Islands of hope
AT a time when people are fast losing hope in the system and feeling helpless against the ills that face Indian society, here are two books that showcase unknown individuals across the countryside who are making a difference to the world around them.
While The Waste Land traces the efforts made by the Udaipur-based NGO, Sewa Mandir, to build leadership at the grassroots in Southern Rajasthan, Kiran is truly a heart-warming publication. Not so much for its narrative, but the 50 Indians who, unknown to each other, have one message for those who care to take note: "It doesn't take much to make a difference to the world we live in."
No mega-movements these, but big enough at a time when people seem to have stopped caring about others or feel too overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem to even try to do something. In fact, each of the 50 individuals mentioned in Kiran — adapted from an award-winning television series — is a solitary foot soldier; battling the odds.
If Faizabad resident, Mohammad Sharif's decision to give unidentified bodies a decent funeral was a response to his own son's mortal remains being unceremoniously disposed, Anjana Rajagopal of Noida went through no such personal tragedy to give up the normal trajectory of an Indian woman to adopt 30 mentally-challenged children.
While the series ran on Doordarshan's national channel from 1999 to 2002, this book allows couch potatoes who have abandoned the public broadcaster for the plethora of private channels to catch up with these stories that inspire; not by their scale, but the sheer humility of the effort.
Kiran: The Power of One, Umesh Aggarwal, Sabiha Farhat and Venkatesh Rajanga, Penguin, Rs. 195.
The Waste Land: Making of Grass-roots Leaders, Nandita Roy, Seva Mandir, Udaipur, and National Foundation for India, Rs. 250.
ANITA JOSHUA
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