archive: Soul survivor
Soul survivor
Stephen Devid
India Today
July 19, 1999
Title: Soul survivor
Author: Stephen Devid
Publication: India Today
Date: July 19, 1999
His long, grey hair tied in two neat ponytails, his 5ft 7 inches frame
draped in well-fitting military fatigues, Guru Freddy is an unusual
man. But the image fits in with someone who runs an unusual place.
Tucked away at the foot of the Guddappan hillock in Somana-halli, 60
km south of Bangalore, the Nataraja Gurukula toughens minds. The
16-acre ashram-cum-adventure academy offers courses for the body, mind
and soul to cadets from the army, police and the NCC. And 6
3-year-old Guru Freddy, the Belgium-born naturalised Indian who is
also known as the "white Malayalee", is as comfort-able teaching
policemen the basics of guerrilla warfare as he is in giving them a
discourse on the Upanishads.
Nearly 20,000 people have so far passed through the unique
institution. Assisted by a team of 15 who also double as his
disciples, Guru Freddy-a follower of the 19th century Kerala reformist
leader Narayana Guru-runs the institution with military discipline.
"I want to be useful and make others useful so that they can live and
work in harmony with nature," says the unlikely philosopher, once a
trained commando in Belgium. "Knowledge alone is God, awareness and
understanding is religion."
So its brawn and brain. Recruits participate in activities like rock
climbing, rappelling, archery, trek-king, cave exploring, jungle
survival and day and night navigation. Philosophy lectures based on
the Upanishads and Vedas form part of the curriculum. "You get the
best of the both the worlds," says ACP K.C.Rama Murthy of the
Bangalore Police. "The course rejuvenates policemen stressed by their
duties and helps build character."
About 200 trainees live in tents at the academy. Lifestyle is
austere, the food frugal. Ragi dosa, ragi balls or chapatis and
vegetables-all grown at the ashram. The trainees have classes,
outdoor activities and exercises all day. But evening is the time to
relax-watching films and listening to music. The self-sufficient
academy runs on a no-profit no-loss basis, the fees depending on the
course. For police training, it's Rs 50 per head per day, inclusive
of everything
The lush-green ashram was once a barren hillock. It was Guru Freddy
who came here in 19 84 with "a brain and two hands" and transformed
it. He planted more than 30,000 saplings, fetching water from nearly
4 km away on three donkeys. He ploughed the fields to grow vegetables
and corn. The Belgian's love affair with India, however, began long
before that. Born on May 15, 1936, in Brussels, Freddy Rene Marie van
der Borght had his first brush with Indian philosophy in the'60s when
he attended lectures of Nataraja Guru, a brilliant Indian scientist
and a key proponent of Narayana Guru, at Paris' Sorbonne University.
When Freddy came to India in 1969-his second visit-Nataraja asked him
to start an ashram at Ezhimala Island near Cannanore (now Kannur) in
Kerala. In 1983 it was acquired by the government to house a naval
academy
Guru Freddy, who was granted Indian citizenship in 1976, shifted to
Somanahalli along with his associates, German-born Swami Eric-who now
runs a free homeopathy dispensary for the villagers at the
gurukula-and fellow-Belgian Swami Brigitte, both of whom later
acquired Indian citizenship.
At the academy, the swami is known for his innovations. He built the
gurukula library using stone pillars and simple and
environment-friendly material like coconut leaves. He has also
designed a number of agricultural tools, a modified bullock cart
fitted with manual lorry brakes, a gobar gas plant and a wood-fuel
stove.
The Karnataka Police often sends its newcomers to Guru Freddy. "The
obstacle courses and rock climbing give you the shivers but at the end
of two weeks you become very confident of yourself," testifies recruit
Shanth Kumar. The modern monk has been to the Malemahadeshwara hills
where the Special Task Force has been trying to nab the elusive forest
brigand Veerappan. "Give me just five men and two weeks and I will
nab this Veerappan," says Freddy. You wouldn't expect less from a man
used to travelling the path untrodden by others.
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