A walk that changed thousands of lives

"The way to success is more important than success"

"Hate the sin, love the sinner"

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others"

Around 40 years back, Vinoba Bhave, on a march for bhoodan, reached a village near Krishnagiri called Pochampally.

He approached a local zamindar who owned over 1,000 acres of land and tried to reason with his humane side. vinoba requested the zamindar to donate a part of his land to the Dalits of that area. The zamindar flatly refused.

Not one to give up easily, vinoba set up camp at a nearby dilapidated Shiva temple. Amongst the many people in that camp who had marched alongside him was a young woman named Krishnammal Jagannathan.

On the second night at camp, Krishnammal’s baby began crying inconsolably. Vinoba walked up to the mother, picked up the child and asked, “Why is our little boy Bhumi crying?” She hesitantly admitted that it was because the baby hadn’t eaten in a while.

Vinoba then carried the child and walked a few kilometres to a nearby dargah. Krishnammal pleaded with him, saying that it was a hunger strike and it wouldn’t be right of her to break it. The wise man turns to the young mother and said, “Dear woman, for us this fasting has a purpose. For the baby, it is just hunger. He shouldn’t have to sacrifice his basic needs for our cause.”

On reaching the dargah, vinoba breaks out into a loud rendition of verses from the Quran. The Muslim families rush out in surprise. Vinoba then tells them about their march for bhoodan and the hunger strike at the camp they’d set up nearby. He then pleads with them for a few morsels of food for the baby in his arms.

Before he could complete his request, he was immediately rushed into a tiny house, made to sit down and given a bowl of starchy rice water mixed with salt. vinoba was moved to tears when he saw the love with which the woman sat there mixing salt into the rice water. He thanked the people in that area, made a prayer for them, and left. 

Once they returned to the camp, the sit-out continued for a few more days. On the 7th morning, the zamindar walked up to them and agreed donate a part of his property for bhoodan. He was surprised when vinoba refused his offer.

“Why? Isn’t the purpose of this sit-out to convince me to donate my land?” the zamindar asked.

“Yes, it was our intention at first,” answered vinoba. “Now this is a prayer for the people living near the dargah. A few days back, I walked to them asking for food for a baby. That evening, I witnessed Muhammad Nabi in the hands of the woman who mixed the rice and salt for the little baby. I have to thank you for that opportunity because that moment happened only because you refused to donate your land in the beginning.”

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A few days back when Krishnammal visited Cuckoo school, she narrated this incident and said, “Like the divinity that vinoba witnessed that day near the dargah, I see the same divine love here in Cuckoo.” 

Dressed in a simple cotton saree, the 92-year-old woman narrated numerous anecdotes right her college days as a curious and enterprising student to her interactions with vinoba, and experiences from her walks around the country for Bhoodan. At the end of her session, Krishnammal, in her quivering voice, chanted “Arutperum Jyothi” three times. In moment, all of us sitting at her feet experienced Her Divine Love.

Krishnammal Jagannathan has many credits to her name. She has walked the length and breadth of the country fighting for farmers’ rights. In a single district of Central India alone, she has helped redistribute over 26,000 acres of land. She has walked alongside vinoba and even interacted with Mahatma Gandhi. Due to her relentless efforts, lakhs of land have been handed over to Dalits and underprivileged farmers. She has been awarded the Padmashri for her efforts, yet she continues her simple lifestyle. 

Even though she stoops a little and walks with the support of two others today, when you see her, you see a woman walking upright with the lamp in her still glowing bright. A woman who personifies strength and willpower. A woman who sincerely believes in the lines of Robert Frost,

“...but I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep.”

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Just as Krishnammal was getting ready to leave, a group of architecture students from NITTE college in Mangalore arrived in a bus. Half of them had been blindfolded a few minutes before entering the Cuckoo campus.

The trust walk is a popular theater exercise where participants are paired up, one is blindfolded, and the other is made to walk the blind partner around the space. 

This trust walk had an additional component of trust. The blindfolded participants had no clue where they'd be walking. Bushes, thorns, slush, worms, rocks or just a plain flat surface? Well, it was everything except a plain flat surface.

While walking through the day-old slush, they experienced the magic of wet earth. They touched the barks of young trees, perhaps for the first the in years. They smelt flowers they couldn't see. Bird calls and cowbells sounded sweeter. Without sight to aid them, even touching the walls of the hut was a new sensation.

When they finally opened their eyes, their jaws dropped. Because even if the other senses did get acute with the blinds on, there was nothing that could replace the visual beauty of the hills around them.

While watching these youngsters walk around the school, interacting with every nook and corner of it using their hands, noses and ears, we realised that with every thing we do, all angles must be taken into consideration. 

For it's only when all five senses come together can any experience be truly perfect.

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Photographing a scenic moment isn't as easy as it sounds. So much gets lost in translation. Luckily for us, Rajaram brought the beauty of the hills alive through the frames he captured. These are some of his pictures.