|
|
Honey bee publish details |
| More
Information |
|
|
|
|
| Category |
SHODHYATRA |
|
|
| Title |
Brahma Putra: Binding Land & and Lives- Dhemaji Shodhyatra, part-1 |
|
|
| Details |
Thinking about Assam, a cornucopia of lush greenery, small rivulets, mountain streams, lakes, paddy fields, Bihu and the mighty Brahmaputra conjures our mind. While crossing one of the tributaries of Brahmaputra on a ferry, the Shodhyatris, eighty in number, from different states of India and many foreign countries, were trying to get an eyeful of the great river and concomitantly trying to match mental images to the sight in front. Some of them were discussing their initial impressions with their new-found friends while the others were sharing their experiences of previous Shodhyatras. Overall, the ambience was reflective. Intently looking at the flowing river; an attentive look at their faces clearly showed that while the river waves were stroking the ferry, its splashes were producing undercurrents in the minds, quite emphatically.
To say that the river Brahmaputra binds the lands as well as the lives in Assam would be both, a metaphor as well as a comment on reality. The rich silt that the river brings with each flood is vital to agriculture, also the huge heap of sand that gets deposited in the agricultural fields agonizes the farmers. This river forms the lifeline of Assam when it comes to water for irrigation, river based transportation and not to forget its intricate linkages with the livelihoods of people in Assam.
After a brief travel, the Shodhyatris reached “Akajan”. People, especially students, small children and their parents, had assembled in the school premises and welcomed Shodhyatris with the traditional Arecanut offering, locally known as ‘Guwa’ or ‘Tamol’. We were welcomed by this offering many times during the six days of the Shodhyatra. In Assamese culture, Tamulpan (the areca nut and betel leaves) or guapan (gua from kwa) are considered as the offers of devotion, respect and friendship. This ancient tradition is being followed since time-immemorial with roots in the aboriginal Austro-Asiatic culture.
It was mentioned that like the churning of milk gives ghee, the knowledge of local people may be put in a database specific to Assam. This knowledge could help leverage abundant local resources in creating value products and may boost the village economy. This may also preserve traditional knowledge of the villages for use by the future generations. The curiosity of students suggested that they were willing to engage with the Shodhyatris in the journey. But it was not sure whether local administration and entrepreneurs would take these leads forward.
On the first night, the Shodhyatris discussed many issues like decentralized, polycentric, and entrepreneurial process of development related to Arecanut, organic farming of numerous herbs and handloom designs. An interesting Zen story was told at the end of the meeting. Idea was that to learn one has to be like an empty glass i.e. in order to learn one needs to unlearn first and then proceed with an open mind.
The reception at Akajan Tribal Girls’ School made Shodh Yatris feel highly enthused about possible impact. On the way, the cleanliness and orderliness in the households and their surroundings impressed everybody.
“Jal, jungle, jameen aur jaankaari”
After reaching Harupam Hajong village, Prasanna Vohra, who was the District Secretary of “Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti”, sang a song about his organization’s struggle for “Jal, jungle aur jameen” i.e. water, forest and land rights of the tribal communities in the Dhemaji district of Assam. It was then added by Shodhyatris that similar to the struggle for “Jal, jungle and jameen”, the Honey Bee Network is waging a war for “Jaankaari” i.e. knowledge rights of the people. Mushtaq Hussain and Krishnakant, grassroots innovators awarded for their innovations, talked to the villagers about their innovations and also about the work being done by organizations like NIF, and SRISTI towards this cause.
Towards the end of the meeting, Rai Saab, who had joined the “Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti” as a volunteer recently, addressed the Shodhyatris. He went on to describe the two major problems of the tribal communities inhabiting the area; pressure from the Forest Department and the Army. He said, “There are chances of escape from the Forest department but to escape from the Army personnel is very difficult. Its effect on livelihood of the tribals was very crucial. Most tribals had to migrate as daily wage labourer in the nearby towns and settlements. The villages were named by the name of tribes residing in the village. The Hajong village was named after the Hajong tribe that was the majority tribe in the village.
Looms: Binding threads and relationships
After lunch at Harupam Hajong village, Shodhyatris headed towards Borpathar Bohain village. On the way we met a girl named Jyotismita Dolai who was weaving a very beautiful shawl on a hand-operated loom. When asked, how she remembers the designs that she has to depict on the shawl, she said, it’s all in her mind. It takes around one week to weave a shawl or “Mekhla”, and its price is often determined by the design woven on it. An interesting fact emerged during this dialogue that when a boy has to propose to a girl, he simply appreciates her work and then her response determines what happens next!. Moving ahead, the Shodhyatris came across an old lady named Phulmani Bhakta and her daughter. The remarkable thing about the old lady was that she used to answer every question with a song. When asked, did she forget things due to her age; she gave an answer through a folk song. Similarly, on being asked, did she share her traditional knowledge with her children and grand children; she smiled and again sang a song. As a mark of respect for the elderly, we honoured her and sought her blessings. She was very happy, particularly after seeing her photograph taken earlier and presented to her during the Shodh yatra.
A lot to learn
By the time Shodhyatris reached Nilakh, a village on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, it was already dark. The meeting was held in a school. It was more like a community quiz wherein photographs and videos of around 70-80 plants were shown and the people assembled there were asked to identify them. When correctly identified, they were asked to comment on its properties. The response was not up to the mark but the purpose of knowledge sharing was served.
The best part was the collaborative nature of the effort being put by the assembly; especially the young people who
seemed to be enjoying it all. At night, a discussion was held wherein Smt. Manta Kumari mentioned the use of a particular plant, locally called as “Leefafu”, for treating high blood pressure.
