Turning Points (14 page)
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.
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.
W
hen 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 public 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.