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Honey bee publish details |
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SRISTI SANMAN |
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| Title |
Felicitating the Lone Crusaders |
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| Abstract |
During the Traditional food festival, Sattvik 09, SRISTI, on behalf of the Honey Bee Network, conferred awards on some of the extraordinary people working zealously at the grassroots to support innovations and traditional knowledge practices besides bringing about social change. A few quotes of some of the awardees are followed by selected brief profiles. |
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- Chaitanyabhai, (teacher) from Lok Mitra trust:
“I do not expect any help in my work. I have always readily lent help, but believe in continuing my work even in absence of help and support.”
- Snake Lovers’ Club, (Vagmin Pandya, Dharmendra Trivedi, Bhumi Pandya)
Dharmendra Trivedi said: “There should be at least one activity in the life of each one of us, which we pursue selflessly, without any personal benefit. Our slogan is ‘Don’t kill, just call.”
- Rambhai Charan, (the person who has written more than 40,000 request letters for planting trees)
I am happy to say that many a times, I have received acknow-ledgement for my letters and people have expressed their faith in my cause.”
- R P Bhimani (The person who tries to use solar energy for every possible routine activity and has developed many solar gadgets)
“Mane jivan ma sauthi vadhu vhalo surya che (I have loved sun the most in my life). It is an incessant source of energy.”
- Bemang Taniyang, (Herbal healer)
“In my work, many a times I observe that people do not know the usage of particular plants because they do not grow in their respective regions. People know limited usage of only local plants. I also advise my patients on which plants to use and which not to pluck due to sustainability issues.”
- Orik Raalen (leads groups of women in Arunachal to impart traditional knowledge and also works on environment conservation)
“I am in search of a destination. I haven’t yet got it.”
Profiles
Smt Indira Ramanathan, Maharashtra
Indira follows the ‘zero-budget natural farming concept’ given by Balakarji of Maharashtra. She owns 150 acres of land where she grows paddy, chickoo, coconut, guava, cocoa and spices like nutmeg. She also grows teak, melia dubia and other trees. She is an agriculturist for last 30 years, with 10 years experience in organic farming.
She practices the intercropping technique to get maximum productivity out of her land. In between trees like melia dubia and coconut, she grows areca nut and cocoa. She says: “If you grow only coconut trees in a row, the space between two trees gets wasted. Also, the coconut leaves that shed is good mulch for the crops grown in between. Moreover, sunlight reaches the leaves of coconut trees, but not the soil underneath. This creates a condition for bacteria to grow, which are carriers of nutrition.” Indira has successfully used hard and rocky mountainous land for agriculture, without even levelling it, by way of drip irrigation. Neighbouring farmers borrow seedlings from Indira. She gets around four to six calls for advice every day.
Shri Kirankumar Bhikhubhai Patel, Gujarat
Kiranbhai has grown a nursery in the primary school where he teaches, in Sisodia, Navsari, Gujarat. The nursery is home to 100-150 ayurvedic species. He calls it ‘Dhanvantari Aushadhi Park.’. He has opened an eco-club in his school meant exclusively for children. They take turns to come on holidays, and Sundays as well, to water the plants grown by Kiranbhai. He leaves his school open for everyone in the village. Whoever wants to read or study, can sit comfortably under one of the trees of his school.
His ambition: “I want more and more people to be inspired by this creation of mine. Education is not business but a training which can cultivate values in the society.” Many local schools in his region have taken a cue from Kiranbhai and started similar activities.
Shri Bamang Taniang, Arunachal Pradesh
Since 2000, Bamang Taniang has been researching on the herbal/ medicinal plants and trying to cure people using local medicines. He has, till now, treated 40-50 patients especially in the cases of malaria, typhoid and jaundice. He is also involved in training the local youth for herbal practices and to help them become herbal healers for their localities.
He has made community owned herbal garden in his village and is trying to mobilize others to do the same; to conserve the biodiversity of the region while preserving the ancient wisdom of herbal medicines of the different tribes each of which has a distinct culture and tradition.
He told that most of the tribes use their own dialect and hence there is possibility of a communication gap between the tribes. He wants to combine the knowledge of all the tribes, research for authenticity and share with them each other’s knowledge.
Smt Orik Raalen, Arunachal Pradesh
She leads groups of women in Arunachal to impart traditional knowledge and also works on environment conservation. She collects the herbs basically from the vicinity of three villages Sibut, Takilao and Yagrung. She collects herbs traditionally used for treating diabetes, hypertension and other ailments. She has learned from village elders and taken their help to identify the correct species, which are later identified for their scientific names and usage. She not only collects their traditional knowledge but also shares her findings with the herbal healers. Three years ago, she formed a self-help group called “Sibut Ane Locali.” As a part of the group she is also involved in various horticultural activities.
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| Volume No. |
Honey bee 20(4), 33 to 35, 2009 & 2010 |
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