Sanjoy Ghose’s Bikaner and Magraj Jain’s Barmer: harbingers of modern human development for vulnerable and marginal in Thar, Rajasthan

The Indian Thar has the distinction of being one of the few deserts of the world that have had a long uninterrupted human history. This magnitude of time has blessed it with myriad layers of life experiences, pasts and memories. For this reason the ‘present’ of the Thar is so densely embedded that transformations that modernity brings are nuanced, impregnated with immense possibilities.  The region of Thar continues to be a prodigal mass of vast sandy plains and uninterrupted chains of sand dunes merging into limitless horizons. It is well known that the Thar has its own characteristic appeal, a mystique that has its own aura of rustic and majestic forbearance of life in this harsh terrain. Last few decades have been times of radical transformation of the region.

Amidst all this gust of changes and the equally swiftly changing scenario of civil society action it would not be inappropriate to briefly write about two personalities who have had a major impact on the manner in which one makes sense of and engages in social and economic development of vulnerable communities living in interiors of Thar, Rajasthan. Indeed Sanjoy Ghose and Magraj Jain were two personalities who have motivated and would continue to inspire many in the quest for human dignity and well being.

Both of them are better known as individuals who formed two of the largest civil society organisations in western Rajasthan. URMUL Trust starting in 1984 as a subsidiary of the URMUL (Uttari Rajasthan Milk Union Limited) dairy was transformed by Sanjoy Ghose in 1987 into a veritable organisation committed to achieving food fodder and water security and a dignified quality of life for the poor and marginal communities in Bikaner district. Magraj Jain was the guiding spirit behind forming SURE (Society to Uplift Rural Economy) in 1990 to work for a just social order and upliftment of rural economy in the interior regions of Barmer district.

In their characteristic ways both strived tenaciously to bring modern development within the reach of the vulnerable and marginal desert communities. And in doing this both of them led exemplary lives of service beyond the self motivating people around him in the lessons of compassion and empathy for vulnerable and marginalized.   

Sanjoy studied in Elphinstone College in Mumbai and then went on to do an MBA in Rural Management from IRMA, Anand and a strong altruistic desire of service beyond self that made him live in the harsh deserts of Bikaner. Magraj Ji was born in a remote village in the interiors of Barmer district and was a village school teacher and later a district coordinator of Nehru Yuvak Kendra in Barmer. Perhaps it was his frugal upbringing and rustic values of piety rooted in Jain samskaras that made him devote himself towards selfless social service.

Magraji had a working career of more than six decades in this region and was a son of the soil par excellence and was a trailblazer for voluntary action among local people. Sanjoy Ghose coming for an upper middle class urban background actively worked in Thar for two and a half decades and has been and would remain a role model for anyone coming to work with Tharis from outside.    

Both of them aspired for striking a delicate balance between the rustic yet resilient traditions of survival of desert communities and modern science and technology. This involved shedding or acquiring as the case may be a balance of tradition and modernity in their own lives. Magraj ji though born in a traditional context in an underdeveloped region had an unflinching faith in modern science and technology and strived for integrating it in his life as well for the benefit of the common humanity in the backward region of Barmer. Sanjoy born and groomed up in modern urban life toned down and consciously de urbanised himself to come at a comforting level with traditional lived context of life in Thar. 

With respect to traditions of Thar both these personalities had a faith in the ability of these traditions to respond to challenges thrown up by the transformations entailed by modernisation processes. This belief in the intrinsic ability of these traditions got manifested in the love for common mortals which they both had and displayed with vigour.