(by Siva Digavalli)

On Dec. 5th 2003, nearly a year after first getting acquainted over phone, I finally met Asim Da in person at the Patna airport.  After a warm exchange of greetings we got into the Maruti tempo that he hired and set off to Koderma. This was my first ever trip to Patna.  The way out of airport had prominent billboards advertising the Patna zoo. At every circle on our way there was a statue recognizing a prominent personality, national or local - most were unknown to me; JP and Lohia were the two exceptions. For a kilometer or so the road from the airport was good after which potholes became frequent and progressively large.  The driver was in a hurry to get out of the city and get on a certain highway as the alternative route, though better laid, was supposed to be frequented by dacoits and people avoided it after sundown. When we got to the highway, there was a big traffic jam - clearly we were not the only ones in a hurry.  From the little I saw of Patna, it seemed to me like any other medium sized city in India in the 1980s; the frantic new construction that one sees today in most major metros across India and for much of the 1990s, seemed missing.  After some uncertainty, the bottleneck cleared and we were on our way to Koderma.

From AID-Boston, Dipangkar Datta and I have been in contact with Asim Sarkar for almost a year now as part of our HBP partnership. We call him periodically and he shares with us the progress of their HBP related work. Asim da has been working with training and organizing people around development programs for a long time.  Asim da's forbearers came from Bengal and settled in this part of Jharkhand nearly a hundred years ago.  He has been the district Gen. Secretary of the National Literacy Mission and has wide contacts with social activists. In addition to his NLM duties, Asim da is actively involved in the HBP plan for Koderma. He has a family background in organized labor; I learnt that his late brother and sister-in-law were both well known trade union activists in the nearby Damodar Valley Corporation, independent India's first large scale dam builder. Asim da, I also learnt, was initially a student activist before gravitating towards BGVS.  He has some properties in Koderma from which he derives income. He has a photocopy shop in Koderma that is taken care of by his tenant.  He is married and has three children, two boys and a girl, all below six.  He lives in a modest home with an impressively laid out kitchen garden in the rear.  Among the people I met in Koderma, there seemed to be a common admiration and respect for Asim da both as a capable organizer and a very honest and fair-minded person.  As an AID volunteer I felt honored to be interacting with a man of such integrity and quiet strength.              

It took about 4.5 h to get to Koderma. On the way, we stopped a few times for Asim da to make some phone calls and once for tea.  Interestingly, as we neared the Jharkhand border, the road became quite good. When I wondered if this was an endorsement for smaller states, Asim da didn't seem to think so. In fact he complained that things have become worse after Jharkhand came into being and the local officials seem to have become lot more corrupt now; of course, in the days when they were part of Bihar, babus in Jharkhand had little power as the key decisions were made in Patna.  Asim da also said that they (BGVS?) were not for separation.  Like typical ghat roads in India, this one too seemed like a one-lane only till you came almost face to face with an on-coming vehicle, at which point, magically they swerve to opposite sides to make way.  Like modern day caravans, trucks bearing the same State registration tailed each other, going the same way.  Asim da said that for security reasons, the out of state truckers travel in groups.  Even in the night, I saw enough to recognize that the woods around were lovely and deep. Asim da promised a much better view on the way back when I would be traveling in the day. 

Asim da's house was situated right off the main road in Koderma. When we arrived, folks were waiting for us: Asim da's elder sister who lives in a near by town but commutes to Koderma to teach in the town public school - where his entire family schooled - and Ramesh ji, a local activist who, I later found, is practically a part of his household.  The brief meeting with his sister, a very warm and friendly woman, left me feeling like I have met a long lost relative.  After I called home to tell my family that I reached, we had a nice dinner and I retired for the day. From this day on, I had excellent home comforts including Bengali food for the reminder of my stay in Koderma, thanks to Bhabhi, Asim da's noble and patient wife.  

