The real school!

In the year 2012, I was able to contact a person called Narasimha who lives in Joida, Dandeli, through my contacts. I wanted more exposure, more understanding of the problems around. And Mr Narasimha directed me to a village called Deriya inside the Kumbarawada Wildlife Sanctuary of the Dandeli-Anshi tiger reserve. I had requested him to put me onto a tribal settlement where some time can be spent understanding something which I could have only dreamt about until then. And that was how my introduction happened to the most beautiful place just 10hours away on road from where I lived.  The forests of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve taught me a lot about life. Once you enter into these forests and meet the people living inside, you will drop your entire ego down before you meet them the next time. And it so happened, that I visited Deriya again in the end of 2013 for a week. I just went into hiding from all the chaos and nuisance.

Lot of warm courtesies had been extended over one year after I met them first. And visiting them the second time, it was like a homecoming for me. The strange connections that life throws onto you sometimes are quite difficult to ascertain. One needs to just go through it and take a deep breath to try and consume the new vibe to eventually get back to reality. One such connection was with Namratha akka wife of Mr Jayanand, in whose place I stayed. She has a younger brother back in Dharwad and she treated me nothing less than how she would have treated him. For me everything was new. And one fine evening, with the December breeze bringing in lot of chill, I had my dinner and sat outside alone, reflecting. And Namratha akka finishing all her chores duly in the kitchen accompanied me. The whole family was watching the only T.V in the entire village, inside the living room; while Namratha akka and I sat outside under the moonlight bright enough to see each other faces clearly. She asked, “Why are you sad? Are you crying?” My heart just sulked in so deeply that moment, I am not able to express now the impact those two questions had on my life. I said, “No, Why should I? I have been treated like a king here. I am the happiest person now” But I figured she understood that I was not speaking the truth. May be to help me out of that situation, she took leadership. She started speaking.  I should say it was one of the best conversations I have ever had. I have got to be honest here, that until then, nobody had considered me so seriously. The way the fire in her just burst out ignited my mind out of a considerable lethargy. I knew I was not a visitor anymore. And that was when she said how difficult it is for the villagers especially children and women to defecate out in the forest as there was no sanitation facility in their houses. The impression this entire episode made on my mind has been one of the best. And now I am sure that it is permanent.

Coming back to Bangalore from here, I was not able to settle. I think it was in the month of February that my dear friend Gnana Skandan introduced to Kaleido this Green Grant Initiative of the company he was working for. UTC Aerospace Systems had announced a fund grant as part of their CSR, to projects that involve community participation and environment protection. With the deriya impression strong in my mind, Gnana and I discussed to convert this requirement of a Sanitation facility for the people of Deriya into a project and to give a shot at the grant. A survey of the entire village was done in co-ordination with Jayanand. Collecting some basic data a proposal was made and submitted and in a month’s time, we were awarded the grant. And so the Project took life.  We had no idea how to solve the problem at hand. All we knew was that we had the intention and purpose with us. And we had the confidence from our earlier projects to work things out even in the most constrained situations. The biggest constraint here was that both of us were working and all of these had to be done only over the weekends.

We knew we had to build a team. It was strange that we didn’t have a team in place even before we proposed the project. Kaleido was just working with orphanages then. But all that happened did so in the right way, if I look back now. We just had the confidence that someone out there would be carrying a keen eye to look at life beyond the concrete walls we’ve built around ourselves. It was not for long that Aravind Bhat who travelled with me to Deriya in 2012 and was a part of this project now, got a call from Pratiksha Sunder. Well, a fresh under graduate, right out of her architecture school, volunteered to help. Little did she know then that the whole thing on design and construction would fall onto her shoulders; our options on resources were too timid. The way the project took off after she came in and the way it progressed, is one of the main reasons for the project to be complete today. The technical insights and unseen dimensions to the problem at hand, initiated a lot of discussions and debates. It was a great exercise to the brain. I can now proudly say that the decisions she took, her co-ordination with engineers outside our team and with the community has been impeccable. This day would not have been possible without her active intervention. She got good support initially from Architect and friend Aditi Raj. It was like as Paulo Coelho writes in the Alchemist – If you go out on a purpose, the whole world conjures to help you achieve it. Things started to fall in place. We had by now partnered with Sanjivani Seva Trust, Joida as our field partner, to build six toilets (3 toilets each for women and men) as a part of the community sanitation facility and it was decided to manage the funds through them. They were legally better equipped than Kaleido.

