Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Real life and reel life in Sitapur and Lucknow

March 10th and 11th:

I reached Sitapur, UP at 4.30 am and was met by Richa Singh of Sangtin and her son Sunny. We reached her house in 15 minutes. Richa was set to attend a Mahila Samakhya meeting to commemorate Women's Day later in the day – though she has resigned and left the group, she was in charge of the district program for 8 years and her connections with the village and block-level staff are still strong. I declined to accompany her due to exhaustion and slept most of the morning away!

Amma, Richa's mother, lives with her and manages the house. I spent the afternoon talking with her and watching the ongoing cricket match. Richa returned in the evening, red not from exertion but from Holi colors! Since the women would not meet in such large numbers before Holi, they celebrated in advance. We sat and talked about this and other Women's Day celebrations – different groups had planned events through the month. As Richa put it, “It's no longer on March 8th - celebrations are planned on the convenience of the chief guests, usually from Delhi, Lucknow and other big cities!”

We also talked a bit about the program for the next few days – initially, we were to visit MKSS in Rajasthan during this time, but the latter had declined as they were very busy in March. So now the plan was to spend this time in Sitapur dt. itself. The full group was to meet on the weekend. Some of its members are still employed in Mahila Samakhya, so this was the only time they'd be free. 5 women are associated full-time with Sangtin. More might be if there were a source of income or funding – right now this is a prime concern of the group. They don't want to take funds to implement programs based on external requirements – plenty of funding agencies are ready to provide funds for HIV/AIDS programs or those wholly on violence against women. But Sangtin is resisting being thus restricted, so far at least.

I spent the rest of the day and Friday at Richa's home, checking e-mail, doing a bit of writing, watching bits of the Test match and eating great food!

March 12th and 13th:


On Saturday, we headed out to Mishrikh, headquarters of Mishrikh block, where the meeting was to be held. At Mishrikh, we first went to Anupam, a Sangtin member's house. Her husband has been suffering from cancer for the past few years and at this time, was in a slightly better condition than before. The problem, of course, has been expenses. The cost of his treatment is gradually sinking the family into debt and Anupam's salary is at present the family's main, perhaps only income. This family's situation is sadly replicated across India, where medical bills have the potential to financially ruin a household.

The meeting was to be in Mishrikh's dharamshala, which provides the group a discounted rate. This time, they had refused to oblige, so we congregated in a backup place, someone's vacant house. Some of the other women – Surbala, Vibha, Reshma, Reena and Kshama turned up and we started chatting. In the meantime, the house owner, who has an NGO of his own, turned up. Realizing I was a visitor from the States, he started talking to me in English, despite the fact that I was replying in Hindi and all the others present were not conversant in English! The travails of being a foreign-return! Of course, the situation couldn't continue – all the women got actively involved in the discussion of whether sex-selective abortions in rural areas (an issue he is working on) are as big a problem as those in urban areas – rural communities often lack access to abortion centers, and more often the money to pay for abortions even when necessary, was their consensus.

Within a while, Surbala negotiated the use of the dharamshala room and we moved there. This was the place where most of the discussions that led to the book 'Sangtin yatra' and following it had taken place, and they all seem to have an emotional attachment to it. Without further ado (and some chai), we got talking. The meeting was to be for 24 hours, from noon to noon. They talked about the problems of attending morning meetings which are still quite common in organizations. Most women have plenty of chores in the morning and then it takes them atleast an hour or two to reach the town from their villages, making them late. “We are just village-level workers – so what do we know about punctuality?” remarked one. There was a lot of anger over how they were treated in the aftermath of the book, especially when compared to how 'city' folk's books are received. “They can write a book about the rape of a village woman or the abuse of another without taking permission and they are praised for their bold work, but let us tell the world how things are in NGOs and they talk about our arrogance,” was said by more than one person.

