One of the most beautiful sights I have seen was in Sudan, that of the Blue Nile and White Nile merging and being transformed into a different river, a different colour, much like it is at the Sangam here. In meeting people we are transformed too, though we stay the same.
11
REJUVENATING THE HEART OF INDIA
The village movement is an attempt to establish healthy contact
with the villages by inducing those who are fired with the spirit
of service to settle in them and find self-expression in the
service of villagers …
—Mahatma Gandhi
India lives in its villages. It is from there that its culture, heritage, customs and philosophy of life emerge. I was born and brought up in a village; I can understand the rhythms of village life. In recent years the migration from villages to town has increased dramatically. All the migrants get is a tense, miserable life in slums as they try and earn enough to satisfy their hunger. Love and belonging is snatched from them. Developing the villages so that they can provide adequate opportunity for earning and improving amenities there can change the face of India, I believe. It will stop the migration to towns ending the misery of the migrant labour. From this thinking emerged the idea of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas).
The development of any state requires the development of its villages. To gain first-hand experience, I decided to visit a rural area during my first trip to Bhopal in 2002. We went to Torni, which had neither a proper road nor electricity. As soon as I expressed my desire to visit this village, a number of actions were initiated by the state authorities. First and foremost, a several-kilometre-long all-weather road was constructed. Electricity also reached the village at jet speed.
During my visit, the villagers were very happy to demonstrate their achievements in watershed management and use of organic pesticides. I asked the district authorities to spread the achievements of Torni village to other villages in the region, so that they too could benefit from this experience. I also suggested to the state government that they create connectivity among a group of villages by forming clusters, which would not only facilitate the provision of physical connectivity in the form of roads and transportation systems, but would also enable the provision of common amenities like health care, educational institutions, storage facilities for perishable items like fruits and vegetables, and the creation of a food processing or other industry in the village cluster, which would create employment opportunities in the area. Nowadays the range of crop and wood-based industries alone has expanded to include a very wide array of products that are in great demand.
I also suggested to the chief minister and district authorities that they survey all water bodies in all the villages in Madhya Pradesh using satellite pictures, de-silt them and provide proper inlet and outlet connections.
The youth from the villages in the Torni area requested the upgradation of the middle school into a secondary school, which the state government agreed to do.
The visit to Torni village provided me with a field look at the various dimensions of development including the connectivity needed for bridging the rural-urban divide.
I was born and brought up in Rameswaram. Based on my experience there, I have often reflected how villages can be developed in such a way as to provide adequate earning capacities. My professional career has been in the larger cities but I have had several opportunities to visit villages in far-flung areas. When we were developing the India 2020 programme, one of its most important elements was that of developing the country’s 600,000 villages. When my friend Prof. P.V. Indiresan came up with the idea of PURA, it struck a chord. I started detailed discussions with him and several other experts in the field who had a similar interest.
I was fortunate to come into contact with Nanaji Deshmukh of Chitrakoot PURA, Madhya Pradesh, Periyar PURA in Vallam, Tamil Nadu, and Loni PURA in Maharashtra promoted by a medical group. Above all, there was the Warana PURA in Maharashtra taking shape under the pioneering work of Tatya Saheb Kore. These experiences of rural development became the foundation for the evolution of the PURA system for the whole nation. As president, I have visited more villages than urban areas. The observations I made on these tours further helped in the establishment of PURA complexes.
When we engage in conversation with city folk, invariably many of them point out the present situation of increased pollution, fast pace of life, crowding and other disadvantages. Still they do not venture to go back to even their own villages. On the other hand, people of the villages even though they like their environment, leave their homes and venture into the cities in the hope of a better quality of life. Can we find a solution, so that village dwellers, particularly the youth, have opportunities to improve their earning capacity in the village environment itself? Simultaneously, can we make the villages attractive to the urban citizens, not only for holidaying and business, but also for potential migration. Such thinking formed the basis of PURA.
The government and the private and public sector in our country have been taking up rural development in parts. For example, starting an educational institution or a health care centre, laying roads and building houses, or providing a communication link in a particular rural area have been taken up in the past as individual activities. During the last few decades, it is our experience that these initiatives start well, just like heavy rain results in numerous streams of water for a while. As soon as the rain stops, all the streams get dried up because there are no ponds to collect the surplus water. For the first time, PURA envisages an integrated, sustained development plan with employment generation as the focus and taking into account provision of the habitat, health care, education, skill development, physical and electronic connectivity and marketing. The need of the hour is the evolution of sustainable systems which act as ‘enablers’ and bring about inclusive growth.
All of us realize that the development of villages is vital for a developed India. What is meant by development of villages? It means that:
1) The villages must be connected by good roads and wherever needed by railway. They must have other infrastructure like schools, colleges, hospitals and other amenities for the local population and the visitors. Let us call this physical connectivity.