With the confidence growing in the community as well, the whole project plan became achievable. What was totally blindfolded initially became visible three months down the line. And I decided to put my papers down at work. I resigned in the month of August 2014, and personally for me, from then on, Project Deriya was a matter of seamless execution and efficient management. And both didn’t happen as it should have. But we were able to bounce back with some courteous souls outside who saw our plight and offered ready help. There were a lot of legal issues to be sorted out. Lot of new regulations that any development work of this scale should follow, were learnt. And we needed to take in a lot of permissions from the government at various levels ranging from the local gram Panchayat at Kumbarawada to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India at the centre in New Delhi.And all of these needs a re-look at various levels even after the facility is up and ready for use. Especially those related to getting an approval certificate to accept foreign funds and various other open ends in our partnerships to execute this project are to be sorted out.

When we were searching for funds after realizing that we were not ready to accept foreign fundsthrough Sanjivani, we had to find a funding partner from within India. And that is when another friend of Aravind, Subrahmanya Narasimhamurthy (Subba) pitched in to support. He introduced to us the CSR opportunity in the company he was working for. Sonus Networks had just announced its budget for rural development and Subba invited Kaleido to present the Project case for funds. Today, we are extremely thankful for the support that Sonus Networks’ CSR division provided to complete this project. Subba being extremely instrumental in this whole partnership, has not just worked on supporting us with funds, but has visited the site regularly and ensured that the work is happening as intended. He has made this project his own. And we are extremely glad about it.

It was later in the project that we realized slowly, the reality of the sanitation facilities in the place. In terms of the facilities that these people are accountable to get from the primary agency responsible, the government. It is not difficult for any third party organization to pitch in for a development activity. We have realized that such activities carry with it an aura of the WOW factor around it. And in most of the cases the reality is forgotten. But it has to be understood as active citizens on the voters’ list, what is the actual way forward. The role and limits of a third party non-governmental organization must be understood well before the intervention into any such grass root level development initiatives. Of course our job doesn’t end with the elections. And just so it had in this case, the people of deriya had to go out in the forest to defecate while on papers the entire village had 100% sanitation. The fear of burying this fact ever down under with Kaleido attending to this problem always loomed large over us. And so it was decided to not build individual toilets, but a community sanitation facility to contain the problem and still get the individual toilets done through the various schemes that the central government has like the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan then and Swachha Bharat now. So, it was not too hard for us to understand that the problem of lack of sanitation. It was not that the people are going out to the forest to defecate, it was not the problem of countering snakes while defecating, it was not a problem of lack of water, it was not a problem of lack of security, but a problem of corruption filled administration and the problem of taking these people’s needs for granted. It is the duty of the elected people to ensure smooth logistics of the entire development activity. It feels sad to know that we complain on power cuts sitting inside our AC rooms, while the people living quite close by are caught unaware and cornered in their own den and have to still find a new place in the dark of the forest every time they go out to defecate. So, it is clear that the job simply doesn’t end with the elections. We need to participate and question. We need to participate and support.

With our production team doing a wonderful job last October to create awareness on the use of sanitation facility at the place, it is time to increase the level of awareness. Local people should participate in better governance. The anganwadi workers, link workers and community health workers are to be trained towards this. They are the leaders who will take the community forward. And they need to be aware of the issues that happen behind them. Mr Jayanand is extremely instrumental in all these things and is completely aware. But with his research work and various other development works across the forests of the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve he is mostly occupied and this is where we need to support him and more such people to ensure the facilities reach these people. As I have personally realized, all social problems are very dynamic. It requires a willing political force, an active administration and a wholehearted citizen participation to solve all of it. What just came up in a mood set discussion; it stands strong today as a structure with three toilets each for women and men, solving the problem for 160 people of the settlement and allowing them to live a life of dignity and security. The problem as such is only contained and yet to be solved.

