Ramu Uncle

Ramu Uncle

Many of you have heard me speak about my social work in India. I have often mentioned that all my work is done through my “cousin”, Ramu Uncle. Well, he is not my cousin. He is a relative of mine. (His younger brother, K S Srinivasan (Cheenu) is married to my younger sister, Bhanu.) Ramu Uncle is a friend of mine. A role model of mine. I know Ramu Uncle from 1960, when I was just a twelve year old boy. His brother married my sister much later.

K S Ramamurthy (Ramu Uncle) is seventy eight years old and comes from a family of Gandhians. He is a social worker, extraordinaire. Having worked in New Delhi in USAID (part of the US Government), in Zambia and then in Botswana as Post Master General, he returned to India at the young age of fifty two.
This summer when I was in India for two months I spent almost three weeks staying with Ramu Uncle in Yelagiri, a forty five minute car ride from Jolarpet Railway station. Jolarpet is half way between Chennai and Bangalore.
Ramu Uncle was telling me many incidents about his life. I suggested to him that he should write his own blogs and let the world see it. There have been days when, as a young boy, he has gone to bed hungry. How he overcame the most difficult economic conditions and adopted the communist manifesto is fascinating. He is one of the most secular people I have met. He is a Brahmin by birth. He renounced anything based on religion or the caste system as a young man. He does not wear a Poonal and calls himself an Atheist. When I heard that, I looked up the word Atheist. The dictionary defines an Atheist as “a person who does not believe in God or gods”. If you do some more research, you will find that an Atheist is one who does not believe in God as defined by the”organized religions” of the world. In that case, all who call themselves as Advaitins are Atheists. The organized religions go one step further and say that those who do not believe in God as defined by them will go to “hell”. If you take it to its logical conclusion, Ramu Uncle will end up in hell. How is that possible, you may ask? The man has done to more help his fellow human beings than anyone I know personally. A “sinner”, even after committing the worst deeds, has to accept the God of the organized religions and he goes to heaven. If that be true, I would rather not go to such a heaven which will exclude Ramu Uncle.
Ramu Uncle may not go inside a temple and be a fake, but he will be a good host. When he was younger, he drove my whole family to many temples and waited patiently till we finished our darshan. I can go on about Ramu Uncle but I am going to let him speak for himself and I will keep posting more of his story as and when I receive it from him.
Education is his passion. Eradicating the remnants of the abuse of the caste system by ignorant folks. Many of them claim to be “God fearing”. He is the driving force behind the Society for the Development of the Weaker Section (SODEWS.org). I strongly suggest that if any one of you is visiting India, please feel free to go to Yelagiri and see for yourself the extraordinary work being done by SODEWS and their team. Ramu Uncle is ably assisted by Poornima Athreya, an ex – PayPal employee. The work done by SODEWS continues to touch the lives of thousands of the less fortunate amongst us.
What has SODEWS done? Here is my take:
SODEWS presently operates in Vellore District of Tamilnadu. In addition, as a special favor to me, they have taken up “saving” and running a school in Netala, Uttarakhand.
• SODEWS operates 4 (Four) Residential Bridge Schools (RBC). These RBC’s are run with the assistance of the Government of Tamilnadu under the Sarva Shisksha Abhiyan program. The primary goal of these RBC’s is to stop and eradicate child labor.
• Intensive coaching / tuition for children who are not performing as well as their peers in 150 (One hundred and fifty) Government Schools.
• Increasing enrollment of children in Anganwadis by increasing interaction with their families and assist overcome long standing challenges. Anganwadis are pre primary school centers established under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Good, nutritional food is provided .Interest in and the need for education and information on child care are disseminated.
• Health education and awareness for mothers and adolescent girls
• Impart Computer Literacy / Education in High Schools
• SODEWS has been instrumental in creating “Livelihood Programs” for the poor by setting up Small Industries, the first one of which has been the production of Sanitary Pads. SODEWS provides Technical training, Management Know How and Marketing Techniques.
• Provide strategic and operational support to a school with 120 (One Hundred and twenty) students in Netala, Uttarakhand. This includes periodic visits by Management of SODEWS, introduction of financial controls, generating local financial support, setting of a Parent – Teacher Association.
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