Imagine a barren wasteland with dying crops, dry wells with water insufficient to feed an ant, and houses with gaping holes that provide barely any shelter. Now imagine a luscious landscape with wells overflowing with clean water, animals that graze around thriving crops enough to feed generations of families, and houses that can withstand thunderstorms and hold the happiest hearts inside. The first is the situation of many villages in India and second is what could be their potential. And what separates them often could be the dedicated work of social transformers.
We had the opportunity to interview one such social transformer Mr. Kashinath Reddy Chittem of the Ekalavya Foundation and to learn about how they have pioneered change towards sustainable development in many villages in India.
The Foundation was started thirteen years ago to promote education, Indian culture, and help local farmers make their agriculture better and more sustainable. Mr. Venugopal Reddy, the founder and the current CEO of the organization, was a politician for 20 years before quitting politics at age 60 and dedicating himself to social transformation at the grass roots. Mr. Kashinath Reddy Chittem is part of the core team of this organization.
The work of Ekalavya foundation reminded us of the saying of Earl Nightingale “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. Time will pass anyway.” Reddy’s and his team’s journey was filled with many obstacles. The Foundation had to spend a lot of time initially to understand the challenges of the villagers and how sustainable transformation could be brought about. Very few changes came about in the early years. It took quite a while to gain the trust of the people, fix initial mistakes, develop the actual project itself, and make sure there was a way the community could continue for years to come without being completely dependent on the foundation. But over time their dream of leading the villages to sustainable transformation was accomplished. Chittem told us that the verse from Bhagavad Gita “yasya nāhankṛito bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate hatvā ‘pi sa imāl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate” (he who is rid of all selfish thoughts and has no ill will, cannot actually be doing a bad thing) has been one of their core beliefs throughout their journey. He told us that volunteer work gives him inner satisfaction, and true happiness.
Is money important to execute such social projects? Yes, but not as much as the people themselves. In the first few villages that Mr. Reddy and his team had chosen for development through their projects, the people were extremely skeptical about his intentions. They thought that he was part of the crowd that would create a short-term solution and maybe even run away with the money, Mr. Reddy told us smilingly. He had to gain their trust by letting the results speak for themselves.
“If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children.” Mahatma Gandhi had said. This principle and the quote itself literally has become one of the core beliefs of the Ekalavya Foundation and the basis of their project “Akshaya Vidya”. Akshaya Vidya is a program where people in slums get education. Ekalavya Foundation doesn’t pick a tutor with thousands of achievements, they pick a girl from that slum either graduating or soon to graduate and meticulously train her to teach a large batch of 6th graders. Soon this teacher becomes a source of inspiration to the slum kids and also the anchor of the project. They have about one hundred twenty centers and eight hundred children in total just in Hyderabad attending their educational centers.
Their other projects include watershed development, that helps farmers to increase their income. The foundation builds different sources of water without harming the ecological balance, teaches the villagers how to make their crops thrive using this water, and creates awareness of the benefits of the watersheds.
We were told that the foundation was doing well, their projects were all on track and then suddenly they’re struck with a blow by COVID-19. Their entire work relies on hands-on work ,and interaction with people which the pandemic made difficult. What did they do? They had to suspend all their operations for two months and quickly devise a new way to help the people without losing any time. They engaged in relief and rehabilitation: a whopping forty-five thousand grocery kits were given to families that required it.
We could sense that Reddy and his team have gained immense respect from the people in the villages that they work. When they enter any village the villagers put a tilak (a traditional mark of Hindu culture) on their forehead, conduct aarthi (a ceremonial event) to welcome them. Reddy tells us that it is the smile of their faces that keeps him going. Is this not all a lot of work? Is it not tiring or exhausting? He tells us “if you like something, it won’t feel like work.”
One of his favorite personal anecdotes is a time where he went to a village meeting around 9:30 pm when all the villagers would regularly go to sleep. This meeting went on and all the attendees were drowsy and were barely awake. At around 11:30 pm the meeting finally concluded. But the villagers realized that Kashinathji and his team hadn’t had their dinner. The villagers didn’t even give them a moment to think about what to do and arranged a great dinner for them. This bond with villagers is what Reddy and his team cherish.
Samanvitha Kaligotla
Samanvitha is an 8th grader from Naperville Illinois. She he loves to sing, play veena, and wishes to become a neurosurgeon.
