Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Night School at Patan

The Tilonia Diary

Sept 22, 2012
Village- Patan

When the sun goes down, stars appear in the night sky, and all cattle have been brought back after grazing, a small room in the pitch dark village, lights up with solar lamps and children enchanting “Tu hi Ram hai, Tu Rahim hai, Tu Kareem Krishna Khuda hua”, the opening prayer of their Night School.

Night Schools! All of us have read about them during our school days but the significance of it can be understood only if one visits them and witnesses the change they can bring into the lives of rural children who yearn for learning.  Patan is a small village, 7 kms from Tilonia and has a night school set up with the help of SWRC (Barefoot College) which runs everyday from 6pm to 10pm. 13 year old Saroj, studies in 9th standard cannot attend day school because she has to take her cattle for grazing in the morning and has to do the household work. All the Children who come to study go to work in the morning like helping in the farm, cattle grazing and doing other day to day chores but still have the energy left to sing the rhymes and poems taught at their night school.
Night School at the village-Nalu
The teachers undergo a ten day training programme, once in a year during off season of farming and meet monthly to discuss new methods, drawbacks and improve their teaching skills. When they teach the kids, they emphasize on the importance of understanding and studying and not merely mugging up things.

SWRC is running around 125 night schools not only in the villages of Rajasthan but is also functioning in neighboring states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
Speaking to these children, who look forward with inquisitiveness and innocent eyes, indeed made my hands go numb. I don’t know what they assumed about me when few of them asked me to correct their homework. I figured they might have made fancy fairy tales about cities but little do they know that this simplicity embedded in their souls is something that is lost in the covetousness of present cities.
Night School at the village-Nalu

It was 9pm, deserted road and my jeep going back to Tilonia. I could do nothing but smile through the darkness outside my window with real joy breathing inside me J

Friday, September 21, 2012

Here I am..

Well! After months of travelling and going back and forth between Chennai, Bhilai, Pune and Bhopal I finally settle down...here..in a village called Tilonia at Rajasthan. Away from the buzz of the city, rush of the traffic, and the glare of materialistic life, when the pitch dark nights in the lone village reveal all the stars etched in its sky, hiding none unlike the city custom, I don't regret a bit to have made my choice of living here..away from my comfort zone...
I guess Its time to fill 'TheTilonia diary' with stories of its people!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Rajasthan!

Thorny shrubs and bushes, cactus and dry vegetation, women clad in colorful ghagras, men with their big pagdis of dignity and tiny me, looking out for a great experience in a small village of Rajasthan! A royal land of colors, culture, and tradition :)

Coming soon..
The Tilonia Diary....Stories of simplicity, struggle, achievements, intellectualism, and togetherness.. 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Utter Crap!

Whistles, kites, paper boats, butterflies,
Yes I am crazy
Sandwiches, apples, biscuits, candies,
Yes I am a foodie
I like seeing buffaloes flying in the sky
I like singing out loud in an empty room
I like writing that doesn’t make any sense
Tra la la la la la la
I am happy
And happiness doesn’t need any sequence, any definition
It just flows
Freshens the air around you
Fills up the emptiness
Music, writing, food, craziness
The cells that I am made up of
Let it grow more n multiply
I don’t care what you think abt me
Cuz this is me
RANDOMNESS!!!!!!!!!! :D :D

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Is it the research project thats doing all this????????

Never did it happen but today, when i stood outside my locked door, I wished why cant I have someone who waits for me and opens the door ! Never did it happen but today, when I sat on my couch, I wished why cant I have someone who talks to me over the cup of coffee. Never did it happen but today, when I made my dinner, I wished why cant I have someone to share it with. Never did it happen but today when I wished I had someone to say good night to before going to bed! Never did it happen but i missed you today!!
Sounds weird but yeah!! 

Monday, February 13, 2012

The broken piece!!

I saw! I saw! A broken piece of horror!
Loitering around and sometimes hiding in the corner..
In no time he became quite popular with the crowd.
As people got a new free show to watch and discuss out loud.
A constant search though always surrounded his thoughts.
Bringing all the piece together to stand again, he fought and fought.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Bride..

Indian Woman, often portrayed as complete, responsible, caring who builds up a family. But has anybody pondered upon the phase of her life which transforms her from a care free girl to a responsible women?
The Bride....
At one level, she feels eternally happy and wants to embrace the new journey which is going to begin, but at another level she remains ambiguous and anxious about getting tied to this knot of relationship. Various question, fear, apprehensions continue to surround her thoughts. How is she going to survive in a new surrounding? Will she be able to adjust in the new set up? Will she be able to live up to the family's expectations? Or what are the chances that it will work out in the way she has imagined?
Amidst  all this, she still manages to convince herself to take up the most daring step of her life. She dares to leave her family, her loved ones to accept someone completely new.She dreams to build a new house of her own out of love. She breaks open all her fear and strives to achieve what looks completely bizarre in the beginning. 
Yet she takes up this big step! 
I salute you.. You are indeed the Indian woman who deserves the best!