A journey of lifetime just concluded. The happiness can’t be explained in words. I don’t even understand where to start with. Everything was so wonderful and inspiring, it’s hard to choose what all activities need to mentioned here and which are to be left. I would begin with how I made my plans to be a part of “Chinna Shodha Yatra 4”, All college students were informed about Yatra by one of the faculty members(Mrs.Kavita Vemuri) of my institute(IIIT-H), she too was keen on attending but some other works and commitments could not let her come. I asked few of my friends to attend along with me, some of them could not make it just because they had return journeys scheduled to their hometown during the Yatra period and few others were afraid of walking 50kms.

13th June, I was sick and tired and thought of cancelling my plans but contained myself thinking that I may not get such an opportunity again in my life. 14th June, it started to rain heavily when I was about to leave, I again thought of cancelling my plans but all was fated to end nicely, hence I boarded the train to Bhadrachalam road in the evening hours. I met Rajeswar Rao(another Shodh Yatri) at the Bhadrachalam Road station and we made our plans for taking a dip in sacred “Godavari” and having holy darshnam of “Lord Ram” at Bhadrachalam. Everything went well and good and we were off to Chintoor (the place for Yatra to begin) by 10:00am on 15th June. We reached there by 12:00 noon and were introduced to all the fellow Yatris.

Ganesham sir, our mentor for the Yatra described about the four “teachers” we are going to meet throughout the Yatra and need to make most of them. They are “Nature”, “Villagers”, “Fellow Yatris” and “Self”. After the formal registration process, we interacted with few school kids who looked very enthusiastic and determined to learn and express. Especially, the interaction of Ganesham sir with all of them was really inspiring and taught us how we could get the best out of these young minds. The only grave thing to notice there was the lack of amenities for these young achievers. People of various age groups (nursery to 3rd standard) were all sitting in a single classroom, what could have been worse than that. But, I am sure, time changes everything, they too would get their rightful benefits someday.

Logistic vehicle got packed with our luggage and we started to move with banner, pamphlets and magazines in our hands. We met few passersby on the road to describe them about aim of Shodha Yatra and asked them to spread message about the “Ignite” where school kids give ideas and proposals which are read by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam himself and the best one gets felicitated and patented. The time came when we were all starving and wanted food badly. Our hunger was taken care of by a very modest village couple, the food tasted great, though I am not very much fond of rice but the taste did let me eat more than I naturally do. We further noticed a few things that described the intelligence of these villagers and how determined they are to save nature from fury. They have installed rain water harvesting and solar panels – the two very fine examples of things those are in accordance with nature and not opposed to it, we people, pampered by city life have never thought of doing it. At the same place we discussed few aspects of energy utilization by villagers and scope for improvement in it through modification of “Choolhas”(used for cooking) etc.

We walked for few hours then and reached the village called “Potampalli”, there too we got a chance to interact with school kids and few village elders. Children looked full of talents as few of them sang danced and proposed things. Ganesham sir had a few things ready in his laptop to teach kids and ask them to act, all was fun and children too seemed to enjoy it a lot. Few of the videos shown were efficient use of Bamboo, permanent shortening of neck of village women due to carrying a lot of weight on head and few solutions of it. While Ganesham sir talked to elders we played around with kids, taught them paper art, distributed sketching pens, few snapshots with them, all was fun. As soon as we left the place, we met a few archers on the road, they hunt and eat – this is their livelihood. Few of the fellow yatris experimented with their archery skills and made shots in the dark. Dusk was approaching, we had a great distance to walk, time was passing so quickly and we were able to walk without any troubles, this all seemed to go swiftly as Ganesham sir shared few nicely chosen anecdotes from his lifetime. They were all inspiring and were making us eager to know more. They contained topics from all walks of life, his experiences of army, wars, villages, nature, city life, in short everything that we could imagine on our way. Although few yatris were facing few problems walking a long distance, few were exhausted, few fatigued, few injured but none of them was short of courage and inspiration and after a few hiccups we made it to Tulsipaka village school to spend the night there. We shared the reflections and learnings from the day proceedings, galloped food and were off to sleep. Though our sleep under open sky was disrupted by showers, but cool breeze let us had a sweetest ever sleep later. In the morning, we got a chance to bath in the fast flowing stream of water just behind the school, a total encounter with nature. Praise for female yatris, they too did not shy away from enjoying this nature’s blessings on us. By the time, the logistic vehicle left to bring the breakfast, I roamed all around the place to observe village settlements and played few games with village kids those looked a combination of cricket, hokey and ice hockey. We had a quick breakfast, meanwhile Ganesham sir initiated a very beautiful to be discussed – How would you describe a crack positively? A few replies from our sides were – A signal, alarm, making a way through in a competitive exam etc. but of all those best reply came from Revathi, who said a crack brings out a new life, eg. Egg, an inspiring one. Later, Ganesham sir too had a fine reply that you can see a light through the crack. After the discussions, we interacted with villagers and distributed packets that contained things to assist plant growth and increase milk yield from cattles. We then discussed a few initiatives of villagers to improve the design of hand pumps being used since long time. Meanwhile, we discussed about biodiversity, practices of villagers, effective use of Bamboo for making settlements, permanent staircase to climb trees etc. We then reached a village where we met a boy aged nearly 12 who carves out fencing structures from bamboo in around 1 hour that was a surprise for us as we predicted days or weeks to perform it. We discussed many such examples where villagers create heaven out of nothing. Ganesham sir informed us about many such people from different parts of country. All the fellow Yatris then pledged to help that little boy fulfill his dream of becoming an engineer. Minutes of walking, we then sat on the roadside to share more. We then discussed about difference in birth procedure carried out by doctors in cities and that used by village women. The one born in city isn’t given a chance to relieve from stress of arriving in this gigantic world and has to face ample light and its umbilical cord is cut instantaneously whereas those born in villages are given enough time to settle and shift the load and then cut the cord.

