“My son grew up here in Padam Basti. Today, he serves in the West Bengal Civil Service” said Niren Rabha with quiet pride, standing outside her beautiful newly constructed home in Padam Basti, as students listened in awe - watching proof that if we start engineering the minds with belief even the remotest margins can travel to the mainstream.
Niren Rabha was the first girl in the village to pass matriculation (Class 10) and later went on to serve as a Member of the Panchayat, quietly shaping the path for the next generation long before her son stepped into public service.
For six immersive days, I had the opportunity to document and deeply live a learning journey that went far beyond textbooks and classrooms. Students from Manava Bharti International School participated in Community Exchange Program facilitated by Centre for the Development of Human Initiatives (CDHI) in and around Jalpaiguri, exploring some of the most remote and untouched villages of West Bengal.
Santalabadi, Buxa, Sadar Bazar, Lapchaka, Padambasti and several hilltop settlements became living classrooms for these young minds. Located in dense forests and mountainous terrains, these regions offered not just scenic beauty but a powerful lens into real-life challenges and resilience
Learning from the Ground Up
The program was designed to help students understand society from its grassroots. They interacted with local authorities, Gram Sabha secretaries, educators, and villagers—listening to stories of survival, aspiration, and struggle. Conversations mainly revolved around pressing issues:
• limited transportation and connectivity
• gaps in educational access and monitoring
• the delicate balance between development and nature
• livelihoods dependent on forests and geography
• Policy implementation and governmental monitoring
Leadership Through Presence and Participation
My role throughout the program extended beyond documentation. I walked the same trails, sat in the same circles, listened to the same silences, and engaged in the same questions as the students. By being present, approachable, and actively involved, I helped create an environment where students felt safe to express, reflect, and create.
As I began capturing the journey, the content felt endless. Every conversation opened another layer, every interview revealed a deeper truth, and every frame demanded to be recorded. The more I captured, the more I realised how complex and urgent the realities were.
I found myself battling practical limits—storage space on my phone shrinking by the hour,battery backup constantly at risk—while the stories kept unfolding. The roads were unforgiving, the challenges many, and the margin for error almost non-existent. Yet stopping was never an option. As memory cards filled and power drained, it became clear that this was not just documentation; it was the only chance to preserve voices that are rarely heard.
This leadership was not about instruction—it was about facilitation. About helping young individuals connect lived reality with creativity, responsibility, and awareness.
Music as a Bridge: Turning Experience into Expression
“Support.”
“Family.”
“Motivation.”
“Participation.”
“Development.”
“Initiative.”
These powerful words started echoing as we began shaping the anthem for the Community Exchange Programme, not as rehearsed answers, but as lived emotions. These words were conclusions drawn from walking forest trails, sitting in village homes, and listening to stories of resilience.
The students wrote these elements down, letting them guide the soul of the song. And then, almost naturally, Rishabh stepped forward with the first line:
“मिट्टी से जुड़ी सिद्धी ”
A line simple in structure, yet profound in meaning. It captured the very essence of the programme—that true development is rooted in the soil, grounded in people, and connected deeply with reality. The line became the foundation of the anthem.
From there, the song began to breathe. Slowly, collectively, we moved forward—shaping melody,refining emotion, aligning words with experience. The composition did not feel forced; it unfolded organically, much like the journey itself.
“ये माटी का बंधन टूटे ना, CDHI का साथ छूटे ना”
The concluding lines penned by Shyam a Std 11th Student stood as evidence that the students no longer viewed CDHI as an organisation, but as a living example of what integrity-driven social work looks like when it is practiced, not preached.
