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REALITY NOTES RealityNotes recounts some of the challenges we faced along the way Pigs, people, parks.... The tale of the building that was never to be ours From the very outset, space has been our greatest challenge. And somehow it has been an ongoing battle, where we have come face to face with many of the realities, some amusing some quite daunting, that make life in India. In the end, it has been a great learning experience and also a realisation that if one has the will and the determination, obstacles that seem intimidating at first, are easily overcome, and solutions often lead to better things. We share this story with you so that you may also get a glimpse of the workings of India May 2001 to december 2002 When we realised that projectWHY had to grow in size, a case of true *force majeure*, we were quite short of funds and were on the look out for some free space where we could lay out mats and simply teach... I guess that this was probably because I had grown up on images where gurus sat under trees and imparted knowledge. . January 2003 - January 2004 End of an era.. All was well, or so we thought... we survived a hot summer, torrential rains and the beginnings of a hard winter and classes were going, when one day a horde of officious looking men descended upon us, asking us to vacate the park immediately. We were stunned, and not willing to believe that it was happening to us once again. only this time we had the support of the community and over 100 parents. when we enquired the new reason for moving us we were told that a community centre would be built there and it would of course be given to us. February 2004 Red tape and more of it.. In January 2004, the building was ready. as advised, we had made the necessary application and sent it to the Additional commissioner MCD slum wing, asking for the space to be allotted to us. We were assured that we would be getting the building, but to our utter surprise we found out that the building had been given to Astha, another NGO that was not working in the area at all. First we felt anger and tried to get things reversed. We met the CM's office and even the MCD Commissioner but we soon found out that we were wasting our time. The NGO in question was headed by highly visible people and once again we realised that the reality was that it was not work that was rewarded but your ability to appear in on page *3* Matters could have rested there but when our the new occupants started trying to get to our staff in ways that were not professional and we were compelled to react. A letter was sent to Ms Alkazi the head of Astha, and a subsequent meeting took place in the hope of finding an amicable way to live side by side. I am still not able to comprehend why this was not possible but in spite of our best efforts we realised that the presence of an almost hostile neighbours was getting the worst out of all of us. August 2004 a forced move.. Things were getting worse, everyone was in a negative mood and the atmosphere was always charged, we soon realised that our work was suffering and it was then that I decided to move. We did. To Manav Kalyan camp a few hundred yards away. to many it may seem a cowardly reaction, but to me it was the only way to put things back on track and be able to function in better conditions. It was heartwarming to see that the people around us did everything to make the move possible and to welcome us in our new surroundings and for us it was new people, new experiences and discovering that India remains a vibrant place were ultimately the good overrides the bad. You just have to find it... |
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