C.M. Paul
Dhajea (Darjeeling) — American born Swamy Mick, who settled down in Darjeeling Hills to live his dream of universal brotherhood, today educates 95 local boys and girls in what he calls Nataraj Gurukul.
The English medium primary school is named after his guru and mentor Nataraj Guru one of 12 disciples of Sri Narayana Guru, a socio-religious reformer of 20th century in Kerala.
Mick’s Gurukul is perched atop a hill forest nestled in the lap of nature some 3,000 feet above sea level at a place called Dhajea Busty, two hours ride from Darjeeling under Mirik sub-division. The Gurukul ashram can be reached only by trekking along a steep mule track some 10 minutes from Salesian College Rural Research Campus on Dhajea-Siliguri new road.
The inmates of the gurukul (an Indian traditional school system where students live with their teacher) are all Nepali children doing their primary school studies hailing from some of the 97 tea gardens of the Darjeeling Hills and Balasun Valley.
A hippy generation flower kid and graduate from Rutgers University of Ivy League fame, Mick left US in protest against compulsory military conscription for Vietnam War. Arriving in Istanbul in Turkey, Mick hitchhiked to India and reached Calicut in north Kerala in 1970. His pilgrimage in search of meaning landed him at the feet of Swamy Nataraj one of 12 disciples of Sri Narayana Guru who said, “Any religion is good enough if it makes man better.”
Mick is emphatic when he asserts, “While many spend their days creating strife and discord, Nataraj Gurukul promotes harmony, cooperation, universal brotherhood and peace.”
“It is only out of peace, prosperity grows and life is better for everyone,” insists Mick.
Mick’s search for meaning and purpose of life finally brought him to Darjeeling Hills in 1993, not before being jailed four times on false charges and accusations in spite of becoming an Indian citizen in 1977.
Sporting a long white beard and dressed in deep saffron colour pyjama and kurta, Mick has no regrets or rancour toward his past.
Sitting relaxed on a cheap rusty metal chair Mick says, “It all began back in March 1994, in an 80 year old abandoned building which was renovated and enlarged, mostly with the help of the Management of Dhajea Tea Estate with 23 students ranging from kindergarten to class 3 we established an English medium school in the village.”
Only 3 adolescent boys lived with Mick in the first year. In the second year the number grew to 8 boys who lived, worked, studied, played, prayed, cooked and ate together 7 days a week.
Two years on, in 1995, two young women of the village joined Gurukul to help the children.
By 1998, in four years, the first batch of students left Gurukul and were admitted to some of the best schools of Darjeeling, a well known educational hub since 19th century colonial days.
This year one gurukul girl was selected, out of some 500 candidates appearing for nursing course at Navjivan Hospital, Gayaganga, near Siliguri.
Sharing some of the secrets of his gurukul system Mick says, “The absence of television and other distractions of the bazaar began to pay rich dividends, and the children as well as their parents were happy.”
Television and video player were introduced in the gurukul only in the year 2000 to be used on week-end nights only to view news and classical stories.
“True education is very easily accomplished,” says Mick with a glint in his eyes, “if a parent, guardian or concerned person spends his/her time with children, watching them carefully, implanting in them correct attitudes, values and habits, and stopping the formation of wrong attitudes and habits.”
The march towards self sufficiency in the Gurukul started in the year 2000, when the ashram began a dairy farm with just two cows. Today the diary farm has grown self sufficient with 10 cows and several calves providing abundant milk and curd, for gurukul as well as for villagers. The cattle also provide dung for two gobar gas plants and manure for ashram vegetable gardens, and gas for cooking and lighting, in the process creating dozens of jobs for locals.
Conscious of caring for the environment, in February 2007 Gurukul introduced waste management project to educate villagers to systematically collect, sort and dispose of trash.
Living the Gurukul experiment in universal brotherhood to its 24th year, Swamy Mick believes in the ‘Science of Geo-Dialectics’ wherein all lovers of humanity may apply pure dialectical reasoning to world problems and attain moksha.