DHARAMSHALA, JUNE 16: Even familiarity with Dharamshala’s cosmopolitan culture and diverse international population may not prepare one for a Japanese ‘babaji’, equipped with a laptop, running the affairs of an old, revered Hindu temple, which has a Wi-Fi connection. When he is done with his duties as the head priest, the ‘Japani Babaji’, as he is affectionately known, teaches his followers computers. The leitmotif of his preaching is that salvation lies in using technology to gain knowledge and improve one’s life.

But here in Dharamshala, no one bats an eyelid. Thanks to two Israelis — Yahel Ben David, a Silicon Valley technocrat who sold his start-up before coming to Dharamshala in the late 1990s, and Michael Ginguld, an Ivy League scholar who has worked with international developmental agencies —- the town now has a low-cost Wi-Fi network spread over 70 acres, more than 7,000 ft above sea level.

Praise has come in thick and fast from the likes of Vic Hayes (widely accepted as the founder of Wi-Fi networks) and Richard Stallman (free software evangelist).

The progress has been difficult. Until about two years back, internet connectivity here was erratic, slow and didn’t always reach villages perched on hill tops. Now, the 50-node wireless mesh network interconnects around 2,000 computers. Apart from dependable broadband internet access, it provides for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services, video conferencing, off-site backups and playback of videos from remote archives.

Run from a room in a local school for Tibetan children, by a core team of around 11 people, the network was started by the non-profit Air Jaldi in February 2005, shortly after the Indian Government deregulated Wi-Fi. Ben David and Michael Ginguld are the Chief Technological Officer and Chief Executive Officer respectively of Air Jaldi.

Thirty-eight-year old David’s technological expertise and perhaps even nimble athleticism (courtesy his Mossad training) proved useful in setting up the network in the mountainous terrain. Antennae were erected in the most unlikely places (in one case the tower was painted with the insignia ‘Om’ and served as the spire of a local temple), the Linksys routers were re-engineered to make them power-efficient(most of them run on solar energy) and the towers were made “monkey resistant” after it was found that the primates found perverse pleasure in dangling from them.

Other “sabotage” bids were similarly thwarted. There was one last year in the form of a Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDSA) on the website of the Tibetan Technology Centre. Says Ginguld: “It is difficult to pinpoint who did it but it started after an extensive series of scans which happened somewhere in China. The same URLs were loaded to access the database repeatedly...” In a written reply to The Sunday Express, the Chinese Embassy said it was “unaware of any such thing”.

Schools, hospitals and other NGOs have benefited immensely from the service, though the network’s limited bandwidth means it is not accessible to individuals and laptop-carrying tourists. Says Dawa Tsering of the Tibetan Medical Institute: “Our earlier connection would break down frequently and wouldn’t be repaired for long durations. The connectivity now is more or less uninterrupted.” While the vision of BPO centres coming up in the region might be a bit too romantic, the network is being used to promote trade. Dolma Kyap of Norbulingka Art Institute says they offer Tibetan art works like Thangka painting and statutes for sale on the Net. But what Ginguld is particularly thrilled by is the sight of children using the network. “Computer labs in Indian schools have lots of computers but no internet connection, which is akin to having a sleek car without petrol. Today when I see 10-year-olds logging on to sites like hi5, chatting with people, I realise we are on the right path,” he says.

Many villages in India remain beyond the ambit of connectivity simply because erecting a big telecom tower isn’t sustainable in terms of costs and returns. The idea that this void can be filled through a network akin to Dharamshala — low-cost, environmental-friendly and durable —- has spawned interest in other parts of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Africa. Even the big telecom operators are evincing interest.

Buoyed by the response, Ginguld says next on the cards is an Air Jaldi Network Academy, offering an array of courses. The academy has already been given accreditation by Cisco systems. Ask him why they chose India, and Ginguld says: “We started here because we love India and knew that if the model is successful in India it can be reapplied anywhere else.” There is another reason, he agrees. “The common factor (between the Tibetans and Israelis),” Ginguld says, “is perhaps our existential angst.”