10-year-old Gondya was a worried young man, I
call him a man rather than boy because he was handling the responsibility of a
man. He was an Adivasi (Indigenous people) cowherd with a flock of 10-12 cows.
He had brought out his herd for feeding and drinking but there was no water to
be found anywhere in sight. The small rivulet which was the regular place for drinking
water had dried up in the month of April and his flock was thirsty. In fact,
the oldest cow Radha was tottering on her weak legs and looked as if she would
faint and fall down any moment. Finally, Gondya got down on his knees and started
digging with his bare hands in the dried-up water stream. After digging for a
couple of feet, some water started collecting in the dug out pit. The
cattle started drinking one by one from the pit.
This was the scene that summer in the village
of Ujjaini in Wada taluka where we had gone from Rotary Club of Thane to survey
a site for constructing a check dam. Ujjaini is located in the hills and receives
huge rainfall in monsoon, but all the rainwater flows down to the plains and
then to the sea through rivulet located near the village. The challenge was to
somehow retain at least a part of the rainfall to create a reservoir of water which
would last through the summer. The solution was to build a check dam of about 3
meter (10’) height to block the flow of water. This would help in two ways. Firstly,
it would hold some water upstream of the check dam and secondly it would raise
the water table in the surrounding areas and recharge drinking water wells in
the village.
Once we realised the need for the check dam was
of primary importance to the life of the villagers and their livestock, the
work started in earnest. The small dam costing just ₹ 10 Lakhs ($13,500) was
completed in 3-4 weeks before the monsoon set-in in June. The rains are so heavy
and nonstop that construction is not possible from June to September.
We inaugurated the dam in first half of June of that year and the
rains came in time. We visited Ujjaini again after a year in the summer and
that is when I experienced my Rotary moment. The same place where the cattle
were nearly dying of thirst, I saw Gondya and his friends jumping in the check
dam water for a swim! The dam was full in the month of April and there was
enough water for cattle, farming, other uses and of course for Gondya and his friends
to swim in till June.
These are the moments we Rotarians live for.
These are the moments which stay with us for life. These are the moments when
we feel we have touched the lives of our less privileged brethren. These are
the moments when we feel we are giving back to the society which has given us
so much more than others.
We again visited the village after 2 years and
what a transformation we saw! In what were dry farms, we could see Mogra flower
(Jasmine) plantation. I was told by the village head that they have started growing
corn and vegetables around the village regularly. At least 800 people in
villages around Ujjaini had benefited by the check dam.
Now that is what I call job satisfaction!