2) In the emerging knowledge era, the native knowledge has to be preserved and enhanced with the latest tools of technology, training and research. The villages have to have access to good education from the best teachers wherever they are; they must have the benefit of good medical treatment and the latest information on their pursuits like agriculture, fishery, horticulture and food processing. That means they have to have electronic connectivity.
3) Once the physical and electronic connectivity are enabled, the knowledge connectivity is enabled. That can facilitate the ability to increase productivity and find a market for the products, increase quality consciousness and interaction with work partners, help get the best equipment, improve transparency, and enhance lifestyle and use of spare time, and so we can call it knowledge connectivity.
4) Once the three connectivities are ensured, they increase earning capacity. By taking PURA as a mission, we can develop villages as prosperous knowledge centres and see villagers emerge as entrepreneurs.
The Periyar PURA complex has been pioneered by Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women, Vallam. I inaugurated this complex on 20 December 2003 and visited it again on 24 September 2006. This PURA consists of a cluster of sixty-five villages having a population of over 100,000 in 2003. It has all three connectivities, leading to economic connectivity. On each visit, I am amazed by the enthusiasm of the local population and the youth in making possible the integrated development of the cluster. The youth display their plans for development of this complex and their innovative skills. The initiatives have resulted in large-scale employment generation and creation of a number of entrepreneurs with the active support of 1,800 self-help groups. Two hundred acres of wasteland has been d
eveloped into cultivable land with innovative water management schemes. The Periyar Maniammai College, which has become part of the Periyar Maniammai University, has deployed its students and faculty members for the development of PURA by injecting technologies and improving the skill of the local citizens. They have also created a one-product, one-village scheme resulting in the selection of forty-five products from these villages which have met international demand. The close association of the education community at the grassroot level has enabled dynamic rural development in the sixty-five villages and also improved the lifestyle of their inhabitants.
Nanaji Deshmukh and his team members belonging to the Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) have created Chitrakoot PURA in Madhya Pradesh. The DRI is a unique institution developing and implementing a village development model that is most suited for India.
The institute understands that people power is more potent, stable and enduring than political power. By becoming one with the oppressed and depressed, one gains the acumen of administration and governance. Social advancement and prosperity are possible only by injecting the spirit of self-reliance and excellence in the younger generation. Using this principle, DRI has plans to develop one hundred clusters of villages having approximately five villages each around Chitrakoot. They have already developed 80 villages in 16 clusters consisting of about 50,000 people.
There is a village called Patni where the DRI has promoted sustainable development based on indigenous and traditional technology, knowledge systems and local talents. The research work by the institute through field studies facilitates the development of a replicable and tangible model for achieving self-reliance in villages. The programme aims at income generation through value addition, innovative agricultural practices, inculcating scientific temper among the villagers, improvement of health and hygiene and striving towards 100 per cent literacy. Apart from development activities, the institute is facilitating a cohesive, conflict-free society. As a result of this, eighty villages around Chitrakoot are almost litigation-free. The villagers have unanimously decided that no dispute will find its way to court. The differences will be sorted out amicably in the village itself. The reason given by Nanaji Deshmukh is that if the people fight among each other they have no time for development. They can neither develop themselves nor the community. This message has been understood by people there.
I see that the Chitrakoot project is an integrated model for the development of rural India. It aims at creating a society based on family bonding, pride in Indian culture, modern education wedded to Indian wisdom, easing of social tensions, economic empowerment of all especially the womenfolk, health for all, cleanliness, concern for the environment, and equitable distribution of wealth among all the constituents of the society. This concept fully tallies with my view that developed India means not only economic development but also integrated development in art and literature, humanism and nobility in thinking and above all preservation of over five thousand years of our rich cultural heritage.
A welcome movement has commenced for understanding PURA and taking it up as a mission in different regions as a public-private partnership. I am sure the signal is very strong and India will have nearly 7,000 PURA complexes covering all its villages in the near future.
Gandhiji said, the real India lies in its villages. It is this vast mass of humanity that can help India make its full contribution to the world.
12
IN THE GARDEN
I build no walls to confine joy or sorrow;
To sacrifice or achieve, gain or lose,
I just grow flowers on all open spaces,
And float lillies on ponds and rivers.
When I was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997, Chitra Narayanan (the daughter of the president, K.R. Narayanan) took me, my brother and his grandchildren around the Mughal Garden. It was such an enjoyable experience that I expressed my desire to see the splendour of the garden during a full moon night. The president and his wife, Mrs Usha Narayanan, heard of it. From then on, whenever I attended an official banquet, the president and the First Lady invited me to stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan. At that time I did not realize that I was going to see more than sixty full-moon nights in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In the time I was there, the Mughal Garden became a great experimental platform for me. It was a great communication medium between me, nature, and the citizens of the country; a place where I met people from diverse walks of life, including specialists in herbal plants, for which there was a section in the estate; the birds and animals that frequented the gardens became my great companions; and the serene and orderly environment of the garden and its magnificent trees gave me a sense of peace.
