Phase 1: Rampur village

With the village being located right in the middle of a proposed tiger reserve and a state highway
bisecting it, Rampur very much needed electricity. Unfortunately for them, the uneven terrain surrounding them
made it impossible to lay the electricity cables which left them in perpetual darkness. The only path leading to
the village was no less safe as it recorded a road accident almost, daily thanks to bad roads. Despite the uphill,
a small team of volunteers did manage to reach there by road covering 220 kms under 8 hrs from Hyderabad.
Equipped with the lamps, we rendezvoused with Raheem-uddin in Utnoor who was our guide from there.
Raheem-uddin, a prominent journalist in a Telugu local paper was immensely involved in identification of the
hamlet and in being our translator.

We were able to distribute lamps to 17 families and spend the afternoon enjoying their
hospitality. Though poor, they didnt let it affect their gratitude. With an afternoon well spent under breeze
of the forest cover known for its lush teak and ferocious tigers, we started back to civilization. Only when
we reached a local town and spoke to the locals did we realized the backwardness of the hamlet we had just
visited. The single roomed school which was supposed to educate the kids was being also used in the nights
as a cowshed to protect the cattle from wild animals. Heads of many families were young widows who lost
their better half to either disease or poverty. None of the villagers ever studied beyond class 10 th and the list
continued. The scales of depravity didnt even sink into our minds well when we had to witness another tragedy.
A jeep overloaded with a wedding party and cruzing at a dangerous speed overturned right before our very
eyes. Snapping out of the shock in a second, we managed to pull everyone out of the half mangled jeep before
the townsmen poured with help.

On the advice of Raheem-uddin, we left the crash site with all crash victims sent to hospitals before; it got
further dark and was even more prone to such accidents. With our first hand experience with such an accident,
I couldn’t help but notice that Vikas was still shocked and Husain trying to console him. As the road trip
continued Raheem-uddin tried lifting our spirits by explaining us that thanks to us that now incidents such as
these and animal attacks will go down. He also went on to explain how with just electricity in their control, how
well the villagers can fend themselves. With such encouraging words cheery mood returned to crew.
With a promise to return and help the villagers further, we laid the disturbing thoughts to rest.
After a bout of condescending we realized how satisfied we were with our work that day. Thanks to Svechha
not only could we write a new hope in their lives but also save a jeep full of people. Thanks to volunteers from
ISB, Vikas Hotwani,Husain boltwala and Aditya for their participation in the program.