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Disha ~ April ‘12 1 DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction VOL 15 No. 3 APR - JUNE ‘12 ASIA PLATEAU A glimpse of its outreach

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Disha ~ April ‘12 1

DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction DISHA direction

VOL 15 No. 3 APR - JUNE ‘12

ASIA PLATEAU A glimpse of its outreach

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Initiatives of Change is a diverse network committed to building relationships of trust across the world’s divides. ‘Initiatives of Change International’, an association of national IofC legal bodies, is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

‘Friends of Moral Re-Armament (India)’ is an educational charitable trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. Donations are exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The auditors of the trust are Deloitte Haskins and Sells. Asia Plateau at Panchgani, in the Western Ghats, 100 km from Pune is a training and conference centre for IofC.

Editorial team:Ravindra RaoIshika MukherjeeMahendra Shah Saurabh Gupta

IofC in BRIEF Contents

Disha is published quarterly. ‘Disha’ in most Indian languages means direction –something IofC essentially seeks to offer.Views expressed in Disha are those of the respective authors and are not necessarily held by Disha or by IofC.More information and news of IofC can be found on our website: www.in.iofc.org email: [email protected]

Editorial............................................................................................................04

Leadership Training for Industry at Asia Plateau.....................................05by Mahendra Shah

The Symbiosis Journey.........................................................................07by Rhea D’Souza and Siddharth Singh

Ethics and Governance..................................................................................09by Arun Wakhlu

Youth in Action............................................................................................11by Viral Mazumdar

INI at Asia Plateau....................................................................................13by Bhanu Kale

Grampari - A Glimpse.....................................................................................15by Jared Buono

An Innovative Change Maker at Grampari................................................16by Christopher Breitenburg

SERP - Report...................................................................................................19

How to Forgive................................................................................................22by Mark Metherell

Reel Man Fulfils Vow for Real...................................................................23

Judge not - Trust Fully!...................................................................................24by Jeyes Parthiban

India I Care

cover photo: Runjiv. J. Kapur

Reflections

Panchgani

Is Panchgani a plateau in outer spaceWhere the sun paints everything goldAnd the moon silverAnd the stars hang like improbable oversized propsArranged by an amateur event management group?

Or is Panchgani a poetic fancyWhere you let your hair downTake off the clothes of false ego and hypocrisyAnd emerge in your nude primordial selves?

Or is Panchgani a thoughtless stateWhere mind ceases to functionWhere you do all that you wanted to do but dared notFor fear that others might laugh,Like admit that negative

feelings were masksPut on so no one could place youIn this arena of hate?

Or is Panchgani an utter silence and alonenessWhere you are forced to confront yourselfThe hidden self you have tried to flee from all these years

And admit in the innermost depths of your soulThat compassion is not weaknessIdeals not an idle chatterAnd goodness not a hackneyed religious phraseMeaningless in real everyday life?

Where tears are permissibleWhere you can hold your enemy in tight embraceAnd weep together?

- M. K Kaw (Retd. IAS)

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Editorial

Origins

Programs for people from industry have been a regular feature at Asia Plateau for over four decades. Earlier, they were called programs on “Creative Leadership for Industry and National Development”. These began in the seventies when the country was going through a conflict of ideologies of the left, dominated by the working class, and of the right, dominated by capitalists. The battles were fought on shop floors of industry. The country was suffering heavily as a result. The Creative Leadership programs were initiated with the objective of replacing conflict by partnership, based on overcoming mistrust and finding a bigger common goal between management and labour. These programs played their part in changing the country’s industry climate from confrontation to cooperation.

Twin Programs Evolved

With changing needs in industry, these were developed into two highly successful programmes for industry – the “Effective Living & Leadership” (ELL) and the “Heart of Effective Leadership” (HEL), which are run every month at Asia Plateau. The ELL programme, which has become very popular and much sought after, is for a cross section of industrial employees, middle managers, union leaders and workers. Each ELL programme, conducted in Hindi, attracts 70 to 90 participants, is sponsored by a number of reputed industries. Many companies send their employees with their spouses, having found that it enhanced

t h e i r effectiveness! On the last day of their stay, there is a session where the

participants share their experiences. Sitting through such a session is a very moving experience. One hears instances of reconciliation within families.

In a recent case, a municipal employee related

Leadership Training for Industry at Asia Plateau

Mahendra Shah*

Recently soon after a session on “relationships” a municipal employee phoned his elder brother,

apologised for his part in the 30-year old estrangement. On returning he and his wife met the brother and his family; a new relationship has started.

Change is coming…and Asia Plateau is playing its part

The situation in the world does not leave many people happy and satisfied. The never ending eco-nomic crises, the Arab conflicts, corruption and poor governance, climate change, poverty and so on are constant discussion points on every TV channel. “Things in the world are getting worse” we all complain. However I heard a TV guest drawing our attention to the earlier eras’ scene with problems of slavery, huge industrial strife, colonialism, world wars, cold wars and so on. Humanity is progressing, he said, conceding that we have a long way, a very long way to go to reach anything resembling peace, social and economic justice. It is still a hard and long struggle. You can-not afford to relax, if humanity has to have a hope of resolution to at least some of these problems.

The hope is the vastly increased awareness, gener-al recognition that the causes mostly lie with hu-man attitude and behaviour – in fact, with human character traits like selfishness, greed and preju-dice. The hope grows when you see that human beings have a better and nobler side to them too, like we have seen in history. A new hope is born when people change to follow their nobler in-stincts, rather than the baser side that we perceive to be dominant at the moment. Thanks to the me-dia the information is more easily spread to cre-ate awareness, even though its obsession with the negative is more obvious and we generally seem to enjoy it too, lamenting at the negatives. Yet the series of programmes, “Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone shall triumph)” has proven the power of the media in inspiring people to take positive action while dispelling our ignorance and driving us out of our indifference.

Asia Plateau has been witness to an increasing number of programmes where people from every walk of life are finding a new purpose by wid-ening their areas of concerns, taking significant steps of change and going back with new hope and with a new determination to use their posi-tions, power and indeed their life to make a dif-ference to the society. Though this IofC centre has been conducting programmes for over 4 decades, the surge of demand and eagerness and increased readiness to participate in building a new country and contributing unselfishly to the larger society has been refreshing, breath-taking and inspiring. The scale is unprecedented and the demand is ever increasing from leaders of various sections who want to bring value to the people for whom they are responsible and pay attention to the indi-vidual and his/her spiritual development. This has given positive results in industry, education and governance.

In the following pages, disha has tried to bring a glimpse of what is happening in, from and through Asia Plateau in recent times. Obviously, it is just the tip of the iceberg we are able to cover. With your support, good wishes and prayers, the ones connected with Asia Plateau are confident of see-ing a New India and a New World through many who have been coming here and many who may not even have heard of the centre, but are engaged in positive change actions. disha salutes them all and wishes them well. We feel humbled to be given the privilege of being a part of the change process that is bound to sweep the country.

- Ravindra Rao

Participants at the inauguration

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how after a session on “relationships” he decided to get reunited with his brother and the others of the family after thirty years of estrangement. The family had opposed his marriage to a girl of his choice. While still at Asia Plateau, he called up his elder brother and apologised for his part in keeping up the division. We learnt that on return, he and his wife visited the brother’s family, got his blessings and started a new relationship.