Dec. 6 th.  After a hearty brunch, we set out from Asim da's place. Asim da hired a Jeep for the day as it was difficult for every one to move on a couple of scooters. The driver of the Jeep was Asis, the same young man who drove me from Patna.  We first picked up Mahender Singh, a very seasoned social activist and someone well respected by the local people.  Asim da introduced Mahender ji saying he is probably the only activist among them who flew in an airplane - a reference to an NGO meeting trip Mahender ji made from Patna to Bhubaneshwar in which somehow he had an opportunity to fly.  It turned out that Asis is Mahender ji's son and studies in the local degree college when not moonlighting as a driver. 

Mahender ji has been involved in NGOs and development from the early 1980s. His forbearers migrated from Rajasthan a long time ago and were from a lineage of powerful landlords.  Although he is not a large landholder anymore, he understands entrenched power and social hierarchy and has deep sympathy for the underprivileged.  He started off in the NGO sector inspired by the work of Christian missionaries and later worked to organize tribals to resist land grabbing and exploitation by the plains people (I forgot the area of this struggle). The struggle waged by the tribals reportedly was a success as they could legislate to prevent tribal lands from slipping into non-tribal hands.  After decades, the tribals still treat him very warmly for his role in the movement.  He joined BGVS during their literacy campaigns and has stood by them ever since.   With grey hair, weather beaten face, crinkly but sparkling eyes, a wiry frame and a confident gait, he looked every bit like a village elder statesman to me.  I was therefore surprised when Asim da later said that Mahender ji may be younger than himself.  Literally, I guessed life experiences have made a lasting impression on him.  During my conversation with Mahender ji, he expressed a strong endorsement of the HBP approach where activists are trained and empowered to act as community resource but nothing is doled out to the people as aid. He has a very negative opinion about NGO-led doles to people and thinks it is more harmful than helpful. The only exception to this rule is during times of natural (or man made) catastrophes.  Having worked with many health NGOs, Mahender ji has also developed a wealth of knowledge in treating local afflictions and freely shares it with the villagers.  I was told that he is also an expert in gynecological problems and a lot of village women confide in him about health problems that are not easily discussed with outsiders, leave alone men.

With Mahender ji on board, we went to the local LIC office and met a few people in the office. Apparently, Asim da arranged as a standby, my stay in a hotel that is frequented by LIC's employee union folks.  We went to meet them and acknowledge their kindness, although it was not said so directly.  After a brief chai session with some employee friends, we went to the Koderma railway station to pick up Gurjit Singh.  Gurjit Bhai is a BGVS activist based in Dhanbad. He is a charismatic motivator and trainer for the HBP activists.  Later, I got to see some of his eloquence and technique first hand.

Gurjit Bhai took early retirement from Merchant Navy. While in the Navy, he traveled widely around the world.  After he came back, he got associated with BGVS and has stuck with it ever since. He is a District Secretary for the Dhanbad BGVS chapter.  His family owns a petrol pump in Dhanbad; he is married with two children and a wife.  Braving frequent bouts of asthma, he travels to Koderma, as needed, a 4 h ride by train from Dhanbad.  His responsibilities are mainly in training the volunteers and motivating them through engaging discussion and dialog as well as help in periodical review.  Along with Mahender ji and Asim da, he seemed to make the essential strategic team that runs the program in Koderma.  Interestingly, these names do not generally appear in the list of BGVS officials associated with Koderma/Chindwara block.        

Madangundi. As we reached this village, about 25 members of the local savings group were waiting for us. We gathered on a cement platform that served as the village meeting place.  Asim da introduced the key activists of the group including the cluster in charge Meena Devi and village activists Pushpa, Urmila and Rita Devis. These women were also part of the local microcredit group.  I could notice that the activists and the co-ords were the best dressed in the group, suggesting a slightly better economic status?  Later, I was told that the microcredit group members tend to be not the most poor but a rung above.  After I was introduced to them, they were encouraged to ask questions of me even as I was trying to break the ice. What struck me was that even as Mahender ji was introducing me, he had to explain that I was from a place called Hyderabad in India.  It seemed to me like both Boston and Hyderabad were similarly foreign to many of them. Mahender ji was publicly very curious as to why AID volunteers are interested in visiting villages when they are so far removed and are in India for only a short time. I said something to the effect that the volunteers feel kinship and a sense of solidarity towards their own; also something about being grateful.  As I chatted with the more vocal activists, I could see a lot of pride and accomplishment in their eyes as they were explaining the process and some of the benefits of microcredit - the principal being an essential relegation of the primacy of the village Mahajan (the money lender) in providing emergency credit (there were giggles at this point).  Others included collectively confronting abusive husbands and providing moral support to members to deal with domestic problems.  I am not sure if the same can be said of the other women assembled but at times I did find some of them assert and talk.  They also showed their health register and the account books. After the meeting, Asim da plugged for a larger meeting in a nearby village school the next day and expressed the hope to see them there.  Through out my trip, Asim da expressed his appreciation for the folks who came to the meetings as it was harvest season and this time is very valuable to them.  Before we parted, we were invited to Meena Devi's home for a visit. We visited her small but tidy mud house with thatched roof and sturdy wooden beams briefly before leaving to the next village. 

