Slum upgrading in Pune

This year Amma's devotees from Pune were sad. And they had reason to be, usually they are blessed by Amma’s presence for several days each year, this year Amma's visit was reduced to only one evening program. Nothing can replace Amma's physical presence but She gave Pune a small consolation to make up for Her short visit. She left behind Her children to breathe life into the Ajanta Nagar Slum Rehabilitation Housing Project.

For the past few years now, Amma’s children from around the globe have come to India to contribute their time and effort to the Amrita Kuteeram housing project. This year was the biggest turnout ever as over 90 of Amma's children from: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, India, Japan, Spain and the USA came for the project.

Besides the large number of international participants, this project is also unique in that it isn't so much a housing project as it is a flat building project.

Ajanta Nagar was a 9-acre slum, home to over 1700 families, about 2 km from Amma’s Pune ashram. It was like almost every other slum in India: very dirty, cramped, no reliable source of water or power, no sanitation, very little protection from the elements, etc. Basically not a very desirable place to live in. Then a few years back the local government decided to try to improve the living conditions of the people living there. But, they realised they couldn't do it by themselves. So they approached Amma and asked if She would lend Her divine hand to make the project a success. And as Amma never turns away anyone who comes to Her for help, She agreed to rebuild Ajanta Nagar.

The plan is to build 34 two-story apartment buildings in the place where a jumble of shanties now stand. In order to rebuild the slum in the same location, it is necessary that the project be done in several stages. The first stage, already completed, involved the construction of 600 temporary residences. Once those were done, about 1/3 of the slum residents moved in. As soon as they shifted, their original homes in the slum were demolished. On the same spot where they once lived, the land was then prepared for the building of what would be their new homes. Then once this first 1/3 of the ashram flats are finished, the next 1/3 of the slum residents will move into the temporary houses. Then their portion of the slum will be razed and construction will begin on the 2nd 1/3 of the permanent houses. This will happen a third time, until everyone eventually is living in a new flat.

Upon their arrival, all the international volunteers went and paid a visit to the residents of Ajanta Nagar. Even though they shared no common language, the international volunteers spent several hours conversing with the Ajanta Nagar residents, with only handshakes, smiles, and a lot of laughs. It seemed that both were equally inspired and curious to find the other there. And it was hard to tell who was happier to see whom. After that encounter, it seemed that both parties would be happy to simply come and play with each other every day for the entirety of the project. But after all, the volunteers came to work, and the Ajanta Nagar residents knew that.

That first encounter, and all those that followed it for that matter, revealed the real value of the presence of the ashram volunteers. As everyone knows, there is only so much external construction work that can take place in two weeks, but very few realise how much internal building can happen in that same short period. Every day that the volunteers showed up to work, it was a major event at Ajanta Nagar.

And as none of the 34 buildings that will be constructed were completed during their stay, it seemed that even things as simple as moving dirt and pouring concrete became a celebration. It was really a joy to watch such enthusiasm while working. Because of their joy it was easy to forget the dust, heat, and exhaustion of such physical work. Amma often explains that if one does anything with love and the right attitude of service, it ceases to be a chore and becomes an offering to God. To actually see that put into practice was a beautiful thing.

During their short time at Ajanta Nagar, the international volunteers worked almost solely on the foundation of the first building. It seemed very clear that when they departed their work would not be remembered by how much dirt they carried, or how many pillars were erected. More than anything else they were laying a new foundation in the hearts of all the people of Ajanta Nagar. They were Amma’s messengers, a living example of Her teachings on service to those in need.