Republished from www.samanvaya.com
The sun is scorching; the
road stretches ahead apparently unending, throats are parched and the world
around is at a standstill. Then who are these 40 odd people walking on heated
chappals, in animated groups and / or solitary contemplation, asking for
directions to the next village? People stop them once in a while to ask them in
amazed tones, what they were up to in such harsh weather; and then listen to
their explanations, some with scepticism and others with wonder and dawning comprehension.
Welcome to the 11th Shodh Yatra (Journey of Exploration) organised by the Honey
bee Network. - Priya
The Honey bee Network is an extensive group of innovators, policy makers,
scientists, technologists, students and teachers, entrepreneurs and other
like-minded individuals and organisations, committed to discover, document and
support innovations, traditional practices and knowledge at the grassroots
level. The network calls itself Honey bee, it's philosophy derived from the
behaviour of the bee, which is to collect honey from the flowers without
weakening them as well as connecting flower to flower through pollination.
Similarly, when we collect the knowledge of people we make sure that they are
not depleted by the sharing, and also that we link innovators and inventors.
Other ventures and organisations have been created to support the network and
its activities, namely SRISTI, NIF and GIAN (please scroll to the end of the article for details of the organisations).
(shodh:
search and yatra: journey), is an expedition on foot, to discover those
creative and innovative people in our villages, who have found / invented /
built solutions to the local problems using their ingenuity and
resourcefulness. The outcome of the Yatra would go beyond discovery to
documentation, compilation of such knowledge and facilitation of communication
between innovators from different regions. The first shodh yatra was
conducted in March 1998, and since then the yatra has been to all parts of
Gujarat, some parts of Maharashtra and
Rajasthan, parts of Tamilnadu, and now, in the most recent one to Udham Singh
Nagar district of Uttaranchal State. Shodh Yatris (Search Travellers)
have seen and contributed to many ways and practices of organic farming and
sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry, rural technologies, forest farming,
methods of preserving and augmenting biodiversity, ways of combating short
supply of water and also helped in rebuilding the process of education in Gujarat just after the earthquake, during the course of
their travels.
There is an internal yatra, "the yatra to one's self", as
Prof. Gupta, the founder of Honey bee network and SRISTI would say, that
happens simultaneously with the external one. In his words, this is one yatra
which each one of us has got to be aware of, observe, explore, question and
share with the other yatris our findings and insights; the experiences
of the external yatra would shape the internal one; and unlike the external,
here we do not know where we are going to be led, but go we must. Accordingly,
every yatra would have it's share of review and learning sessions among
the 'explorers', and as I've been told, even the most shy and reticent person
would come forward with his contribution to the discussion.
The 11th Shodh Yatra, from May 26th to June 4th, saw us traversing Udham Singh
Nagar district of Uttaranchal, a stronghold of the exceptionally hospitable
Sikh community, and slowly becoming the stronghold of organic farming too. We
also crossed over the borders of Uttaranchal and visited Uttar Pradesh a couple
of times.
Udham Singh Nagar
District - A brief description
Udham Singh Nagar District in the Terai region was originally a part of
Nainital district, and became a separate district in the mid 90s, getting it's
name after freedom fighter Sri. Udham Singh, who killed General Dyer. (General
Dyer was responsible for the Jalian Wala Bagh massacre) The district has both
industry and agriculture flourishing. It has very many sugar, flour, and rice
mills besides agriculture-related manufacturing units. Rice, wheat, and
sugarcane are the major crops. Potato is also grown on a large scale. This
district houses the famous G.B. Pantnagar Agricultural and Technology University,
which has tourists visiting it's beautiful and verdant campus. Some other
places to visit are Kashipur, Attariya temple near Haldwani town, Nanak Sagar
Dam on the river Saryu and Nanak matta - one of the places of pilgrimage of the
sikhs. Though the majority of the population are Sikhs, the district also has
families from Bengal, Nepal, Haryana, Orissa settled here
for many generations. The women of the region are very hard working and
resourceful, taking care of most of the farming and support activities too. The
prosperity in the area is attributed to them by all without exception.