Pipra di.  In this village, we met with a smaller group that was already waiting for us (we were late).  It seemed to me that the women who gathered here might be slightly less well off than the previous group.  This was also the group that Muneja Khatoon, a brave and gritty activist managed along with Meena Das.  As the discussion progressed and Mahender ji was talking about the benefits of feeding young children properly, one plucky woman asked him what (material/monetary) benefit would come her way if she listened to him. The implication was that other groups are giving handouts and that BGVS is not.  After admitting that he is not going to give her anything directly, he recalled an incident:  He once encountered a troubled mother whose child was suffering from an acute bout of stomach ache. The mother happened to be from the local health group and came to him for help. After realizing what is wrong, he suggested a treatment that involved making and using a potion from the leaves of a plant growing in the woman's backyard. She followed his advice and the child recovered quickly. By learning from the health activists and by avoiding costly doctor visits, diagnostics and medicines, one can save a lot of money, he said.  To me, it seemed like a very powerful and compelling response to an embarrassing (and an apparently common) poser from a skeptic.  Asim da said to me that it was a problem that they routinely face for two reasons: one, that some professionally managed NGOs are good at doling out stuff and the people tend to expect the same from every one else. Secondly, villagers here are used to getting handouts from political parties and do feel that if someone is advising them, it means that the advisors are benefiting some how and that it is only fair that they too get a cut.   Asim da also pointed to a curious finding: the more close a settlement or a village is to the road (and to the town), the more cynical and demanding the people are. Apparently, some of their best groups, folks that follow and participate enthusiastically, are the ones that are far removed from mainstream "civilization".              

Muneja Khattoon.  Muneja is from the local muslim community and encountered an especially harsh opposition from her community to her participation in the health activities. She was originally "found" by the BGVS folks during the literacy campaign that predated the HBP program. She is a matriculate and a very competent and brave activist. In the initial months of her involvement with the health program, her community advised her family against her involvement but this didn't stop her.  Soon, a social boycott of her family was called and Muneja's father had to appease them by throwing a dinner for his entire community as a sign of atonement.  Muneja took this too in her stride and continued her work. Through BGVS contacts and her own qualifications, she has applied for and got selected for a teacher's position.  Asim da said that this is very good and that others could now look at up to her involvement in the health program as a model and think that it could open opportunities for them too. 

Bhel Khada.  Through a combination of kaccha road, and no road, we got to our next destination.  The most notable sight, as we approached the commons from a distance was an expanse of flat land with an erect and conspicuous tree with a well-groomed canopy.  The meeting would be held under this Kathal (jackfruit) tree.  The ground below was nicely paved in a circle with dung. There was a charpoy and a few plastic chairs for the visitors. Asim da said that Bhel Khada is a model for others to emulate as it had no grade III and IV malnourished children.  Asim da introduced us to the local Village Health Activist Basanthi Devi and a few others. I chatted with her briefly about the program. When the time came for us to sit down, I felt rather embarrassed to sit on the Charpoy while most of the villagers were squatting on the ground. Yet, I felt that they wouldn't like it if we also joined them on the floor since we were guests. We insisted that Basanthi ji also share the Charpoy with us as their representative and she obliged.  Again there were introductions and some question and answers. Both Mahender ji and Gurjit bhai questioned them about the program and got answers.  The emphasis was not on scrutinizing anybody but more like a polite inquiry.  To me it seemed like there is a good measure of confidence and understanding between the coordinators and the village activists. After Asim da plugged for the meeting next day, we took leave and left to our final destination for the day. 