There was also a lot of talk and laughter about the increase in 'value' of a person if she speaks English. “Paani ko water kahe to...” joked Vibha. The differential treatment of 'ismart' people and the village folk received caustic commentaries. “A smart person, wearing a good sari and speaking English, will find a place everywhere. She can sit on a chair, get whatever she asks for... As for the village women, the mat is their place,” commented Reena. The discussion moved to different forms of discrimination that exist already in villages – who gets to sit on the 'chatai' (mat) and who doesn't. “But how can this kind of discrimination exist in a group that is fighting for social justice?” asked Richa. Yet another topic that received attention was the amount of money spent on planning meetings. Richa had recently participated in NCERT discussions on curriculum. The meetings were organized in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and all attendees were provided accomodation and air fare. If the money spent on these meetings was actually spent at the village level... In village schools, the number of teachers and quality of education was dropping. “Once, there were schools every 10 km or so,” said Anupam. “And then there were reasonable levels of teachers. But now there are schools 2 km apart, but with very few positions filled.” Richa recounted an incident during one meeting, where a young teacher from Madhya Pradesh said that the school fees many of the people in the room were paying for their children equals the salary of a shiksha mitr (teacher's aide). And these salaries are often given a year late. So how can village children even expect a reasonable education? She was told that her question is not appropriate – people have the freedom to pay as much as they want for their children's education and such comparisons should not be made.

A long, intense discussion ensued about corruption and abuses in government and non-governmental agencies. Accounts of practices of jeep drivers who ferry passengers around in Sitapur dt. to a scheme which collected huge amounts of money through application fees and was then cancelled were shared. The women explored the increasing dependance on mass-marketed products, at the cost of home-based and local products and the implications for local economies. They asked me whether corruption exists in the United States and I tried to answer the question as best I could!

From the world to the home front – the events of last June when the book 'Sangtin yatra' was released and the reaction of Mahila Samakhya were recounted at great length. The organization had asked the women to apologize and issue a public statement retracting the points they had made in the book about it's operation. They had refused, and this led to Richa being transferred to Saharanpur and ultimately her resignation. Other Sangtin members continue to work in Mahila Samakhya – they talked about some projects that they have had to work on, even though these were incidental to their perceived role, that of empowerment of women and Dalits. They all agree that Mahila Samakhya played a huge role in their lives – bringing them out of their houses, giving them an income and opening up their world. They have now reached a point where they can see the limitations and failures of this top-down approach and yearn for something that is grassroots in nature and does not limit the issues it tackles. “How can you just work on violence against women and not look at education, income, injustice...? These are all connected.”

“How will Sangtin be funded?” I asked. This was not an easy question to answer for the group. Ideally they would not like to be dependant on anybody for money, but they know it is not possible at this point. Some of them are breadwinners for their families and none have assets that they can live off solely. Reena maintains a women's dairy in her village, which generates a little income. She is hoping that, if and when the volume of milk increases, Sangtin can run a dairy of its own (right now the milk is supplied to Parag dairy for processing, packaging etc.). But that is a distant plan. Another ongoing effort is in 'chikan' (embroidery) work being done by girls in Qutubnagar. One model of income generation through chikan is SEWA, Lucknow, which has its own inhouse designer, shop and so on. Something at that scale requires a lot of capital and is fraught with risks. Something simpler, such as sending finished goods to a few dealers, also requires at least Rs. 50,000/- But they are doing what they can on a small scale right now.

Where funding is concerned, Sangtin has approached Oxfam and it looks likely that a fellowship will be provided. Sangtin has applied in Surbala's name, which is creating problems since she does not have the necessary 'qualifications'. They are more willing to support Richa, even though she is already receiving support from AID! However the money comes, it will be used to support the 4 other Sangtin full-timers – Surbala, Reena, Kshama and Geeta. Sangtin could receive more funding if it agrees to work dictated by funding agencies. It has done that at certain times in the past, and has not had good experiences, and is resisting doing that in the future.

One bit of sad news – the group is closing 2 schools that were operating in Mishrikh block. They had applied to ASHA for funding, but the process is taking so long that they have spent more than Rs. 50,000/- in the meantime. Finally, they decided in their last meeting that, since the funding decision is also uncertain, they could not afford to operate these schools any more – already their cutbacks were beginning to affect the school performance. It was a painful step, but inevitable, in Richa's opinion. I kept thinking about the times we have delayed in project approval. Most of the time, local groups can afford to wait. But once in a while, a group has to cut back and a great program is lost.

