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Monks' Dilemma
Monks' Dilemma
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and after reading gave it to her. She was very happy to have such a generous offer and said to Vijay, "We should send our acceptance of the offer with thanks. It will help realise my dream of establishing a home for destitute men and women and particularly for children. Send the E-mail right now accepting the offer and inform Deepak that formal acceptance on prescribed forms is being despatched by speed post tomorrow."
Vibha took up the assigned task with all the zeal, vigour and commitment she could muster. She selected and finalised one site out of three. It was adjacent to Jhadol and comprised a rolling, undulating landscape, once covered with lush forests but almost barren now as a result of excessive pressure of increasing population and the pernicious practice of shifting cultivation. Her reputation as a good social worker and influence could overcome and speed up the procedural wrangles in government departments and she could get the land transferred in the name of the Trust. She had the backing of the local people and tribals for whom she had devoted all her time and energy ever since she came to Udaipur. Her strategy was to involve local people and particularly the tribals in any project she implemented. This is the only recipe for the success of any project anywhere.
She visited some prominent NGOs, notably SWRC at Tilonia, CECOEDECON at Jaipur and VIKSAT at Ahemadabad and discussed her plan. She liked the layout of the office and other buildings of VIKSAT best. There were buildings for every special section so spaced that they were not visible till one reached there as there was dense tree cover all over.
simultaneously with the construction of buildings and raising an ideal forest cover of only the indigenous species of overwood, under-wood, shrubs and herbs in the same proportion as in the natural forests. The first building constructed was that of the primary school. Teachers were appointed, buses were purchased to ferry children to and fro villages and cooking and serving of good, nutritious mid-day meal to students was arranged and the school started functioning within six months. This educational project earned the trust and goodwill of the people. Such programmes which have maximum initial impact on the psyche of the people are termed gesture projects. Deepak was kept informed of the progress regularly.
Deepak and Deepti were very happy to note the progress and kept on thanking Vibha for her dedication and congratulated her on such a speedy progress and success every time they received the E-mail, simultaneously promising to visit the area as soon as possible.
Deepak and Deepti were visiting his parents quite frequently. Since their return last night Deepak was feeling depressed. Deepti was worried by his plight. She made every possible effort to console him, "Worrying like this will not solve the problem."
Deepak, "I cannot tolerate sufferings of my parents in that prison of monkhood. The Acharya has given them free choice to leave or remain there. I do not know as to why they are adamant and do not want to leave."
Deepti, "They have been in that particular environment for a long period and have been strongly indoctrinated continuously about the superiority of monkhood to household
She took help of her architect friends and proceeded
