Memoirs      
1970s America – An Indian student’s journey
by Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi

Chapter 13

Epilogue

It has been little more than 25 years since I came back from US. In late 1981 when I returned, very few Indians with an IIT degree came back. Even the ones who did come back went to big cities like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore etc. I went straight to rural Maharashtra which was as alien to me as any foreign country since I hardly knew the local language or the milieu. This was because I had mostly spent my life staying in cities in Northern India.

Why did I do it and was it worth?

I came back to India because of my arrogance. I thought with my father’s political connection with Shri. Sunder Lall and others and with scientists like Dr. Atma Ram I would be able to get involved in the energy and technology scene at the National level. Also the inflated notion about my own ability made me believe that I would help change India.

India is a very old civilization and great spiritual and political leaders like Gautam Buddha, Ashoka, Akbar, Mahatma Gandhi, etc. could not change it and yet I felt in 1981 that I would play an important role in doing so. How wrong I was! India did not change but changed me and this is that story. I consider my coming back as the detoxification of Anil Rajvanshi! In fact I thank the higher forces for making me think irrationally such that I left everything to come to rural Maharashtra! I chose Phaltan because this was the only place I knew at that time where I could do something on my own.

This is also the story of my self-discovery and I have always thanked the higher forces for giving me a place, no matter how small it is, where I could think deeply on different issues, reflect on them and write about them. At the same time remaining connected to the outside world via the Internet allowed me to share my thoughts with like-minded people on a much bigger scale.

My decision of coming back to rural Maharashtra was never dictated by altruism of helping India but was due to the selfish reason of doing something meaningful in my life. The challenge of using technology for rural development was tremendous. However at that time with the knowledge and wisdom that I had, I never planned for long-term goals. I just crossed the bridges as they came. In fact I have never done any long-term planning and have accepted events as they come.

However there were lots of struggles initially. Very soon after coming back the ground realities hit me and all the romance and arrogance vanished. Phaltan was a very difficult place to live and work in those days. I and Nandini lived for 2 years in slums of Phaltan in a small rented house. We moved into our house designed by me in early 1984. It is a comfortable house and has a passive cooling system which is very useful for Phaltan climate. We both used to daily bicycle to the Institute a distance of about 3 kms one way. In 1984 my brother who was going to Saudi Arabia as an orthopedic surgeon gave me his old scooter which he had got in 1975 from Chief Minister’s quota! That was our first vehicle.

For purchasing even small things one had to go to Pune - a town 100 km away. Now with milk, sugarcane and horticulture economy, Phaltan has grown to be a mid-size town with super markets and availability of other services. Also the communication was almost non-existent in those times. For example just to make a long distance phone call to any place was a nightmare. One had to book a call in the early morning and if one was lucky the call would materialize by the evening. So quite a few times I would hop on the bus and go to Pune just to make phone calls. The bus journey in those times took about 4 hours one way. Today the situation is much better with the availability of broadband connection and telephone facility to call anywhere in the world without a problem. Also the roads are much improved which has about halved the travel time from Phaltan to Pune.

When I came to Phaltan there was a flat piece of land where I was supposed to start building my energy lab. The Institute had a small building with almost no other infrastructure. I got an old fan fitted in my office and that was the only fan in the whole Institute. Besides one rarely had electricity so the fan was mostly non-functional! In the early days of setting up my lab, it was very difficult to get engineers and scientists. It took me nearly 4 years to get the lab functional and hire decent staff. Even now there is a tremendous problem in getting good staff. The situation has become worse because we cannot compete with the very high pay packets being offered by the industry.

Thus now I realize that one of the biggest drawbacks in setting up the Institute in a rural area is getting good people to come and work. The rural infrastructure precludes any long-term commitment by people to work in such institutes. This has been the main reason why NARI has remained a small institute. Still even with the small staff and infrastructure we have been able to do commendable work with lots of firsts to our name. Our Institute therefore is quite well-known nationally and internationally.

During my stay in Phaltan there have been many frustrating as well as exhilarating moments. Just 6 months after coming back with reality and frustration setting in I decided to leave. So Nandini started packing our household goods. After half an hour of packing I suddenly realized that if I also go back to US then I would become another data point of the millions of Indians who are in US. I asked myself that why am I quitting now when I was so proud of taking a different path? This was the last time I ever gave a thought of quitting. Though I had to suffer through many trials and tribulations later on, the thought of leaving Phaltan never crossed my mind again.

My work at NARI has mostly focused on developing devices and policies for rural development with special emphasis on the use of high technology for holistic and sustainable India. When some of these technologies and ideas have been picked up nationally and internationally then it has been an exhilarating experience.

For example our work on Taluka energy self sufficiency became a national policy. Similarly our pioneering work on ethanol from sweet sorghum is now established nationally and internationally. So is our work on gasifiers, safflower, lanterns, ethanol stoves, electric cycle rickshaws and vehicles for the handicapped, etc. All these pioneering efforts have inspired people all over the world. This has given me a great satisfaction. Our work is on our website which is extensively accessed worldwide. For our efforts in rural development we have also received quite a few prestigious national and international awards.