All said and done, I am deeply grateful to Gnana for taking all the efforts right from the start till now. He has been the key link in the whole project. I have always enjoyed working with him right from when we decided to help each other with good English speaking skills in college nearly 7 years back. And we are still working on it. It means a lot to put one more project in our bag. This is heavier in terms of its outcome and the impact that our efforts has helped create. Although we took a year, just to build six toilets, this has been one of the best times we have shared between us in our lives, so far.

One thing I have clearly understood now is the reality of the situation through the words of Peter Seger. He said, “Participation, that’s what’s going to save the human race”. And today when I reflect back at a year gone by, all I could see was the amazing relationships that took life all along, where we all participated together to make an impact around and to be the change we wished to see. It feels proud to know that we all have grown in these relationships. Deriya has been the real school to me. Its experience, my new teacher. All the unlearning and learning has been very refreshing. I will cherish this for a long time to come.

This sight is etched permanently in my mind!

-Shashikanth Subramanya 

An Inception

Deriya is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Anybody who has visited it before would agree to the fact that the Derekars of Deriya are wonderful hosts. The word ‘tribe’ no longer instils a sort of apprehension in me. They are simple folks, with a humble lifestyle and a highly inspiring attitude.

The farmlands amidst dense forests of Deriya

Project Deriya marks the beginning of my journey with Kaleido. In the month of April 2014, Kaleido requested for volunteers from the Construction Industry for this Sanitation Initiative. Just out of college, this interested me, as it had a mix of my passion (Travelling) as well as my profession (Architecture).

Project Deriya involved a lot of 'fun' travel

The initial discussions happened with Shashikanth Subramanya, Aravind Bhat and Gnanaskandan Velu over a few weekends, at Belaku Shishu Nivas, N.R. Colony. Shashi had made a small survey of the settlement. This, along with discussions of other case studies helped us get more clarity on what was required to be done.

Sanitation, along with Food, Clothing, Shelter and Clean Drinking Water is a basic amenity for human beings. A toilet is probably a small, yet an essential part of our household. It requires a range of back stage services to be planned, in order to keep it functioning continuously. It is a known fact that about 626 million people in India practice open defecation. More people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet, says the UN-IWHE Study-1. Efforts to build toilets in remote areas of the country have been made by the Indian Government as well as by Non-Governmental Organisations.

As per the Government’s sanction, individual houses in Deriya were entitled toilets. With a clear delay and lack of execution, Kaleido decided to step in and contain this problem of open defecation. Based on the size of the growing community, and on certain design standards, a decision was taken to build six toilets. These toilets were to be constructed together as a single block, so as to increase their sense of responsibility towards this facility.

The aim of the design was to achieve the least possible building footprint, without any compromise on the standard space requirement. The location of the block was decided and finalised, considering various factors like -

- Distance from all the houses.

- Available survey land; in order to avoid breaching local land rules.

- Proximity to a perennial water source.

- Proximity to an existing electric line.

The six toilets, three back-to-back, have two entrances facing opposite directions (East and West). Measures have been taken to ensure sufficient natural lighting. Jali ventilators on the side walls, ensure Cross Ventilation. The entrance to the Women’s toilets has been given more privacy. Snakes in the forest range, are an unavoidable problem. Based on the tribal’s advice, plans of MS perforated sheet ventilators and floor tiles were discarded.

The main water tank receives water from a perennial rivulet nearby. A 1000 litre capacity sintex tank is provided near the toilet, for emergency conditions during peak summers. The Sewage Pits are provided away from any of the drinking water sources, keeping in mind the absorption capacity of the red soil. Solar power and Biogas were disregarded after various discussions and debates.

