2016 Update: It has come to my attention that certain irregularities have been reported regarding “Rangpur Ashram” in the online and print media, including violations of a legal nature.  The author would like to clarify that this post is, in no way, an endorsement of the Ashram or its management. It is merely a first-person account of an experience lived during the author’s college years – a time preceding these controversies…

It was way back in 1995, when I was just a graduate student in my final year at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. As a part of our Honours’ project we embarked upon a 7-day field trip to the interiors of Gujarat, thanks to the good graces of our Professor – Dr. Vildakar – who had worked extensively in the Amba Dongar region.  Soon, five young students (including myself) found ourselves in a location that was 100 kms from the nearest big city, armed with nothing but a map and a compass!  It was on that trip that I first encountered Rangpur and the “Ashram”.

The Anand Niketan Ashram was run by Shri Harivallabh Parikh, lovingly referred to as “Bhai Ji” by his followers.  And, I had never seen any thing like it…

The sprawling tree in the middle of the compound under which evening discourses were organized, the buzzing activity of villagers helping out with routine tasks at the ashram, the single telephone instrument on site labelled “Telephone Exchange”!  It was all too quaint and charming to be true… at least for “city boys” like me.

Our job was to map a segment of the Narmada river and collect some rock samples from its river bed.  We also needed to collect a few rock samples from the local hill – Phenai Mata.  The hill was more than a 1000-feet high, as I recall, and was surrounded by a river.  And, we had no means of finding our way to its top.

Not only did the Ashram provide us with a place to stay and meals to eat, but when we mentioned our challenge (of Phenai Mata), just in passing, to Bhai Ji, we found a local “guide” waiting to escort us to the top, the very next morning!  In fact, since there was no public or private transport in the region, in those days, each day, we would walk to a place some kilometeres away from the Ashram, only to return with a bag full of rocks in the evening, and do it all over, the following day.  But, on the day we were to go atop the Phenai Mata hill – a good 7-8 kms away from the Ashram – not only did Bhai Ji arrange for a local guide who knew the quickest way across the river and up the mountain, but also arranged for a jeep to drive us to its foothill!  And, all this, without even asking for it!

Even today, after all these years, images from that week-long-trip come rushing to me, as if it was only yesterday… The little school we passed by where all the children rushed out to greet us, the friendly villagers in the surrounding region that we could hardly communicate with, the hospitality of the Ashram, and the brief but everlasting encounter with Bhai Ji…