Heart of Effective Leadership (HEL)

HEL programme is for senior company executives like General Managers and Vice Presidents. Normally, 40 participants are admitted to each programme. The m u l t i - n a t i o n a l Siemens wants 500 top executives trained in HEL and have been sending 15 to 20 of them regularly to each HEL conducted at Asia Plateau. Encouraged by the results, Siemens is now working on plans for IofC training to all their 20,000 employees in India. The powerful and positive impact on the executives is uniform and many offer to come back as facilitators to either to share their experience or just to volunteer.Nearly a thousand people attend these two programs every year. Each programme requires a team of effective facilitators and faculty. Once a year, a faculty development workshop is organised at Asia Plateau for sharpening facilitator skills as well as for inducting new facilitators, mostly from among the past participants.

Turning Point at ELLs and HELs

Presentation of stories of personal change and instances of creative ideas which have brought unexpected solutions in personal, family or work situations differentiate ELLs and HELs from other training programs. The facilitators share from their own personal and work life. Personal story sharing is the ‘DNA’ of IofC programs. Very often, these are deeply transformative influences. These stories reach the heart and move people. In both these programs, there is a session on family life and mending relationships. This session is most

often the turning point in the program. After this session, p a r t i c i p a n t s open up to share moving stories about r e l a t i o n s h i p s which have gone wrong in their lives and decide to take reconci l iatory

action, like in the instance quoted earlier. It is also noticed that changes at the personal level often lead to a transformation in work related behaviours, like greater cooperation and responsibility at the workplace. The HEL program focuses on the need for ethical leadership in industry and in society.

The emphasis is on beginning with oneself and not blaming others. Personal case

studies are shared in this program to demonstrate that the practice of ethics in business pays in the form of winning the trust of customers, colleagues and community, which in turn supports business growth.

The Symbiosis Journey*

Rhea D’Souza and Siddharth Singh**

Every year, about 700 students walk through the gates of Asia Plateau. Wide eyed…some cynical...some bored...some in deep contemplation, some with a feeling of ennui and some experimenters…But all of them certainly curious...to see what it is that their seniors saw and experienced that they claimed was “One of the BEST experiences of their lives thus far”. Keeping up the promise and keeping with the tradition...they are not told anything before they come to AP, either by the staff or their colleagues and therefore receive the gift and luxury of their own experiences. The journey that they traverse is one of “Explore – Experience – Express”. Beginning with an understanding of the Four Values and their role in everyday life and moving to experimenting with “Quiet Time”… The students get to spend ample time with them and with nature…This has often inspired many a great thoughts, insights and some soul stirring poetry. One belief that invariably gets challenged is - “ethics and profitability go hand in hand”, and most, if not all, go back having loosened the grip of this thought on their minds and the way they see or have seen the corporate world. Listening to inspiring stories of people who have incorporated these values in the fabric of their work and are successful and happy, give them a new horizon to look at. Making decision out of Conviction and not giving in to Conveniences is a dialogue many engage in. Looking deeper at relationships, being strong enough to be vulnerable and also take courageous actions to put things right is one of the most rewarding experiences that they go through.Finally, an honest inquiry into looking at what is

the larger purpose of life, how can own skills and talents meet the needs of the world…and coming up with personal decisions of how can one make a difference. How can personal success be meaningful, not just for self but to the society at large? In most journeys, one goes back with more than what one came with. This is one place where they are happy to leave things behind…Certain beliefs, unexamined assumptions, fears, relationship issues and most of all, cynicism.

Some of the decision that the students share are:“I will practice quiet time”“Not litter or pay bribes”“Not judge others”“Find more opportunities to work with society”“Tell people who matter, how much they are loved”“Not take friends for granted”“Connect more with nature and Silence”“60 Seconds apology”“Not waste food and water”“Try and live with convictions”“Be more open and share my feelings ““When we build walls to keep people out, we also cage ourselves in”“I have found myself here and intend to keep in touch with this new person”

…now the company is working out plans to train all their 20,000 employees in IofC

*Mahendra Shah, a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi, worked in Thermax for 24 years and has been serving IofC since 1991.

Participants in a session

Participants visit Grampari

*A four-day training at Asia Plateau is part of the curriculum for several institutions of the reputed Symbiosis group in Pune. Symbiosis group runs courses ranging from Management Studies and Communications to Agricultural management.

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Some questions and answers:

The Asia Plateau family, the interns in particular, led by Rhea D’Souza and Siddharth Singh as joint course directors conduct the programmes. The learning is not only for the participants but also for everyone from Asia Plateau involved in creating the journey. The young interns form a diverse group and come from across the world from varied cultures and backgrounds and find the programmes interesting and relevant to them as individuals. The interns go through the process of designing and delivering a training program based on the core values of Initiatives of Change. The larger IofC teams from Asia Plateau and Grampari are near at hand to support when required. We also have individuals with experience of practicing the ideas of Initiatives of Change form industry who come to share and demonstrate the relevance of these ideas in industry and professional careers.

The programme creates space for students to introspect and take a deeper look at what really is important. Students realize the importance of relationships in life and what it takes to make them work and get the powerful lesson of “Forgiving” and asking for forgiveness.

As one student put it, “Every morning I need to ask myself 3 questions:

1. Who should I be grateful to today?

2. Who should I ask for forgiveness?

3. Who should I forgive?”

They discover the bliss of silence and what it can bring them in the morning outdoor session, “Soul Nurture Walk” when often some soul stirring poetry is born and

honest reflection and sharing takes place.

The students debate the question whether profit and ethical business practices are not mutually exclusive. It brings to fore the dilemma of decision making and how conviction driven decisions are in the long run a lot better than convenience based decisions.

Salient features of these program:

•Facilitated Reflection and Introspection space

•Personal Stories of conviction and relationships shared by various team members

• Case studies and real life examples of business run ethically AND successful

• A space for personal sharing through small group interaction and an ambience of implicit trust and acceptance

Participants take initiatives going beyond just their immediate interest. For example, “Prayatna” was an initiative started by a student to conduct teaching classes

at the college premises, for the children of the construction workers around the Symbiosis institute. “Prayatna” is still going strong, now run by other students, long after the founder Naresh Poonia has passed out of the college.

The future:In the coming months and years, we like to see the idea and the spirit grow and spread:

•Taking this to the larger community of educational institutes.

•Taking the journey forward to involve the family of the students and creating a sustained network.

•To also actively involve the student with various IofC initiatives and also support him in any independent initiate that they undertake.

When we look at the current scenario in India, whether corporate or public, we notice dete-rioration in the health of ethics and value based governance. We focus too much on blaming the other person or the government. Opportunities right next to us go unnoticed because of this blame-game. The media often plays a part in fos-tering the negative feeling among the people.

In the year 2005, some of the senior IofC persons came together with Pragati Leadership and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to start a program which was one of its kind for the IAS officers. Thus the program “Ethics in Public Governance” was born. As the program proved to be meaningful for its participants, it caught the attention of the Indian Railways and the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers also.

The quality and methodology of learning fol-lowed by the Initiatives of Change/IC Centre for Governance has a strong spiritual flavor cou-pled with authentic sharing of personal experi-ences in a salubrious forestlike environment and also spaces for respectful conversation create a unique learning experience, unparalleled in India.

Inspired, the par-ticipants have gone back with great deter-mination to make a positive dent in the so-ciety. They are taking concrete steps. The following are some of the major spinoffs:

• Santosh Vaidya initiated the NDMC programmes

•Tushar Girinath arranged to train BESCOM and the Karnataka Education Dept.

