NRI 's - Plan a discovery of rural India

Most of us are aware that India's booming economy of the last 15 years has bypassed a very substantial section of the population living in rural areas. Many villages do not even have connecting roads, drinking water facilites, functioning schools or adequately equipped healthcare centers.
 
At the same time, we know that some good work is being done in many villages to provide some of these basic facilities -- though their numbers remain small in relation to the 550,000 plus villages that exist in India. 
 
The best and most effective way for us -- Indian Americans -- to contribute to India's development is to work with the dedicated self-help and NGO groups which are trying to change the face of rural India by bringing water conservation techniques, education, healthcare and infrastructure to India's villages.
 
I am organizing an Indian American group to visit India during December, 2007. The idea is to construct a 1-week long (December 15 through the 22nd) "Learning Journey" starting from Chennai and traveling through a number of selected village clusters in Tamil Nadu which has about 36,000 villages in 28 rural districts. The selected villages have seen remarkable improvement in water conservation and livelihood projects.  What's happening in these villages can probably be described as models created by grass roots organizations which can be successfully replicated, scaled up and sustained in villages elsewhere in India.
 
The goals of this journey of, shall I say, "discovery of rural India" will be to help the participants:.

-  understand the process of rural development
-  connect with villages and villagers
-  observe and appreciate the ground realities and
-  witness a number of success stories of transformation.
 
The invitation to me to organize a group of Indian Americans for this trip, has come from a successful IIT guy in the US, a friend of unimpeachable integrity, whom I have known for many years. He is personally involved in the succcess of the Tamil Nadu rural projects. He spends time every year over there. His name is Ram Krishnan and he lives in Minnesota.
 
May I hereby extend a cordial invitation to you  to join this tour?
 
I am confident that we will all learn a lot from the proposed learning experience. If you (or your parents) are originally from Tamil Nadu, of course, you are most welcome to join. If you hail from other States of India, you are equally welcome to join. With this learning tour experience you will be better prepared to do something effective likewise in the States, districts and villages you may be hailing from. If you are from States such as UP, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Jharkand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh or Rajasthan, you may find the learning experience of special value as there is a lot, lot waiting to happen in these States. I would extend an equally cordial welcome to you to get on board. 
 
Let me add that women participants would be a great addition to the group. We will be meeting many women who are part of self help groups or are otherwise active in village improvement.  
 
We all know how difficult it is to get airline tickets from USA to India during the peak season of December. Hence, the process is being started  NOW -- in April, 2007 .
 
If you decide to come, please let me know IMMEDIATELY.
 
You should be available in Chennai on or before December 14, 2007 and please lock in the dates Dec 15-22 for the tour.  I will assume that you will reach India (Chennai) making your own travel arrangements. Before we start from Chennai, we will be briefed by Ram Krishnan and a panchayat leader who has immense experience of rural development. 
 
Here is a ballpark figure of possible cost per person of the approximately one-week trip:
 
2 train rides - 2 AC compartment - Rs 2,000

Bus rides - prorated - Rs 2,500
(the bus expense is based on number of kilometers X 2 for the return drive, plus number of days, this figure will vary based on the number of participants to prorate)

6 nights of hotel stay - Rs 1000 X 6 = Rs 6,000

Food - 12 meals + breakfast = Rs 120 X 18 = Rs 2,160

Water  Rs 500
Miscl  Rs 2000

Total = Rs 15,160

Let's round this to Rs 16,000

That comes to a modest $380/- total cost per person for the entire almost one-week tour.
 
For practical reasons, the number of participants from the US is being limited to 20 (which means 18 plus Ram Krishnan plus me). So please let me know your decision ASAP.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Cheers,
 
Ram Narayanan
US-India Friendship
http://www.usindiafriendship.net/