There was no looking back then, there was a long way to walk now, we then reached a village where people were busy with some sort of celebrations, we sat under a large tree to have lunch and discussed the most important topic of the day. It was now when we started to talk in detail about “Mallesham ji” and “Aasu” family. It was biggest of all inspirations, Mallesham’s struggle, his achievement, his support to fellow villagers, his contribution towards bringing economy in trodden areas were all as big as they could be. Apart from this, we talked about more such heroes who are yet to receive acclaim like “Vikram Rathore” and others. We carried on with our discussions about innovations by villagers that enlisted “Water filled tractor tubes”, “poisonous plant used as pesticide” etc. We could not interact with people in one of the villages as people were dipped in the mood of celebration and did not look in mood to talk to. There was a lot of walking then, all of us listened to Ganesham sir as he talked about economy, country policies, wars and much more. We reached Motugudem APGenco hostel at around 7:30pm on 16th June. As soon as we reached there, everyone was looking curious to speak and learn more. We talked for a while and had dinner at a local restaurant. In the night hours “Dhannunjay”, the most curious of all Yatris described about his achievements. I was too tired to listen to whole of the stuff but understood that it was a “Multipurpose Tractor for fields” and he was sanctioned a sum of “Rs.600000/-“- Kudos to him for his achievement and best of luck for future. In the morning hours, we discussed more about Aasu family and their struggle. We pledged to help all such causes in any way we can. We then headed towards Waterfalls, we all felt like we were kids playing in the lapse of Mother Nature. We had group photographs and final reflection in the midst of the beauty of nature at its best. Ganesham sir mentioned about a village man who made machines to make “tomato products” with zero wastage and earns lacs in a month, he used to be too poor earlier. Many more such examples were shared and they are limitless, one must have dedication, he can then even make god appear in front of him. Everyone had beautiful and vibrant experiences and all were keen on attending all Yatras from now on and this is how Yatra ended with me making a Ship structure out of nothing but just broken wood pieces and stones lying on ground which was applauded by Ganesham sir himself and all fellow Yatris. I had a job to do at the end, forcing all Yatris to fill feedback forms and collecting them, which I enjoyed. It was now the time to return to our places and we boarded Bus to Bhadrachalam road at 6:00pm on 17/6 /2012 from Motugudem and then train from Bhadrachalam road at 11:00pm on the way back to Hyderabad.

I have made some 20 very good friends. I have seen a walking legend - Ganesham sir. I thank Tahir bhaiyya, the driver of logistic vehicle for guiding us whenever we felt that we were lost and arranging for tee and biscuits throughout the journey. I thank Kavita Vemuri ma’am for informing about the Yatra. I thank “NIF” and “honey Bee” for their initiatives. May the work of organizations make a world where all can survive. May there be multiple heads on “Honey Bee” logo.

How has my vision changed after Yatra?
I have started to look world and its various aspects very differently. Every simple or complex machine or any tool makes me think about the efforts and thoughts put behind it to make it a success. I have started to identify the things which are in development phase and expect them to be very beneficial when developed fully. I have started to respect the villagers for the caliber and potential they have. They harness the very scarce resources in the most efficient manner. Unlike city people they emphasize on Zero wastage policy and make the best out of every available thing. I have no doubt left in my mind regarding the success of every village kid if quality of their education is improved even marginally. Every villager pays his due respect to the nature which the urban civilization has totally forgotten. They take care of nature and vice versa. Though the services they have obtained can’t save them from havoc played by nature every now and then but whatever they have achieved in terms of not harming the nature is really appreciable. I have expanded my restricted vision; this has been made possible only due to Shodha Yatra. These days, I put quality efforts and time in to observe and learn from things all around me, I would carry the inspiration drawn from the Yatra throughout my lifetime and would always strive to make the best out of everything that comes in my way.