Over the years, communication has moved from post and telegram to telephones and now to emails and social media. Ramkaranji, who looks after external communication, guest facilitation and lodging, says the Internet has bbeen extremely helpful to his work. “Earlier, when we had a broadband connection, we would use emails for communication but there would be periods when the Internet would be down for days at a stretch. This posed a lot of problems for us,” he says. However, with the introduction of a seamless wireless network, communication has become easy, quick and efficient. Every day, Ramkaranji receives a bulk of new mails from people around the globe who are looking for an opportunity to visit Barefoot College or volunteer on campus. Thanks to the Wi-Fi connection, he doesn’t even need to be on his seat to check his mailbox. He can simply check his mail anywhere on-the-go from campus and respond to it immediately. “Work has definitely become easier,” says Ramkaranji. Coordinating between people has become efficient, he says. “All our conversations from a query to collaboration are recorded and stored in emails. We can always go back to any of the messages in case of confusion without the need of flipping through a hundred physical pages. It also makes it convenient for usn to track who is coming when, and to have their lodging arrangements ready before they arrive,” he adds. Barefoot College’s wireless Internet is a part of DEF’s Wireless for Communities (W4C) programme. Thanks to wireless on the campus, the entire Barefoot College campus, Old and New, is now always abuzz with the use of digital tools.