•Dr. Amarjit Singh initiated a program for edu-cating the principals

•Nipun Vinayak, along with his wife Nidhi, start-ed the “Nanded I Care” movement

•A similar program was organized in the North-East by N.K. Kumar

A participant, senior IAS officer said:

“We feel part of the [Asia Plateau] family. Today I have done something which has been bothering me for the last 25 years. I shared it with my daughter and feel so relieved and liberated. I am sure it will have a profound impact on her too. I will do the same with my son too”

DoPT is now trying to upgrade the capacities of

**Rhea and Siddharth are professional traners and faculty for IofC programs for Management students.

Ethics and Governance

Mr. Arun Wakhlu* (in conversation with Ishika Mukherjee)

For senior bureaucrats of the Indian Administration Service (IAS)

Arun Wakhlu

Prof. R. Rajagopalan taking a session on environment

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39 Administrative Training Institutes (ATI) in the country to teach this course. The three “I”s of his training are:

1. Inspiration

2. Integration

3. Innovation

The project, “Ethics and Values in Public Governance” aims to build the capacity of ATI’s and other training institutions in India for training in ethical standards and ethical conduct in public governance. The objectives encompass develop-ing appropriate training templates and training

selected faculty members of ATIs and other train-ing institutions to effectively deliv-er programmes on the same.

The project started with a research phase aimed to study

the current ef-forts of the ATIs and CTIs in the area of Ethics and Values in Public Governance. This includ-ed reviewing course objectives, contents, de-sign, reading material, faculty, locations, etc.

Data analysis and findings from the research revealed:

• ATIs and other training institutes did not have a comprehensive module on ethics and values in public governance.

• Their course designs, contents/topics, reading material, presentations and duration of training programmes were not standard.

• They lacked experienced and trained faculty for delivering the modules on ethics and val-ues. Most courses were conducted by external

faculty and other re-source people.

• Training methodolo-gies were inconsis-tent and basic.

• Lastly, most institutes were lacking in documentation of the pro-grammes on ethics and values. There were also very few best practices and success stories on ethical governance in India, shared by partici-pants of the study.

The main objective of the Training Division, DoPT, is to create a cadre of trained faculty at the respective ATIs, themselves to conduct effec-tive and high quality programmes on “Ethics and Values in Public Governance”. This would be car-ried out in the subsequent phases of the project.

These comprehensive modules would in turn help sensitize government officials and civil ser-vice officers to the deteriorating ethical environ-ment in society. They would also be equipped with the insights and tools to transform their lives and inspire others to do the same. The higher aim of this project is to help individuals to bring about transformational changes in the way they conduct themselves in their public and private lives. Thus ultimately this project aims to serve the great-er public good and prosperity.

When all public servants are touched by these programmes, we see them as active contribu-tors to creating a thriving, joyful, socially just and environmentally sustainable life for all in India.

The journey and Challenge Most of the young people feel they know everything. They often say things like ‘I hear no advice, I give advice, I am cool, you are outdated and old fashioned, give me space, life sucks in this home, I wish I can stay on my own, father is a Hitler, my parents are the worst, they do not understand me.’

Such were the phrases on the lips of many young people including me when I first came for the youth gathering at Asia Plateau in 1993. The val-ues spoken at the gathering were not alien to me; I had heard and constantly been reminded by my mother and elders of the family. The real encoun-ter started when a genuine attempt was made to sit quietly with a pen and a diary. In that quiet mo-ment, for the very first time, I was able to absorb completely the meaning of honesty, purity, love and unselfishness. That first encounter showed me what I was and what I pretended to be. Now be-gan the journey…inside me. The impressions of the first quiet time are fresh and buoyant even to-day. From then onwards quiet time has become an integral part on my life…whatever the situation, whatever the challenge, whatever the planning or whatever the direction I was looking for, the answer was quiet time. Most of the younger peo-ple of my time de-sired to m a k e m o n e y and the o n l y goal was m o n e y. Q u i e t moments m a d e me real-ize that life exists

beyond money and my goal should not be lim-ited to making money. The thought crossed my mind if my inner voice can guide me it will guide every other young person, and for this I need to take this beautiful idea to many more young people and introduce them to the con-cept of “quiet time”. This particular thought in-spired me to work with the young people and the journey of youth conference began for me.

Making a differenceSeventeen years have passed by and the same time every year, young people from different backgrounds and different parts of the globe come to Asia Plateau to attend the annual youth conference, “Let’s Make a Difference (LMAD)”. The enthusiasm to be with the young people is same as it was at the very beginning. When we started on this journey many joined hands with us and in the course of this journey each year many more have joined us to spread the idea of IofC. A committed team of youth coordinators gather every year to help us. The objective is not just to deliver the best during the youth conference but to imbibe these qualities in daily life and live as an example and not wear different masks as

s i t u a t i o n s d e m a n d .

Those in this youth m ove m e n t pursue their own course in life, but when a s i t u a t i o n d e m a n d s many of

them from all over the

Youth in Action

Viral Mazumdar*

Mr. Prabhat Kumar

Neha and Viral Mazumdar with the Coordinators of the Youth Camp

*Arun Wakhlu is a well-known trainer and chairman of Pragati Foundation and has been Course Director for the IAS programmes at Asia Plateau.

Group Activity

Listening intensely

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country make time unconditionally and contribute towards the work of LMAD. All they want to do is give their best from their own life-changing experience. The spirit is such that a person forgets he is among people he has known for only a few days and share their deepest anguish and pain. They feel a strange oneness with this group.

Navendu Shirali’s sabbaticalNavendu Shirali took a sabbatical break for six months and work for the growth of LMAD. He launched our website www.lmad.in and the Facebook page. He could catch the pulse of the youth and speak in their language. This one man’s commitment and dedication helped the team to expand the work beyond imagination. There are many in the team willing to take sabbatical breaks and work in different areas of personal passion.The late Roshan Kalapesi, Khorshed and Kekoo Gandhy, Arundhati Nanavati, Norma Suvarna, Russi Lala and the ever green couple of Mra-IofC Prabha ji and R D Mathur nurtured and laid the foundations of LMAD in its initial days. Many have added much value year after year: Lalan Sharma, Rajiv Agarwal, Anirudh Jejani and Tapan Parekh are a few of them. My wife Neha’s sacrifice for all these years is incredible. Every year, instead of a vacation with family and friends, she works with exemplary commitment behind the scene for the conference.

LMAD brings changeA mother who had been worried about her son and her husband’s habits said, ‘…since his (son’s) first encounter with IofC-LMAD all my worries and fear have disappeared, he is an ideal child (now) and this has also influenced his father.’ Six years after a kids’ camp, we were visiting Jamshedpur. At a meeting organized by the local team, a young

man got up and said, ‘I will never forget my time at AP during the kids programme. There, I got this diary which is my most precious belonging … whatever I am today is because of the “quiet time” and writing my thoughts in this diary which

has guided me to where I am today.’ He expressed gratitude for the l i f e - c h a n g i n g

conferences. Commitment to LMAD is such that some, when not granted leave from work, have taken a cut in salary to be at the conference saying, ‘presence for me at the annual conference is a must, money can be earned but cannot miss being with my extended family. That is a bigger loss.’ For another person, ‘My sister was getting married during the conference time, so there is no question of making a choice and have to be with my family for the wedding, something within me was not happy and restless, the thought was very clear my sister will get married if I attend or do not attend the wedding, but my being for the conference is more important.’

The conference is growing every year; youth from many parts of the country come as they have heard of its life-changing quality and effect. We want to take IofC to every institution of the country and every young person. The challenge is to move

out and take the message a c r o s s

the country and not just wait for the youth conference. Last year, a team travelled extensively, spoke to thousands of young people, spent many days showing them an alternative in living and demonstrated what IofC and quiet time could do to one’s life. The vision is to have IofC-LMAD programmes round the year. The country has the largest population of young people below 30. They need to be reached. The team wants to work towards self-reliance and have a comfortable corpus which will gradually take the work ahead.

‘…since my son’s first encounter with IofC-LMAD all my worries and fear have disappeared

and this has also influenced his father.’

