Tuition time at ProtoVillage

November 6, 2010

It's 6.30 pm and that means tuition time. Right now it's the girls turn, mathematics is the subject. There is always a small bunch of kids who take up this opportunity very gladly and Kalyan does his best to mentor them through their homework and questions. There is nothing he expects back, not even cooperation. It would not matter if there is only one child coming, he'll be offering the tuition as many evenings as he is in the village. Here the kids have light, which also is not the case in all households. Outside the loudspeaker is blasting devotional songs as it's temple time. Some of the kids not coming for class (or on their way here) burst the left over crackers, light fireworks and have a jolly good time.

Earlier Kalyan and I danced around some sort of spinning firework in a frenzy that was just too hilarious. He's always up to some sort of mischief with the kids, no wonder they're in love with him. I believe it's his passion and humble Gandhiji-like attitude, which will sustain him through his journey to make Tekulodu the ProtoVillage of his dreams. It's the detachment from the results and the focus on the path he's chosen for himself. He hasn't studied social science, psychology or development. He's an engineer with a steep climb on the corporate career ladder behind him that had left him deeply unsatisfied. He uses his common sense, his passion for all beings and most of all, his ability to inspire and motivate others to walk alongside him. Whatever the end result may be, I'm sure he's changed the course of life of quite a few of the villagers already.

And that's something I aspire to as well: walking my path independent of what others may think of me. Whether they like me or not. Only acting upon my own beliefs, fearlessly. All too often fear has stopped me from reaching for the stars, for it was the result I was attached to. On the other hand, the greatest break-throughs I've achieved in my life where owed to facing whatever fear wanted to hold me back - head on, pulling it apart and checking out what there is really to it.

So, at first, I thought ProtoVillage is not like any of the imported development program I've looked at or know of. Though now I am slowly realizing there is many examples of successful village transformation in India and the world, which started with a single person moving to a village and treating it as his own. They're living the simple life of a villager but with the awareness and education of an urban citizen who's seen the world and who is happy to search for the solution to any challenge without reinventing the wheel.

Most admirable of all in the approach Kalyan takes to building an adequate village is the fact that he refuses to accept charity. Everything done for the villagers is done by the villagers. Every dimension to be tackled - from water solutions to sanitation or social equity - is approached as an opportunity for a community business. Right now they're about to set up the first one in a chain of planned businesses - the production and distribution of clean drinking water. Even though there is not necessarily a lack of water as such, it's the poor quality of it that causes many diseases. High levels of fluoride are causing brittle bones amongst other problems. These in turn lead to inability to perform heavy duty labour such as farm or construction work.

The business model has been co-created with the villagers under the guidance of Kalyan and some passionate mentors who are happy to share their experience. The capital to be invested in buying the equipment necessary is raised amongst the villagers who are passionate about this particular dimension - in this case the water. What can't be raised amongst the partners may be held as some sort of intermediary stakes or social loan by a third party. And as profits are made the social investor slowly sells his shares and is returned his investment. This way - at least for the beginning - there is no reliance and/or dependency from banks, NGO's or money lenders necessary.

I shall report more on when the first business is up and running…hopefully soon.