This could be our story: the story of TARAGram and its people.

People engaged in creation of assets for ensuring a sustainable future for their children. People of all castes, religions, bonded together through a belief in their ability to devise solutions. TARAGram is three years today. Three years of coming into being, but that cannot discount the years before, which actually resulted in its formation, and the formation of Technological Action and Rural Advancement : TARA ( the Indian term for a star). We, at TARAGram, began very small with a group of committed stakeholders from villages around the center, and their belief in what we were embarking upon filled us with a zeal, indescribable. These people have today graduated into various facets of the organization : Munesh, who is developing into a quality control supervisor; Khushiram, a trainer; Teja, a machine operator; Ramcharan, the briquetting machine operator; Balram, the gasifier operator; Sukhdevi and Tara, the paper-lifters, among many others. And we grew.... And so began dreams. But in our dreams, as Yeats would say, emerged responsibilities. The training period was over, resulting in the emergence of buildings which culminated in the Tara Nirman Kendra, the building material unit; Tara Hand made paper unit, which was a profit center for production of hand made paper; and Desi Power, our gasifier based electricity unit, the lifeline of our rural industrialization attempt with hand made paper. Systems that respected the environment while creating opportunities. This was almost like the adolescent stage where one slowly weans away from dependence on parental care and gradually becomes responsible for oneself. Ideally, this luxuriating stage should have lasted a large part of one's existence , specially as this is the stage where one can slowly get moulded to be able to take real lifetime decisions. But this was not to be. The war of poverty that we are fighting does not give us enough time. Our first experience outside, at village Azadpura, brought us face to face with the reality: the external conditions with its network of actors: the contractor and the local politician.

So, TARAGram is forced to move into its adult life cycle today, where it has the responsibility of spawning smaller centers around it, based on the appropriate technological, ecological and socially sound practices; units that will emerge as bases for rural livelihoods : increasing local purchasing power on one hand while maximizing input into the local economy on the other. This would also lead to improvement in the total quality of life and thus setup a chain reaction of sustainable practices, leading to the creation of local assets : capital as well as human. And, we realized that although we had dared to dream, today the responsibility of fulfilling them also rests on all the stakeholders of TARAGram. The existence and inflation of the universe of TARAGram, is crucial to all those inhabitants around TARAGram, in the villages of Pratapura, Azadpura, Jhijhora... for whom the place has made a difference. Their stakes are really high.

It is true, we want to have a single equation which will explain all that exists. An equation which will explain to us the truth about why we exist and what will happen next. This I speak in the context of TARAGram, and on behalf of all the stakeholders. But we must all understand that the answer is being sought. As we are growing up from the childhood of being looked after by Development Alternatives, to this stage where we are not only responsible for ourselves but also for others whose dependence is on us, several conflicts arise. How do we ensure that we develop our markets and also develop more enterprises, who are constantly eating into our pie? This is a question often asked by many of the units within TARAGram. It is here that Development Alternatives with its sanguine attitude needs to guide TARAGram through the turbulent course. We have to believe that our sustenance is only by multiplying and bringing in more allies, allies who will perhaps do this job better than us, leaving us to be able to move into seeding other such efforts that make a difference. After all, the pie of poverty is only growing and it seems like a losing battle if we do not share the burden. We need clarity of roles. And, this is slowly sinking into all of us at TARAGram, many of us who were belligerent adolescents, but are maturing into true citizens of the Earth. And, I speak on behalf of all the stakeholders of TARAGram.

We have survived a turbulent phase and are slowly emerging cleansed and equipped to handle the real world situations, and to carve out a better tomorrow. Today, we are indeed three years OLD. We dared to dream and we dare to, responsibly, turn that dream into a reality.

• TARAGram was three years old on the 22nd of April, 1999.

• Acknowledgements : Isaac Asimov : Atom - Journey across the subatomic cosmos

SCORE SHEET

1. Check dam on Bavedi stream - .initiated construction in 1995, charges the wells, prime water source. - Score 5 points

2. Amphitheatre - Constructed, Dec 1998, Rocky backdrop, stage, community space for TARAGram - Score 4 points

3. Trainees hostel - Under completion,accommodation facilities of the Training center. - Score 1 point

4. MCR Tile unit -3 years in operation, 1.5 lakh sq. ft. of area covered by MCR, 8 entrepreneurs set up. - Score 4 points

5. Concrete block Unit - With TARA Sevak and Victor m/c in operation, utilises stone dust . - Score 3 points

6. Ferro-cement unit - Mechanised production replaced Manual in1997, an advantage over RCC roofs - Score 3 points

7. Compressed Earth Block Unit - Balram, Auram m/c in operation, optimises use of soil with stone dust - Score 3 points

8. Char Briquettes - Pyrolisis of Lantana into Char, purchased from enterprises, extruded into Briquettes - Score 4 points

9. Bio-Gas - anaerobic process producing methane gas : 1 and 2 cum(1996), utilised by canteen for 4 hours. - Score 4 points

10. Vermicomposting - composting with worms, an organic fertiliser, to be developed into enterprises - Score 4 points

11. Masons’ room - Towards the concept of guilds in the region - Score 3 points

12. Prod Design Center - estd. in 1998, product design in paper-jute, for tribal women, including Block printing unit- Score 3 points

13. Gasifier - Ipomea converted to producer gas and fed to engine,generating electricity 1996: 171093 kWh- Score 5 points

14. Balwadi - Constructed in 1998, this CEB dome is the crèche for children of the workers of TARAGram- Score 2 points

15. Handmade paper production - livelihood activities for women,recycles cotton and paper waste .The process involves Sorting of rags, Felt washing, Rag chopping, Beating and Lifting. - Score 4 points

16. Drying and Finishing section - Paper from the production unit is dried and finished in this section. Waste heat from the gasifier is also utilised to dry paper.- Score 4 points

17. TARA Shop - Constructed in 1998, outlet of finished paper- products of Taragram+ village+ Khajuraho - Score 2 points

18. Gully Plugs -first regeneration activity, training in dry stone masonry. 8 structures preventing soil erosion - Score 5 points

19. Literacy classes - Afternoon sessions every day for TARAGram workers- Score 5 points

20. Settlement tanks - Filtered water from paper unit is fed to gasifier for cooling-cleaning, then through fine char filters- finally used for Horticulture. Score 5 points

21. Canteen - serves TARAGram since 1997,first brickdome,dining roof, MCR tiles on Hulas wire girders. - Score 0 points

22. Stone Crushers - in the region, supply crushed aggregates, dump stone dust, a major health hazard. - Score 1 point

23. Workshops (Machine + Carpentry) - They form the service core of TARAGram - Score 3 points

24. Laboratory- testing lab for Building Materials.- Score 2 points

25. Sahariya Sangram (Azadpura women’s co-operative) -society of paper- jute products-Block printing. - Score 4 points

26. Bawedi stream - The Life-line of TARAGram, the check dam is built on this stream. It is also a route of migratory birds. All along the sides of this stream grow Bio-mass like Lantana and Ipomea which are resources for energy alternatives.There is an adjoining forest with birds, nilgais and langurs - Score 15 points

27. Horticulture - Waste water from settlement tanks is used for growing flowers, vegetables, fruit trees - Score 5 points

28. Bijoli TARACrete - Initial initiatives of MCR enterprise spearheading MCR market-development . - Score 4 points

29. Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln, Datia - energy efficient Chinese Technology for Fired Brick production, the first of its kind in India. 4 more such kilns have come up in Orissa, Maharashtra,Kerala and Gwalior, MP. - Score 10 points

30. Training Center (Proposed ITI) - CD Rom based Interactive training. -
Score 5 points

31. Conference Center - Seminars on Rural Livelihood Technology for the new Millennium - Score 8 points

32. Cottages - High class Residential facilities at TARAGram - Score 1 point

33. TGNK Show room - Showcase of TGNK products and performances under one roof - Score 5 points

34. Computer room - Internet connection, worldwide access: www.taragram.com - Score 12 points

35. Interpretation Center -audio-visual evolutionary tour of TARAGram, library access worldwide, info centre - Score 12 points

36. Artisan Village -Traditional arts and crafts of Bundelkhand integrated into modern artefacts. - Score 5 points

Eco 1 - 2 - 18 - 20 - 28 -
Trail 18 - 26 .