Community Interaction

As an incentive to community participation, it was decided that the community itself would construct and maintain the facility, while Kaleido provides only financial and technical aid. Hence, local construction techniques and materials were given utmost importance.

Walls constructed using locally prepared bricks

After many site visits and discussions with Mr. Jayanand, Mr. Deepak and the local plumber, drawings were explained and released. The proposed timeline of the project got affected due to untimely pre-monsoon showers. However, this extra time helped collect more funds for the project. Construction began with a small Bhoomi Puja in October 2014.

Most site visits were fruitful. Apart from construction, we initiated community interaction, especially between the women of the tribe voicing out their social concerns and issues of hygiene and sanitation. One site visit with the Kaleido Productions team was fun and lively, with a Street Play and Awareness Programmes across the community. The tribe is not male dominated and their broad minds allow for the opinions of women in making important decisions for the tribe.

With the Kaleido Productions team

Finally, I would like to thank a few individuals, who have made a difference to the Project.

Mr. U.S.Sateesha, Project Manager, Ashok-Design-Build, helped in planning the services and the budget of the project. He has been kind enough to visit the site and get the project kick-started, when it was most required.

Engineer U.S Sateesha's site visit

I would like to thank my father, Mr. Shamasunder, Group General Manager, ISKCON Bangalore Group, who gave me a practical orientation, as this was my first endeavour as an Architect.

I would like to thank Ar. Aditi Raj, who made sure we did not stray away from the right path, at the very beginning.

I would like to thank the Kaleido livelihoods team, for giving me this wonderful opportunity. The team is highly self-motivated and is willing to go beyond its comfort zone, to extend its hand to the needy. This has been an eye opener for me, to the world beyond the city we live in - the taste of a simple life, which we strive to achieve.

I also thank Mr. Jayanand and the entire Construction team, extending warm regards to Mr.Jayanand’s family for taking care of us as their own, allowing us to trouble them in the kitchen and play with their kids.

Vinay and Shashi playing with Aditya

The toilet block is almost ready, and only its continuous usage and maintenance will make this project a success.

Visits to Deriya will continue and Project Deriya will always remain alive. 

- Pratiksha Sunder

Struck By Learning!

Deriya - The heaven descended

Little did I realize that Henry Ford’s quote “ Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize” would have so deep and thoughtful implication, when I had my set of experience through Project Deriya, a community sanitation initiative. It is wonderful to note how inherent in our species the ability to learn is. Just about a year back, when I was a two and half year old quality engineering professional engrained with project management jargons, with idealistic & systemic thought process, I felt everything in the world was too easy to live but people made it hard for themselves. When my competencies hit the road, when my mind started empathizing, I was no longer the same person I was. I would like to share my experiences over the last one year with Project Deriya which has certainly made me pragmatic if not bigger.

CCD- Nagendra block: The first meeting

My first experience or learning so as to say was when I sat with my friend Shashikanth to jot down the list of activities that we need to take-up in order to kick-off the sanitation project. Interestingly we planned our activities sitting in CCD Nagendra block while we as Industrial Engineers were always told to visit the Gemba (the workplace where the action was executed or performed) before planning something. I had made a neat Gantt chart with timeline, resources typical of any schedule. My friend used to give that constipated look which could neither deny my willingness to be very strong on paper nor explain me how ridiculous it was to plan in detail very early in the project. During my first visit, I was humbled by the wide array of activities that we had to accomplish. My intentions to put a simplistic view over these set of activities just summarized my feelings. I am sure Shashikanth would have seen me progressing over these months on my ability to assess situations. However, this was a major breakthrough for me in terms of understanding the applicability of the tools that I learnt.