Today, the farmers with sizeable land holdings in the
region have converted from chemical to organic farming, and are planning to
gradually bring in the smaller farms so as to minimise the risks that the
latter might face during the conversion process. The Yatra's chief focus was
organic farming, meeting farmers (both chemical and organic) in the district,
listening to their problems and looking for solutions, and elucidating the
advantages of organic farming and the only long term solution available.
The major local organisations of the honey bee network aiding in this attempt
were Sristi Gian Kendra, an off shoot of SRISTI, working with the honey
bee philosophy towards the documentation and dissemination of traditional
knowledge and innovations, TOFA (Terai Organic Farmers' Association), an
association of organic farmers who are making major efforts to spread awareness
in the area, network with organic farmers of other regions and looking to new
ideas and ventures like solar power, rain water harvesting and seed production,
and Kumaon Seva Samithi, working majorly in areas of women and child
development, organic farming and health, hygiene and sanitation for an
all-round development based on Gandhian philosophy.
Village
Visits, Gatherings and Other Yatra Do's
We
started from Rudrapur, the district headquarters and walked westward
stopping and/or passing through many places including Gokulnagri where
the official inaugural ceremony was held, Bilaspur, Shantinagar, Rameshwarpur
which was our first experience of staying in a Gurudwara, Anantpur, Indrapur,
Nagla, Avantika Dairy Farm, Dhaura Dam the first of our
no-electricity-&-sleeping-under-the-stars nights, Thiliyapur where
we found an abundance of talent - a young self-taught medicine man, an old
woman who had learnt to treat any kinds of burn from her mother, a self-taught
herbs-veterinarian, a sculptor and an old man who could tell us the quantity of
water under the ground with the help of a simple twig, and all services offered
free! Devnagar, Shakthi Farm, Rekhal Katha at a slight
elevation entailing a walk through the jungles to get to it, Chorgaliyan,
Nakuliya, Gauri Kheda where we had 2 women 118 and 125 years of
age sharing their knowledge of plants and recipes with us, Kargatiya, Bidouri
wherein we were welcomed with a very beautiful lamp dance performance by some
equally beautiful women in fading twilight, Goosra, Sisaikheda, Biriya,
Sunkhadikhala, Nanak Matta the beautiful pilgrim centre of the
Sikhs, Sadaasadiya, Khatima just 4-5 kms from the Nepal border
and finally turning back through Bagga, consisting of people belonging
to the pahadi (hills) culture, and Chowdhry farm near Pilibith,
ending our yatra with a local meeting as well as a preparatory /
planning session for the next one.
In this planning session, several issues, ideas, thoughts were discussed
in preparation for the next shodh yatra; and the following points were
put down as the things that should be done:
-Each yatri is to record his experiences / observations of the
yatra and share it with everyone.
-He is also to gather information about his own surroundings and
neighbourhood with regard to the purpose of the yatra so as to exchange
this with the others during the yatra.
-Each one has to do continuous evaluation, and find out from people who
have come already what has been happening, what are the changes, and what they
think has improved, what needs to be improved etc.
-SRISTI has to build a database with the experiences of the shodh
yatris
-A compiled report of all the 11 shodh yatras is to be prepared in both
english and hindi.
-During the next yatra, there must be arrangements for the yatris to
stay some of the nights with different households so that they all have
different experiences, which they would share and the information and learning
this way is immense.
