Visitors’ Remarks

Shri Ashim Bhowmick (Dec '06 visit)

Shri Ashim Bhowmick works at Microsoft headquarters at Redmond, WA and is an IIT Bombay, IIM Calcutta (Class of '90) alumnus.

My association with Vinayak and Parivaar began as what I call a "chance-encounter" and I count by blessings every day for the wonderful world that he has introduced me into.
When I received my first email from Vinayak it roused a bit of curiosity and it also felt good to think that a young man, an alumnus of my school, has chosen to forego the glitters of the corporate world to embrace a life of sacrifice and service. In my mind, I was prepared to see a “home” for destitute children; children, who have learnt to lead their lives in pity and through kindness of others; a holding cell for potential delinquent juveniles. “Shame on me”, I said to myself, on my way out from Parivaar -- this wealth-hugger, elite and educated mind of mine could not overcome the stereo-types even now! Parivaar is a home alright, a home with parents, brothers, sisters, just like yours and mine, only magnified; a home with unconditional love, affection and concern for one another, big, small and even the tiny ones, only more contagious.
It’s not an NGO in the typical sense of the word, as Vinayak rightly points out – it’s what goes on in your home; as in one’s own home you can’t take a day off just because you feel overwhelmed with kids, neither can you confine your concerns for your children in the 9-5 work-day schedule. Same at Parivaar. Simply out It’s life, 24X7 – its school, prayer, game, family dinner time, medical check-ups, listening to your child, reading before bedtime, the goodnight kiss and all.
My trip was short-- just for a few hours. Even then, Vinayak and Nimai graciously showed me the place around – all the while a bunch of little angels, holding our hands, jumping on us, or on our laps. It’s indeed heartening to see the capacity they are building up anticipating the future, judicious use of recycled building material to save cost and at the same time extreme quality control when it comes to nutrition, food and diet. It’s also encouraging to see our alumni from IITs & IIMs are coming forward support this great endeavor. More than 50 dedicated workers have owned up this mission and this is their collective crusade. I am confident that this is a story that that captures the theme of Hope for better society and Stronger future generation, and marked with a Promise that we will not let our children down.

Shri Anjan Das (Dec '06 visit)

Shri Anjan Das works at Microsoft headquarters at Redmond, WA and is an IIM Calcutta alumnus (Class of '97)

Parivaar has been very close to our hearts over the past few years. Last time we visited was in Jan ‘05 when the new Ashram was just in its initial phase of construction. Back then, most of the children were in the leased facility near Thakurpukur and the new ashram had about 25 children who had just moved there that week.

We visited Kolkata after about 2 years. Meanwhile, I did not let go of any opportunity to spread the word about the great family that is Parivaar - amongst colleagues @ Microsoft, IIM alumni and friends here in Seattle. The entire building that used to be the Home initially is now converted to the Administrative office - many visitors to the Ashram can quickly get here from anywhere in the city. We reached the Ashram in Barkalikapur in Parivaar's van with Mr. Nimai Saha (a senior member of the Ashram team who has been around from almost the beginning) in about 15-20 mins from the Administrative Building.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted with warm hugs and tender touches of the kids - this was the most memorable experience of our last visit, so we were aching to get the same warmth again. We had tried to capture as many happy faces I could last time - many of them had grown up and were in upper classes in school.

The amount of progress made in the Ashram's construction in such a short span was amazing. When we last saw it there was just one old building with an adjoining kitchen at this site. At that time, Vinayak had shown us the blueprints of the planned construction. Now there are several multistoried Sadans for boys and girls, a nice playground, playgarden, separate kitchen and Dining Hall (Annapurna Bhavan), Prayer Hall, Sevak Sadan, and Guest accommodation - all well laid out in a functional plan.

The staff has expanded to handle the growing scale of operations and infrastructure. We did see almost the entire initial staff still engaged and committed to the Parivaar’s mission. Its very well organized with resident full-time house- brothers and house-sisters residing with the chidren in each Bal-Sadan or Balika-Sadan. There are resident and visiting teachers who teach in the Ashram classrooms (in the same setup as a regular school).

We spent several hours going to each room, each floor and each Sadan in the Ashram, meeting the kids and the house brothers and sisters. The day starts at 5:30 am or earlier for most kids and the Sevaks. They get ready for school and have breakfast in the dining hall. There is a large playground, a playgarden full of swings, see-saws etc. and several open areas for the kids. After the evening snack, all the resident members (kids and Sevaks) assemble at the Prayer Hall. There is a library, games room (with table tennis tables), caroms, and other indoor games, and a computer lab onsite too. The Ashram is gated, fenced and well-lit and feels very secure even at night. Vinayak da (everyone's favorite role model) and several resident members of the Sevak team are onsite with the children day and night all 365 days. The ideals of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda can be experienced within the entire premises and within children and workers as the keynote. Vinayak and other senior Sevaks have done an awesome job in instilling higher human values in all of them. We felt the sadness creep in when we had to say goodbye to the kids and stop answering their cute questions about how far we stay and why is night for us during their daytime! Till we meet them again next time - we'll carry their warmth in our hearts. We'd like encourage all of you who have been working for the worthy cause that is Parivaar, to visit the Ashram as often as you can - there is hardly a better way to energize yourself than this.

