Written by Sahithi DIvi

Writing this from a village called Malikipuram, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, located 2kms from Mori which is India’s first smart village. I am surrounded with a long unexplored path hooked with rural India. This did not happen as a part of the plan yet it feels like everything that ever happened to me was for today. So many reasons for not relocating could not shake my urge to finally leave the city that embarked me to set free. Amongst memories woven by Hyderabad, Bhopal, San Fransisco and Rajahmundry I was inclined to take the interior route down south , by the river and on the edge of where that river meets the sea.
I imagined flashes of this dream a few years back while I was understanding the real meaning of impact. Being here isn’t feeling new but takes me back somewhere constantly, where I saw the parts this world from elsewhere. People who can unlock their happiness to me and people whom I can share my life with. Moving to a village with a population of 7000 people brought me closer to that dream of empowerment.
Education has given me a platform to imagine and question. Life came in various patterns asking me if I was sure. Near ones baffled to some extent added with slight amount of my self bafflement about moving from a metro city to a three tier village. Unrest inside settled only as the time passed by, meeting new people who came in form of assurance, availability of high quality basic resources increasing my quality of life, livelihoods hidden under sceneries, food that reminds of my grandmother and generosity covered by real problems in rural India.
The beauty of a village is that it can withstand pain and still be able to give. A village understands who is true just by a look in the eye. It is not possible to manipulate a village dweller because there is a strong relationship that binds people with each other and their customs and traditions coming from hundreds of years. A village is home to collection of skills, farming , and traditions. There is more to learn than change from our villages in today’s context.
As a part of my project I began researching the local products and endangered skills. I learnt the urgency hovering on fading arts of our country that remained as livelihood to thousands for decades. My visit turned into a decision that changed my life forever. Here I am, representing rural India to the rest of the world. I feel surprised by it’s beauty and suffering co existing. This opens me up to an opportunity for belonging here. More power to rural India.
Written By Sahithi DIvi ( source : http://www.impactscientist.com)