Reaching out to the unlit

Every time I leave for a village, I am filled with the same sense of enthusiasm. Reaching out to the grassroots is a wonderful experience. Once again I will be in a place which would be so different from the cities. I am used to see lights all over, once the sun sets in. For the next three days, light will be something, I will see only after I return to my Hotel on the Highway. As part of my job activities, I would be spending next 3 days in 4 villages located about 30 kms off Delhi-Jaipur Highway. The only source of light in these villages, is kerosene and other conventional sources of lighting. Once the sun goes down, women are busy with their household activities and children with their studies but in a light under which one can hardly see anything. The first time I sat under the light of a kerosene lamp, was to speak to an elderly who was bed-ridden. Believe me,the fumes from these lamps had completely choked me. I was forced to think. I was unable to spend even 10 minutes there. And look at these people who have seen no other light than these since generations.

There are 67 million people in India who do not have access to any modern sources of lighting and are dependent upon kerosene. And with every passing day, my belief gets stronger in the fact that mere development of cities is not an indicator of a country's well being. There is much more to it. There is much more that we can do to ensure well being of our community in a sustainable manner. The need is to find solutions.