MEMBERS OF THE ART OF LIVING

Volunteers of the art of living Have been reaching out to those affected by The lockdown braving the risk to their own safety.

“The walk was 1.5 hours long. With the ration kits slung on our shoulders, the walk, however, seemed longer. But we were driven. The agnihotra and yoga session last evening managed to keep our energies high. We were walking towards a village in the Kalchini block of West Bengal’s Alipurduar district - a cluster of remote villages sharing the border with Bhutan. Many of these villages are inaccessible by road. Due to their hilly terrain, these villages were once a destination for trekkers.

When the lockdown was announced, I was skeptical if the government would be able to reach there. I was, unfortunately, right. Shops were closed in many villages and the ones with little savings left had to walk long distances to buy basic things. Local volunteers assessed these villages and told us about the families who were in dire need.

One of them was a family of a 25-year-old mother of five kids. The youngest was just a month old. Her husband, a daily wager in Kerala, was unable to wire her money. She was short on supplies. When we provided her a month of ration, we were met with tears of gratitude. In all the thirty-two villages where we reached out, the simple village folk thought we were gods. But we are simple folks who didn’t want anyone in our near community to go hungry.”

Ram Kumar Lama’s team of volunteers reached out to 32 remote villages in the Kalchini block of West Bengal. It took them one day to reach a single village and provide help. Their day’s hard work was followed by their spiritual practices in the evening.