The conversation went on, back and forth, as the evening turned to night and chai was followed by dinner. A number of questions were directed to me about the US, the war in Iraq, my personal life and motivations. One of the questions I had posed to the group earlier was, “What is the line between genuine information exchange and exploitation?” Some cases they had told me about were horrific, one being that of a young woman whose nose was cut off, literally, by her father-in-law and his cronies – she had dared to refuse his sexual advances. This woman's case had been taken to the national level in a public tribunal, and yet, to date, she hasn't received any of the support promised to her. The contention of the Sangtin members was that publicity of such cases help advance some women's careers (those who 'bring' them to the national stage), but do not lead to any solution. Therefore, such cases should not be used in such an exhibitionist manner. While agreeing with them about the problems in procedure, I argued that the publication and analysis of such cases was what brought Mahila Samakhya to UP, as well as other groups including AID. Further, it is hard to bring about changes after one public tribunal a number of such efforts are required to bring about long-term changes. The women responded that information had to go out of the villages, but it should go out in good faith. Further, information should also come into villages – there has to be a two-way exchange. In this context, I felt the questions were helping establish AID's and our chapter's credibility in their eyes and cementing this two-way exchange!

On Sunday morning, we continued the discussion with action items – planning my visits for the next few days. I wanted to visit the dairy and this first produced some hesitation. “None of the houses in Reena's village have toilets,” explained Richa. The rest started arguing among themselves on whether it was advisable or not to let me go. “She will shit in the fields – so what?” asked Vibha. A lot of ribbing at my expense followed! Finally, the trip was agreed upon. Further, we decided that Richa and I would go to Khairabad where a carpet industry flourishes. Reshma's brother and family are weavers and the group is seriously contemplating working with this community – in what fashion they still don't know.

We left the marathon meeting at noon – I was to head to Lucknow later that day. We parted with promises to meet again before I left and headed back to the junction in Mishrikh where jeeps were waiting.

I was heading to Lucknow to stay with Madhavi Kuckreja, an ex-AID Saathi. She had invited me to spend time with her, meet some folks in Lucknow and also watch a play on Sunday evening – a play based on a Premchand story performed by IPTA (Indian People's Theater Association). I reached Lucknow 20 minutes before the play was scheduled to start. Madhavi came to receive me in a battered red truck (well, truck as defined in America, not the Indian style, thankfully!) It was a 40th birthday gift from a friend in Orissa, she told me. In the car were Armaan, her son, his friends and last, but not the least, the driver. At the theater, we met visitors from Karvi – Vanangana staff had come to Lucknow to discuss some group work with Madhavi and also to talk about female handpump mechanics in Armaan's school. Huma Khan, another Vanangana associate currently studying in London was also present.

The play, 'Brahm ka swang' was nothing to write home about – it was about 45 minutes long, but since this was the 500th performance, it was preceded by extremely verbose speakers from the IPTA board. This included the chief guest A.K. Hangal, who spent more time talking about Sholay than Premchand, whose writings he admitted he hadn't read! Couldn't he atleast have read one story in preparation, or had one read to him if reading is too much of a strain? But hey, he's a film star!

The crowning glory of the day, at least culinarily, was a visit to Shukla chaat house. I have to say that Lucknow knows its chaat!

Monday, March 21, 2005

Womyn warriors of the middle Himalayas

March 8th:

On Tuesday morning, we were supposed to head out at 8 am, but I ended up chatting with my hosts and their kids and... Anyway, we left at about 9 am and having missed the govt. bus, got into a private one for Shaherphatak. From there, we had to take a jeep to Bhidapani but no one was ready to come unless we hired the entire jeep. There aren't many vehicles in this part of Nainital dt. - towns are few and far between and villagers often have no choice but to walk. The view all along this route is magnificient, with dense mixed forests in bloom and a glimpse of the upper Himalayas, including Nanda Devi.