CDHI Anthem by the students of Manava Bharti
मिट्टी से जुड़ी सिद्धी
सोच में लाई वृद्धि
सहयोगता ही है समृद्धि
यही है विकास और निर्माण की विधि
ये माटी का बंधन टूटे ना
CDHI का साथ छूटे ना
Together, we composed three original musical pieces, each rooted in the spirit of the Community Exchange Program:
A Bhojpuri song for Padambasti, honoring the village, its people, and cultural soul
“स्वर्ग से सुन्दर” A song originally created by Shyam, Sarthak, Aryan and Rishabh
हमनी के आ गईल बानी
तोहरा सहरिया
स्वर्ग से भी सुंदर बा
तोहरा नगिरया - chorus
मिले खातिर होत रहे
Planning िदन रतिया
माई बाबूजी से होखत रहे
Teacher लोगिन के बतिया
तब जा के चढ़नी जलपाईगुड़ी के गड़िया
आ गईल बानी पदम बस्ती तोहरा नगिरया
मेल होल करब हमनी
करब हमनी बतिया
भईल होखे development
कईसे आईजा
हर घर चली विकास के लहिरया
जोड़-जोड़ हाथ संग बदलेब India
Lyricist - Shyam
Guitar - Sarthak
Vocals - Rishabh and Aryan
“Journey song”, reflecting the students’ excitement, energy, and collective emotion throughout the expedition
जन्नतें लग रहीं
ये वादियाँ हमें
शायद कह रहीं
कोई पूछे तो हमें
सड़कों का सफ़र
ये डगमगाती सी डगर
ये सब कुछ जो दिख रहा
ये सब हमारा है
ये समा ये वक्त हमारा है
ये मौसम नज़ारा हमारा है
ये ख़ुशी ये बंदगी
ये जहाँ - हमारा है x2
ये बेख़ुदी है बता रही
सुहानी शाम है आ रही
शाम की जो सहर होगी
उस सहर पे नाम हमारा है
ये सरहदें गा रहीं
अपनी दास्तान सुना रहीं
एक ज़माने से हैं लोग यहाँ
अब ज़माना हमारा है
An official anthem for Centre for the Development of Human Initiatives (CDHI), symbolizing purpose, unity, and impact.
मिट्टी से जुड़ी सिद्धी
सोच में लाई वृद्धि
सहयोगता ही है समृद्धि
यही है विकास और निर्माण की विधि
ये माटी का बंधन टूटे ना
CDHI का साथ छूटे ना
I supervised and guided the entire musical process—from ideation and lyrics to composition and emotional alignment—ensuring that each song remained authentic to what the students had felt and lived.
Music became a medium through which students showed empathy, observation, and understanding. Now they were not just observing but were telling stories.
When Reflection Turned into Responsibility
On the final day of the Community Exchange Programme, students were asked to reflect on their journey—not as visitors, but as responsible observers of society. What followed was a moment that defined the success of this programme.
Aryan a ninth grade student thoughtfully said,
“I think we should start an Instagram page that showcases the beauty of nature of these villages inWest Bengal—the mountainous regions and locations of Buxa.”
It was a simple idea, yet profoundly mature. The student was no longer looking at these landscapes as tourists do, but as storytellers—keen to preserve, celebrate, and amplify places that remain invisible to mainstream content.
Prince and other 11th std students reflected with urgency and civic consciousness. They spoke about the absence of ambulance services and healthcare facilities in the interior villages, and thelack of streetlights on the long and risky road leading to Buxa.
At that moment, the programme revealed its deepest impact. The students had moved from curiosity to concern, and from concern to responsibility. They were no longer asking what is wrong, but what can we do.
From the Margins to the Mainstream: Reclaiming Voice, Dignity, and Place
Through years of resilience, collective effort, and an unyielding commitment to improve their lives,communities once pushed to the margins of these remote hill settlements have begun reclaiming the space they always deserved. No longer defined by isolation or neglect, they now stand at the centre of their own narrative—living with dignity, self-respect, and aspiration. Their voices, shaped by experience and strengthened by perseverance, are no longer confined to the hills; they are travelling outward, being heard, acknowledged, and recognised far beyond their geography. What was once considered peripheral has now become essential—the main subject of the larger picture, not its forgotten background.
From Exposure to Outlook: When Learning Becomes a Way of Life
The days spent walking difficult paths, listening to unheard stories, and sharing unfiltered moments have quietly settled within me. Letting go feels heavier than arriving ever did. What remained is not documentation or memories alone, but a deep, lived understanding of society; empathy etched through experience and questions that will not leave easily. This was not a trip; it was learning that reshaped me, a turning point that will continue to guide my sense of purpose long after the landscapes and faces blur into distance.