As in every yatra, all the villagers gathered for a meeting with the travellers
at each village that we went to. There ensued a discussion on the purpose of
the yatra, the innovators and innovations of that particular village, how can
there be a mutual sharing of knowledge, and the support that the yatris can
give them. Most discussions led on to the many problems faced by that
particular village and their attempts at overcoming these, going back full
circle to the idea that it was their own capacity and presence of mind that did
(or) might save the day. Prof. Gupta also specifically spoke to them about how
their innovation can bring them revenue, and more importantly, (since there
were questions about it) how they can protect their innovation during this process
of getting revenue - the prior informed consent form offered by the Honey bee
group asking them for their 'informed' consent before sharing the innovation or
traditional knowledge with anybody "to balance the twin goal of
dissemination and promotion of innovation, but protect from potential
commercialisation". In several places there were also projector displays
of the numerous innovations collected over the years and stored in the Honey
bee database.
Biodiversity, recipe and local talent contests were held and the winning
entries were given prizes during these meetings. Many times the results of the
recipe contests were laid out in an enticing display for the yatris to taste,
and once, at Shakthi Farm, a couple of us skipped lunch and made a meal of the
displays! One of the prize-winning natural, medicinal (herbs) treatments was
for joint pain given by a woman in Anantpur: to boil leaves of semulina
with turmeric, garlic and bhang in equal quantities in sarson
(mustard) oil and apply on the joints.
Finally, the innovators were honoured with certificates and given a resource
kit containing copies of the Honey bee newsletters in Hindi. Some of the
interesting innovators / innovations that we came across were Indraasan
Singh, who discovered the Indraasan variety of paddy in 1972, a tube light
device that made use of sawdust to show sound waves, a farmer able to grow 21
feet long sugarcane simply by tieing the leaves of the cane around the cane
itself at equal gaps, and a tile-making machine.
A few villages had also organised cultural programmes that continued late into
the night. Impromptu night discussion gatherings with the locals that similarly
winded down quite late also happened a couple of times.
All
of us would have experienced our own high spots during the course of the yatra.
Some might be common to all or many, and others of a more individual / personal
nature. Following are some of them, both mutual and individual.
Guha, The Snake Man
On the first day of our yatra, we met Sri. Niranjan Guha, who we started
calling the 'snake man', at Shantinagar. Half-closed, blood shot eyes with a
drawl in his voice, many of us wondered whether it was an act when he made an
appearance. Guha has been treating snake bites for many years now, by sucking
and swallowing the poison from the bite! He could identify the kind of snake
which had bitten the person by looking at his condition and the nature of the
bite mark; and treat the person if he is still breathing. After treating him in
his unique way, he also gave the patient herbs according to the bite. He said
that he would be able to identify the herbs by sight only and not by name; they
grew wild in the hills and around the villages. He also could not say clearly
how and why he was able to swallow the poison and treat the bites. Because of
this rare gift of his, no snake bite would ever kill him is his conviction. He
has treated more than a 40 people till date, and does not take money for
administering his treatment.
Mufth (free) Tea
On the first day, a couple of us left far behind the others in the long
highway-road walk to Rameshwarpur, stopped at a typical roadside Punjabi Dhaba
for tea. And the husband and wife managing the place plied us with curious
questions as she made tea for us. They had seen others like us walking by, and
were just waiting to ask someone who we were and what were we doing in their
town. We explained to her the purpose of our shodh yatra, and that we
were searching for traditional knowledge that is with the people; the innovative,
ingenious solutions that people have come up with to overcome the problems of
their neighbourhood. To our amazement, after the tea, she refused to take money
from us! Any amount of persuasion did not move her. All we had, to offer her
was our bewildered thanks before we moved on, with the realisation that people
valued such initiatives enough to respond spontaneously with whatever support
that they can offer.
Kabir - The Hero
Bright, intelligent, curious, imaginative, impish, stubborn and happy- our
3-year-old hero - the youngest shodh yatri charmed everyone with his
wide, open and twinkling smile. Quite interested in everything and everybody
around him, (when he was not going into the sulks) he incessantly questioned
his mother about the people and their actions, events and things that he saw;
his favourite question was why something was the way it was! He also
picked up conversations and held his own with just about everybody. His
imagination knew no bounds; he talked about lions on trees and flowers eating
up birds, talked to the stones while playing with them, and made up new songs
with lines from different current popular film songs. He also entertained
himself by making up stories and giving foolish answers knowingly if the
'elders' caste asked him too many questions! He had an eye for beauty - he was
forever making gifts of flowers, beautifully shaped twigs or smooth stones that
he found on the way, to people. Showing a rare precociousness, when someone
once greeted him after not seeing him for the entire day with "Hi!
