Few people strive to do great things, and fewer become great by achieving them. One such person is our own Dr. Kshama Metre who has been awarded the Padma Shri Award for her social work. This prestigious award is given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Social Service and public life. Dr. Metre, the director of CORD (Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development) received this honour on Repulic Day 2008. Below is her inspirational story.

On asking Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, what she can do to contribute to society, He simply said to Dr. Kshama Metre: "Take care of the people around Sidhbari". Since then, despite many adversities, she has remained focused on her Guru’s word.

So, Dr Kshama Metre first began working in the villages surrounding Sidhbari in 1985, travelling to the villages by whatever means possible. Her goal was to help the people and her method was to simply utilise her medical training (from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi) in providing ordinary villagers with effective health care.

As the number of villages she touched grew, the Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development (CORD) was formed, based just a few meters from the Samadhi of Swami Chinmayananda, at Sidhbari. The number of programs and staff also increased. In the years since Gurudev first inspired her, Dr Didi, as she is affectionately known by the villagers, has reached 550 villages, and approximately 20,000 people directly around the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The programs CORD now supports include:

• Mahila Mandals - women's groups, meeting once a month and providing village level support to those who require the support;
• Self-Help Groups and Income Generation Schemes producing goods such as candles, sweaters, soap etc to be sold at the local markets, allowing villagers to work for their livelihood;
• A medical clinic providing free health care;
• Rehabilitation clinics for the disabled;
• Adult literacy programs;
• Male and female youth groups encouraging the youth to be dynamic and providing assistance in career and social development;
• Children's groups;
• Environmental regeneration programs to ensure self-sustenance does not come at a cost;
• Village level panchayats encouraging women have a say in the governance of their village;
• A women's legal cell providing assistance to women in dealing with legal matters and the police, especially in circumstances where she may be facing abuse by the husband or his family; and
• Health awareness programs which aim to educate all villagers on the importance even simple issues such as sanitation.

The strategy behind the multiple programs is engagement. Once the village woman is part of the Mahila Mandal, her needs can be identified. If she requires an income, she will be trained to produce a product, or if she has adolescent children, they will be encouraged to meet with the youth groups; if her two year old infant suffers from a spinal deformation, they will be sent to the rehabilitation clinic; and so the circle continues.

The end result is social upliftment, in terms of material well-being as well as attitudinal change.

As the program has been successful in Himachal Pradesh, another two CORD centres have been opened around India. The first is in the village of Tamaraipakkam in Tamil Nadu, close to Chennai, and the more challenging, in the depths of Orissa.

The path over the past 23 year has been far from easy. Funds are always an issue, and staff, having developed valuable skill-sets at CORD, move to the big cities in search of higher paying jobs. Even highly educated management have to move on. Despite this all, Dr. Didi has ploughed on, clear in her goal, with the words of her Guru at the forefront of her mind.

Please view some photos of CORD's work here.