… whatever I am today is because of the “quiet time”

Housed in the college of military Engineering campus on the Pune-Mumbai road, the Institute of National Integration (INI) is a unique institute of the Indian army where officers and soldiers un-dergo training in National Integration. Conceived in 1985, the INI propagates brotherhood by de-veloping a spirit of mutual harmony and solidar-ity amongst troops and the country at large. But most importantly, it is the place where Religious Recruit Teachers of the Indian army are trained. Every army barrack has the position of Religious Recruit Teachers (RRT) who looks after the reli-gious and spiritual needs of the soldiers. RRT can be a Hindu pandit, a Muslim maulavi, a Christian priest or a Sikh granthi. At INI, they learn the essence of different religions to preach the es-sential human val-ues. Generally, there is only one RRT in the barrack and he has to be famil-iar with the differ-ent religions. RRTs are greatly respected in the army barracks. The importance of the role they play in the spiritual and religious well-being of the soldiers can hardly be overstated.

The founding father of this institute, Lt General Dr M. L. Chibber, Padma Vibushan, who has also been a renowed trainer and a writer, at-tended an Industrial Seminar (now called ELL) at Asia Plateau. He said that this program “was an absolutely unique and exhilarating experi-ence for me and my wife”. So impressed he was by the change he saw in the attitude of the par-ticipants that he wrote an article on that change. A leading business fortnightly in India, to which it was sent, did not publish it, but General Chibber was personally convinced of the effec-tiveness of the training offered at Asia Plateau.

When INI became operational in mid-nineties, he ensured that those being trained at INI would also visit Asia Plateau as a part of their training.

A special program was designed which in-cluded inaugural sessions, sharing of experi-ences, case studies which talk about recon-ciliation and restitution, videos, soul-nurture walk, a cultural evening and a prayer meet-ing. In the beginning, it was only for one day. Gradually, it became two-day program. In June 2000, first INI program for three days was held.

INI programs always stood out from other pro-grammes in Asia Plateau, not because of the dis-ciplined behaviour of the participants. Whether in the meeting room or in the queue to fetch

their food, their quiet, orderly and respectful behav-iour was notice-able. They would

be touched by the warmth and informality of the place. In their morning Quiet Time, many wrote poems which they would share in the meetings or send later by post. The prayer meet-ing they would conduct was easily the best we ever had. Seeing them, one would realize why the Indian army, despite some recent bad news, is still regarded highly by the society at large. Visit any Indian city, the difference between the cantonment area and the civilian area is striking.

Lt. General Vijay Oberoi, Chief of the Army Training Command, also visited Asia Plateau. He expressed deep appreciation of the work being done there, in an environment which he said, “is the most conducive for such work”.

Lt. General Niranjan Singh Cheema (Retd) was regular at these programs. His slim, tall and erect

INI at Asia Plateau: When we feel proud of our armyBhanu Kale*

INI propagates brotherhood by developing a spirit of mutual harmony and solidarity amongst troops and the country at large.

Bhanu Kale

*Viral Mazumdar is a successful businessman in Delhi. He is associated with IofC for many years and has been organizing programs for the youth. His wife, Neha, has been a great support to him in all his endevours.

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physique inspired respect while his sense of hu-mour endeared him to the delegates and the Asia Plateau faculty. Lt. Col. Ram Rege (Retd.), Lt. Col. Ashok Kakade (Retd.) and Lt. Col. Vasant Naik (Retd.) were amongst oth-ers who regu-larly came to support these p r o g r a m s , which were al-ways conduct-ed in Hindi.

One of the persons who over the years became a close friend is Major General Bertie Kelson, VSM. A third generation army officers, Kelson came to Asia Plateau first in march 1997 as the Director of INI. In June 2000, when he came along with Major General Karki from CME, he said at a meeting: “This is my fifth visit to Asia Plateau; with every visit, I learn something more and perhaps become a better person. My students always consider their visit to MRA as the best and meaningful part of their course at INI.” On a later occasion, in January 2008, he wrote in an article: “One of the lessons I learnt was not to wait for others to do their bit to improve India but to do your own little bit and leave others to follow…

One thing that I cherish most from my association with the MRA is host of true friends I have made. They are all ordinary people with extraordinary

amount of zeal and dedication, If we had a few more such peo-ple, we could have made the whole world a better place.”

During visit of INI on July 22 and 23, 2002, Asia Plateau had the privi-lege to host twenty para-plegic soldiers

on wheel chairs along with some helpers who belonged to the INI staff. These soldiers were residing at The Centre for Paraplegic Soldiers in Khadki in Pune. Some of them shared with us the circumstances in which the accidents took place, which disabled them. Their high spirit, despite the physical disability, was evident in their free move-ment on wheel chairs on the slopes of AP. It was also heartening to know that some of them were sportsmen of national and international reputa-tion. It could be a lesson for us to learn to bring cheer in life and not get disappointed with prob-lems.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself

~ Leo Tolstoy

Army men doing wash up

You may have heard of Grampari, the rural and ecology centre of IofC, but did you know that Grampari does more than water, sanitation and livelihoods? In fact, Grampari holds programmes similar to those hosted at IofC’s Asia Plateau –only with a different target group. Grampari was conceived by a group of IofC people committed to making local change. The organization now has a fulltime staff of 12 with a revolving contingent of volunteers and interns. Significant contributions have been made by people from 5 continents and at least a dozen countries. And though there are almost always international volunteers, fellows or staff, 80% of the current workforces are native Maharashtrians.

Mrs. Jayashree Rao, the Executive Director of Grampari, says: “Grampari was born while reading the paper one morning!Four years ago in Bangalore, I read a short newspaper article about a

woman sarpanch (village leader) in Bihar who had transformed her village with the effective use of government schemes. I felt a great urge to do something for rural India. I thought that this seemed like a simple enough things for an urban person to do. So I recruited my Inner Wheel ladies club members to join me and we decided that we would try to help rural communities close to Bangalore by providing them information about government schemes.As there was some thought about doing something for rural India at Asia Plateau, I felt I should take it on. My husband and I had worked for nearly

10 years earlier as volunteers there. We took the decision to give up our professions, packed up our lives of 30 years in Bangalore and moved to Asia Plateau to turn this idea into reality.”

The first of such programs was held in 2008 when Grampari was still mostly a dilapidated chicken shed. Children from group homes and orphanages came from as far as Baramati and spent several

days, learning the absolute standards and values of IofC, as well as the practice of

quiet reflection, sharing their inner thoughts and yoga at sunrise on top of the tableland. This way, things started in earnest and each such program required finding a sponsor to pay for the costs. Slowly, as support and funding for Grampari grew, the old farm buildings morphed from dairy units to training halls, chicken sheds to dormitories, so the scope and character of the programs also changed to include a wider range of participants, facilitators and topics. From the humble early beginnings, Grampari now hosts a wide range of workshops, meetings and conferences. For example, over the span of two months this year, Grampari was host to the annual meeting of the Indian Youth C l i m a t e Network – who spent 3 days linking climate action to value-based leadership, as well as meeting for Sarpanches from eastern Maharashtra who came to improve local governance while incorporating ethical decision making.

Jared Buono*

Rural and Ecology Centre at Asia Plateau - A glimpse

Then in the 60s a cow shed housing Jersey Cows…

…now turned into a modern “Livelihood Training Centre”

“Grampari was born while reading the paper one morning!

Grampari

*Bhanu Kale is a renowned writer and editor of Antarnad, a Marathi magazine published from Pune. He is also the Chief Editor of the magazine Change for Better, published by Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited, Pune.

