Voices from Within

How can ppl ever live in remote villages?? How can one be away frm the comfort of urban life?? Unplugged from the web? - Impossible.. No Cellphones? - Are you kidding?

I am a web-addict.. My Laptop and Ipod will figure in the most essential things I'' ever "need"....

And now, I'm reprioritizing... Thanks to Sanjeev/Anita who roped-me-in for the trip. I least expected to hav such a wonderful weekend.. (Actually, I paused for a moment - I'm cynophobic and Shifu is also travelling..)

Thulir is an Education Resource Centre for children and young adults at Sittilingi, a tribal village in Dharmapuri district,Tamilnadu, India.

I was looking fwd to meet Anu & Krishna, Thulir's founders... I got to know abt them in my first ever Asha-meeting and I was so inspired.. How can folks, quit regular jobs, move to remote tribal villages and set up a resource centre??? One of my primal inspirations to take the red-pill...

That was an awesome weekend with an array of acitivies..

• Building brick-walls. Learning how to stable walls.
• Playing with a Calf (You guessed it right, Lakshmi is her name..)
• Logic puzzles with kids..
• Gardening.. I cut a small tree.. ( Wait.. That was shading the solar panels. BTW, the whole school is solar powered..)

• Reading Chittu's comics (No. You cannot subscribe to Dirter, the stinky pig!! U'll need a different currency)
• Playing soccer with kids..
• Biking around the village..
• Visited a Coconut farm.. drank one right off a tree..
• When I enquired about Chilled water, Next town is 13 miles away..
• Building logic-gates from BJTs with Sanj.. (Been a long time since I played with transistors.. that was Fun.. I was pretty good.)
• Blinking lights with a multi-vibrator..[When you visit nexttime, Be prepared for Blinking-Thulir welcoming you...]

WOW.. the clear night sky was spectacular.. Morning Bike ride was even better..

In all, I had a good break.. a terrific trip... I'll try to visit atleast once a quarter.

Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sanjeev.ranganathan/ThulirJuly2009#

Will post a more detailed/formal report in Team Asha/Ashablog in a week.

Happy living,
-Vinodh