We reached Bhidapani and the house of Vimla and Mohan, staff members of CAC, at 2 pm. Vimla and Munna, another staff member, were out in the field informing women about the meeting tomorrow. I had discussed with Ritu my feelings on inviting these women all this distance and also my interest in actually going to a village and seeing their forests. But she hadn't been able to contact Mohan and anyway, informing all the 9 villages of this change in plan would take days. They tried to come up with an alternative plan of giving me some 'field' exposure. They had considered having me visit just one area and spending more time there, but there were problems in that approach too, in terms of my being exposed to all areas of their work as well as local feeling that 'someone visited that area and not our area'. The upshot of all this, as Mohan put it, was that I was just being given a trailer – I'd have to spend a few weeks there to see the whole movie! This is of course true with any group, but even more so in the hills.

Anyway, the afternoon plan turned out as follows: a session of washing clothes on their rooftop and then a walk through a nearby forest and a visit to a local shrine. The shrine was actually just an idol under a pipal tree. It was surrounded by trees of all kinds – oak, rhododendron (in glorious red bloom), kaphal and more varieties than I can remember. Mohan recounted how, 3 years ago, this forest was almost bare. Action by villagers, and overwhelmingly the women, succeeded in creating social fencing. The forest was not fully mature yet, so it was forbidden to collect wood from it – Mohan told stories of people being fined, their axes confiscated etc. We passed through forests owned by different villages, some in better shape than others. Enforcement seems to be working better in some places than others.

Back at Mohan's house, Vimla and Munna had returned. Another person had joined us on our walk – a high school physics teacher who lives in a room on the roof. The talk had turned to education and the reverse pyramid that seems to be in place in village schools. As he put it, “One teacher is responsible for all children in classes I to V. Further, (s)he is responsible for building maintenance, miscellaneous other tasks and has to participate in events such as innoculation drives. Where is the time to teach the children?” The result is that when children reach his class, they do not have even the basics in place. “Only recently have they introduced the shiksha mitr (teacher's aide),” said Vimla. “And even that is not enough.” On the plus side, the Bhidapani area school has teachers in attendance – many rural schools have absentee teachers living in Nainital or Almora and siphoning off government money. Where hospitals are concerned, they pointed out the one facility with beds in the area – a yellow building far off in the distance, atleast 10 km away by road. “There is only one person there who does building maintenance,” said the teacher. “And he remembers the days there were actually doctors there.”

The talk turned to agriculture. In this part of the hills, cash crops had been introduced 10-15 years ago – cauliflowers, peas and potatoes(these have been around for longer). No grains are being grown here any longer and some traditional seeds have been lost completely. Where men in the villages were concerned, cash crops brought in more because they could go to the market, sell them and see the money come in. For women, the equation was different. Fodder was no longer part of the harvest and so they had to do more work to collect it. This may have been the reason for the rapid depletion of forest cover in the area in the recent past. Now fodder has to be bought, along with chemical inputs, and in the final tally, the 'old' method of farming may make more economic sense. And not to forget – a lot of subsidies on fertilizers are being withdrawn. “Where you could buy urea for Rs. 1000, it now costs 3-4 thousand,” said Munna. “Now everyone is questioning chemical farming.”

That said, it is not easy to go 'back' to organic farming. The fear exists that, for the first few years, the land has to be repaired and will not yield a good harvest. So most people are reducing chemical inputs gradually, in a 3-5 year plan. Simultaneously, they are learning about vermicomposting and biopesticides made from walnut, timur etc. Some banjar (waste) lands are being revived organically to provide an example, without liabilities if not successful. CAC is also thinking of purchasing small plots in each village where experiments with different techniques can be conducted.

There has been no seed bank program in this area in the past, but now with renewed interest, seeds are being brought in from the Maniagar area. 4-5 women have distributed these among themselves and are working to increase them.

According to the staff, discrimination against Dalits is not so high here – there are common hamlets and Naulas (water sources). Therefore their work has been with a mixed group of women. There are more health problems in this area, but the women are also more mobilized and tough. They have been able to affect changes in their schools and PHCs and of course on the forest issue.

