Report on Hemalkasa

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"After my tour in the tribal belt of the Madias, I feel the intensity of injustice right down to my toe-nails." - Baba Amte

Prologue

I read somewhere: "Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting."

I've an obsession for seeing beautiful and unusual places.  Hence my trip to Hemalkasa.

Many thought I had lost my mind to go to the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra - an economically backward and under-developed region plagued by Naxalite (Maoist) violence.  The same people don't have a good opinion on the other activity that I frequently engage in either - mountain climbing.  As far as they are concerned, it is a useless and risky activity.  However, just like mountain climbing, they have no idea how rewarding this journey was for me and I hope that this article helps them to understand.

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Report on Anandwan

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"Give them a chance, not charity." - Baba Amte

My Journey to Anandwan

On January 6th, 2009, I boarded Azad Hind Express from Pune Station, heading towards Nagpur. The 15-hour long journey was quite interesting. I was sharing my 3-tier AC compartment with two flirtatious marketing people; a woman and her boss. They looked like they were in their 30's and both were married (not to each other). From their conversation and the way they were acting, I suspected there was something going on between them. They were apparently returning from a meeting in Pune and often travelled together.

The problem with an AC train is that after dark you cannot look out the window, as you only see your own reflection due to the dark tinted windows. So, at first I had nothing better to do than to overhear their conversation. They were sitting right next to me, and I couldn't exactly turn off my ears.

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