Kabir", he returned her greeting - "Hi, Sweetie!" to his
mother's utter astonishment! We all will take his quick smile and happy gurgle
of a laugh a long way.
An Indian Cocktail
Panna - is the magic refreshing cocktail, that I had for the first time
on the first day of our tour, and many times after. The juice from mango is
extracted and a combination of spices like pepper, black salt and chaat
masala is added to it to get the slightly sweet and slightly tart taste
that panna has. The practice of giving such a drink with salts and spices added
to its inherent sweetness, to help the body weather the day's heat during
summer is popular all over India - Panna or a similar drink in the North, and inji
or adrak (ginger) added to a sweet drink in the South.
Water Divination - Mewa Singh
At Thiliyapur -the talents galore town, we had the elderly Dadhji Mewa Singh
talking to us about his life and gift to be able to predict water. He uses a
simple V-shaped twig and walks around holding it over the ground, and is able
to foretell the quantity of water and the height at which it will be found
below the ground based on the behaviour of the twig. He said that if the water
content is high, the pressure of the twig in his hand increases accordingly,
and now, because of continuous practice he is also able to predict the quantity
of water by the pressure and the way it moves. Dadhji also mentioned of a pain
in his ribs if he continued with the divination after the first couple of times
at one go, and feels that this is because while he divines the water quantity,
he unconsciously or involuntarily holds his breath. He has now been doing this
for several decades, and has not once given an inaccurate prediction. On being
asked whether he took money for predictions, he smiled quite indulgently, and
said that he does not take money. He also added that the others, practicing
medicine and treating men and animals also did not take money for it.
The same Dadhji could also correctly tell the speed of the vehicle in which he
was travelling by checking the wind pressure on his hand! He narrated an
incident related to this, that happened when he was in the army - his superior
once challenged him to tell the speed of the vehicle which he (dadhji) was
driving without looking at the speedometre! He simply put his hand out, checked
the wind pressure, and gave an accurate answer - cool as you please!
Independent and Enigmatic - Manjula Behn (sister)
She came because her son, a farmer from Gujarat
associated with SRISTI, could not participate in the yatra, and wanted someone
to represent him. More than 60 years old, she was one of the elderly
participants of the yatra. Determinedly walking on, most times ahead of others,
Manjula kaki (aunt) never once asked to sit on the two-wheeler or the
tractor that was coming along with us, while even some of the youngsters went
on them a couple of times. A couple of times, because someone insisted that she
sit on the tractor, and not walk in this heat, she got on very reluctantly. The
wonder was neither did she even once verbally complain about the heat, or the
blisters under her feet or the pain in her calves, nor did it show on her face
or body language. But it was obvious that she was not superwoman who did not
feel any pain. She had an array of home-made ointments that she carried all the
time with her and used. At one of our lunch-stops, in the forest department
guest house, there was a tall machan, which many of us climbed huffing and
puffing, and some with a lot of trepidation, watching, and step by careful
step. She came along and almost sprinted up and came down the very steep metal
rods, smiling with almost child-like glee while we watched open-mouthed. She
did not allow anyone to carry her bag and never took massages from any of the
youngsters. (one giving another a massage is a common sight during the yatra)
she did her own massage! She took careful, detailed notes of everything that
took place and all the people that we met, and did not hesitate to ask if she
did not understand something. She was very observant, and had a ready smile and
a relevant concerned question for all of us every time that she spoke to us.
Her keen observation noted the differences between the women in Gujarat and
women here and she said wistfully during our review session about how bold the
women are here, and that in Gujarat the women are seldom allowed to come
outside the house and take initiative to do things. But at age 60, she has
come! Her strength came from somewhere deep inside her; perhaps she got it from
the japa that she did diligently facing the sun every morning, with the
help of her japmala (beads).
