Spreading her love of Books and Reading to children of Spiti Valley..Himachal
Meet the Girl Who Followed Her Inspiration — Ruchi Dhona
Talking to Ruchi, I am reminded of the strength of Devi…a girl strong in her belief, steadfast in her action, and committed to her career transition journey.
She laughs a lot!!
Meet Ruchi Dhona, a young woman in her early career years who met me in 2014, while she was exploring career options with a leading company. She was remarkably aware of her long-term aspiration and even in those early years of her career, her eyes sparkled with the image of a different path than she had visualized for herself.
Ruchi completed her graduation from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata in English Literature and went on to do an MBA (Marketing) from IMI, New Delhi. Her corporate experience began with stellar consulting firms like Kearney and Bain & Co. For over 7 years, she worked in areas of strategy, research and knowledge management.
After a few years of rigorous work in the consulting industry, she realized that the career of her choice was divergent from her current reality. From early childhood, Ruchi cared about books and reading.
She felt strongly that access to good books is every child’s right.
As a working adult, in 2015 she started spending her free time creating access to books and spread the joy of reading to children in local communities. This voluntary work brought her so much contentment that in 2017 she decided to quit her full-time job and pursue this path wholeheartedly.While on a break, she traveled to Spiti Valley. Her travel to Spiti Valley made her realize the huge gap in reading resources that this sub-district faced due to its remoteness. She began an effort to collect books and this grew organically.
As she strived to provide books to schools in the area, there was a need for greater mobilization of resources, travel, volunteer efforts, and support of trained library resources. With so many challenges in front of her, it was her inner drive that kept her going to achieve bigger and better steps.
In 2019, Ruchi received the Wipro Foundation Fellowship.
As we speak, Ruchi has set-up abase in the beautiful environs of Dharamshala and she works in Spiti Valley.
Her organization Let’s Open a Book currently reaches over 600 kids in government schools of Spiti Valley.
Reading corners have been set up in schools and teachers are trained on how to engage children through these books in a meaningful way. Last year the team piloted a project on the representation of local heritage and culture in children’s literature. For this, she encouraged the children in Spiti Valley to write about their life. Not surprisingly, kids have amazing stories to write about their unique landscape, wildlife, geography, culture!
With the help of volunteers, friends and fellow enthusiasts, Ruchi has turned her dream idea into one of the most respected and altruistic initiatives in the books and reading space.
So, what helped build the career of Her choice?
Her voracious love of reading, which had been a steady habit since childhood, provided the firm base upon which she decided to take projects alongside her corporate career. She started volunteering very early in her student days which helped channel her connection with this alternate career path.
While still working, she garnered resources from friends to revive a community library center and that gave her active hands-on experience in the domain.
Her visits to government schools helped her understand the challenges of working with administrative machinery.
Ruchi took up a professional library educators’ course, attended countless seminars and conferences and reached out to industry experts to learn about the new domain that she wanted to work in.
She feels lucky to have mentors who have guided her and friends who support her on the personal front.
How did the transition go personally for Ruchi?
Coming from a conservative family, when Ruchi decided to do an MBA, the first big shock to her parents was her move from Kolkata to Gurgaon, for studies and work. She then lived in the US for a year and also began avid travel. And a few years later Ruchi decided to switch to the social sector. Over the years her parents became accustomed to her unique work choice and are very appreciative and supportive of her life purpose.
Socially, the move from corporate to the social sector was also a huge shift for her. Transitions propel changes across many facets of our life. Priorities change, lifestyle changes, the social circle also shifts.
The work-conditions for her in Spiti Valley are very different from the corporate corridors and immaculate office buildings of Gurgaon. There is a lot of travel on the road between villages in the Spiti Valley, an altitude of 3800 m above sea level. As an independent professional she has become used to working with very limited resources. Ruchi reminisces with amusement how her corporate wardrobe became redundant in the new set up…
I ask her an oft-repeated question,“What is the next five-year horizon, Ruchi?”
Ruchi remarks, “There is so much that I need to do… Create access to books on a bigger scale, work with the local administration, set up reading corners in many more schools, engage parents and caregivers on why books are important, train teachers on how to use storybooks. Propagate storytelling as an important part of learning in extended communities.”
“So how do you feel about your journey so far?”
Ruchi laughs,“I feel great! I really like my life… and I’m immensely grateful that I have the opportunity to do this.”
“What works for me is that I have full conviction in my madness! “
As she adds on,
“there will always be phases…never a steady stream of progress…keep your eyes on the bigger picture…keep yourself sorted. You just have to remind yourself in moments when the going is tough that this is the journey you have always wished for”
Ruchi’s work has garnered a lot of steam and there has been a steady increase in the number of dedicated volunteers who champion the cause through awareness, fundraising and so on. These volunteers are based throughout the country and as I write this, I also see a message in my resident community about sending books for children in the Spiti Valley.
During the lockdown, she has devoted a lot of time towards programme development. She has also focused greatly on her personal development and overall well-being. She loves going out for long walks on mountain roads, practices yoga, reads voraciously, and spends time experimenting in the kitchen. This year she also started learning Tibetan and Hindustani classical music (vocals).
As Ruchi discusses the conversation we had in 2014, I am glad she remembers me as one of those who believed in her dream, feel wonderful that in some very small part, I believed in the child-like diva who has brought laughter, stories, magic and imagination to the lives of many children who live in the arduous mountain landscape with harsh climate and limited resources… where access to a book will inspire them to pursue their dreams as they grow up.
Ruchi, her amazing team of volunteers and the administration will forever change the lives of these young kids and show them many possibilities that life offers. Perhaps some of them will come and work in the corporate sector and thank her for the progress in their lives.
We end our interview with more laughter, hope, positivity, and the inspiring message of ‘Reading, Stories & Magic’ spun by a Kolkata girl with the strength of a Devi…!
Do you want to come along or help in any way? Visit their website www.letsopenabook.org or write to them at teamloab@gmail.com. Donations can be made at their crowdfunding campaign link https://bit.ly/3qCpFjT
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