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Shodhyatra-36 |
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A land where sun rises early, and the sky bends down 36th Shodhyatra, Arunachal Pradesh-I |
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The Shodhyatra in Ziro valley, Arunachal Pradesh, January 17-22, 2016, convinced us once again about the widely pervasive human desire to learn from the local as well as exotic creativity and knowledge system. Whenever we shared ideas from other places having local relevance, some or other experiment was recalled. When a idea had no local counterpart, a deep appreciation followed. Some children even offered to improve the design of a cycle hoe we had brought. Beginning from Ziro (located in the Lower Subansiri district), the learning walk ended in Yetap, covering about 100 kilometres. For a valley under consideration of World Heritage Site by UNESCO, there is a lot that can be mended, minded and of course meaningfully revitalised. |
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“Can we make a pen which lights up in dark,†asked Sanjay, a student of class three from Ziro Primary School. In the difficult terrain of Ziro valley, with erratic power supply, a pen that lights up reading portion is surely not a luxury. Ideas like this warmed up the walk in an otherwise very cold weather. Early in the morning, one could see a thin layer of snow on the grass. The hospitality of the people was so warm that we often got late in the night due to many unscheduled stopovers on the way. Though people had to bring firewood from a long distance, almost every night we had a fire to sit around and reflect on the day. It was a misty day, as if the sky had bent down when we started to walk. Arunachal Pradesh, may appear remote area to some, but it is a must destination for those hungry for creative ideas of youth and children. What if while playing guitar, we also generate power. Wouldn’t children be inspired to play longer and better? A young girl, Abo Kristi wanted art centres in every village so that those who are passionate about art, can meet other artists and be mentored by them if needed. When there is no signal in mobile phone, Hong suggested a feature which tells the user in which direction one should walk to find the signal. In a hilly terrain, this is an everyday problem. One couldn’t ask for more to be hopeful about what to come next in the shodhytra. Apatani and Nyishi tribes inhabiting the Ziro valley warmly welcomed sixty-seven curious walkers/yatris in the valley to discover local innovations and traditional practices in vogue.By the time yatris checked into a cosy middle school in the afternoon, the sun began setting, the yatris and the villagers gathered to learn from each other. A middle-school teacher, Rugu Kukal, narrated the history of the Apatani tribe, described its culture and the institutions. The yatris showed several videos of grassroots innovations from different parts of the country. Once these videos triggered the curiosity of community members, they were requested to suggest some new ideas and techniques.The Apatani women enquired about a device which could make ploughing easy, given the hilly terrain of the valley. Fortunately, the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and the Honey Bee Network volunteers were carrying one such innovation. On being showed the cycle plough developed by Gopal Bhise, Maharashtra, and awarded by National Innovation Foundation, the children and women got interested and many of them took turns to try it. They also tried other products that were offered, and discussed how these devices would make their lives easier. The enthusiasm of women folk for knowing about new ideas was infectious. Nothing could have marked a meaningful onset of the six-day shodhyatra better.One of the 26 tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatanis are known for their beauty. In fact, a story goes that the women here were so beautiful that men from the Nyishi tribe started kidnapping them to marry or for keeping them as housemaids. This led to serious tensions. To safeguard their own tribe, the women decided to make themselves look ugly by piercing their nose with black buttons and tattoos on forehead and chin. With time, this became an identifying mark for the Apatani women and these alterations actually became a mark of beauty for them. But we appreciate that the innate beauty can never be masked or amplified by just the external marks or tattoos. It was this radiance of serenity we were learning to appreciate.Handloom is used to weave beautiful designs by almost every household as in many other parts of north east. But the designs are quite different here. The dimensions are also bigger here, unlike in some other states.To allow drainage of rainwater and too keep pests and animals away, most people make bamboo houses on stilts. Farm animals are kept alongside in many cases. There is a fireplace at the centre of the big room in each house. It is used for cooking and keeping the place warm. Everyone sits around the fire while eating or talking. The key cultural lesson was not lost on the yatris. The women are by design, part of every discussion in the family. Their place is the central place of the house. This is a lesson that the rest of the country has to imbibe.The walls are made of flattened bamboo in a chequered fashion. They provide good insulation and ventilation at the same time. The average life of a bamboo house is approximately five to ten years. Some of the new houses coming up in the region are a fusion of bamboo and bricks, which extends their life by many years.The knowledge of local biodiversity and its uses is very rich among communities, particularly women. Many of the plants they eat solve gastric problems, for example yabing (Cephallostachium capitatum), riikoh (Gynostemma pedata), pakhua ma and santero (Litsea