Water, Water! - Artisan Springs
An amazing sight, especially for the few of us from drought-struck Tamilnadu
were the artisan springs that were visible in considerable number within a
certain circumference in the yatra route. Water simply gushed out straight from
the bowels of Mother Earth without a pump, motor or any kind of pressure
whatsoever. These artisan springs were strewn all over the area, with a tank or
pond like structure built around them, for all to use.
The Biriya Wait
Biriya was our night stop on the 6th day of our yatra. Women self help groups
were very active here and about 200 women from villages around this area
gathered that night. We reached very late and as a result, most yatris dropped
off to sleep after dinner. There were a only a few trying to talk to the women.
Because of unforeseen circumstances, the cultural programme that was arranged
could also not happen. These 200 or more women, after having been thwarted, sat
on the grounds that day till about 1 in the night, putting up an unspoken
determined front, almost as if they had expected a meeting and wanted something
to happen, and so by sheer force of collective will would be able to make it
happen. They left only after a projector display of innovations from across the
country. The episode had many lessons for us, beginning from the importance of
being punctual, to the spirit and determination that the women showed and what
mass or collective force can achieve.
Anantpur - A Collective Strength
The meeting at Anantpur showed an exceptional community spirit with all the
villagers present sticking together both in their doubt, as well as later with
their convinced resolution.
In this village a novel idea has been executed successfully: libraries run by
children. All over the village and neighbouring areas, there are several small
libraries that are run by children themselves for other children. The children
who manage these libraries came forward shyly to speak of their experiences.
Their main trouble now is that most of them have completed reading most of what
the libraries have to offer, and now they need more books. They were given the
honey bee resource kit to begin with and the villagers decided that they would
all pool in to get more books. The gathering also discussed how they (children)
could themselves earn revenue, by getting members and lending out books.
Chemical farming is being practiced in this village and they reacted with doubt
and hostility when we, and even the farmers from TOFA talked about organic
farming. Their response was that organic farming does not give quick and enough
yields to sustain them; where will they go for money and food if they start saving
the planet? Ensued a long and detailed discussion on how organic farming is not
simply saving the planet but saving themselves in the long run. The slow
transformation to a stand in favour of organic farming was obvious to see, and
even if some were doubtful, they were ready to go with what their neighbours
and friends were saying. The discussion ended with them making a resolution
that they will start organic farming from then on.
Sonia - The Rebel
Sonia was with the yatra only in the last 2 days but like kabir, left an impact
that we will carry a long way. Very intelligent, sensitive, creative with an
artistic bent of mind, eccentric and stubborn, always speaking her mind,
fighting all authority and systems; questioning everything including herself, yet
full of love and compassion, parts child and parts grand mother; at 20, she was
an outright rebel. She paints very well, is very good at making things with her
hands and an excellent cook. She chafes at all conventions in society and
fights injustice fiercely. Her one big dream is to run a home for orphaned kids
and talked of it all the time. The idea called Sonia even now is immediately
followed by the idea of Intense Energy.
Open Jail - A New Idea
We heard of an open jail system, a few kilometres from Kishenpur as we sat down
to lunch there. And argued the whole way there about how can there be an open
jail, (it beats the purpose) and how would it all be organised. It was an
eye-opening and a somewhat sad experience for many. We met a large group of the
inmates of the 'house' and they were no different from ordinary householders
with dreams, aspirations, disappointments, wants and needs. A couple of them,
fathers, had their children with them at the meeting. (Their families are
allowed to visit them and stay there for a few days) It was a revelation to
look at them performing roles beyond that of 'jail inmates' - father, uncle,
husband, son, friend. Many of them had businesses back home, and one of them
said he had been building a new kind of metal shelf that has now stopped half
way. He also said if given the resources, he could pursue it here and plans
were made to do just that. The police official in charge of the place said that
two of them had been framed wrongly because of petty fights and/or political
skirmishes and have been in now for more than a decade. A few others whose
terms had ended, but due to changes in laws and rules, had their term extended
now. There was one who said that he came back in the second time, quite
happily! (The implication was clear: he at least got food and shelter here)
The philosophy of the open jail was of course that Man is essentially honest
and good, and will respond similarly if treated like he is so. Following this,
there is no gate to the jail that is closed all the time, the men are given
work to do, and are allowed to go out if their job requires them to do so. It
is also another matter that we were told there are police employees positioned
in different points around the area.
