"Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well."
Andrew "Andy" Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption
There are moments when one is overwhelmed by the sheer force of human endeavour persevering against immense odds, defying all natural and man-made boundaries to redefine destiny. Such moments stand out in shaping human history for the times to come. These moments become lodestars for future human triumphs and what we term as civilization. I was witness to such a spectacle, a spectacle of gargantuan proportions; a spectacle of ordinariness coalescing together to give wings to extraordinariness. Immortal lines from, a movie about the kernel of all human efforts at achieving glory named Hope. And yes, the spectacle was about hope. A group of people displaying tons of inner strength and exuberance, fighting against tyranny enforced by circumstances for a future tinged with a melancholic sense of moving away from past to a brighter future full of hope. Yes, it was all about hope.
We had butterflies in our stomach. After all we had never done such a thing before. But we must say that we were pleasantly surprised at the kind of commitment and initiative shown by people working on the ground. The night before the inauguration we all were sitting in a small room of a local school lit by a tube light running on a generator connection. The planning and rehearsals had been going on for almost a fortnight. The sheer sense of joy was emanated from their faces. There were people going to speak on a stage for the first time in their life. It was a test of character for them. They had to summon all their courage and self confidence to achieve this task. It may seem quite ordinary for some of us. What is so big about making a speech on stage? I guess we must understand the inequalities foisted on them which made even normals such as a decent schools education a pipe dream for many. No doubt these people possessed knowledge but the communication part was a real challenge for them. But you can defeat darkness only by lighting a lamp and they had taken this to adage to their hearts. I could surmise this fact from the energy and enthusiasm they displayed while rehearsing their speeches. Yes they did mistakes. Yes they did fumble with words. But it is necessary to have a few bruises if you want to ride a cycle. The focus was on giving them a sense of empowerment, a sense of self confidence that would not be punctured by the ravages of fortune and the torturous cycle of poverty. The elders also displayed reserves of energy rarely seen before. The planning would have been a lesson to many generals going to war. Yes it was a war for us but not against humanity but hopelessness. So the preparations naturally did resemble a strategy session. The lights went out at 9 but we were not finished with our planning for the event. Undeterred, we took out our mobile phones and torches and continued with our planning. By about 10.30 pm we were finished. Vishwajeet wanted to have a feel of the energy levels and send a message as well. He talked to us on phone and I am sure he must have felt the same vibes.
The next day started early for us. We assembled at the designated spot at 7.15 am and the preparations started. A rickshaw was sent to tour the village and make announcements about the event. The event began at 12.30 pm. Music and literature are like brothers and it was only fitting that the event started with a musical performance. The sounds emanating from the dholak and harmonium were perfect accoutrements to soothe the nerves of the audience and make them ready them for a talk on importance of reading in life. The chief guest Mr. Pramod Bhartiya, Principal JRS College Jamalpur arrived at 1 pm and was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers. Girls from the local school sang a welcome song in honour of the chief guest. The lamp lighting ceremony followed. The library was inaugurated and the first book in our library titled ‘Bhagat Singh Aur Unke Sathiyon Ke Dastawez’ was displayed to the public. A seven year kid brought to life Shakespeare by reading from one of his plays. It was followed by speeches from people associated with this project and the place reading deserved in their scheme of things. People expressed themselves on the importance of reading and necessity of a library in our neighbourhood. We were able to coax women to make a speech on stage and their very appearance on stage was a big victory for us. Village elders also expressed their approval ans aspirations with regards to Upvan. I gave the inaugural address (available on this website under the Inaugural Speech section) with detailed explanations regarding our mission and aspirations in the long run. My speech focussed on the pragmatic side of a having a library and cultivating the habit of reading, the role of alternative education and liberating potential of reading combined with a sense of empowerment. It also figured anecdotes as narrated to me by Tabish the night before. The Chief Guest’s speech was a befitting finale to our programme. The Chief Guest Mr. Bharatiya’s speech was an exercise in fusing humour with pragmatism to give the audience a peek into his incredible storehouse of knowledge. Being an avid reader and writer of repute besides commanding mastery over seven languages, he laced his speech with rustic humour emanating from the rural surroundings. His anecdotal take on a dog and contrasting its behaviour with humans on matters of hygiene brought out loud applauses from the audience eager to feast their aural reserves on words flowing from a master craftsman of language and literature.
