The story of Seva Mandir started in the erstwhile royal state of Mewar, Rajasthan. A promising aristocrat, Dr Mohan Singh Mehta, had to deal with the tragic death of his young wife at the age of thirty. Unable to move on, he met a farmer who told him, 'You are a man who can help us poor people. ' Thus the seeds of this inspiring NGO were sown. This book is a commemoration of fifty years of Seva Mandir, a brave experiment to create a sense of ethical action within every individual in order to create a healthy society. In this, some of the people whose lives the organization has touched - villagers, volunteers, donors and administrators - tell us their story and how their lives have changed because of it. The Republic of My Dreams is a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit.