Tuesday 30 December 2014

Gurukul Visit - Dec 2014

Hey F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Gurukul.... when you hear this word, many may think of Yash Raj's huge set with a lavish college building. Mr. Bachchan with a stern face hammering discipline into his love struck students, while a violin obsessed SRK is contradicting his methods and breaking his 'parampara'. Few may also imagine Aishwarya suddenly appearing out of nowhere and running around maple tree leaves. But the Gurukul I visited is way too different. The surroundings may not be huge but are very scenic. The building may not be lavish but is very warm and accommodating. You may not find a stern and tall Amitabh but an ever smiling and equally energetic Mr. Shirodkar a.k.a. 'Dada', welcoming you along with the kids.The students may not be love struck but surely sweet enough to strike love through you. SRK and Ash are not at all conspicuous by their absence. 

 The Gurukul (Veer Savarkar Gurukul to be precise), that I visited is a distant place situated close to Kanhe on the mumbai Pune old highway (Boravli, Vadgaon). As the name suggests, this place is for kids, who stay away from their home with their guru or teacher in pursuit of education (value education to be precise) run literally single handed by Mr. Shirodkar. Standing at around 5 feet in his simple shirt and dhoti,  wearing a warm smile under his Lokmanya Tilak styled mustache, Dada's energy at his age (around 75) is more than you can grasp. He left his service with leading Colleges in Mumbai & Goa and started working towards social cause at a very young age. Gurukul was earlier in smaller place in Vadgaon, but has recently shifted to this new place we visited, which is more spacious. There are around 28 kids (all boys) at present, ranging from 1st to 9th std. Dada not only takes care of their accommodation but also their studies and well being. The kids do go to a nearby school. The primary kids (1st to 7th) have to go to a school around 3 kms inside the village. Dada has arranged a jeep for their daily commute. The secondary kids have a nearby Marathi medium school. They have come from various villages from near and far away like Nandurbar. Some even from cities like Mumbai, Pune, Satara. They stay there till matriculation as there is no higher studies institutes or colleges around. The only time they visit their homes is during Diwali and summer vacations. Dada ensures that they are well equipped with knowledge and skills to make their own decisions so that they can decide their future path themselves. The proud alumni are successful engineers, doctors and people highly positioned in various fields. Heard a story about a boy, who was the most mischievous and non attentive towards education. His parents had left him at his aunt's place in Pune thinking he may improve there. But that was of no use. His aunt came to know about this place and admitted him in Gurukul. Initially the story continued here too, but slowly and steadily with Dada's efforts, the kid started improving. Improvement was such that that kid started scoring first in his class. He made a successful career further. Many such stories of alumni are great to hear.  Many also have becoming a helping hand in Gurukul's activities.
 
I happened to visit this place with a friend and an office colleague Mithun with his wife Charuta and their two year old bundle of chatter box Ratee. They had preplanned this visit to celebrate Christmas with these kids. They had even purchased some useful items like mats, useful utensils,  indoor and outdoor games like chess, badminton, etc for the kids on this occasion. The plan to bring in a Santa Claus for the kids couldn't go through but their secret Santa did have packs of chocolates loaded in nicely packed wrappers. We started a little late from Pune (actually noon). It is a 1.5 hour drive from Pune. But thanks to the company of Santosh, a friend of Charuta, who happens to be associated with Gurukul on a regular basis,  we made it to the exact place in the given time. 

The place is hard to find on your own as there are no boards or hoardings of Gurukul. To reach this place, you have to take a right turn at Kanhe Phata on the old Mumbai Pune highway (if coming from Pune) and drive around 22 kms to reach their gate. This one lane road will take you through small villages, scenic mountains and water bodies around. For precise location on goggle maps, find these coordinates 18.893642, 73.514465 and it will give the exact destination. You can also search into google maps as "Gurukul Shirodkar" and you will be pointed to the right place. While driving, the main land mark is a Anajana Devi temple on the left. After the temple, its a right turn from a small gate just 100-200 meters ahead. The gate is hard to locate but its the first on right among the three huge iron gates. For those planning a visit, you don't need Santosh to be with you. ;) The localities are very helpful.:)

 Gurukul is not a govt funded NGO. Dada depends upon individuals help and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. Santosh's company and his group are a regular help to Mr. Shirodkar in his activities. Currently they are also working on building a website for this NGO, which will help them to reach out to as many social enthusiasts as possible. Currently they survive on mouth publicity. Me and Mithun were discussing about starting a FB page for them as the website work will take some time to complete. Ideas are welcome. 