It being Mahashivaratri, Ritu requested pumpkin sabzi with hemp seeds, a seasonal speciality. Mohan and Vimla obliged and the result was delicious. If hemp seeds are available in the US, I have a new recipe on my hands. Anybody listening?? :)

March 9th:

Based on the turnout of women 2 days ago, we expected about 10 attendees. More than 25 women turned up. They were from a number of villages – Chhoti Nai, Chak Dalar, Chama... Mohan asked the women to suggest a village-maintained forest I could visit. This created a little discord for a while because each group wanted me to visit their village! Finally they decided that Chak Dalar would be suitable.

The women talked about their vigilance efforts to maintain the forests. All violations such as tree cutting are reported to the Panchayat and the perpetrator is fined and other penalties imposed. The women use dry wood, fruits and other produce from the forests. The health of the forests has had a positive impact on their lives – this they knew would happen at the outset. But CAC facilitated formation of groups, conducted workshops to put their problems in perspective etc. As one woman put it, “Bolna sikha diya” - they taught us to speak.

I asked about cash crops and seed availability – the women complained about pests in seeds obtained from the market. They also complained about lower prices for caulflowers, peas and potatoes in the market and the increased cost of production. They sounded open to the idea of farming with local inputs, especially in banjar lands, and the revival of local grains.

What they sounded most enthusiastic about was their anti-alcohol campaign. In this, they have not involved CAC – in fact, they have told the staff to stay out of the picture because the fight is theirs' and should stay local. In a recent incident, they broke into a liquor store and destroyed all the liquor in it. A Rs. 8000/- fine was levied on them but they refused to pay up and continued fighting. Finally the store was closed, with support from the zilla (district) panchayat resulting in the fine demand being withdrawn. During this struggle, one woman's husband demanded she not leave the house to join the protest. She refused, shrugged of his hand and left. Looking at the mild CAC staff (with the exception of Vimla), one had to believe that the women had this courage in them waiting to express itself.

Other activities they have been involved in include getting a man arrested for molestation, intervening with ANM's for drops etc. and demanding good teaching from their local school. The results were good in Nai last year, they told me. One issue that was concerning them and which they planned to work on was the demand for 4 months of school fees plus computer fees in a lump sum. “This is too much for us,” said one woman. They have had a meeting with their Pradhan and have written to the school – follow-up actions were discussed.
The focus of attention turned to me and the women started asking all kinds of questions about America. The one question that invariably comes up is: 'How much does it cost to get there?' After many other questions, they asked me if there are cows and buffaloes in the US. I told them about conventional dairies - how cows are kept caged in, fed food and antibiotics and milked through a machine. They were horrified and everyone started talking about how important it was to treat cows and buffaloes with respect and reverence. They told me that I had to do something about the ill-treatment of cows - 'Go, fight for their wellbeing'!

We (about 14 women) then left by jeep to Nai from where we were to walk to Chak Dalar. As we neared Nai and people came into view, one woman started the slogan, “Juya sharaab band karo” - Stop gambling and alcohol – at the top of her voice. We all joined in and literally stopped people in their tracks! Sara was with us during all this and I had a great time translating all the action for her. She asked if these women would be considered radicals in India. What say? I told her they were not radical in the least, just vocal!

In Nai, we got down and headed towards Chak Dalar and their forest. In the forest, the women talked about how bare it was before their activism. They talked about some of the problems they were still having with neighboring villages and their efforts to educate them. The last house we passed and its inhabitants received harsh words from the women – it seems they have some sheep that have been breaking branches and being generally destructive. The sheep owners were warned that if they didn't monitor their sheep, they could be confiscated!

We walked up the slope into a vista of red – the buraansh was in glorious bloom. Another overwhelming education session ensued with the women pointing out trees and their products, the medicinal values of various plants and grasses and other asides. A certain kind of grass stings like mad if you touch with your bare hands, but is extremely tasty and nutritious when cooked – you just have to know how to cut it – and so on. One old lady who joined the group, and was the only one still wearing traditional Kumaoni garb, commanded me to visit in May-June when a whole lot of fruits are ripe and ready to pick. She also kept teasing Ritu. The village women, and CAC staff, seem to have a very comfortable, non-reverential relationship with her – good to see.

The forest here was a marked contrast to the one near Parkhola. Sara commented on the quality of the soil here – loamy as opposed to sandy – and the coolness of the forest. In the monsoon, one woman commented, the forest is twice as green and lush. I walked away from the village, after being plied with chai as is always the case, with a strong wish for the continued strength and determination of this band of women.