The music troupe sang the Vidai Geet (farewell song) in honour of the chief guest. Yes we did not want the event to come to an end and the Chief Guest to leave us but matters pragmatism dictated us. The farewell song captured the mood of separation from the Chief Guest and fusing it with the joy of giving birth to Upvan. The labour pain was over and thus Upvan was born.
We had butterflies in our stomach. After all we had never done such a thing before. But we must say that we were pleasantly surprised at the kind of commitment and initiative shown by people working on the ground. The night before the inauguration we all were sitting in a small room of a local school lit by a tube light running on a generator connection. The planning and rehearsals had been going on for almost a fortnight. The sheer sense of joy was emanated from their faces. There were people going to speak on a stage for the first time in their life. It was a test of character for them. They had to summon all their courage and self confidence to achieve this task. It may seem quite ordinary for some of us. What is so big about making a speech on stage? I guess we must understand the inequalities foisted on them which made even normals such as a decent schools education a pipe dream for many. No doubt these people possessed knowledge but the communication part was a real challenge for them. But you can defeat darkness only by lighting a lamp and they had taken this to adage to their hearts. I could surmise this fact from the energy and enthusiasm they displayed while rehearsing their speeches. Yes they did mistakes. Yes they did fumble with words. But it is necessary to have a few bruises if you want to ride a cycle. The focus was on giving them a sense of empowerment, a sense of self confidence that would not be punctured by the ravages of fortune and the torturous cycle of poverty. The elders also displayed reserves of energy rarely seen before. The planning would have been a lesson to many generals going to war. Yes it was a war for us but not against humanity but hopelessness. So the preparations naturally did resemble a strategy session. The lights went out at 9 but we were not finished with our planning for the event. Undeterred, we took out our mobile phones and torches and continued with our planning. By about 10.30 pm we were finished. Vishwajeet wanted to have a feel of the energy levels and send a message as well. He talked to us on phone and I am sure he must have felt the same vibes.
The next day started early for us. We assembled at the designated spot at 7.15 am and the preparations started. A rickshaw was sent to tour the village and make announcements about the event. The event began at 12.30 pm. Music and literature are like brothers and it was only fitting that the event started with a musical performance. The sounds emanating from the dholak and harmonium were perfect accoutrements to soothe the nerves of the audience and make them ready them for a talk on importance of reading in life. The chief guest Mr. Pramod Bhartiya, Principal JRS College Jamalpur arrived at 1 pm and was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers. Girls from the local school sang a welcome song in honour of the chief guest. The lamp lighting ceremony followed. The library was inaugurated and the first book in our library titled ‘Bhagat Singh Aur Unke Sathiyon Ke Dastawez’ was displayed to the public. A seven year kid brought to life Shakespeare by reading from one of his plays. It was followed by speeches from people associated with this project and the place reading deserved in their scheme of things. People expressed themselves on the importance of reading and necessity of a library in our neighbourhood. We were able to coax women to make a speech on stage and their very appearance on stage was a big victory for us. Village elders also expressed their approval ans aspirations with regards to Upvan. I gave the inaugural address (available on this website under the Inaugural Speech section) with detailed explanations regarding our mission and aspirations in the long run. My speech focussed on the pragmatic side of a having a library and cultivating the habit of reading, the role of alternative education and liberating potential of reading combined with a sense of empowerment. It also figured anecdotes as narrated to me by Tabish the night before. The Chief Guest’s speech was a befitting finale to our programme. The Chief Guest Mr. Bharatiya’s speech was an exercise in fusing humour with pragmatism to give the audience a peek into his incredible storehouse of knowledge. Being an avid reader and writer of repute besides commanding mastery over seven languages, he laced his speech with rustic humour emanating from the rural surroundings. His anecdotal take on a dog and contrasting its behaviour with humans on matters of hygiene brought out loud applauses from the audience eager to feast their aural reserves on words flowing from a master craftsman of language and literature.
The music troupe sang the Vidai Geet (farewell song) in honour of the chief guest. Yes we did not want the event to come to an end and the Chief Guest to leave us but matters pragmatism dictated us. The farewell song captured the mood of separation from the Chief Guest and fusing it with the joy of giving birth to Upvan. The labour pain was over and thus Upvan was born.