 We reached around 12:45 and being a holiday, all the kids were relaxing from their daily chores during that time. As we entered the gate, the stoned road lead us to their facility, which is a mere 4 room house with a kitchen and a separate place for cooking and dining. There are expansion plans where in they will be building rooms to stay and study. The first sight was of a barber, who was called upon for his monthly visit to shave off the tots. Few started looking like Chanakya with a small tuft (shendi) hanging around. The kids welcomed us. They were equally excited to meet us as we were to meet them. 28 well behaved and disciplined kids and all at the same time. Being a X- volunteer at Akanksha, I know how difficult it is to achieve this. Managing even 10 kids of that age group for more than 30 minutes is a feat itself. But the discipline and behavior of these kids was clearly not a result of fear. It was dada's skills, his warmth and the respect the kids have for him, that made them listen to his each and every instruction as an army commander's order. They just followed them swiftly as if he was communicating to grown ups. Few kids voluntarily took care of Ratee as if she was one of their own. Kids at that age communicate faster and easier. Ratee too became comfortable with them and they with her chit chat. Dada showed us around and introduced us to their daily chores.

It was time for lunch. Two local ladies help dada daily for the kids meals right from break fast to dinner. The lunch is usually taken care by their respective schools. They treated us with pooranpoli, katachi aamti, bhajis and rice. Charuta was happy to help in the kitchen. Even few kids were helping in the kitchen to make chapati's and bhajis. They made perfect round polis. After the kids had their meals, we all including dada joined us in the small place for dinning. Having such a delicious treat was the bonus of the day. It was like our secret santa was rewarding us for the visit. After meals, we were just hanging around trying to digest the delicacies, roaming around the place, interacting with kids. Seeing them play with their roller sticks made most of us nostalgic. The kids showed us their local plantations, which they do over a small piece of adjacent land. They grow vegetables like fengugreek (methi), lima beans (pavta), bhendi, etc. They consume much of the output and try to sell the surplus. Most of the afternoon went by clicking pics, moving around and enjoying just being there at that moment.

It was time for us to distribute the gifts so dada called all the kids in one of the rooms. Some of them presented their local rhymes and marathi songs. It was fun to hear and see the kids display their learnings. Charuta being a sangeeet visharad, sang them the famous 'Tu buddhi de' aarti from the movie 'Dr. Prakash Baba Amte'. The kids were so in awe of the song and her singing that they had maintained a pin drop silence through out her performance. I was prompt to video capture most of the performances in my phone. The videos are available in the picasa album link I have shared at the end of the blog. After the performances, Ratee gladly helped distribute the chocolates and the gifts to the kids.  She was their mini Santa. Her dress code matched too :)
  
 
Due to time constrains, we had to leave against our wish. But dada offered us special chaai and we just got one opportunity to stay a bit longer. Without wasting any time, a kid climbed the pipe of the house to reach the terrace door, which was somehow locked from outside. Now we knew who would have locked it ;) We went to their terrace for few pics with the kids. The view from the terrace was mesmerizing. We couldn't understand the reason why we weren't on the roof in the first place. The water body in front of their place is soothing and best viewed from their terrace. The kids got a chance to show their monkey skills around the structures of the terrace. With a heavy heart and a hot tea on a cold afternoon, we left the place. The kids were thanking us for the visit. Being humble is just an outcome of being their with Dada I guess. But we insisted that it was us who are thankful to all of them. It is them, who shared a day of their enduring life with us. Its not as easy and sweet as they made us seem. Each day is an effort from dada as well as the kids to get what they want to achieve. We greeted them with our best wishes and a promise to visit again, which we would doing soon. We noted a list of things, where we could be of help to them. I am listing below things which they require on a regular basis. We would be collecting as much as we can and would be helping them on a regular basis. Unfortunately dada is not that well versed with internet and emails. Its just the direct communication that happens with him. 

 List of things required:
1) We are helping them to build up a small library system with marathi story books which can be enjoyed by kids at all levels. They include vinda karandikar's books of stories for kids, books of Sane Guruji, Vi Sa Khandekar's books. Books on Veer Savarkar, Shivaji Maharaj, etc which would inspire them. Note that the kids are from Marathi medium so we plan to make Marathi books available that should not be too heavy on them. Light hearten stories, inspiring heroes, etc. would be a good choice 
2) Stationery items like pens, writing pads, etc. There is no specific list, but we can assume what kids would require during their 1st to 10th school life. Everything may not be possible but we can at least give sensible items.
3) Donations of course. Note that they have been registered for 80G for income tax deductions. Donations by individuals or groups are welcome. 

You can make your contribution online.
Name: S.V.D SAVARKAR
Account number: 322202010009763
Bank Name: UNION BANK OF INDIA
Branch Location: MAVAL (VADGAON) 
IFSC: UBIN0532223
Account Type: Savings

Again, once their website is registered and working, I would update that in my blog and on the FB page, which is under progress. That would help them reach more and more helping hands. But as of now, if any one feels like they could lend some help, feel free to get in touch with me. Those who know me in person can directly contact me. For others, you can reach me at amol.jbk98@gmail.com

Hope my blog can reach to many more who can help. 

Regards 
Amol Potdar
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