Young Fervour
We met a group of dynamic teenagers in the pahadi region of Rekhal
Khatta, who have been trying in many ways to better the conditions of their
villages and society. The people in the hills are without any land or voting
rights, and are not part of any gram sabha. They only shepherd cattle, which
brings them little money, and have no other occupation. Having attempted to get
help from many government officials and offices and also making an effort to do
something themselves, without any tangible results, when they came to meet us
late in the night, it was with disillusionment and questions like "why are
you here?" and "what can you do to help us?"
A lengthy discussion about their problems, and the creativity and strength
needed to combat them followed. What we saw clearly through it all was their
fire and the need to help themselves. In the end when they were ready to leave,
though their initial hostility had vanished and they looked thoughtful with all
that they had heard, somehow they also looked like that fire has been diminished.
Perhaps, all that they need is support, in terms of ideas, opportunity,
resources, and maybe a shoulder to lean on and talk to from time to time.
Encounter with a Religious Leader
On the morning of 2nd june, at Nanak matta, Sri. Bapu Maan Singh, head
of the Gurudwara there held us all spellbound in a charged session, wherein he
spoke to us of knowledge, religion, history and politics of this country. He
challenged us, "why are you searching for Gyan (knowledge)?,
instead, search for the Self. That is today's problem, that we are not
connected to the Self and God." His conviction is that Hindustan was
always the first in Dharma and Religion, and again challenged us,
"Why, instead of Dharma are we running behind the computer?"
"What is the computer but an imitation of the human brain!" He also
said that in this pursuit of Dharma and the Self, a teacher is very
important, and also added that the greatest teacher for one is his Mother.
"If you are unable to learn from your mother, you cannot learn from anybody!"
And that like one's mother, one's mother tongue is also very important.
"It is part of his identity, if you want to make a nation a slave forever,
take away her language." Then he turned to our search for Gyan -
"How can we connect it to money?, The Goddesses of Gyan and money are
Saraswathi and Lakshmi respectively; and their vaahans (vehicles) are
swan and owl. When do these birds come out? The swan during the day, and the
owl during the night. There is no meeting point." He ended on a powerful yet
romantic note: "Why is Man there if not to take his fellow-man's
sorrow?"
The Institution of Langar
Food is so important a part in an Indian's life, that we worship food as God,
and different cultures have different values and customs revolving around food.
The Sikh community hold the practice of feeding people so sacred that they have
institutionalised it, and call it - Langar (Prasad). The Langar is a
part of Gurudwaras, where they have a separate langar hall, and food is given
to anyone who walks in. They are also proud of the fact no questions are asked
of the people who come for food. People are not asked where they are coming
from, or what caste, sect, religion, group they belong to.
Nanak Matta runs an impressive langar system, entirely run by devotees as well
as visitors (tourists, pilgrims) who come there. The food hall can seat more
than 500 people for a meal at one go, and it is open for most of the day
offering breakfast, lunch and dinner to everyone. What's more, the hall is full
most of the time, and especially so during lunch. The administration,
maintenance, cooking, serving and anything else that is needed to be done is
taken care of by volunteers.
Internal Yatra Exchange
The exchange and sharing of our internal shodh yatras took place in small
spurts through out the yatra, leading to one extended, detailed sitting on one
of the last days. And it is true that even in the most diffident or timid
person, the wanting to share an insight is so high that he overcomes his
reserve at this stage of the yatra. Also, as Prof. Gupta put it, the
"intimacy quotient" is so high and intense during these travels that
people don't think twice about sharing very deep thoughts that they wouldn't
otherwise.
