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Now, read the story.

The district of South Canara in Karnataka is very different from any other. The literacy
rate here is high, people are enterprising and hard working. They have travelled all over
the world in search of employment. If you see any Udupi vegetarian restaurant in India or

any part of the globe, it is sure to have been started by a person from South Canara.

The Infosys Foundation has a project called ‘A Library for Every School’. In this we donate
books mainly to government school libraries, so that children have easy access to a variety
of books. For this, I travel extensively in rural areas and donate books written in Kannada
on various subjects. All the travelling has helped me to understand what children want
to read in different places. During my travels, I

frequently stay in the houses of people I meet, as
often there are no hotels in the small towns and
villages I visit. Most of the time, I stay with
the family of a teacher from the school I am
visiting. Sometimes, I stay with people I had

never met earlier.
In India, a guest is always treated with a lot

of love, affection and respect. An old
Sanskrit saying is Atithi Devo Bhava,
meaning ‘God comes in the form of
a guest’.

I have felt this to be so true, especially
during my stay in villages. The poorest

of the poor have treated me with
so much love and affection. They
have given me the best hospitality
possible without knowing who
I am or expecting anything

in return. What do you call Language

Connect
In 1998, I went to a village in South Canara for a school function. a ‘guest’ in your
It was the rainy season and the small village was on the coast of language?
the Arabian Sea. It was pouring and there were no hotels in the
village. The school teacher was a bachelor and lived in a enterprising: having or showing
rented room. initiative and resourcefulness
extensively: in a way that covers or
He told me, ‘Madam, the chairman of this school is a affects a large area
fine gentleman. He has asked me to tell you that you hospitality: the friendly and generous
reception and entertainment of
could stay tonight with his family. You cannot travel guests, visitors, or strangers
pouring: raining heavily

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