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These programs have reached hundreds of students, orphans, ladies group members, gram panchayats, farmers and villagers. In addition to the myriad positive personal decisions that these p a r t i c i p a n t s have made (the walls of our meeting hall are covered with people’s parting ideas and choices), there have been several concrete changes in local communities. One local leader decided with his wife that they would shut down the local liquor shops – which they did and then went further to inspire people to participate in shramdan (community work). Grampari combines the values-based training of IofC

with a grass root approach to rural development. While there are millions of organizations that work on rural development and just as many that seek to inspire personal change, Grampari

is one of the few that c o m b i n e s these. It has shown to be a powerful f o r m u l a

because it appeals to one’s inner character as much as their rational side. The programs are still evolving through growing and learning. Grampari continually seeks to evaluate and improve these programs, asking if we are touching the right nerves and actually affecting impact.

An Innovative Change maker at GrampariChristopher Breitenburg* in an informal chat with Aparna Shrivastava

Surprised, the two women quickly brushed their hair. They hadn’t known the camera was rolling. All the better. The three-minute testimonial for their new higher-efficiency chulha rang with the platitudes of a TV ad complemented by the authenticity of true appreciation. Their life in rural Maharashtra will be different now. With less smoke in the house, a two-year old son will now run freely, recovering from a respiratory illness. The village will keep more trees as half as many will

now be needed f o r fuel. Most of all, there will less time cooking and collecting and more time to invest elsewhere.

On a long journey, it’s a summit for Aparna Shrivastava. From her early days as a wide-eyed university student coordinating a water project in El Salvador to the trial-and-error, cracked-

Recently the Indian Youth Climate Network held their annual three day meeting at Grampari

linking climate action to value-based leadership. Sarpanches of eastern Maharashtra met on improving

governance incorporating ethical decision making

At a school hand-washing program

* Dr. Jared Buono holds a PhD in Natural Resource Management and has 15 years of experience in the environment sector. He is a founding member of US-based NGO, WMG which has trained thousands of people across 4 continents in conservation practices (www.watershedmg.org).

clay rollercoaster of stove design, this moment brings it all together. Reflecting on it, a look of realization crosses her face. “The impact is real,” she says, before a thoughtful pause. “It’s big.”It’s not the first “click moment” for Shrivastava, who works as a Program Associate with Grampari, a rural development initiative in the Satara District of Maharashtra. In her first year at Oregon State University (USA), her book studies in Mechanical Engineering took a practical application through Engineers Without Borders, an international NGO with a chapter on campus.

***An opportunity opened up to support a water project in Central America. Looking over the application, a question popped out her: How does this opportunity align with your career goals and personal ambitions? The query struck deep. This wasn’t just another essay question. She wrote what would be a life-setting direction: “I strive to be the change I wish to see in this world. I want to serve the needs of people. Not just the wants of people who can pay for it.” Her application was accepted and, as a 19-year old full-time student, she was soon entrusted with the coordination of a major water initiative.

Quickly, the rosy vision met up with a challenging reality. The project, intended to be fairly contained, began to grow like the Pune suburbs. A big village got bigger and more spread out while the imagined one-system implementation turned into eight. The growing sense of responsibility and fear of failure levied a heavy toll. “In many ways, it was intimidating. I almost quit several times,” she relates. “Six years and four project later, I still struggle with that. But it comes down to doing my best and forgiving myself. That’s the most I can do. In that case, I knew that I needed to learn so that I could get better. If I

had quit, I would’ve closed the door. And I knew it was the right outlet for exploring my passion.”

Shrivastava describes herself as a Field Engineer. A vocation she embraces following short tenures in administration with Engineers Without Borders and office engineering at Xerox. “Where resources felt like they were unlimited!” she recalls. It seems the title has become more fitting with each project. Talking about an assignment in Uganda, she remembers being given a solution to address an ongoing problem. Despite her own inclination to try an alternative, she implemented the design; not knowing it was only given to her as a suggestion. “I quickly learned that, in order to come up with a real solution, I must fully

understand the problem first. In that situation, I knew what needed to be implemented, but not all the complications involved.”

Aparna the Field Engineer has grown in her work at Grampari. Initially, she started off on a schools program that exists to see children regularly washing their hands with soap –

health’s cardinal rule. Ever the engineer, she worked with the question of how to measure the desired behavioural change.

“Field engineering is all about working with variables. It’s not like anything you learn in a class,” she laughs. “You have to make things work when they shouldn’t.” “You have to find a way. The solutions that will really help rural communities – those solutions aren’t high-tech. We don’t need gadgets. We need basic things. If we can engineer it in the field, then we can transfer it to the communities. They will be able to do it too.” It’s obvious that her passion burns for finding sustainable solutions that meet pressing needs. This heat finds its counterpoint in the almost child-like curiosity and genuine enjoyment of problem solving in the workshop.

Smokeless, hamd-made, mud chulha

Grampari Grampari

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She recalls a story with some glee. Some weeks back, she was invited to a lunch where a salesman was pitching a product to the Grampari team. The meal finished without a deal. The product was too expensive. Walking away from the table, Shrivastava approached her boss and said, “Give me a few hours with a soldering gun. We can do this.” Not long after, a spool of wire, a battery and the LED light from a children’s top were deployed 100 feet down a well to measure its depth. Accurately judged, the invention was deemed a successful alternative – several thousand rupees less than the retail price! “Being that trusted is really nice,” she says, crediting her team. “I appreciate that the team here is making sure that we’re doing our best and doing it right.”

She’s currently trying to work herself out of her job with the local village women, so that they can make, package and market soap entirely on their own. Otherwise, she’s invested in R&D, happily getting “back to the basics”. This includes an effort to create a portable hand-washing

station (a tippy tap for the mobile generation).In a few days, she’ll be back with the women and their new stoves, preparing to monitor, evaluate and eventually teach many more women how

to make them on their own. For now, she pauses over some rice and dal. When asked about what it means to see a ‘real impact’ on this project, one gets a sense that it’s more than a moment. Her life is passing before her eyes. Almost wondering how this girl from suburban Portland is here, doing this work.

“Sometimes when you are trying to solve

different problems, you become removed. But these are peoples’ lives. Their health. Their livelihoods. This is their time. It’s a reality check. The impact of the work is real. I’ve touted striving to be the change. This experience validates that desire. If you give yourself a chance and life gives you a chance, you can make a true impact. It makes me feel that I might just be doing things right.”

Molds for hand -made soap

An amazing initiative by the government of Andhra Pradesh is the Society for the Elimina-tion of Rural Poverty (SERP). This organization reaches out to 11 million poor families through 1.05 million Self Help Groups.

24 Project Directors and senior staff from SERP came to Asia Plateau in the month of May this year for a training program. On return to Andhra, they reported to their CEO that they were very deeply touched and had taken definite decisions. These feedbacks encouraged their CEO, who sent a SMS to the Asia Plateau team, saying -

“Just had a feed-back session with the Directors. Each & everyone had a very transforma-tive experience & our objective in organizing the program has been achieved 100%. Thanks to you & your team. Will

now plan for the remaining batches”.

As shared by some participants:

“I realize I have become too casual towards my responsibilities. I want to go back to my earlier passion of planting trees, which I did as Municipal Commissioner.”

“I have decided to change myself. I will be polite and cordial with people, I will be open to learning from others and implementing good ideas I may get from anyone and I will encourage people to sit and listen to their inner voice.”

“I found this training to be touching and practical. There will be visible change in me.”

What happened at Asia Plateau?

Hearts were won by the ambience and personal care they were enveloped with at Asia Plateau. Heads were won by the simplicity and eminent applicabil-ity of the change message through personal sharing. The message was that change around us is best brought about by changing oneself first.