Each one of our thoughts, ideas, criticisms, reservations and relevations; our
learning basically was discussed. Many spoke about the high of meeting people
from different backgrounds, from all over the country and getting to know about
their culture, society and understanding them. Other also felt the added
pleasure of being close to nature, and living a much simpler life than in their
routine life. In this regard most people came to the conclusion that the
quality of life in the village is higher, life simpler, the people very hard
working, resilient and able to endure much more than the urbanites. Siddharth
from SRISTI, "I have now seen the sheer hard work and suffering in rural
India, which I had only read about. Coming across it for the first time, it has
had a high impact on me." Several also said that they have learnt much
about organic farming and would talk about it to many more people. Other
personal insights were also shared: the shy ones said with some surprise that
they have overcome their shyness to talk to everyone, some one else said that he
has learnt to be accommodating, and yet another that she has learnt to listen
to what people have to say before speaking.
The shortcomings of the yatra and how to resolve these issues the next time the
yatra is being planned were also discussed. Some of these issues were that the
distances were too much and had not been planned well, the participants not
told of daily plans, and even that the days did not start with a collective
prayer.
Of Hospitality, Generosity and Warmth,
Of the Sikh community. There were numerous instances of the service and
generous spirit of the Sikhs. They consider it holy to feed people and take
care of them and this perception is reflected in their dealings with all. One
major example of this is their langar system of free food in the Gurudwaras.
There were drink stalls all through the sikh community routes, manned by the
Sardars. Besides this, even as we were passing by, women who were cooking
offered us food and drink, readily able to put other work aside to cater to us.
And most times, we were in groups of 10 or so, and more crowded in gradually to
see what was going on.
How they served drinks and eats is also interesting - they perhaps have never
heard of self-serving! However big the crowd of people, they always made it a
point to serve them. Whenever Angad or Paramjeet, the 2 boys who joined us at
Rudrapur since it was the vacation time, served me, I got the impression that
serving me that piece of chapathi is the most important thing in his life at
that moment! These 2 young sardars were simply available every time there was
trouble and a pair of strong hands was needed, whenever work needed to be done.
They never needed to be asked to do things, they always took it on, and
endeared themselves to everyone.
Another example of this welcome and warmth that we encountered everywhere was
the soft-spoken Dr. Salooja, whom we met at Rameshwarpur - yet another sardarji
who was simply available with ready help when it was needed. There was only one
bathroom at the Gurudwara we stayed in; there wasn't anybody around to ask for
help, and the good doctor was quick to come up to us and offer his house for
use for the ladies. He then fussed around us, saw to it that we were
comfortable, telling us to feel free and make tea or anything else that we
wanted, and then settled down to show us photographs of his wife and family,
and their vacations.