cubeba). This apart, they also have mint plants used to cure cold or cough kukoliyo (Artemisia indica), yorkhun (Acmella paniculata). To control blood pressure, they eat pato hamang (Clerodendrum colebrookianum); to cure skin burning, they consume pig’s gall bladder. The cuisine showcased in every village was full of leafy vegetables, tubers, mushrooms, much of which were gathered from the forest. Only a few plants were cultivated. The rich taxonomic traditional knowledge of women can provide leads for not only nutritious food but also herbal medicine. One of the most interesting moment in the Shodhyatra was when a lady, after showcasing more than 16 varieties of paddy conserved by her, including Akne Amo, Ampu Hath Amo, Alang Amo, Punko Amo, Halya Amo Oho, Halyag Amo Ako, Neli Amo, Are Haso, Pulu Pyapic, Taba Bamii Pyapig, Tippe Pyapig, Palo Pyapig Aami, Pyatii Pyaji, Pyatii Mipya and Lanchang Mipya (red rice) asked us a very simple question, “It is not enough that you come, visit us and learn from us. You should take us for Shodhyatra in your region.†And she was right. It is our duty to have a fair reciprocity in this regard. We plan to follow it up before next Sattvik Traditional Food Festival.A local saying conveys their commitment to sanitation and farm management, “The home might not be clean but the farm will always be clean.†Known for their paddy-fish cultivation, the Apatanis follow several traditional practices. Paddy stubble and straw are left to rot and enrich the field as compost and also help algae grow as green manure. Paddy-fish culture requires stronger bunds. Another popular practice in paddy fields is keep them submerged in water even when there is no standing crop. This is done for three reasons. One, it makes the task of uprooting stubble easier. Two, this promotes the growth of algae which act as a natural manure and keeps the field fertile and three, it helps in weed control.The mosaic of red and green algae in terraced paddy field was almost like landscape poetry. The yatris saw in some fields green algae while in some, red. Upon inquiry, they learnt that the alga grows green at first but upon blooming, it turns red. This is a natural indicator about the status of the fields. The farming techniques include use of vermin-wash, an organic substance collected from vermiculture pots that allows the seeds to germinate early.The Apatanis celebrate two main festivals: Myoko and Dree. Myoko is an annual festival, held in March. One of the villages in the region organises it where neighbouring farmers gather to rejoice. The festival involves singing, dancing and merriment. Dree happens in July. The tribe offer sacrifices to the gods, seeking blessings for good rains and paddy harvest. They are known for their cultural method of wet rice cultivation. During our walk, we saw an interesting procession of different groups in one of the villages. The dancers had painted their faces and used various kind of mask to dance. The residents were offering sweets, meat, snacks and drinks to the dancers and others passing by.During the idea competition held at the primary school in Ziro, several ideas revolved around providing solutions to the lack of electricity in the village. One idea that stayed with the shodhyatris was of devising a pen with light on it. A lot of kids also suggested solutions for facilitating writing and reading in the dark. A girl suggested a device that could generate electricity from a bonfire. Pooja, a student from the school, suggested that heavy bags and suitcases should come with wheels fitted to them. Though already implemented world over, the mere mention of this idea by a child here reflects how disconnected the regional consciousness of children was with the rest of the world.Soaked in the creativity of little children of Ziro, the yatris moved towards Hija. Here, they observed that most of the houses had small artefacts, made of wood, bamboo, grass and egg shells. These were designed to perform the Tamo-Agya ritual which is supposed to ward off diseases and sickness from the family. It involves sacrificing a chicken.Many tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, especially the Apatanis, follow Donyi Polo religion, Dani meaning ‘sun’, indicator of female energy and Polo meaning ‘moon’, signifying male energy. The followers of this faith treat nature as its god. Its followers can be easily identified by a white flag, with a red sun at its centre, flying outside their homes.Subterranean innovationLiagi Baht was an unusual innovator. He began his service as a vehicle mechanic. He now works as a motor vehicle inspector in the local administration. Studied upto 10th class but in the ‘laboratory of life’, he must be considered much advanced. In 1999, he had innovated a very affordable solution to a pervasive local problem. Those who believe that Intellectual Property is a concern of an urban educated class, will be surprised to know that he did not share this information with anybody fearing copying of the machine. After understanding the purpose of the Honey Bee Network, he gained confidence to share it with. When we reached his farm, we saw a bamboo flattening machine which would flatten several times more bamboos than possible manually.Local communities use flattened bamboo strips, about six to eight inches wide for weaving the mat used as walls in the huts. Normally, two to three people would hardly process about thirty bamboo strips in a day. This machine could flatten 150 bamboos. SRISTI has given him an installment of Rs. 25000 to make another piece for local field testing. Equal amount will be given after he has made progress. Social Innovation Fund of SRISTI (www.sif.sristi.org) provides help to students, teachers and other professionals whose ideas cannot be funded by NIF. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee 27(1) 4, 2016 |
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