Essential in this is correcting aspects of one’s past by letting the light of absolute purity, honesty, un-selfishness and love into the corners of our past. This is so that we become free of these blocks to then daily seek and write down the inspiration and direction that comes from deep inner listen-ing, for at least 20 minutes before the start of the rush of every day.

More of what participants found through different parts of the course at AP:

• “I was introspective after a long time.”• “On a visit to my village, I had shouted at those

responsible for the bad condition of my school, but I myself did not do anything constructive to improve it. I want to go back there, apologise to those I shouted at and offer my help for improving the condition of the school.”

• “Why can’t I be free of jealousy and anger, like the birds?”

• “I was tired on arrival. I am not comfortable with people, but my job requires interacting with them. I easily brush off people. I will try to

Report

Bringing Hope to Rural PoorGrampari

*Christopher Breitenberg is Director, International Communications for IofC; he has been associated with IofC for quite a while. He was also a part of the powerful ‘Action for Life’ program, run by IofC for an International and multi-cultural group.

B. Rajsekhar (CEO)

View of Asia Plateau from Tableland

Andhra Pradesh officials have a new experience

Keep up with the latest Grampari happenings and see how you can support our work. Visit our new website now at www.grampari.org

You can find out more about Aparna at aparnasadventures.com

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be more pleasant in my interactions.”• “I feel very angry when people don’t obey my

instructions. But instead of telling them about it, I start avoiding them. That makes me feel very stressed. I need to do something about this”.

• “It was all arranged for me to marry my maternal uncle’s daughter, but at the last minute I refused the marriage and instead married another because a relative planted a suspicion in my mind that the uncle had his eyes on the property I was to inherit. Now I feel I need to open up to my maternal uncle and apologise to him and his daughter for the hurt I would have caused them.”

“My grandfather favoured me by leaving his prime property in his will for me. I have 14 cousins, who could have also been given shares of the property by my grandfather. Although they have not made an issue over it, I feel it could divide the 72 members of the next generation of our family, which I would not want. I am thinking of gathering my cousins and having an open discussion with them for coming to a joint decision in the matter.” (The next day he announced his resolve to go ahead in obedience to his inner voice, despite sharp opposition from

his mother when he phoned her)

“I often have friction with my wife and nag her. I will be more understanding towards her.” “I am going through an inner-conflict which is saying to me that I must change myself.”

“For the first time in 2 years, I felt like praying. I have decided to support my colleagues by giving them training in use of IT.”

“I will give up my bad habit of postponing things, which increases my tension. I will form a habit

of having regular quiet time.”

“I will apologise to my mother, who I did not bring to our home for one and a half years. I will change my anger and be kinder to colleagues. I have decided to sponsor the education of a girl child in my village.”“I have decided to listen to my inner voice every day. I will balance my job and family life. I will be less self absorbed and be more open minded.”“Normally, I am very restless and a bad listener. I also speak very little. But here my inner voice was activated and I could sit through with complete interest in session after session from 6 AM to 9 PM. You people are fantastic! I have decided that on returning to work, I will talk one to one with my staff and see how they respond.”

MILESTONE DATES IN SERP IofC LINK:

1. Jayesh Ranjan attends IAS program - Jan 2010. (Thereafter writes article for ‘Disha’, which inspires Kiran Gandhi)

2. Ravi Rao, Sudhir Gogate and Kiran Gandhi make first visit organised by Jayesh Ranjan to witness SERP work in Kondapur area of Nalgonda district - August 2010

3. Kiran meets B. Rajsekhar and Usha Rani in Hyderabad with Jayesh Ranjan - Jan 2011

4. Usha Rani (Director, Institution Building) attends HEL program at Asia Plateau with her team - March 2011

5. B. Rajsekhar attends IAS program - November 2011

6. Appal Raju, Suresh Khatri and Kiran Gandhi, with B.Lakshmi of ASCI who attended the

programme for ATIs, make a second visit to witness SERP work in Kurnool district of AP in April 2012 and to identify training needs.

7. First SERP directors’ program at Asia Plateau - May, 2012

FUTURE ACTIONS:

• A second batch from the Project Director level will come to Panch-gani from June 26th to 29th, 2012, as part of all the 200 getting full IofC train-ing at Asia Plateau.

• It is pro-posed to carry out a model t r a i n i n g project for Community Coordinators of Viz-ianagram, to be subsequently replicated with suitable modifications across Andhra Pradesh. It is proposed to train a group of carefully identified internal trainers from SERP for de-livering the IofC message to all of Andhra’s 11

million SHG women members through train-ing of its 5500 Community Coordinators.

Society for Elimination of Rural Pov-erty (SERP) is an autonomous society of the Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh. The SERP is implementing In-dira Kranthi Patham (IKP), a state wide commu-nity driven rural poverty reduction project to en-

able the poor to improve their liveli-hood and quality of life through their own o r g a n i z a -tions.

IKP aims to cover all the poor households t h r o u g h 5500 Com-munity Co-

ordinators in 22 rural districts of Andhra Pradesh, with a special focus on 3 million poorest house-holds, lifting them out of poverty to a life of dig-nity where social ills like caste-ism, communal divisions, women’s rights issues and education are resolved.

“Yesterday I was clever, I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise and I want to change myself”.

~Rumi

(From Left to Right) Kiran Gandhi, B. Rajsekhar, Appal Raju at the SERP office

Prof. Bhagyalakshmi, who was a participant in a previous program,

came back to motivate her colleagues

Ice-breaker games

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How to forgive

Mark Metherell

He ordered the attack that killed her daughter. He has never said sorry, but she has forgiven him. These days Letlapa Mphahlele and Ginn Fourie are friends, and they have come to Sydney to spread their message of reconciliation.

The two were united by the killing of Mrs Fourie’s daughter, Lyndi, at a Cape Town bar 10 years ago. Mr Mphahlele, then 32, was operations director of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) when he ordered an unprovoked attack on the Heidelberg Tavern. Four died and two were seriously injured - one of them left a paraplegic.

Months before, Mr Mphahlele had orchestrated the slaughter of 11 worshippers at St James Church in Cape Town as South Africa teetered towards turmoil before its first non-racial elections.

Lyndi Fourie, 23, who had just graduated as a civil engineer, was having a drink with friends when Mr Mphahlele’s cadres burst into the tavern.

Some people say Ginn Fourie, 58, is mad to forgive the man who ordered this. Her forgiveness has extended to the man who actually pulled the trigger, Brian Madasi.

Interviewed with Mrs Fourie, Mr Mphahlele said his personal growth since then would mean that “I would refrain from temptation to kill”.

The killing of civilians was part of the APLA’s strategy to make whites “feel the pain”, to force them to confront the inequity and repression endured by the black majority.

“If there is someone who has to be blamed for that attack - more than the ones who pulled the

trigger - it is me.”

Mr Mphahlele and Mrs Fourie came together last year after she confronted him at the launch of his book, Child of This Soil - My Life As A Freedom Fighter.

He recalls: “Never before had I seen a mother of someone who had died as a result of APLA activities ... It touched some sensitive nerve in me.”

Mrs Fourie says he came off the podium saying: “I will do anything if you will meet with me”.

When they met, she was impressed with the way he took responsibility for Lyndi’s killing.

“He never tried to pass it on to somebody else. He didn’t say he’s sorry, never once did he say sorry and that kind of intrigued me, because he said he would like to make reparations.”

Why didn’t he say sorry? “To me it was going to be very mechanical,” Mr Mphahlele says. “There is a saying among our people that saying sorry doesn’t heal. But what heals is what the offender does.”

The two have formed an empowerment project to help South Africa’s “ex-combatants” - the Lyndi Fourie Foundation.

