18th May 2008...in spite of being a Sunday and the summer vacation the Akho Bhagat Chowk in Desai ni Pol looked active humming with children playing cricket. No one had ever thought...soon the chowk turned into a venue for an art workshop. Thanks to Dr. Hemant Bhatt and Jitu Mishra, a small photo session had been planned for children including of Romil's, Dr. Bhatt’s son. As a part of the photo session, children were asked to play and sketch the pol buildings, the heritage symbols and the statue of Akha Bhagat. More children joined in the workshop and cricket was sidelined. It was great to see the passionate involvement of parents and grandparents in this informal workshop.
The idea of this blog was born during this special moment. Jitu was introduced to Hemantbhai Pasawala and told many interesting aspects on Akho’s life, the stories of his descendents and so on.
It is strongly believed that the local community, the main stake holders of heritage if given a chance can make a difference. Hemantbhai’s case is a good example in this aspect. His house is a treasure house of valuable resources like historic photographs, paintings, coins and mementos. He is also keen in preserving the family heritage and had played a significant role towards installing the statue of Akho Bhagat. Soon a few of the valuable resources like old photographs of Hemantbhai’s great grandfather were shown and re photographed in the digital format.
A new beginning has been made since then.
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