Dear readers,
We have a new name! Why, you ask? And, who is Sujata?
We named our blog originally after Sanjay Kumar, the Tathagat School’s Principal. Ellis met Sanjay several years ago while traveling in India. Sanjay told Ellis about his dream of educating all the village children. In fact, he had already started a small school using a borrowed building in the village. Now, some 6 years later, we are working hard along with Sanjay and the Tathagat Welfare Trust to make this dream a reality. You, too, are helping to make the dream a reality with your interest in reading our blog. But back to the name change… Little did we know, when we first named the blog, that singling out one person, however instrumental he or she is in creating something important from which the entire village would benefit, is incompatible with Indian values and ways of thinking. Unlike our western individualistic way of thinking, people in India, especially in the more traditional rural settings, see themselves first and foremost as members of social groups – families, communities, or classes – and consider the wellbeing and interests of the group before their own. Consequently, as we found out, Sanjay was quite uncomfortable with being alone in the “limelight” and taking all the credit. It was communicated to us that the dream of educating the children was the Tathagat Welfare Trust’s dream, and the community’s dream as a whole, and that this truth should be reflected in the name of the blog. We learned a valuable lesson about Indian culture as well as about our own.
Sujata was the little girl who met the Buddha, then Siddhartha Gautama, when he descended from the mountain cave in which he spent six years in severe asceticism, trying to find a way to end the suffering inherent in the human experience. Eventually, he realized that the answer he sought lay not in shunning our bodily needs and desires, but in moderation and mindfulness; that suffering emanates from our attachment to our needs and desires, rather than from having them in the first place. He was headed for the nearby town, when on his way, near the banks of the Falghu River, he met a little girl named Sujata, who offered him his first meal in a very long time – rice and milk – which he accepted. This symbolized the beginning of a new phase in his quest, a new understanding, taking him a step closer to enlightenment, after which he became known as the Buddha, or, ‘the Enlightened One’.
Because the village of Bakrour is located right around the site of this auspicious meeting, and because a large Stupa (commemorative mound) commemorating the event is located there, the village itself is also known as Sujata Village. Our blog’s name refers not so much to the original young girl named Sujata, but more to the whole village community, whose dream it is to lift itself out of extreme poverty through education.
As always, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you. Please use the “comments” link below to let us know your thoughts about the blog and our project, and any questions or suggestions you may have. Thanks much!
