IMPRESSIONS - Akhila

It was my 8th time to the CSY and I had the same excitement pumping in. Each yatra has something new to unfold, I believe. I really wasn’t amazed about how villagers treated us with love and respect because the major learning from all the previous yatras that I’ve been to was the hospitality of whom the urbanites consider as illiterates. I was sure they would welcome us - the unknown, the strangers, the urbanites, and the educated (as considered by them) with love, care and compassion. I knew it.
During the unlearning session, when Brigadier talked about the purpose of yatra and instructions to be followed to make it a success, he asked us a couple of questions and I’ll paraphrase them for you– “Would you allow a group of strangers to walk into your house without your permission? Would you let them pluck flowers from your garden? Would you be nice to them and answer all their questions genuinely?” You would say NO, wouldn’t you? “Then why should we take their humbleness for granted and interrupt their privacy?” Makes sense, right?
Nature kept us amazed with its flabbergasting beauty. If I ever walked in silence under the moonlight conversing with my inner self, observing fireflies while listening to the chirruping of crickets, then it was only during Shodha yatra. When we were asked to share our opinions about the silent walk in the dark, each one of us had something interesting to share. For me it was all about the talk between me and my inner self. For someone it was the sounds of nature. For someone else it was the rhythm of footsteps. Ah, what a reminiscing experience!
This yatra was great for we had met a grassroots innovator, Shabbir, on Day 1 just within a few minutes after commencement of the yatra. I can’t wait for the day when Shabbir’s story will be narrated by Brigadier in the forthcoming yatras. Enthusiasm to learn new things and experimenting with the concepts of science, I didn’t have it in me when I was in 8th grade. But those Govt. school children of Pesarlanka were taught by their teacher to observe science in everything. They could relate surface tension while throwing a flat stone in water such that it bounces off. They also explained about how centrifugal force worked in one of their working models of science. Yes, they’re the 8th standard Govt. School children.
A teacher like Poturaju garu is needed in every school. A teacher who supports and guides his students, who breaks down complex theories into simple stories so that children would understand, a teacher who gives his fullest to do justice to the profession, a teacher who teaches his students to aim big and that financial crisis shouldn’t limit their thinking.
Every friend of yours was once a stranger. If you haven’t experienced a walk with complete strangers on an unknown terrain, then you should do it to have no regrets later in your life. I did and all those strangers are now a bunch of amazing friends to me, just after a 3 days interaction with each other. I thank all my fellow yatris for sharing their awesomeness and accepting some from me.
I thank Palle Srujana for giving us an opportunity to experience frugal living. Chinna Shodha Yatra can simply flip our perceptions towards various things in life by giving an insight into certain things that were once unknown to us. It allows us to meet people whom we never thought would meet. Special thanks to Brigadier for making the yatra more interesting by sharing the untold stories of grassroots innovators. If I ever get a chance to borrow or just grab something from him, then there is a list of things, his strength being the first.

Akhila