We set out for the Village of Dawn at 09:00am sharp on February 23, 2016 and enjoyed the wonderful scenery around as we travelled. We reached Ushagram near Ranaghat by 02:00pm and had a simple, but delicious lunch of rice, fish, pulses and french fries. That evening we visited the tree under which the poet Krittibash Ojha had written the Bengali version of the Ramayana.
The following day we had our first football match. We had a pleasant surprise as our Principal, Mr. Mitter, joined us.
We saw a “Balwadi”, which is a rural pre-school and a masonry institute named for Pipal Tree Ventures Private Limited - PTVPL.
Then visited a Biogas plant and learned how biogas is used for cooking food. It is transported to various houses to be used as a fuel. The cow dung (slurry), is used for composting and vermicomposting.
We went to a nursery of medicinal plants where we saw plants like Ulotkombol, Nagdana, Amla, Mehendi and others. We also saw a place where people made useful items out of waste materials.
In the evening we learned some facts about Ushagram and had a cultural programme.
We visited a house in the village and witnessed an amazing experiment of an alternate and sustainable lifestyle.
The family owned five cows who give them milk and curd. Cooking is with the help of bio-gas. Fish is cultivated in a pond in front of the house. They grow rice and mustard. Cooking oil is extracted from the mustard seeds. Bees give honey. Truly amazing.
After breakfast, we set out for Mayapur. There we saw the largest ISKCON Temple in the world. We learnt about the Temple and Nabadwip or 'nine islands'. We also visited a cowshed near the temple where the cows are named after goddesses. Later, we refreshed ourselves with Lassi and returned to our guest house. After dinner, we had a skit competition. The next day we went to a local temple and visited some of the 9 departments of PTVPL.
Our experience in Ushagram was truly extraordinary, as we had never seen a living example of an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle before.
