Ahmedabad is a surprise. The guide book gives it a rather disparaging write-up; but it is the first city we have seen in which there are new high-rise apartments going up and attractive single-dwelling, upper-middle-class housing. The streets are wide and, although there are cows lounging in the medians and people living in lean-twos on the verges (as is the case in all of the Indian cities we have visited), the numbers do not appear to be as great as they are elsewhere. Ahmedabad also has a heretofore unencountered bit of exotica--supercillious camels pulling carts. [These belong, according to our guide, to traders from the adjacent state of Rajistan.]

We were not all that keen on Ahmedabad initially. To get here we had to leave Bombay at 4 a.m.--grumble, grumble. However, having survived the ordeal, we agree that we wouldn't have missed it. Two of the star attractions here are the dairy cooperative and an experimental school funded by a successful business magnate.

The National Dairy Development Board didn't sound like anything were were going to be interested in so we weren't overly-enthusiastic about the early hours and miles of hard travel necessary to get to their offices for an early morning meeting. However, we were again surprised. The story of the development of India's dairy cooperatives is in itself an intersting phenomenon.

In the 1940s, the colonial government awarded a monopoly for milk delivery in Bombay to a private company, Polson's. The company made a profit by charging high prices to consumer for milk that was often spoiled and by buying erratically at low prices from the farmers. There were no incentives for the farmer to produce more. India, at this point, was importing milk. So, farmers formed their own cooperative (AMUL) to market the milk, thus ensuring that their producer-members received the highest possible share of the consumer rupee. The secret of the success of the cooperative is that it buys all the milk a farmer can produce thus encouraging production. As a result, India today doesn't import milk and, thanks to some 75,000 cooperatives involving some 9 million farmers and 176 dairies, it is the second largest milk producing country in the world.

The co-ops collect both cow and buffalo milk. Modern equipment makes it possible to measure the fat content and pay the farmer immediately. The milk is chilled and then taken by tanker to the dairy. Sixty percent of the milk is sold as milk, while some 40% is turned into milk products--butter, cheese, baby formula, candy, etc.

One of the ancilliary activities of the co-ops is to work at improving the quality of the milk. To this end, farmers have been taught the techniques of artificial insemination and cross breeding using Friesians and Jerseys. The co-ops also employ veterinarians who see to it that the members' animals stay healthy and they have established feed plants which produce nutritious animal fodder. To see that the members themselves stay well, a health care program has been added. This includes education of village women on the subject of nutrition and family planning. A facility for sick and malnourished children not only provides for the children but educates the mothers in proper diet and health care. Recognizing the high incidence of infection during delivery, the co-op has designed an infant delivery kit which is simple and free to co-op members. These are so successful that they are now being sold to various health agencies around the country.

We visited the school run for National Dairy Development Board employees and member-producers in Anand. This is a model school for 750 students. We were impressed by he school's buildings. They were designed by the reknown architect Kanvinee who has used standard concrete construction to produce a most charming and hospitable environment enhanced by lush, local vegetation.

The classrooms are large and airy and the class size is small. There is even a computer room with some 23 computers and an Internet connection.

One of the highlights of our visit to Anand was an audience with Dr. Verghese Kurien, who's creative solutions and focus have made the dairy cooperative movement the giant success it is. He not only met with us but even stalled a government minister to linger and answer our questions. We were impressed with his candor and humor. We will probably all remember this meeting as one of the highlights of the trip.

AHMEDABAD - SATURDAY JULY 18, 1998

On Saturday, our faithful bus took us to the suburbs to an experimental school called Eklavya. It is the work of two young men with graduate degrees in business management who believe that the talents of a master teacher-the principal-shouldn't be wasted on dealing with minutia of administration--toilet paper in bathrooms, etc. Their philosophy is reflected in the school's motto: "Discover yourself, Be your own light, Make your own road"

Eklavya presents a sharp contrast to public schools where class size ranges frmo 40 to 60 and teachers are poorly trained. More than half of classrooms don't even have blackboards. In addition, some 33 million children between 6 and 10 are not in any school at all.

Eklavya's founders have a long-term vision: to develop a model for successful schools. To do this, they need good teachers. For example, in starting this school they interviewed 2,000 applicants for 18 positions. The problem is that state certification requires only two years of study beyond high school. The Eklavya School was forced to hire university graduates with positive attitudes, and training them themselves. Their training course, which will eventually be a two-year program, is open to anyone. They are committed to raising the standards of teacher proficiency, esteem and salaries.

They have started small, with primary grades last year and a pre-primary class this year. Their methods include home visits as well as bi-monthly open-house for parents.

They also plan to have a student body composedof 60% girls and 40% boys because they have found that girls do better in same-sex settings while boys don't. They are hoping that this particular mix might be the answer.

The founders have spent a great deal of time examining schools in other countries and are eager to take the best of a variety of systems in order to create a successful model for India. They are committed to the idea of incorporating technology into the school and intend to have a computer in every classroom in two years.

Eklavya is eager to be involved in teacher exchange. To a person willing to come to Ahmedabad for a year, they can give housing, a stipend and the use of a vehicle (bring a crash helmet). For more information check their webpage or send e-mail to Shridhar Rajagopalan