Of course, my learning was not only from the project but also from the people of Deriya. During our first visit to Deriya, we trekked around the farmland with Yogesh to survey the land as well as understand the demography of that place. While Shashikanth and Aravind were busy conversing with Yogesh, I was observing Yogesh’s movements. While he was keeping us comfortable by calmly narrating about Deriya, its history, its people and wildlife, he had a routine glimpse of the things around, keenly listening to the sound of the forest. I do remember what I was going through. It was a deep silence out of fear and short cycles of breathing. Yogesh’s comfortable yet alert behavior probably came out of his constraint to survive in such a dangerous environment. But aren’t we all designed to endure this kind of an atmosphere? Perhaps it’s different herein the cities, with less uncertainties, safe environment and a relatively longer stay in the cradle. One may see positives in city life, which encourages us to do big things by not worrying about safe environment. But, I am somehow not convinced with the contrast in Deriya’s people and their enhanced survival skill, trying to improve their life everyday while the city dons its safety crown with increasing suicide rates.

Yogesh taking us around farmland

When I spell out Project Deriya, I think it should certainly echo the emotions, efforts and aspirations of the people of Deriya. I was really astonished by the way the village worked together in making Deriya a better place. Being together in life’s uncertainties is much more important than just being together as we are in cities.  I am staying at a rented house in Bangalore and frankly do not know the names of my neighbors, number of persons in their family and their occupation. Although I am not proud of this fact, I can easily attribute this ignorance to my six-to-six job, my introvert behavior and my focus on studies. This may superficially satisfy my argument however my experience at Deriya taught me that my lifestyle was never really the issue. The issue was “my perception” about development. Although it may sound as a gross generalization, we all think developing ourselves is development. However, give a thought on developing as a community. Think about shortage in water in the next road as your problem. Think about an emotional crisis at a neighbors or friend’s house as your problem. Now, click on the development button and see how things progress. The way in which the entire community of Deriya came about supporting in construction of this sanitation facility is the best example of this thinking. This sanitation facility should be seen as a breakthrough improvement and a moral victory for the attitude of the people of Deriya.

Anganwadi at Deriya

Another crucial experience that I would want to carry for the rest of my life from Project Deriya is the importance of awareness and competency. Being in a corporate setup, I understand how much undermined is competency and knowledge. But if you change lenses and look at competency as a crucial element in your progress towards development instead of making dollars as an employee, you would experience this existence crisis with all the knowledge that you have and nothing accomplished. I saw competency in action at couple places. One was in our architect Pratiksha who put theory onto the paper and Deepak who made Pratiksha’s drawing into a reality. Pratiksha stands as an example to counter-argue all those highly talented people who lament on the nature of their work. There are so many solutions to be provided, engineering structures to be built, patients to be cured, and areas to be studied about. This may not give you money but can definitely improve your competency, practical knowledge and the crucial element of life called self-confidence. These form the ingredients for a larger success in the future which can’t be quantified but can only be assured. At Deriya, the overall awareness level among the people about their leaders, government schemes, and the implementation steps was simply excellent. Most of them whom I spoke to at Deriya were aware about Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the details of the scheme along with their implementation method. The reason behind this awareness was not to show that they are aware but to make a real change in their lives by applying what they know. I wish everyone attended a class, read a book or sat in a seminar to gain knowledge and go out there and implement it. That is when the true essence of learning is realized.

One of the many discussions with Jayanand

All these experience came to me as a coincidence and not something that I went after. As I mentioned earlier it is inherent for us to learn when we experience something. This was my first exposure out of my gated comfort zone. With all the travelling that Shashikanth does I am sure that guy has a lot of things going in his mind. Although certain things are very much evident in life, someone has to make it clear for you. In my case it was Shashikanth who put me through these experiences and in a way mocking my rather primitive thought process and dream of a secure life. Project Deriya has took me through a lot of experiences and has more certainly made me pragmatic. The attitude of understanding and welcoming the uncertainties of life with good spirit and facing it together as a community is probably something that I will take throughout my life. Mahatma Gandhi’s words “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” is the summary of my experience with Project Deriya. Thanks to people of Deriya and Kaleido for this opportunity.

- Gnanaskandan Velu