To those who think she is mad, Mrs Fourie cites Martin Luther King: “We are either going to learn to live together as brothers or ... die together as fools.”

The two were at a Moral Re-Armament conference in Sydney at the weekend and will speak again today at Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

– The African story

Healing...Letlapa and Ginn Fouri

There’s one amazing similarity between a Jamshedpur boy and a film made on him by a UK-based director.

Amar the teen is a topper in class after working as a newspaper boy and electrical apprentice. Amar the film is a topper at the London-India Film Festival and Jeevika Film Festival in New Delhi.

Documentary filmmaker Andrew Hinton came back to Amar’s city to fulfil his promise to the boy whose life on reel earned raves everywhere — in the UK, the US, France, Germany and India.

Hinton had promised to share half the prize money of the London India Film Festival with the teenager if the short biopic did win. So, when it did — it won a 1,000 GBP booty last July — Hinton started planning a visit to Jamshedpur to give the boy his share.

On Friday evening, Hinton handed a cheque worth Rs 40,000 to Amar at the latter’s cradle, Kerala Samajam Project School, amidst family members, teachers and Kerala Public Trust director Vijayam Kartha.

As Amar, now 15, spontaneously bent to touch Hinton’s feet, the bond between the filmmaker and subject was palpable.

“While filming Amar in December 2010, I had promised God that if my biopic bagged any prize, half the amount would go to the boy. Today I kept my promise. I feel great. Amar doesn’t even know what he has given me,” said Hinton.

In 9 minutes 45 seconds, the film captures 24 hours of Amar’s life, where he is awake and on the go for 20 hours. The sequences show how

he gets up at 4am, delivers newspapers, goes to an electrical shop to work, reaches school in the afternoon and then again goes to the shop and works till night, after which he grabs a quick bite at home and starts his homework, for he has his reputation as class topper to live up to.

Hinton said he wanted to show the difference between the haves and have-nots.

“My nephew Javia is of Amar’s age, but he has such a privileged life. I wanted to show Javia that there are people like Amar who make their way in the world even in such adverse situations without fuss or tears. People have seen it across the globe and understood that they are blessed to have the privileges they take for granted,” added Hinton.

As for Amar, in Class X now, life continues to be very much the same. The boy from a large and needy family earns Rs 1,500. For him, Rs 40,000 is a windfall. But more than that, he seemed happy that “Andrew Sir” kept his word.

“Main English padhoonga aur London jaakar Andrew sir ka sapna pura karunga (I’ll learn English and go to London to fulfil Andrew sir’s dream)”, he beamed.

And how would he do it? “I’ll become a teacher, a very good teacher,” he stressed. “I have learnt everything from my teachers here. And the values learnt from them give me strength.”

The school has wisely decided to keep Hinton’s gift in the bank as a fixed deposit for five years. It will come of use to Amar when he is 20.

“Ye sab bhagwan ki kripa hai ki humein aisa beta mila (It’s god’s kindness that we have a son like Amar),” said his grandmother Jamuna Devi, hugging him.

Reel Man Fulfils Vow For Real -comes back to Amar

The Telegraph

UK filmmaker — whose biopic on a newspaper boy earned global raves — hands him Rs. 40,000, half the prize money

(L - R) VIjayam Kartha, Amar, Andrew Hinton

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Inspiring lives

Judge not- trust fully!Jeyes Parthiban

Various people came to me in my bank. There was once a man who walked into my room and intro-duced himself as Muthu Swami, a murderer. On asking him, he told me his father had two wives and he was scared that after his father’s death, he would be left with nothing. So he had murdered his step mother, when he was at the age of only nine, in a fit of anger. As an immediate effect, the juvenile court sent him to a juvenile home for a period of five years. When he returned after com-pleting his sentence, no one in his village was ready to accept him. Muthu was being treated as an out-cast. He did some odd jobs that gave him some money and saved enough to buy a piece of land.

In the meanwhile, he got married and became a father of three children. Muthu Swami now need-ed money to support his family and so he came to the bank for a loan. After hearing his story, I told him that he had served his sentence and so he should no longer be guilty. If he continues to feel guilty, he will not be able to move on in life. I then decided to give him the loan amount he needed to deepen the well in his farm and to buy prop-er irrigation tools. The villagers were surprised that I was giving this huge loan to a ‘murderer’. They advised me not to make this “mistake”. But

I trusted my instincts and went ahead with it.

Muthu repaid the entire loan in very good time. This encouraged me to help him further and give him a second loan for raising his crops. He again paid his loan amount on time. Then a third loan was given for motor pumps and so on.

I am happy to see Muthu Swami well settled now. He is doing well for himself and supplies sugar cane to all the nearby factories. Things turned around in a short time, it seems and Muthu was elected the President of the local milk producers’ society. The Tamil Nadu Government sent him to Gujarat for training in enhancing milk production.

Once I took Muthu to a BESCOM* meet-ing in Bangalore. Mr. Sarosh Ghandy, for-mer Executive Director of what is now Tata Motors, was impressed by his story and invited Muthu Swami to sit with him on the stage. He also got Muthu to speak to the participants.

Muthu Swami is now a respected man in his com-munity and counsels people about the evils of get-ting angry!

Parthiban is a retired bank manager. He says, “I am no story teller…so I will just narrate to you some incidents of my life where I had an effect of the lives of people and that in turn affected my life…!” Here disha brings you one such narration in words, as told to Ishika Mukherjee.

*BESCOM -Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, where IofC successfully trained their 11,700 employees in ethics and leadership. Parthiban often went to Bangalore to participate in the training programme where he contributed as a facilitator, inspiring the participants with his experiences.

‘disha’ will frequently publish experiences of people who have taken steps of change in their lives, often leading to inspiring and far reaching consequences. If you know of such instance and people please write those stories and email them with pictures to: [email protected]

Jeyes Parthiban

News Briefs

GRAMPARI NEWS:

• Grampari team built 25 toilets in three “wadis” (villages) which fall under the Abhaypuri Panchayat.

• 99% people in Pachputewadi, a village near Panchgani, now have access to toilets because of the work done by the Grampari team. This will prevent defecation in the open that used to happen earlier.• In a span of six months, about 800 students in 13 villages underwent training in proper hand washing techniques and around 130 tippy taps were built during this time. • Mobile repair and sewing classes are in full swing.• Training on assembling solar lamps is also taking place in Grampari. The

students buy the lamps that they assemble, at a nominal price.• Hand made soap making classes were run for the village women.

• A new training hall has been built to facilitate the various livelihood programs.

REGIONAL NEWS:

• Lucknow IofC team arranged a meeting of students, rural youth, environmentalists, government officials, entrepreneurs and journalists, to introduce to them IofC and weekly meetings. By the end of the meeting, everyone got an idea about IofC. The place and date of the next meeting was decided. Monthly meeting is to be held on first Sunday of every month, 4:00 to 5:30 pm. Shri Gyan Pandeyji offered his MDC center for the monthly meeting. Gyan ji suggested one day full workshop. It was decided to hold a workshop on Self-Empowerment for 30 participants on 12 Aug 2012. The fees were fixed at Rs. 10/- each.

• The Educators team (ETST – Education Today Society Tomorrow) in Mumbai organized a one and a half day program for 75 teachers from 15 different schools. Prabhakar Vartak and Neha Mukherjee took part on behalf of Asia Plateau.

• Jamshedpur: A 3-day residential program was organized specially for girls in and around Jamshedpur; 50 girls took part. Beside IofC input, the participants discussed issues like dowry, girl child abuse, alocolism at home and female foeticide.