During the meeting, one of the Shodhyatris, Chris, from Ireland, said, “Being a professional designer, i used to think that i could teach a lot to people when it comes to design. But given my experience in the Shodhyatra, i am sure, i need to learn a lot from the ingenuity of common people.” An instant reaction to Chris’ remark came from Gagan. He said, “Now, I also realize the import of knowledge sharing.”
Water: All around but not to come by easily
Almost everywhere households had devised means of filtering iron-rich water for drinking purpose. Sand, pebbles and finally a cotton cloth is layered into a tin container. The filtered water dripping from the tin was collected in another bucket kept below the tin. It appeared to be a good solution but after a while Shodhyatris realized that it was not optimal. The apparently clear water filled in the bottles turned yellow in a short while suggesting the sub-optimality of the solution.
The samples taken from some of these filtration units have been given to CSMCRI, Bhavanagar, a leading CSIR lab for testing the effectiveness of these filters.
Creativity amidst adversity: Raised hand pumps and toilets
In the meeting at Nilakh, Ravindra Nath (Director and founder of RVC, the host organization) shared his insights gathered over two decades of work in this region. Ravindra Nath had come to this region as part of a team doing water survey during the year 1989. The plight of people in this region affected him thoroughly and he decided to stay back and work for them. Presently, RVC works in the three districts of Assam including Dhemaji, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur with a team of 6000 volunteers. He mentioned about the three major problems caused by floods. First, the massive erosion of land by rivers as a result of which a sizeable portion of the land is lost every year. It was jocularly quipped that due to this cutting/erosion of land in Assam a new island is being formed near Bangladesh in the sea called as New Moore’s Island. The second problem being water logging, which in some areas lasts as long as six months hampers sanitation, livelihood, mobility etc. The third problem was sand casting which means the deposition of sand on land particularly agricultural fields which renders the land uncultivable. During the rainy season i.e. the months of May, June, July and August, RVC is under immense pressure to fulfill the two primary objectives of saving lives of humans and the livestock and then their proper rehabilitation in places at slightly higher altitude. In two decades, around ten thousand families have been rehabilitated in around 100 new villages. Ravindra Nath also mentioned about the two innovations that they had to develop to save people’s lives: the raised hand pumps and elevated toilets. He said, “Both these innovations have been extremely beneficial as they ensure two important aspects i.e. drinking water and sanitation during floods.” Ravindra Nath concluded by sharing an impending problem of the construction of around 168 dams in the mountain areas located in the region. These dams once completed, he believed, were bound to wreck havoc. A school teacher named Kanak Rai was felicitated for his knowledge of medicinal plants of the region. When the Shodhyatris were about to leave for Misamari, a young boy sitting in the audience got up and said that this Shodhyatra is one of the most memorable moments in the recent past of Kanki village. He wished good luck to all the Shodhyatris and pledged his support for the mission ahead.
Fishing: Innovative methods
Shodhyatris came across an innovative method of fishing with the help of a plant locally known as ‘medaluva’. This plant makes the fishes go numb and catching them becomes easy. Using this plant along with a fish net made of Bamboo cane is quite common in this region.
Diversity & creativity in a local space
The village of Misamari had its own store of surprises for the Shodhyatris. First, a wood lathe machine that had a big wheel attached to it with pulley. Toka Borah demonstrated the working of the hand-driven machine in front of the Shodhyatris and in a matter of minutes he carved out a beautiful design in an amorphous piece of wood. The second surprise was again a wood cutting machine designed by Prafulla Borah which was driven by a cycle pedal mounted on a platform. Later, during the walk, another variant of wooden lathe (driven by both legs) designed by Gulab Gogoi was seen at Misamari.These user driven innovations in such a close proximity were definitely evidences of the creativity of the people of the region.
In the meeting at Misamari, Anusuiya Gogoi shared her traditional knowledge about medicinal plants of the region, running in her family for generations. The knowledge had thrived for three generations in a functional and vibrant manner. This was a special case and hence Anusuiya Gogoi and her mother were felicitated for their contribution to the preservation of traditional knowledge.
On the way, Shodhyatris came across another hand operated loom. During the conversation with the lady, the sad plight of the hand loom operators came to the fore. She said, “We are like labourers because the input material is given by the contractor and also the marketing of the final product is done by him. Our margins are very low as the bulk of the profit is pocketed by the contractors. Are not we just the labourers.”
Carving life in the dead wood: Learning early to excel
At Raiting, a twelve year old boy named Harikanta Gogoi who had made beautiful statues of Gods’ and Goddesses’ was recognized for his wonderful skill. Also, in the meeting at night, one young member of the audience gave some amazing ideas. Force of gravitation to power engines, no matter how feasible it was, the point was that the youth in the village had dreams. This meant that they were not satisfied with the present state of affairs and desired to change it, in this case through science. In the recipe competition held next day, Falguni Gogoi had prepared eight different chutneys using different locally available herbs. She even knew the medicinal properties of all of them. Later in the meeting, Falguni and a centenarian couple were felicitated. The couple attributed natural food and natural treatment as the two main causes behind their longevity. In a light banter, the husband, when asked about the age of his wife, said that she was more than 100 years old. This made all the assembled people burst into laughter. Adding to it was the wife’s reaction; she blushed and this added to the enjoyment of the people around.
(Second part of the Jouney to be continued in the next issue: Ed)
|
|
|
| Volume No. |
Honey bee 21(2), 4 to 7, 2010 |
|
 
|
|
