(March 6, 2022) Waiting for a train at Bokaro station to Pune two decades ago, a little boy approached a young Ashish Kalawar, offering to polish his shoes. Unhappy, Ashish reprimanded the boy saying he should be studying at his age. The boy replied that he was working to support his education, and to buy books. “That touched me. He asked for Rs 15 but I gave him Rs 50. Helping the child get closer to his education dream filled me with happiness and contentment,” Ashish says in an interview with Global Indian. This incident was the biggest inspiration behind quitting a high-paying job in the UK in 2014, relocating to India to work for the people of Lonewadi village in Maharashtra.
Ashish and his wife Ruta, trustees of Shivprabha Charitable Trust in Pune, work relentlessly for the empowerment of people across five districts including Lonewadi, Pusad, and Chandrapur in Maharashtra through social work and meditation camps. “It’s the joy of giving, and helping people reach their highest potential,” says Ruta.
A moment of clarity
Ashish and Ruta Kalawar with their son in the UK
An electronic engineering gold medallist, Ruta joined ISRO in 2001 as a scientist, and later moved to Wipro (2005) where she met Ashish, an electrical engineer from Pune University. A few months later, December 2006, they got married. A year-and-a-half on, the couple shifted to the UK – Ruta started work at Intel while Ashish was at Broadcom. A foreign land, embracing a new culture and learning aside, when Ruta holidayed in India in 2012, there was an awakening. “I always searched for a purpose in life. During the trip, I visited the Samarpan Meditation Centre in Pune. It was life-changing – for the first time I felt happiness within me,” smiles Ruta, who had an enlightening experience which led her on the path to working for the welfare of the downtrodden. Even as they were set to apply for UK citizenship, they chucked it all and came back. “On my return, I told Ashish that I was quitting my job and moving to India to work for society. He was shocked,” laughs Ruta, who realised Ashish wasn’t ready for the journey yet. So, she waited patiently. Within a year, after Ashish attended a meditation camp in Goa, the move materialised. “Something had shifted in me. I got clarity on how I should live,” reveals Ashish who quit his high-pressure job at 33 for more altruistic pastures.
Finding a village, adopting a community
Back home, they joined hands with Amol Sainwar, at the Shivprabha Charitable Trust to help transform the lives of Lonewadi villagers in Nashik. “During our earlier visits to India, Amol often discussed the problems faced, and the projects his trust was working on. The villager’s difficult lives struck a chord – a drought-affected tribal village with no electricity or drinking water,” says Ashish who was heartbroken to find women and children walking hours to fetch water, often attacked by wild animals. First, he donated Rs 2 lakh for a solar-powered drinking water distribution system, helping solve the biggest problem. Then, after returning to India, the couple slowly became torchbearers for the people of Lonewadi and other villages.
Ruta Kalawar at Lonewadi village
“Ruta and I joined Amol as the trustees, working on many projects – toilet construction (30), digitisation of schools and meditation camps,” says Ashish who also heightened his social responsibility with social work and spirituality. “It was meditation that made me choose my path in life, and now we are spreading it through camps across eight states in India,” says the 42-year-old.
Farmers in Lonewadi were in a terrible state, “Many turned to alcohol burdened with interests from money lenders,” reveals Amol. So, the couple started counselling farmers and holding meditation sessions. “The sessions had a profound effect. Within months, 80 percent left alcohol. We didn’t preach, instead, the self-realisation from meditation helped them stay away from alcohol,” reveals Ashish. “Open defecation was another challenge, and it took us one-and-a-half years to change perspectives,” reveals Amol, whose charity works on crowdfunding and CSR.
Ruta Kalawar at Lonewadi village in Maharashtra
Giving to the have-nots
Having travelled 12 countries, living well, it was the realisation of a bigger purpose that has embellished the Kalawars’ lives immensely.
Working with the future of Lonewadi was important – its children . The installation of a computer in the village (2015), and later tablets were also distributed to village children. “Ruta and Ashish have played a big role, and we have now digitised six village schools across Maharashtra,” adds Amol.
Ashish Kalawar at Zila Parishad school in Lonewadi
Ruta and Ashish have spread their wings to 10 districts in Maharastra, and eight states, and are heartened to see their efforts bring light into village lives. “We are happy to have become instruments of change,” says Ashish whose wants to see people become self-sufficient.
“Meditation changed Ruta and my life, and we are spreading it across the country with our camps. We want people to find true happiness within themselves, and work for a larger cause,” says the visionary who is developing a meditation centre in Lonewadi – built on 4 acre land. Their biggest project yet.
A meditative way of life
The couple’s 14-year-old son has imbibed their values, and is happy living a simple life. “He has been meditating and I have seen a profound effect on him,” says the 42-year-old mother, who adds, “He has his destiny to fulfil, we are just watering this sapling, and seeing him grow.”
Ashish and Ruta Kalawar with their 14-year-old son
“Freedom of time,” she feels is her biggest lesson from this altruistic journey. “Freedom is more expensive than money, and one should hold onto it at all costs,” advises Ruta adding, “Never give up, accept challenges head-on. Everyone takes their own time to reach their destiny. So don’t rush.”
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