had a look at the library where in we understood that kids use the place to even study  at their convenience. We were also told that there are kids who study late into the night! We then moved on to labs and saw that all the labs are well equipped for classes up til 12th.

We were lucky that the same day happened to be the annual day in school. Much to our surprise one of our colleagues was called on to the stage and was awarded with a shawl and bouquet as a token of gratitude to Bosch for all the good deeds being done to them. All of us were also given roses as a token of thanks! Nothing made us more proud!

We then moved to the exit to conclude and learnt that there is major water scarcity problem in and around the school. Though there is a functional dam in near the school, there is no pipeline for connecting water and the installing is too expensive for the school to afford. However, improvement proposal from school is on the way and there should be a solution soon too.

We called it a day for the first project visit. We then went back to the hotel for quickly freshening up as there was a surprise planned for all of us for dinner. So we headed in the TT towards the "surprise place" and reached the place by around 8PM. We reached a place called "Sanskriti" and true to its name we are welcome with the traditional dhol. We danced for like more than half an hour before we could even enter the restaurant. We then had a look around and then to our surprise we were called in for more activities. We were adorned with turbans(lucky that even girls were allowed to get one), then there were prayers offered to the deity and the more music(bhajans specifically) and more dance. Dance being the soul for each of us - We danced our heart out with the magic musicians there who were equally vibrant as us to help us enjoy every second. Then after almost two hours of "naach gaana" we sat down for dinner. The authentic Maharasthrian thali was served and we enjoyed all the delicacies for almost an hour powered by super duper chaas :)

We then went back to our rooms and retired to sleep after a round of game of cards(with  the ones that were awake of course)as we had the D-Day(Marathon Day) the next day!
Next morning we were all up and ready for the event by 7.30AM. The arrangement and the crowd was so very fascinating to see. By 8.30AM, we saw the ground full and then the opening ceremony began. We were elated that among us as torch bearers we had players who were to represent India at the Olympics. Even more so - their contribution, enthusiasm and passion towards the game and the laurels they won made us feel so proud and energetic for the run! Another beautiful discovery which put us all on cloud nine was that Bhattacharya Sir was the one who had founded this Nasik Run 17 years ago! Yes, the humble soul that he is, we were so very proud of being part of his good deed!
And so the marathon was flagged off with the hoisting of the flag, releasing of tri color balloons and of course the beautiful confetti! We started running along with the first ones, shouting slogans and encouraging each other all the way. Kids and oldies - all running for a common cause - Run few miles for many smiles!! We completed our run successfully and must say we were all content!
Post the run, were were all invited to visit Mr. Rahul's place. We learnt a lot from him and his family over a cup of coffee! Many such humble invitations made us realize that we are a small little thing in this big whole world :)

We then returned to our rooms by 12 and then quickly freshened up, had a quick lunch and moved towards the next project.

This was another village which was almost 40KMS away from our place of stay. The scenery on the way is too beautiful for eyes to take. We actually felt like we were somewhere around Giza while watching pyramids like structures all along the beautiful roads. We reached the Bosch India Women Empowerment Centre by 3PM. The next 2 hours here was just a life changing time for each of us as we felt an emotional connect right then. We were again welcomed by the team there. To make the upcoming story simple and short - We just watched the movie "Padman" right there. As written earlier - this village doesnt have water even for basic needs. Women of the village almost walk a distance of 5KMS everyday to fetch just 5litres of water EVERY SINGLE DAY. With no water and very less support from the men in the village, we saw how gracefully and enthusiastically the women in the village have taken up the entire responsibility of uplifting the village, the hygiene for girls and also to take care of their families.

We were first introduced to the sanitary pad making machine.  Yes, you read it right! Considering the reality of the place, the brave ladies have taken up the challenge to improve the living conditions for women in the village. All of us know the amount of hygiene and care that is required while a women is on her period. As a big step, Bosch offered them a course on the making of sanitary napkins - a workshop for three days and we were surprised by the number of napkins already prepared for usage within the next 2 days! Because we all know the process of KT that goes on and on and then the amount of time we take to actually start implementing it. The ladies were so curious and so energetically explaining us the entire process step by step that all of us were moved by the passion and interest they had in making something out of scratch. Living in an educated society, period is still considered a hush hush topic amidst us. So we were really curious to know how could they manage to convince the villagers there. They said that initially it was indeed difficult. However, the village head approved the cause and now all the women involved in the making of pads go to each of the houses and explain the importance of hygiene. Must say - hats off to the courage that these ladies have for taking up the challenge of changing the mindset of an entire village!