Since it was raining, we decided that I should leave an hour earlier, so the driver and I left at 4 pm. On the way, we picked up a tourist on her way back to Nainital after visiting Mukteswar. She complained about what a dirty town Nainital was. Having not visited it myself, I couldn't comment, but kept thinking what a different trip I had. I had to keep a lid on my tongue to prevent giving her a spiel. She said she was from Bombay – Santacruz – but had more of an accent than I. Help! Spare me from show-off Mumbaikars :)

Pining for the Himalayas

March 5th:

Another comparatively relaxing day. I spent some hours searching for pure wool, in vain, and was told that there is no market for it any longer. I also discussed the Himachal trip with Devinder Sharma – for him, Shivbari and Deri Baba are models of biodiversity protection through religion. But he agreed that such systems cannot be set up from the outside and need to be part of local folklore or locally influenced. We also talked about the follow-up of the GEAC meeting. Based on the report on the failure of Bt cotton by CSA, they deferred the decision on that strain of cotton. But in the meantime, other strains of Bt cotton were approved for use in the North!

In the meantime, NDTV had covered the event and included a commentary from Devinder-ji in a clip, which they ran throughout the day.

March 6th:

I took the Ranikhet express overnight and arrived in Haldwani, from where I had to take a shared taxi to Almora. Ritu Sogani, whose group I had to meet, had advised me to sit in the front and concentrate on the road to reduce nausea. I thought she was exaggerating, but have to say in hindsight that it was a little dizzying, especially because of the speed of the Tata Sumo we were in. Anyway, reached Almora safe and sound and met up with Ritu.

Almora is the only hill-station not 'discovered' by the British during their summer sojourns in the hills. I guess that means it's got more crooked lanes than the rest! Since I didn't go to Nainital and just passed through Bhimtal, I can't say for sure. But wow, what climbs. With Ritu's help, I managed to get my luggage to the house of Sunil and family, my hosts in Almora. Ritu lives in a little room with a shared bathroom, so for weak people from the 'plains' like me, this was the abode of choice.

In Sunil's house, we met up with 2 Americans, students from Michigan State University. MSU has a study abroad program with Lady Irwin college in Delhi, which links them to Buniyaad/CAC and Chirag, another group in Uttaranchal. The two, Greg and Sara, were to write papers on the prevalance and use of Kumaoni language and sustainable agriculture in the region respectively. They were having a great time, the only handicap being their inability to speak Hindi or Kumaoni, which meant that either Ritu or another English-speaking person had to be with them for any meaningful interaction. Later, though, some folks in the group did tell me how some students did manage to communicate inspite of the language barrier and form friendships.

Buniyaad, CAC and Adhaar were formed in the aftermath of Sahyog leaving Uttaranchal. Sahyog is based in Lucknow and works primarily on health issues. It had come out with a report on HIV/AIDS in the region, which drew furor locally and resulted in some members of Sahyog, including Abhijit and Vasundhara, being arrested for distributing 'obscene' literature. When Sahyog left, some of its staff stayed back in Uttaranchal and formed new groups. Buniyaad works in Almora dt., CAC in Nainital dt. and Adhaar is a documentation group working with both. However, with the paperwork and processes associated with FCRA approval, they have decided to use only the name CAC. About 6 people were receiving fellowships from Sahyog that will be expiring this month and thus fundraising and applying for grants is occupying a lot of their time.

In the meantime, we headed out to one of their field areas. To get there, we took a jeep to Maniagar (where their field office is located) and then walked down to Parkhola village, a walk of about 3 km, almost all of it downhill. The Americans were sure-footed even with their backpacks, and of course the locals could go down blindfolded. I provided the comic relief! As we were descending, we could hear music in the distance – a baraat (marriage procession) was heading to a nearby village. Ritu recounted a recent incident where baraat revellers were beaten up by the host village and thrown out for excessive drinking and misbehaving. The cool mountain air must have revived them quickly because they soon went back hungry and repentant!