Dr. Rajesh Chakrabarti

Alumnus, IIM Ahmedabad (Class of '93) Currently Assistant Professor of Finance at Georgia Tech, Atlanta (USA)

I had first visited Parivaar in 2004. At that time it was it was a lively hive of happy children, about 50 at that time, and a few workers housed in a simple but clean three-story rented building. I had the opportunity of visiting Parivaar again in August 2006 and was amazed with the changes. In addition to the old building, Parivaar was in the process of creating its own campus, in the village of Barkalikapur. In the simple and scenic settings of rural Bengal, around a little pond, ceaseless activity was on, with buildings sprouting up all around. Residential quarters, a library, a health center (not just for Parivaar resident members but for the villagers too), and a computer center were all coming up together. The number of children had increased manifold since my last visit and I met several of them studying in small groups under the supervision and guidance of a much larger Parivaar staff. Clearly, Parivaar had blossomed from a courageous experiment to a major force and a trend-setter in child-care, education and overall development. While the extent of changes and the rate of growth were nothing less than daunting, as I sat down for lunch with the children and Vinayak like I did during my earlier visit, I realized that the spirit of Parivaar had remained unchanged. Rapid growth and the administrative challenges that such growth entails, have failed to dampen the spirit of familial love that I had found at Parivaar a couple of years ago. The children were just as naturally inquisitive, friendly and uninhibited as I had found them to be the first time around. Vinayak and all the workers know each child with extraordinary intimacy, and as a visitor it was clear to me that I was once again visiting a "Parivaar" rather than an institution. Parivaar has grown at an exponential rate but not at the cost of the love that bind the hundreds of little ones as well as workers. I was honored to visit this Parivaar and look forward to returning to it. In some strange way, I feel, I too am part of this magic family.

Shri Lalit Kumar and Ms. Sreedevi Menon (Nov '06 visit)

(Lalit and Sreedevi are based in Austin, Texas and work in Dell Corporation.)

Nov 2006 was our second visit to Parivaar and each time we stay there, it is an extremely energizing and a humbling experience.

With construction almost complete now at the Ashram premises, Parivaar looked more "settled" than in Dec '05 when construction was in full swing. It was comforting to see the familiar faces around and a whole many new ones. The kids were at first shy, then inquisitive, at all times friendly to see us again and finally extremely sad to see us go. It was also pleasing to see most the older kids start to take a leadership ("dada"/"didi" or elder brother/sister) role and serve as role models for the younger ones.

Any home with 220+ children can never sit quiet. And so is the case with Parivaar. It is a place of intense activity – kids are on the move most of the daytime, innovative games are being played (this being the kite-flying season added extra excitement), the kitchen is full with activity, someone or the other is crying and is being comforted by others, one can hear the chorus of multiplication tables and alphabets being repeated aloud in classrooms etc.

If there is one scene that will forever be etched in my memory, it is that of the newly constructed playgarden. It is modest in area by any standards, 4 swings, couple of slides, and see-saws. Now imagine those swings and slides being swamped by 40-50 kids at the same time and the air filled with incessant, lively chatter of kids giggling, shouting, crying and talking. That is a typical scene at the playgarden every evening. Kids discover happiness in the simplest of activities – be it running after one-another, flying kites, feeding pigeons, jumping into a pond to retrieve lost cricket balls etc.; and you wonder how addicted have we become to the so-called sophistication of the world – the latest video games, the internet, movies etc.

Living with and talking to the Sevaks of Parivaar and listening to their extraordinary stories of hardships, is an humbling experience in itself. Being a parent to 200+ children everyday can be exhausting, yet all the Sevaks I met with enjoy the experience and in fact felt blessed to have the opportunity to transform the lives of each one the kids. These Sevaks truly embody Swami Vivekananda's ideal of "Selfless Service to the Divine in Man".

The intensity, commitment and devotion of the Parivaar Sevaks, the smiling faces of our children, the physical transformation of the place in just a year - exude an energy that is elevating – an energy borne out of positivity and hope. This is the energy that sustains us till the time we can come back next year to renew ourselves.

Shri Rahul Ganjiwale

(Shri Rahul Ganjiwale is an IT professional based in Pennsylvania, USA and spent 8 days at Parivaar in December ’05.)

It was my second visit to Parivaar for some 8 days in Dec 2005. This time around Parivaar had its own newly built sober infrastructure called Parivaar Ashram, housing some 150 children at this new Ashram. So much has changed from my previous visit, larger number of dedicated workers and double the number of children. What was the same, was the spirit of Parivaar, and my old friend Vinayakda. It was heartening to be back again to a place where love, courage, sacrifice and selfless devotion all reside in plenty. Ashram architecture, which has gradually expanded over a period of one and a half years now, had different Bal Sadans, Prarthana Bhavan, grand Dining Hall (Annapurna Bhavan), guest rooms, Sevak Sadan (accommodation for resident Sevaks) etc. Construction was still going on during the visit; Vinayak mentioned that in near future the Parivaar Ashram would have capacity to house 500 children. During, my quite stay at Parivaar, I learned about the every day operational activities, local difficulties and got to interact with dedicated workers.

Many of these children were familiar faces from my last visit and they all remembered me. We all played cricket together and I have never been cheered more for hitting sixes ever in my life than what I received from the exuberant children. Vinayakda hit shots all over the place and all the children cheered with joy. Glow of happiness on the face of these children is reflection of the selfless dedication and pure love of Vinayak and his team. I also learned that most of these children though have their traumatic past yet have made great progress in their studies. This great cause and equally great service makes all our humanity proud and honoured.