I came back with tremendous idealism to see a change in India for betterment, to see the rural areas become progressive and the general level of living of majority of people to improve. In 25 years I have seen the tremendous rise of middle class, the wealthy becoming ultra wealthy and the corruption increasing manifold. In fact it is now an important quality in a person to be corrupt, because if you are not corrupt then you are not dynamic! This is really a painful realization and also the fact that the role models for the young have nearly vanished.

In our times the role models were Nehru, Gandhi and scores of other great people who had sacrificed their lives for the country. Now the role models are gods and goddesses of western society, the Paris Hiltons, the Bill Gates, the Sabir Bhatias, etc. The pay packet is the biggest god and role model for almost all the youngsters. The upward bound middle class with a large number of shopping malls chockfull of consumer goods and increase in their so called “standard of living” gives them a feeling that India has arrived.

Yet 60% of our rural population lives without electricity and without the basic amenities of life. Only when they start committing suicides do they enter into our national consciousness or vision field. It is these people who are the future of India and yet it is sad to see that there is no national debate or seriousness of purpose to improve their lot. All the measures by political parties are targeted towards the next elections and with their very short attention span no long-term strategies and appropriate implementing mechanisms are being put in place.

Most of the times during my 25 years’ of stay in Phaltan I have interacted with the rural population, but also had occasions to interact with the highest “rulers” of the land. The quality of these leaders leaves much to be desired. One of the greatest tragedies of India has been its corruption which is like a cancer and is eating into its entrails. The first causality in a corrupt society is governance and because of the lack of governance most of the fundamental issues have not been tackled in India.

India is a young society where 54% of its population is below 25 years’ of age. The aspirations of this young society, majority of whose members live in rural India are not being fulfilled. Most of the modern rulers of India have come from urban settings and have no understanding of the rural areas or the welfare of the farmers who are the mainstay of the country, with the result that they spout the slogans of rural development but do not know how it can be achieved.

Yet to find the solutions to the problems of our rural population offers the greatest challenge for any engineer or technologist and I feel that most of the Indians who are abroad should help in trying to solve these problems with the help of extremely advanced tools of science and technology. After all whatever we are and wherever we are is because of the early life that we spent in this country. The real challenges are in India and if we can improve the lives of our rural population then we would have solved the problem of 1/5th of mankind!

I have no regrets about coming back to India and especially to Phaltan, because I cannot imagine having done all the things that I have done here anywhere else - more so in the US. Besides living in rural Indian setting teaches you many things.
For a starter it makes you spiritual! With hardly any avenues to spend money and availability of very little amenities one starts living a simple life which is the first step towards spirituality. Initially one does not like it but with time one starts to enjoy the benefits of simplified life. Thus I recommend such a life for almost everybody who believes in sustainability because when one becomes sustainable in personal life then the world automatically will become sustainable. One can live a simple, high thinking and emotionally satisfying life in much less energy.

This does not mean that we should live a primitive life. In fact the extremely high technologies that provide modern tools of communication and power are an important part of reducing the energy consumption thereby promoting sustainable living. What is needed is to curb our greed for resources which promotes consumptive lifestyle.

This is a very hard lesson to learn for people who live in big cities, metropolises or western countries. The daily seduction by high-powered ad campaigns is very difficult to thwart. However when simplicity becomes a way of life then one becomes quite immune to the effects of such seduction!

I therefore thank the higher forces who made me come to rural India so that I could develop this feeling of simplicity in my daily life and now I feel that it is my duty and responsibility to spread the message. This I have been doing through my work, speeches and writings.

Internet has provided a powerful tool to spread the message and I feel satisfaction in the knowledge that all the NARI work and my writings occupy a very high place on the Google search engine. Thus our work is read extensively and hopefully inspires people round the world. This is attested to by the fact that we receive voluminous e-mails and our work and writings are quoted on other sites and in blogs.

I have always believed that the purpose of human beings is to first become happy and self contented and then give something back to the society. Coming back to India and Phaltan has helped me to do both these things.

As I have become internally more secure, the level of contentment has also increased. Similarly I feel that with our work we have been able to give back something to the society.

Nevertheless in all these matters one should try to follow one’s inner voice. If the parameters of success are to be dictated by others then one cannot claim to be internally secure and content. The measures of success and failure should be honestly evaluated by oneself.

Thus to a lot of people I may have been a failure when after so much promise in US I left everything to come back to rural India but I use the measure of my contentment and find that I have not done that badly!

I still have regrets that probably in my lifetime I will not be able to see India as a land of prosperity and contentment, where most of our citizens do not have to follow the rat race of US or China where the greed for materials and resources knows no bounds, but will be able to live a life which is meaningful, happy and contented and thus sustainable and holistic. It is the India of my dreams and if in any way I have been, or can continue to be able to contribute a little towards this goal then I feel that my life has been a success.

October 7, 2007

Government Scholarship | The Preparation | Landing in America 
Campus Life | Brush with Greatness | India Association | Marriage
Looking for Better School? | Exploring America | Graduate Studies
Teaching at UF | Decision to go back to India | Epilogue

Top | Memoirs