However, if you ever chance upon the bus shelter in Vaddarse village in Udupi district, don’t worry, it’s not the sun playing tricks with your eyes.
Udupi :
Think of bus shelters and the first thing that comes to mind are ramshackle structures with a broken roof and stone benches with cracks or wooden ones with splinters sticking out. The lack of maintenance and official apathy leave most of these structures a sorry sight. Without cabs or Metro trains as in cities, buses are of paramount importance in villages as they are the only way to go from one place to another for those who don’t own a vehicle. But the condition of these shelters forces people to brave the hot sun or pouring rain while waiting for their bus.
However, if you ever chance upon the bus shelter in Vaddarse village in Udupi district, don’t worry, it’s not the sun playing tricks with your eyes. As you enter the shelter, which is spick and span, you’ll find a stack of newspapers and magazines neatly arranged on a rack, a dustbin in a corner, a pot filled with drinking water and a trough filled with flowering plants outside. This shelter is a model bus shelter for the village. The person responsible for its upkeep is 35-year-old autorickshaw driver Raghu Vaddarse. For the past one year, he has been sweeping the shelter clean, replacing the water and arranging the magazines every morning. Thanks to his efforts, people can comfortably wait for the bus.
Raghu has only studied till Class 8. Hailing from a poor family, he had to discontinue his education so that he could earn for his family. He has four siblings — his elder brother Tej, his younger brother Dinesh, his younger sister Hema and elder sister Prema. When he told his siblings that he wanted to maintain a bus shelter in the village, all four of them wholeheartedly supported him. Even his parents, Venkata Poojary and Parvathi, are proud of his initiative. Raghu decided to take it upon himself to maintain the bus shelter because of the effort it took to get it built.
Last year, people had asked their local elected representative to provide them with a properly maintained bus shelter because there was no proper shelter in the area and that some of them in the area had become a den of anti-social activities. However, the local representatives kept dilly-dallying on the matter. It was then that Raghu spoke to the gram panchayat officials and said that he would take care of the shelter if one was built. Finally, things started moving when a shelter was sanctioned under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.
Since then, Raghu and a group of volunteers have been diligently taking care of the shelter. Speaking to The New Sunday Express, Raghu says, “I am doing this because I feel it is my small contribution to the society. Some of the magazines and books in the shelter are mine and some were donated.” Despite the rains ending in October, the plants have not dried as he waters them regularly. Now, the villagers of Vaddarse can sit and read a magazine or have a sip of water as they wait for their bus. Raghu says that he did this because he wanted to inspire others. “I will be happier if youths in villages come forward to do their bit for the cause of social service,” he says.
Bus, a boon
The village of Vaddarse is about about 18 km from Kundapur and 4 km from Kota. About 100-150 villagers use the bus to get around. When Raghu decided to beautify the shelter, local shopkeepers helped him plant saplings.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Expres / Home> States> Karnataka / by Prakash Samaja / Express News Service / February 27th, 2020