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Honey bee publish details |
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SHODHYATRA |
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Fighting Exclusion Through Innovation: Dahod Shodhyatra – Part II |
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| Abstract |
Having traversed in different conflict-prone tribal regions in the last few years, discovering apathy and indifference of state and markets does not surprise us any more. But the fact that there are extremely knowledgeable people whose creativity can trigger knowledge-intensive model of poverty alleviation, inspires us every time. In this walk, we met innovators who dream of using a windmill for running a ceiling fan in their hut. We also came across the complexity of traditional knowledge system in which knowledge sometimes remains localized just among a few people. We are yet to understand why some traditional practices diffuse widely and others remain localized. The learning journey continues…
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Journeys in the hinterland provide a unique opportunity to learn from the people often disconnected or poorly connected with the state or market institutions. The journeys also provide an opportunity to prove Maslowian theory wrong.
Learning from Nature
While crossing the hilly terrains to reach Alindra, yatris were awestruck to find a flock of pelicans amidst rocks around a tree grove. Khanpariyabhai, one of the Shodh yatris, explained: “If ever you are lost in a forest and feel thirsty, spotting a pelican will indicate a pond or a stream nearby.”
On the way to Jetpur, yatris saw three feet tall termite soil mounds. A discussion took place about termites as eco-indicators. A termite soil mound may also sometimes be an indicator of a ground water source. Ants taking their
eggs to a higher point around termite mounds or trees indicate impending rains. Complexity of climate is unlocked through such indicators, a subject needing much more thorough study in the wake of global climate changes looming large on the horizon.
When we asked Jasubhai Bhuria, a prominent human healer in Bhuvero, about a cure for an important local diseases, he said, “By God’s grace, we are residents of forest areas, hence we do not fall ill. Even if we do, we know that the biodiversity around us will cure us.” To say this is easy but for the people having such faith, it is a credo for everyday life.
Caring for the ‘other’: Lessons in inclusiveness
In Alindra, Rangalabhai Bhuriya, a herbal healer used jal jambu (Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. ex DC.) to treat fever (a practice found in parts of Africa also: Eds.). Other villagers knew about the practice but did not use it. Jasubhai Bhuria described the use of a syrup of jamun (Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels) in diabetes.
In this context, the real learning was not about just the
knowledge of these herbal healers. It was the magnanimity of their spirit and their concern for general well being. When asked about the issue of sharing knowledge with us, the people invariably said, “Will you not take our knowledge to other villagers? Will it not help them? Do we care at all about
the rest?”
This is the kind of respect, we would call it the respect for the “other”, that the otherwise uneducated villagers showed which even the chin stroking academicians and self proclaimed guardians of society would often find hard to emulate.
When the yatris descended from Ratanmahal Sanctuary into Madhya Pradesh, they were all very tired and thirsty. Despite scarcity of water in the region, women living at the foothill fetched water and offered it to the yatris. When some of the yatris offered to replenish it, they were affectionately scolded for even suggesting that. Such is the spirit of non-reciprocal acts.
Fighting exclusion creatively: The case of Manishaben
By the time yatris reached Ali Rajpur, it was already dark. Manishaben was felicitated in the night meeting at Aamkhut. She had married against the wishes of her family and was therefore outcasted by them. But her enterprising spirit induced her to grow vegetables organically on the terrace of her house and in the backyard. She would get up at five in the morning and collect cow dung from the street before sunrise, and use it to manure the bags in which she grew vegetables, including tomatoes weighing 280 gm a piece. She had also developed an innovative formulation of a tooth powder from the powder of dried latex of a particular plant, neem and ash. For two years, she gave it free to the villagers and thereafter decided to sell it. She claimed that her powder could cure even ulcers in mouth. Well, Manishabehn was not taught marketing and entrepreneurship in a b-school, but she had taught it herself through all the adversity in life.
Conservation through obituaries
Ramjibhai Charan, a young primary school teacher from Sabarkantha tries to attend as many Shodhyatras as possible. He found a very interesting approach of increasing the green cover in Gujarat. Every time, an obituary was published in newspaper, he would write a letter to the kith and kin of the deceased, requesting them to plant a tree in the memory of their loved one. So far, he has written about 40000 such letters. The practice of small goodness is anytime better than profound thoughts but divorced from action.
Folk traditions of distinction
Every culture evolves stories rationalizing or mystifying its special place in the local cosmology. Yatris saw two temples while getting down from Ratan Mahal, one on Gujarat side and another in Madhya Pradesh. This land was called as kunwari bhumi [virgin land]. It is said that thousands of years ago, during a tribal war, majority of the Damor community living in Dholka region died. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, it is believed, shifted the few survivors on this piece of land which had no habitation before. As a part of ritual, people offer beautifully engraved doors or arches at the temple.
Yatris saw a beautifully carved furniture at the house of Savitaben, daughter of the village chief. It was learnt that in this part of Madhya Pradesh, there was a tradition of offering furniture at the time of marriage with a caricature of couple carved on it.
The Zen of emptying oneself
The Shodhyatra ended at Puniyawat, a place near Bhabra, the birth place of the famous freedom fighter, Chandrashekar Azad. Yatris reflected on the individual and collective learning during the walk. Why emptying the mind was necessary to absorb new insights was illustrated through a Zen story. A student went to a famous teacher and requested to be taught. After looking at him, the teacher asked him to come after sometime. The student went after a month requesting admission, the teacher again told him to come after sometime. Slowly and slowly, a year and a half passed without student succeeding in getting the opportunity to learn from the master. One day, he got exasperated. He asked with a sense of frustration and anger, “Respected teacher, you are teaching so many students regularly. But whenever I request attention, you ask me to come after sometime. What is my flaw, please guide me.” The teacher smiled and asked him to bring a glass of water. Then he asked him to bring another glass of water. Now came the climax. The teacher asked him to pour the water of second glass in the first one. The student said that it was not possible because the first glass was already full of water. The teacher told him, “Every time you come to me, you look like a glass full of water. Unless you empty yourself, how can I offer knowledge to you.”
Another young yatri told a story about how regular practice of an act formed a habit. And these habits then formed the man. Any house yatris knocked at, the question was not asked as to what they were looking for. They were first welcomed, offered water and then discussion would begin. People were poor but rich in generosity. It is very difficult to make such a perception compatible with the normal notion about poverty of tribal people. After all, poor people were not poor in everything. Devala Ramsinh summed up the spirit rather well. He said, “Come again to our village and this time for 10 – 15 days. Learn what you need and share what you know.”
Yatris reflected on their consumption pattern in the cities. Hardly ever they asked a question as to what part of their consumption basket comprised products made by tribal people. The learning from the people would resonate for many more days or months or even years. The painting on the wall, the step well functioning still after hundreds of years and a lady fighting her exclusion through creative pursuits are not purposeless. The lack of opportunities for young people to grow far in their life might breed anger sooner or later. Perhaps, society should not take them for granted. No community will remain patient indefinitely if the market and the state neglect it so much. There was a need to rethink the protocol of engagement with such culturally rich communities if development process was to become inclusive.
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| Volume No. |
Honey bee 20 (4),4 to 6, 2009 & 2010 |
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