Day 5 - India

Submitted by Sue on November 10, 2005 - 22:27.

Just been told this morning that it’s my blog day. So, we’re all sat in a room that has egg boxes on the walls. There’s a guy that looks like an Indian Billy Connelly telling us about the day ahead, welcoming us. In the background, there’s a guy wailing and playing drums. If I was a fly, I’d head for his space to check out the tunes. It sounds like some good jamming is going on. There are three guys in front of us, but my eyes are drawn to the ‘bearded one’. I can’t tell when he’s smiling, if he’s smiling. His beard is all consuming upon his face, apart from his eyes. A beard and some eyes – that’s him.  His eyes don’t show anything so he’s very difficult to read.

I did yoga this morning and felt wide awake – much needed after the MDF slab we all had the pleasure of sleeping on. The bearded one (actual name, Vasu) is now talking to the other two, translating all that we’ve said. My bottom hurts. I never thought I’d wish for a fatter bum. I’ve crashed now, the yoga buzz has worn off – I wonder if I can write with my eyes shut?

Barefoot College was set up the year after I was born, 1972. It was established by a water-drilling expert called Bunker Roy, who believed that the solution to rural problems lay within communities and not with urban-based professionals. He created an environment where the community gets informal, non-structured, on-the-job training, which it can then use for its own development. From a small campus established in the early 70’s, Barefoot College has grown to 80,000 square feet and consists of residences, a guest house, a library, dining room, meeting halls, an open air theatre, a ten-bed hospital, and numerous other facilities. Drinking water is provided by a 700,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank and most of the campus’s electricity from solar power. read more | add new comment