Magical Mumbai II – Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini

Have you heard of a dedicated facility to train our social and political activists? A facility that trains the public representatives, a places that does research on social issues and gives this as an input to our chosen leaders. Can you think of a 15-acre lush green eco-friendly setup in the city of Mumbai?

Well, you need to visit Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s (RMP) Knowledge Excellence Centre (KEC) at Uttan village near Essel world in Mumbai. RMP is an organization that works towards creating capabilities for representatives of people and workers in voluntary organizations by providing them required training and help them develop leadership skills. They also do research on subjects like Abstained voters. They organize lectures on subjects of public interest. They also let the business organizations use their premises for consucting trainings.

The campus is a real breather in a city that has no concept of space and environment. Being a part of much larger Keshav Srishti initiative, the environment here is simply inviting. There are simple but comfortable rooms for the participants to stay, a clean food court to enjoy simple meals served here and if you like some luxuries like a swimming pool is there too. We were told there are more than 100 varieties of plants in the campus and I wonder if they can do a walk introducing people and especially children to these plants. The sea is just at the walking distance, and you never get a feel of being in a big city.

For me the best part of the campus was its library. They have books on various subjects but an elegant copy of Constitution of India takes the centre stage in this library. Personal library of Late Pramod Mahajan has been made part of this library and one has to admit that it is a huge collection of books. The associate proudly informed us that not only he had this collection, but also he had read all these books. Standing there I wondered we could know people by the books they left back as their legacy.

If you are an NGO or someone working in the social field you can approach this organization for any help in building your capabilities or skills. If you are someone who specializes in a field that can help social / political activists you can get associated as a resource person and help build public organizations.

Do make it a part of your itinerary in Mumbai…it is a one of its kind place.