Conclusion
The singular conviction that stands above all else after the yatra and the
immense energy, talent, creativity, tolerance that was evident with the people,
is about the ability, resourcefulness of the people of this land, their
enduring capacity and the power of people force. The idea that people have it
in them to be innovative and creative to be able to solve their problems and
run their lives. Like any institution, community, society, this land is not
without her problems and shortcomings, but the value systems and the unspoken,
unwritten laws of society that are her own are very well able to also take care
of the problems that will crop up, and restore order. What has happened is that
people have lost the confidence that they are able to take control of their
lives. What has also happened is that they have been given new value systems to
replace their own, which does not work for them, and we have in our hands a
fractured society. A group of women in Sisaikheda were talking to some of us
about their life, problems, and society. One of the women, Sushmadevi spoke a
long while about her life, daily routine, all the work that her friends and she
have to do: her day, as other women's', starts very early and ends very late,
since she has to finish her morning chores at home like cleaning and cooking,
then go to the fields for work, come back and again take care of cooking and
cleaning. They also have to seasonally take care of crushing grains, visiting
the mills and the market. Now they have also taken on the SHG work and are
involved in the process of understanding finance and loans and working as a
group. She does not get much support from her husband for all this work that
she does. In the midst of all this, she has managed to save enough money to
send her daughter to a boarding school in town. And so life continues. After
telling all that, she added in the same breath, that we (shodh yatris)
have come here to meet them, we only have to teach them things since they don't
know anything, "we women from the villages are no good, we don't even have
the time to keep ourselves beautiful, we work the whole day and by the end of
many a day have neither the time nor the energy to bother about our
appearance." When she said that she did not realise that they have spruced
up the place and themselves for us, the guests! All that people need is for
their confidence and faith in themselves to be restored, their collective force
will conquer the world. It is of course another matter that it is not in their
spirit to want to conquer the world, as it is meant today. They would build
their own brand of globalisation, that of endurance, an empathetic
understanding of the world and how it works and happiness. Anything else that
we think they might need is secondary.
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A brief description of the support organisations
SRISTI (The Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions) is a non-government organisation working towards strengthening the ingenuity and resourcefulness of grassroots entrepreneurs, engaged in innovating, inventing and building solutions to local problems, and sustaining them.
NIF, the National Innovation Foundation was created in support of grassroots innovators - for the "evolution and diffusion, support and sustenance of grassroots innovations, linking innovation, enterprise and investment" and exploring commercial and non-commercial application of innovations.
GIAN (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network) also works towards strengthening and supporting innovation and creativity at the grassroots level by endeavouring to transform innovation into product, and aid the dissemination of innovations.
The Honey bee Network has also initiated other ventures like the Honey bee Newsletters - different journals carrying news and information related to agriculture, biodiversity and traditional knowledge in english as well as other local languages including hindi, gujarati and tamil; and it's bi-annual Shodh Yatra, conducted every year during the summer (Ma-June) and winter (December-January) seasons.
The other organisations associated with conducting this Yatra were:
-Uttaranchal DASP (Diversified Agriculture and Sustainable Development Project): who promote organic farming and foods, and involved in dairy farming, compost and bio-manure marketing.
-Krishi Grameen Seva Samithi: working with women self help groups in marketing organic food preparations, organic agriculture and horticulture promotion.
-Gayathri Seva Sanstha: working with women and child groups in and around Pantnagar.
-Vivekanand Educational Society: who run a school in Shakthi Farm based on the philosophy and teachings of Swami Vivekananda.
-Aditya Krishi Vikas Samithi: involved in organic farming promotion, animal husbandry and traditional knowledge documentation as part of the honey bee network.
-Bhagawathi Mahila Samithi: working with women self help groups promoting small scale industries
-Adarsh Yuvak Mangal Dal: works with Yuvak Dals (Youth Groups), functioning as pressure groups working with development issues in their neighbourhood.
-Tarai Yuva Sangh: is an organisation focused on conducting and coordination of blood donation camps in the area and campaigning for people's basic rights.
-Creation for a Creative Society: working for rural development in 13 districts of Nepal, in association with World Food Program
-EcoIndia: channelises and coordinates student groups so that they can work for farmers through and for the Honey bee concept
-Innovators Club: scouting for innovators and innovations in and around Uttaranchal as part of the honey bee network
-Sri Sangam Dairy: maintaining dairy farms, marketing dairy products.
-Mahila Mangal Dal: working with women pressure groups in the villages for development related issues.
-Adhar: working with women and collection of traditional knowledge with them
-Avantika Dairy Farm: managing dairy farm and dairy training institute
-Adarsh Haryana Krishi Farm: Managing extensive Sugarcane farms and research into organic method and practices of sugarcane farming
-Rupa Seed Farm: experts in seed production
-Samaj Sudhar Sabha: is an association of retired government employees honouring and awarding those government servants who promote good work culture in all government departments, especially in education, and
-SRISTI