The second aspect here was that Bosch has also offered tailoring machines for interested women. We saw quite a number even here and were happy to know that after the basic training was completed, few of the ladies(some who never even left houses and met neighbors) have moved to Nasik to complete the advanced course. Now aren't you surprised too? Yes, Bosch indeed has changed life for not one but many of us! We saw the different types of clothes being stitched and were also happy to converse with the ladies there.They had few questions for us and were so happy interacting with our team and this feeling was mutual. The content and happy smile in each of the faces there proved that an unseen road in their life's journey was opened too.

After a lot of talking and answering, we were just about to conclude when a group of ladies wanted to perform for us. We were so engrossed in their dance that we requested to join them and it was super fun. What was even more beautiful was that, for the dance that they just sang and performed, the lyrics were all for Bosch! Yes, they were singing and dancing in praise for the help given to them. As this was in their regional language, we missed this part. After being convinced from the visit, we parted ways and then headed to next destination.

Before going to the next project, we were invited to a house for a cup of tea. The neatly kept mud house and the love poured to us in the form cup of tea was enough for us to connect with the family. We felt nostalgic looking at the ceiling, choola and the floor(swept with cow-dung as in old times). After spending an ample amount of time there, we moved out, looked around the area where kids were all smiles looking at our TT and also saw the way rice was being beaten!
We then reached the dam project supported by Bosch. It was disheartening to see the water problem there and just like they say "every cloud has a silver lining", Bosch has helped the villagers set up a break water against the lake for storing water for an entire year. How the water seeps in and moves to the fields across is another science to explain. In this way, Bosch has enabled the villagers there for better living circumstances.

We then moved for dinner - again a place with authentic Maharashtrian dinner and a trip to our hotel in Vishal's Scorpio. With fun and laughter we reached our destination. That day late evening, we had an activity planned by Mr. Rahul - to talk about our experiences and also understand from each of us the purpose of our visit. The outcome of this was an area of improvement and also a pat on our backs for the goal accomplished and to be accomplished.
The next day we went to visit the famous Triambakeshwar Shrine. However after almost waiting for 3 hours in the queue for darshan, we were disappointed that we couldn't make it to go in the temple as we had to return back and had a bus to catch the same. But a super cup of adrak chai lifted our spirits that afternoon.

We then came back to the hotel, checked out, dined and then started back to our way back to Bengaluru. Again the game of cards, endless talks kept us all close and occupied until we reached home :) Thanks to the mobile network which had very limited access to our phones so that we could spend quality time with others 😃

To summarize the outcome of the trip. Here it goes:
They say - It sometimes takes an entire lifetime to understand the purpose of your mere existence. To us - this trip has changed the perspective of life in unimaginable ways. A tiny squirrel also has big problems. Similar way we realized that the World has bigger problems and we are just too privileged to crib for small little things that are affecting our routines. Like that saying goes - " The grass is always greener on the other side" but somehow, what we saw is just barren land and thirsty throats that are struggling yet happy and content with their lives. Through this trip, our bonds just grew stronger and we feel more like a family and more connected now. The inspiring stories from each of them has made us think deeper about our life and earn more respect for them.
At this point, I would like to thank Bhattacharya sir for making this trip possible. The two support systems for the cause - Chandrashekar Karthik and Choudhary Ashwani(who we dearly address as Karthik anna and Ashwani bhaiyya) who gave me an opportunity to go out there, talk and experience this new form of world. You guys have given me more reasons to live and be thankful towards life. And to each and every person who accompanied me in this trip - Like a permanent tatoo on the skin, you guys have carved your names on to my soul.. So rest assured, you will all always remain special to me :) Thank you for bearing the Rowdy Rao - talkative and troubling for a whole lot of 4 days!! And last but not the least - my leads who gave me the opportunity to take a break from work and grab the opportunity provided!