Community in Action: Real-World Examples

1. Halma: The Bhil Tradition

Location: Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh.

• The Problem: Acute water crisis.
• The Tradition: Halma — coming together to help an individual or the community during a crisis without payment.
• The Action: The Bhil community planted thousands of trees and dug trenches to conserve rainwater.
• Result: Restoration of the environment. Shri Mahesh Sharma was honoured with the Padma Shri for leading this Shivganga movement.
• Value: Serving “Mother Earth” as a duty.

2. Chennai Floods (2015)

Context: An urban disaster where roads turned to rivers.

• Community Response: People could not move, shops were closed. Religious and private groups cooked large quantities of food and distributed it to strangers.
• Lesson: In times of crisis, community barriers break down, and humanity serves as one community.

3. Kamal Parmar’s Initiative

Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

• The Individual: Kamal Parmar, an auto-fabrication workshop owner.
• The Action: Saw underprivileged children on the street. Started free tuition (5:30 to 9:30 PM) and provided dinner.
• Community Ripple Effect:
  • School teachers joined to teach for free.
  • Older students became volunteers.
• Lesson: One person’s initiative can build a community of care.