Sewing Class

Soap making

Lucknow Team

Tippy Tap

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Disha ~ April ‘12 27MRA - Initiatives of Change - www.in.iofc.org26

Local IofC Team Meetings

Jamshedpur Every Tuesday 6.30 pm

Residence of Chand and Chandreshwar Khan, C5, Kharkai Road, Nildhi Colony, P O Golmuri, Jamshedpur – 831003 Contact: 0657-6510614

Mumbai First Saturday of month 4:30 pm

3 Kumaram, 10 Worli Sea Face (Going north, 7th building after Worli Milk Diary), Mumbai 400018 Contact: Asha Anand 020-2492958, 24931642

Pune First Thursday of month 6.30 pm

Residence of Mrs. and Dr. Anurag Gupta, Magnolia Meadow, 24, Gulmohar Park, Aundh, Pune -411007 Ph. (020) 25884589 Contact: Datta Dhamanaskar 020-27658011

Asia Plateau (AP)/IofC India ScheduleDate Day/s Event Ref. Person/s Sep. 1 Sat INI Joshi

Sep. 2 to 8 Sun/Sat Program for ATI - Training of Trainers Vartak/Arun Wakhlu

Sep. 10 to 13 Mon/Thu SIIB (I) Joshi/Siddharth

Sep. 15 to 18 Sat/Tue SIIB (II) Joshi/Siddharth

Sep. 20 to 23 Thu/Sun Program by Tejinder Walia Joshi

Sep. 25 Tue INI Joshi

Sep. 26 to 30 Wed/Sun Trust Retreat / Meeting – Proposed Vartak/Dr. Rao

Sep. 30 to Oct. 6 Sun/Sat Program for ATI - Training of Trainers Vartak/Arun Wakhlu

Oct. 8 to 13 Mon/Sat Program for Mumbai Municipal Corporation Vartak/ICCfGOct. 10 to 13 Wed/Sat HEL for Industries* AP Team

Oct. 17 to 20 Wed/Sat ELL for Public & Private Sector Organisations* Joshi

Oct. 25 & 26 Thu/Fri Orchid Staff Retreat Joshi

Oct. 29 to Nov 1 Mon/Thu SIMC Joshi/Siddharth

Nov. 5 to 10 Mon/Sat Program for Mumbai Municipal Corporation Vartak/ICCfG

Nov. 7 to 10 Wed/Sat HEL for Industries* AP Team

Nov. 16 Fri INI Joshi

Nov. 19 to 23 Mon/Fri Ethics in Public Governance for IAS & IPS Vartak/Shanti Narain

Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 Wed/Sat SCIT (I) Joshi/Siddharth

Dec. 3 to 6 Mon/Thu SCIT (II) Joshi/Siddharth

Dec. 10 to 14 Mon/Fri Program for Mumbai Municipal Corporation/HEAL for SERP Vartak/ICCfG

Dec. 18 to 20 Tue/Thu Reserved

Dec. 21 to 24 Fri/Mon Proposed HEL for DPE, Karnataka Dilip Patel

Dec. 21 to 22 Sat/Sun Trust Meeting – Proposed Vartak/Dr. Rao

Dec. 26 to 29 Wed/Sat ELL for Public & Private Sector Organisations* Joshi

Dec. 27 to 31 Thu/Mon Youth Coordinators’ workshop Viral Mazumdar

Jan. 2 to 5 Wed/Sat HEL for Industries*/ HEL for DPE Karnataka AP Team/Dilip Patel

Jan. 7 to 11 Mon/Fri Ethical Leadership Program for IRTS Probationers Vartak/Shanti Narain

Jan. 12 Sat INI Joshi

Jan. 14 to 18 Mon/Fri Ethics in Public Governance for IAS & IPS Vartak/Shanti Narain

Jan. 22 to 25 Tue/Fri ELL for Public & Private Sector Organisations* Joshi

Feb. 1 to 5 Fri/Tue Proposed for Making Democracy Real Joshi

Feb. 13 to 16 Wed/Sat HEL for Industries*/HEL for DPE Karnataka AP Team /Dilip Patel

Feb. 19 Tue INI Joshi

Feb. 20 to 23 Wed/Sat ELL for Public & Private Sector Organisations* Joshi

Feb. 24 Sun Trust Meeting- Proposed Vartak/Dr. Rao

Feb. 25 to Mar. 1 Mon/Fri Program for TSRDS Joshi/Biren Bhuta

Mar. 6 to 9 Wed/Sat HEL for Industries* AP Team

Mar. 20 to 23 Wed/Sat ELL for Public & Private Sector Organisations* Joshi

Mar. 26 Tue INI Joshi

Husband sends his wife a text message: “Hi, what r u doing Darling?” Wife: I’m dying...!

Husband jumps with joy but types: “Sweet Heart, how can I live without U?”

Wife: “U idiot! I’m dying my hair.” Husband: “Damn the English Language!”

Heights of cacophony…two skeletons dancing on a tin roof!

Success is relative – more the success, more the relatives

Epitaph on a Robot’s tomb:

“Rust in Piece”

Its Funny...or so we think!

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The opinions expressed in the articles are those held by the contributors and not necessarily of MRA-IofC. Edited by Dr A. S. Ravindra Rao and Published by Ishika Mukherjee on behalf of Friends of Moral Re-Armament (India). Printed at Rich Prints,

Narayan Peth, Pune-30. For private circulation only. For additional information contact: Asia Plateau, Panchgani 412 805, India. Telephone: +91(0)2168 240241/2 Fax: 240004 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.in.iofc.org

Welcome to India I Care movement. This movement inspires us to consciously keep making deposits into the Character Bank of India by way of modifying/changing our attitudes and behavior. There could be daily deposits, periodic ones or major deposits to the character of our country.

Disha regularly publishes inspiring stories on the theme of India I Care.

The major deposits would include saying no to dowry, no to corrupt practices, supporting/getting involved with social reform activities etc. Over the last few decades, we have been drifting away from the system of ‘joint families’. We have gone cellular. The ill effects of such breakdowns of the joint families are raising their ugly heads. This is a major drain in the character of our country.

Hence stories of any reversal to the situation would account for a major deposit. Here is one such story of an HEL participant from Bangalore where four generations from both sides come and live together under the same roof...Read on.

I am Vyshnavi and I live in Bangalore with my family of 9 members.

I married Hari in 2005 and we started our life together in Bangalore. My father was in another city that time and later was posted to Bangalore in his job. I was happy and started looking for a suitable house for my parents in the vicinity.

While the house-hunting was on, Hari had a thought, “Why can’t your parents live with us”. Initially I thought it may not work and called up my in-laws for their opinion. They welcomed the idea. Incidentally my father called me the

next day and asked if he could stay with us. Then on we started living together.

Our daughter’s arrival came in 2007 and brought us even closer. My mom-in-law supported my mom dur-ing my maternity and my Father’s mom joined us too. I could see that these three women could actually get along very well!!! After a while, my mom-in-law developed a health issue and my mom travelled to my in-laws place to take care of her. This really gave me a thought that we should all stay together in Bangalore, and insisted to make it happen. Thus Hari’s parents joined us and we started staying as one family.

And then came a recent addition to my family- the 9th member. No, not a child, but my other grandma (Mom’s mom). All my family members received her happily and they started taking care of her. She is in her 90’s In fact my father’s mom takes care of all the chores of mom’s mom and if we all travel, my Mother-in-law looks after her. They share their responsibilities at home and reduced a lot of tension for me and Hari. All this in a 4 bed room apartment in a busy city, Bangalore!

I see my daughter enjoying all the attention/learning from grand/great grandparents. We are a happy family and pray that we continue to remain so.

‘An extra ordinary story...”India I Care

Vyshnavi

Vyshnavi’s joint family