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VIGYAN ASHRAM: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Introduction: What can make people forsake the city and a settled life and go to a remote village and start life anew? It is the dream, that they pursue. We should, therefore, start from that dream and follow the progress of this dream and see what chance it has of becoming a reality. The Dream: Restore India to a glorius status in the world, prosperity with social justice. Compare Ashoka period; when India sent out ambassadors of peace to all the world and we influeced the whole of Asia-east, north and south of India. The dream is always accompanied by some vision of how this should be done. Every one has a model of how one should try and fulfill the dream. The model is not a 'rule book', but certainly it is a guidepost. Before we describe our model, let us see what models are around. Most groups, government agencies included, usually have some fixed ideas and rarely see beyond that. In all their plans, forms and programmes, they try to fit others into their cast iron mould. It helps therefore, to put all these models together and say 'we are not following that model but this is our model'. Rural Development Through Education System 166