On several occasions I walked with a visiting head of state or government in the garden. A particularly memorable experience was walking with the heads of state of SAARC countries in 2007. I remember the prime minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, remarking that if we were to hold bilateral meetings in the Mughal Garden, differences between our countries would melt away. The prime minister of Sri Lanka said that instead of hosting a tea meet for an hour, I should arrange a discussion on the development of our regions in these beautiful lawns.
I installed two huts in the garden, both designed in keeping with the environment and using natural materials. One was built by craftsmen from Tripura and was called the Thinking Hut. I took many of my close friends to this hut for discussions during weekends and one of my books, Indomitable Spirit, was mostly written in this hut. The second hut, called the Immortal Hut, was surrounded by a grove of sixteen trees, a herbal garden with thirty-four varieties of herbs, a musical garden and a biodiversity park. Guiding Soul, one of my important books which explores the purpose of human life, emanated from the discussions I held with my friend Prof. Arun Tiwari in the Immortal Hut. Whenever a complex national decision was to be made, these two huts were where I sat and thought. Of course, the inspiration for many poems also came while I was there.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan estate is spread over 340 acres. The Mughal Garden is spread over fifteen acres. The garden is designed as three successive terraces, which are rectangular, long and circular in design. The rectangular terrace or main Mughal Garden has beautiful features like four canals, six fountains, a 70 sq metre central lawn (historically important national meetings were held on this lawn and the popular at-home functions on Republic Day and Independence Day are also organized here), 144 moulsari trees with umbrella canopies, beautiful roses and several lawns of different sizes. This garden is linked to the long garden, which forms the second terrace. The Long Garden has a 50-metre-long central path and a pergola in the middle covered with flowering creepers. On both sides of the path, there are rosebeds and a row of Chinese orange trees. The Long Garden joins the third portion of the garden in the west, which has terraced flowerbeds and a fountain in the centre. Because of the circular terraces, it is called the Circular Garden. It looks majestic when the flowers are in full bloom. This famous lawn was the venue for the banquet for the American president, George W. Bush, and his wife Laura, and the delegation accompanying them. The grand success of this banquet attended by famous artistes, intellectuals and distinguished personalities was a highlight of the events hosted at Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was deeply appreciated by the presidential couple.
All the three terraces of the Mughal Garden along with the other gardens in the estate are at the peak of their beauty from mid-February to mid-March. Together they provide a stunning display of winter-flowering annuals, roses, different creepers, bushes and flowering trees.
Dr Brahma Singh, who was officer on special duty, horticulture, delighted in listing the variety on display. There was acroclinium, antirrhinum, brachycome, begonia, calendula, campanula, candytuft, carnation, chrysanthemum, celosia, china aster, cineraria, calliopsis, cosmos, clarkia, cornflower, daisy, delphinium, dianthus, dahlia, and so on all down the alphabet.
The beauty of the garden draws people in the thousands. The garden is open to the pu
blic without any entry fee. Special days are organized exclusively for special people like farmers, defence personnel, senior citizens, physically handicapped and visually impaired.
Dr Brahma Singh also brought out a beautifully illustrated book on the trees of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
During 2002, I had several thoughts on how to add value to the Rashtrapati Bhavan estate by developing its landscape and creating additional green space. My experience in the DRDO with high-altitude agriculture and the development of vegetable and flower gardens in terrains full of rocks and stones came in handy. I consulted agricultural scientists at DRDO and in other organizations like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Dr Brahma Singh assisted me and twelve gardens emerged thanks to our efforts.
There are very few tactile gardens in India and abroad. The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) of the CSIR in Lucknow has a tactile garden and its expertise was utilized for establishing the tactile garden in Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2004. It is also an elliptical garden and has a fountain and a stone-guided path, and houses thirty-four beds of aromatic plants, herbs, spices, fruits, and ornamental flowers. Each bed has a signboard describing the plants it contains in Braille in both Hindi and English.
The visually challenged were thrilled when they visited this garden; their pleasure was discernible on their faces. Every year when the tactile garden opened for the visually challenged, I would always be there with them.
The idea of a musical garden came up on a Sunday when I was in discussion with Dr Brahma Singh and my friend Dr Y.S. Rajan in the Immortal Hut. We felt the necessity for a musical garden against the backdrop of the banyan grove, the biodiversity park and the herbal garden. A musical fountain arrangement was commissioned in 2006. This project involved an exciting integration of multiple technologies such as digital electronics, electromagnetism, hydrodynamics, hydrostatics and human creativity. The fountains offer a spectacular show in which scintillating lights illuminate cascading jets of water in perfect synchronization with classical tunes, which can be either pre-recorded or live. On a full moon night, the twin fountains can be seen standing majestically in the garden radiating purity, perfection and glory, with the dome of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the backdrop, the symbol of the pride and self-esteem of our country.