Kanko.  The last meeting of the day was in a local school.  As before, folks were already waiting for us.  The meeting was in a classroom. They had put a dari to sit and a table with a vase of flowers.  Unlike in previous meetings, there were a number of men among the gathering. In addition, they were much more vocal and prominent to the extent that after a while, some of the women protested that the men are not giving them a chance. The meeting was largely one-sided, they asked me questions and I answered. The questions were at times quite personal (e.g. wage and expenses), how much it takes to travel from the US to India, to the relationship between blacks and whites and the status of minorities in post-9/11 USA. As I was struggling to answer in my broken Hindi, one of the gentlemen insisted that I answer in English, as he could understand the same. This at once drew protests from the women who insisted that we continue in Hindi.  It seemed to me that the women were assertive only because they were a group.  One interesting question posed was about healthcare in the USA for the poor. I explained that while the healthcare is very advanced and covered by insurance for most, there is a substantial population (~ 400 lakhs) that is uninsured. They were quite surprised by this.  Gurjit bhai related this to lack of socialist values in a capitalist society. Like the first meeting in the morning, this one had the nurse from the local Primary Health Center among the audience. She was a Muslim woman as was the local VHA trainer, Rafiq Alam.  When asked how the VHA program of BGVS has impacted her work, she said some interesting things: that now there is generally a greater awareness among the villagers about the services that the PHC provides as well as how to use them, thanks to the work of the VHAs; earlier, they had no appreciation of what was a required service from the PHC and what was not - for everything unavailable, they would blame the PHC officials as culprits.  She said that her work has become better and easier with the VHA's help.  Later Asim da commented that conscientious PHC employees find help from VHAs while others find trouble. 

After the meet, we were invited to the local tea stall situated opposite a patch of mustard field. We sat there, as sun set, sipping tea and talking international politics- needless to say it was an all men affair.  One of the folks who accompanied us on that day was Subhas ji, a young activist from the neighboring village. He was also a key activist of the BGVS and it seemed to me like he is trusted by Asim da.  I talked to him a little about his background and his interest in BGVS. He recalled that as a youth growing up in his village, he experienced the oppression of the local landowner/Zamindar and also participated in organizing against him.  He suffered a significant amount of resistance and violence from the police who were acting at the behest of the zamindar.  This was also the time he came to work with groups opposed to the landlord's exploitative ways.  This may have been his introduction to political awareness and ideology. Later, he was recruited by the National literacy Mission, the opportunity that enabled Asim da to identify and train promising youth activists and has stuck with BGVS since.

In the evening, as we headed back to Koderma, we visited the Tilaiya dam built as part of the Damodar Valley Corporation's efforts to reign in the erratic Damodar river.  It was pointed out that this dam was part of the first all-Indian dam building  venture and Indian engineers learnt from this experience and went on to build bigger dams like Bhakra Nangal and Nagarjun Sagar.   Later, we dropped off most folks at their respective homes and headed back to Koderma.  In Koderma, we stopped by a roadside restaurant that served south Indian food. Since this was the first meal since morning, everyone was hungry and the little talk that happened centered around food.  Curiously, in this and other such roadside Dhabha-style restaurants, I saw resin filter cum UV water purification systems.  After dinner, we dropped off Mahender ji and came back to Asim da's house.  Makes you wonder about the water quality even in such a remote region.   

