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A leap for the `barefoot' graduates

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Think of a "college" where a degree or a diploma is a "disqualification" and where people are valued for their willingness to learn basic skills rather than their bookish knowledge and you, instinctively, think of the "Barefoot College" founded by Bunker Roy 24 years ago in Tilonia, a small village on the Delhi-Rajasthan border.

Currently, its "graduates" — "barefoot" engineers, photographers and doctors — are showcasing their achievements in the United Kingdom as guests of the famous environmental Eden Project in Cornwall.

The highlights

Highlights of the month-long celebrations, opened by Indian High Commissioner in the U.K. Kamalesh Sharma, include a "barefoot" photo exhibition and display of innovative community projects designed by the college.

The exhibition, curated by Varda Polak Sahm from Israel, features photographs taken on simple cameras and chronicles the college's activities since its inception in 1971.

Textiles and other Rajasthani products, many made at the college, would be on display at the local Eden Store. And musicians and puppeteers from the state would work with local Cornish artistes to create a "fusion of cultures" at Eden's "A Time of Gifts Festival."

Tim Smith, Eden's chief executive, hailed the participation of Rajasthani musicians and puppeteers as a "leap from a passive walk-and-gawp experience to an active one."

Bunker Roy, one of the early pioneers of the NGO movement in India, said the college, built on Gandhian principles, was the only college in India "built by the poor, for the poor and managed and controlled by the poor".

"It's the only college where degrees, diplomas and doctorates could be a disqualification because the worth of the person is judged by his or her honesty, integrity, compassion, practical skills, creativity and their ability to work with people without discrimination." The Tilonia-Eden project has the support of several leading Indian and British companies.

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