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May 26th to 28th was Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., the first long weekend of the summer. What were young Indians in the US doing that weekend? Some were inside graduate labs conducting experiments to enhance the thermal conductivity of coolants in turbine blades, or staring at lines of code they had no idea who wrote. Some were drinking away their conference paper worries, some were calling their parents in India via MCI or traveling to meet friends and some were reading rediff news online. Some 130 odd NRIs however, were doing something different. They were planning for the future of India.

        Tucked away in a hall in the University of Maryland College Park, these lads and ladies who had come from as far as San Francisco and Dallas, were brainstorming, debating issues and motivating each other to work for a better India. They proposed new steps to be taken and reviewed what they had done over the past year as members of AID, the Association for India’s Development.

        For many Indians living abroad, arguing about the forces -- positive and negative, that shape the future of India is a favorite pastime. Indeed, distance and time frequently help put in perspective the situations and problems they left behind, and ideas for solutions begin to emerge. They see the burning need to address problems of poverty and malnourishment, of social and economic inequities. But then, longing to discuss their ideas, to take a flight home and ‘do something’, to interact and join forces with grassroots workers in India, they find there is no avenue to do these things unless they create their own. AID is one such avenue, the brain-child of a few Indian graduate students, that has evolved into a spirited movement of young volunteers spread throughout the United States, with chapters growing in other countries, including India!

Travel back in time to ten years ago. In the same hall in the University of Maryland, a handful of enthusiastic college students embarked on a mission; a mission to free India from the clutches of poverty and social inequality. Mission Impossible? Not if you hear what any of the AID ‘fellows’ have to say. Meet Balaji, not the everyday techie you would come across. He completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering in record time and went back to India to work in rural development. His analytical approach to India’s social problems gave them a unique perspective. Aravinda, brought up in the United States, now a full time volunteer and activist in India, raises her voice (with an American accent!) against poverty in India. Venkatesh, engineer by education; went back to India to popularize the use of alternative technologies like the pedal power generator (pedal your way to an illuminated village!). These and other ‘Jeevan Saathis’ as they are called by AID, are extremely dedicated volunteers of AID who have gone to India to tackle issues at the grass root level. They spend the greater part of their time traveling to the depths of India and understanding from the people their problems and aspirations. These experiences are converted into detailed manuscripts which in themselves, are works of literature. As they say, understanding the problem is half solving the problem.

        AID’s founding philosophy that India’s social problems such as poverty, inequality, illiteracy and ill health are interlinked and therefore require interlinked solutions, has come a long way, long enough to create a base of over 300 volunteers in the US, working hard at these solutions. These volunteers represent a great hope for India. They are students and professionals just like you and me who devote their spare time to AID. If you live near a large university, chances are, you’ve heard of them. Actually, it’s quite difficult to miss them, for they are out organizing concerts, talks, food festivals, melas and ‘you name it’ fundraisers, to raise money for various causes in India. They manage to raise a few hundred thousand dollars each year -- impressive for a bunch of part-time volunteers! They have gone the extra mile to raise funds when needed the most, like for the Orissa cyclone or the Gujarat earthquake. But hold on. If you thought raising money was what AID was about, think twice, for their core strength lies elsewhere. AID volunteers meet on weekends and debate and argue for hours together to decide on where to spend all the money they’ve raised. All money raised is used to fund development projects undertaken by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in India. These NGOs are handpicked for the quality of work they do. Each project funded by AID is visited and assessed by at least one volunteer. Projects once approved are continuously reviewed, to ensure results. It is this participation and involvement in development work in India that makes AID stand out as an organization.

Over the past ten years, AID has achieved credibility as an organization that supports sustainable, just and equitable development work in India. Volunteers however, join AID for various reasons. There are people like Rachna for example, who are in it because ‘volunteering is fun’. Others have more serious reasons. Rishi is in it because he believes ‘it is his duty to help others’. So, how do these volunteers keep themselves motivated through all the hard work they do. The annual AID conference is one way to interact with a whole bunch of other people with the same goals as you, and boy! does that help keep one motivated!

        At the recent AID conference in Maryland, time was at a premium. There were simply too many things to do in 3 days. Apart from the sessions to improve the functioning of AID as an organization, there were various discussions and forums where opinions were voiced, consensus was sought and dissent surfaced, dissent of the kind that makes a group of people not weaker but stronger; stronger because there are now fewer insecurities, fewer inhibitions that would find expression behind closed doors. The tenth annual AID conference also featured talks by acclaimed rural reporter P. Sainath, social activist Mallika Dutt and a noted leader of grassroots development in India, Dr Sundararaman.

        "Poverty in India takes a dive, a month before elections," he began and the audience was with him ever since. Sainath held his audience in thrall with his observations on the ground reality in India (how government policy can lead to suicides of farmers, how globalization is a curse for the poor and how far an Indian villager can walk to exercise his right to vote). ‘Use the popular media to generate awareness about social issues’ was Mallika Dutt’s message to the group. She initiated an enlightening discussion on women’s rights in the Indian context. Dr Sundararaman, an eminent social worker and a leader of the ‘All India People’s Science Network’, enunciated the Block Development Plan, a mega-initiative for rural development in over a hundred blocks all over India; a bold plan that promises to change India if its goals meet reality. After the three days at the conference, the volunteers returned to their research and jobs in their universities and offices respectively, but rejuvenated and energized to work for a cause, the cause of helping poor and marginalized people help themselves.

        A young speaker at the conference said, "Our grandparents fought for freedom with a certain vision for the future of India, a future that was not achieved in our parents’ generation. It is now our duty to learn from the mistakes, correct them and march forward." Way to go, ‘the future of India’!

                Sreekumar Vijaykumar and Radhika Rammohan
                (still in the joyful process of discovering AID)

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