Dec 7th Chindwara High School.  As there was only one program scheduled for that day, a public meeting in the Chindwara high school, Asim da did not hire a Jeep and we traveled on two wheelers, two or three people per vehicle.  Ramesh ji, Asim da's household regular also came along.  After mobilizing a few groups on the way, and after picking up Mahender ji and others, we went to the school. The school was a large L-shaped building with ground floor only and very little furniture.  In the large school yard, something you seldom see nowadays in urban schools, there were some kids playing cricket under the shadow of a big banyan tree.  A few women already gathered for the meeting.  Asim da, Mahender ji and Gurjit Bhai sat near the venue and were discussing about the day's program as well as some strategy for the program in general.  Subhas ji  went off on a bike to mobilize others.  I loitered in the school premises and noticed a new construction going on. It was a boy's hostel. I was later told that one of the first things that get done after the glocal government sanctions a project is the building, whether or not there is any allocation made for teachers, furniture, teaching aids etc.  Clearly, once a project is approved, the contractor wastes little time in executing it and realizing the money.  Asim da later said that it is quite common to have a building and not much else and as result students find it intolerable to live there.  He talked of an incident in a near by village where all the boarders ran away from the hostel as they were not being fed and cared for due to a lack of allocation.  Somehow, the principal's office was not locked and I walked around and fingered through student report cards on the desk and also some really old and tattered Survey of India maps in one corner. There was a picture of a local businessman on the wall who it appeared donated a large amount for the building.    

After more people, mostly women and children trooped in and settled down, the meeting started.  The village health activists, many of them we met the previous day, were gently pushed to sing campaign songs. They complied without too much resistance. After this focused the attention of the people, Gurjit Bhai also sang a few songs and started to speak. He talked about the importance of health and the need to take basic healthcare into the hands of the people.  As Gurjit bhai set off to speak, he begun by asking a few questions of the audience. As a veteran trainer, he sensed their initial hesitation to answer and quickly framed his questions in a way that converted their reticence to his advantage. For example, talking about the importance of health, he asked the audience how many of them wished to be sick. As they were not warmed up enough to answer yet, they were mum and he got the answer he wanted! This question also amused the audience and the ice melted.  Soon, at least the more forward among them began answering back to his taunts and questions.  It was educational and entertaining to hear him speak.  Soon after he completed his routine, he was off to catch the next train to Ranchi.  Before he left, he suggested that video aids like slides would be of great help to him in training the volunteers as currently their mainstay is almost exclusively verbal instruction.

Others also spoke.  Taking advantage of the gathered public, even a local leader spoke, criticizing the ruling party's anti-people policies! Not surprisingly therefore, even I was asked to speak. I said that it was very inspiring to see all the health activists in action and that I will relay their enthusiasm to our friends in the USA.  As we were going through the talks, biscuits were brought and circulated among the audience. Some of the women did not get their share and complained. I suspect that at least some of the assembled were there to take advantage of any handouts that may come their way and were not prepared to lie low.  More were brought in for them.  It was also a sad reminder as to how poor these women were that they would consider a couple of biscuits worth fighting. 

After the long list of speakers finally ended, as everyone was dispersing, a group of village activists, mainly those I met the previous day, approached me and complained that I was taking leave of everyone but did not speak to them . I quickly apologized and spoke with them for a few minutes. They seemed to be agitated about some news about the program. Apparently, they heard that the program is going to close soon and they will not be paid anymore. I pleaded ignorance about the specifics of their case but insisted that the program is not being wound up.  When I brought in Asim da at that point, he assured them that the program would be continued after the summer recess.  He later told me that in the summer months, no house visitations would be made and no weights would be recorded. Therefore, he justified that they wouldn't be paid for these months.  Apparently, it was about this matter that the activists were trying to make me intervene.

After the meeting, we headed back to Asim da's place after stopping for lunch at a local restaurant. 

The next day Asim Da arranged for one Sadanand to accompany me back to Patna. Asis, Mahender ji's son was again the driver. When I offered to pay Asim da the expenses he has incurred for my trip, he first politely declined.  After I insisted, he gave a clear break up of every expense, small and large, along with the receipts. 

Afterwards, I took leave off Asima da, bhabhi, Ramesh ji and others and left Koderma.  Sadanand ji was a local mill owner who by his own admission was going through a rough time financially.  Notwithstanding his hardships, he was a spirited and well-read gentleman, a curious mix of dialectic materialism and Indian spirituality.  We had a lively discussion on varied topics including Adi Shankara's non-duality about which Sadanand ji seemed to be especially interested and knowledgeable.  Not surprisingly, the journey back to Patna seemed to be over in no time.  Thus, my trip to Koderma ended.