Dear polly jones and dr vijayan of bodytree

Dear Polly Jones,

My name is Rajendu B Chakma, ex-Bodhicariya student living in New Delhi. I was here since 1999!

I 've been following your 'BodyTree' with enormous interest and I really admire the work that your group is doing. I visit your web site very often. The site is cool with neat and specific information & updates. However, I am more so glad that I met Samar Chakma in New Delhi recently who studied at BodyTree for nearly 3 years.

This will be an update for you! The Chakma community in Delhi is quite a large one at the present time. Each year the number increases significantly due to the constant influx of youngsters from Arunachal Pradesh. These are basically high school pass-out, poor in English and good in Hindi, however, blessed with healthy bodies. They get started with some kind of jobs within a week upon their arrival. For example, work in factory assembly lines, dress-making units, waiters in bakeries, etc. A few that are good in math, language and personal grooming manage to get jobs in modern shopping malls and amusements parks as sales agents/stall boys or stall girls. Some are able to penetrate into the popular fast-food chains like MacDonald's, PizzaHut, Subway, KFC etc. The noteworthy point is that girl's percentage almost outranks the boy's. These groups of youths live collectively in suburban areas like Noida and Gurgaon located 30kms away from Connaught Place, heart of New Delhi.

Here, I carry on with a job under a privately-held American Inc. Therefore, I can emphatize with their back-breaking schedules. I am sure that each of these boys and girls got a bigger plate of work in comparsion to me. But, I like that their spirits and readiness to face the challenge. I am constantly impressed with their show of grit & determination, they have taken it in their strides, they don't want to give in, they don't falter; above all, they are prospering. These youths are able to utilize their youth-potential here under the skies of Delhi. If they didn't make it up to here, their years would have been spent in insignificance in Arunachal. Typically, the girls would be fetch waters from the riverbank at the crack of dawn, harvest crops, weed vegetable farms, sell stuffs in local bazaar and collect firewood from nearby jungles. In a similar monotonous fashion, the boys would be graze cattle, plough paddy fields, clear jungles, go fishing etc. Today, optimistism is evident in their ways and mien. Many of these boys & girls tend to save sufficient money to send back to their parents in Arunachal in the same way Keralites send fat remittances from Gulf countries! On the ground there is noticeable change - the family of the boy or the girl is less poor than yesterday.

Every person is striving against odds in every corner of the world. It is the order of nature. But an individual actually marches on during crisis and wouldn't collapse because of faith, perseverance, positive mentality and constructive efforts. It is pleasure to note that every individual and society no longer seeks isolation. It is equal pleasure to note that every individual and society is inching forward with a common dream of 'One World, One Dream'. It is great to find so much helping and volunteering going on these days in a way never witnessed before! I am pleased to find that you've already started to make efforts in your own unique way with the rest of the worldlings.

The reason that I like to share the stories of this bunch of boys and girls today is: they have an indegenious root. I thought their case would naturally interest you. You have already studied our society from close quarters, well aware about our past history, tradition, society's status and progress and as such.

Down at 27 Kallar, I know that it is one special place where transfer of skills takes place. The art & subjects taught at BodyTree institution are very strong and practical. They have enormous utility value.

Your experiment in life revolves around youths. I will be very glad if you have near-future expansion plan to increase student enrollment. If that would be the case, I am very much interested to submit a few profiles of aspirant-students who could attend long term courses at BodyTree. Thanks very much for reading my email.


NB: heard of GlobalGiving? I am sure your organization will be fit to apply for & receive donation from all around the globe! Visit http://www.globalgiving.com/

** Find more about BodyTree by visiting their web site: http://www.bodytree.org/ **