Parkhola is a little hamlet (little by 'plains' standards) consisting of about 18 families. It is a fully Dalit village – CAC's work in Almora dt. has been principally with Dalit families. Khola also has a seed bank, which we were to visit. Jagdish, one of CAC's staff members, lives in Khola and we were put up at his house. The house offered a beautiful vista of terraced fields and a few Reserve Forests. In this part of Uttaranchal, none of the forests are under the control of people through Van Panchayats – they are all managed by the Forest department. And they are almost completely pine forests. Jagdish and others talked about the problems with pine – how it does not allow other trees to flourish because it grows so quickly and sucks up all the resources, how pine flares up easily leading to increased forest fires (the villagers have had to put out a fire or 2 without any help from the Forest dept.) and how it is generally hotter in pine forests than mixed ones. The villagers in the area do want to help maintain the forests, but not unless they can also use them. Therefore, the Maniagar (Almora) group has not been able to do significant work on this issue.

The Seed Bank is another matter altogether – it's housed in one room of a villager's house and serves Khola and 7 neighboring villages. It was opened 15 months ago and its modus operandi is set by a seed bank committee that meets every 3 months. Seed needs and availability are discussed and an effort is made to obtain seeds that are presently not available in the bank. Almost 100 types of seeds, all of them local varieties, are collected and, at present, the seed bank has about 300 kg (3 quintals) of seeds. Since its capacity is only half that, some of the seeds are being stored in seed committee members' houses. The room housing the seeds was quite neat and Sara remarked that the last time she had visited there, it was a mess. It seems there was a rat infestation – folks showed me plastic containers that the rats had bitten through to get at the seeds inside! Presently, the seed bank does not have enough money to operate a full-time caretaker, so the present caretaker looks after it along with his other tasks. “Chuha bhagaane ke liye bhi samay chahiye,” he said – 'I need time to chase the rats'!

“Why is this seed bank necessary?” was a question in many AIDers' minds and I put it to the mixed group assembled in the little room. The answer was not quite what I expected. It seems that traditional seeds are still very much prevalent in this area – there was no need to 'revive' the practice. Instead, there is a caste-based problem. The upper castes have bigger land holdings and grain reserves – therefore they were the traditional providers of seeds. But they would provide or not provide seeds on their whims or ask the requestor to clean their house or provide other such services in addition to the cost of seeds. “Sometimes they say that this is such-and-such day and they cannot touch seeds,” said the caretaker. “Other times, they provide bad seeds and half to three-fourth of the crop fails.” The humiliation of such events was clear in the men's voices. The women didn't speak much, but when they did, it was their wasted efforts and frustrations that came through. I had thought that caste-based discrimination was less here than in the plains. “Well, people don't get killed here,” replied Jagdish. “ But there are still all these things which build up in our psyche.”

The next question was about the benefits of traditional grains. Here, people were ready with a host of answers – apparently they had been thinking of this issue for a very long time. The health benefits of various grains were enumerated and some of the nutritive values expounded on. Greg and Sara commented that, so far, they had only been fed wheat and white rice, both of which are obtained from the market. It emerged that self-sufficiency in local grains had not been obtained – local grains provide food for maybe 4-6 months of the year. The rest of the time, grains are obtained from the PDS (Public Distribution System). There is no market for local grains in the towns, only within villages. Also, every year, the group has been selling produce in the Nature Bazaar organized in Delhi. They promised to feed us rotis made of 'Madua' and traditional brown rice – I think there was a little bit of hesitancy of using these grains for us city and foreign folk! Where 'organic' practices are concerned, with traditional varieties, there is little needs for pesticides anyway. Most people use cowdung in their fields. Also, a few have learnt vermicomposting and are applying compost as well. As Ritu put it, there is no need to 'educate' people about the value of these methods.

Along with farming and seed maintenance, the caretaker is also a vaid (local healer). He is illiterate, but has an extended knowledge of medicinal herbs. One of the diseases he has been most successful in treating is jaundice – Hepatitis A. He said he gets about 100 cases every year. He does not ask for any fees, though sometimes people do give him something. “They usually come to me when they've tried everything else,” he said. “By that time, they have spent so much on their treatment. Or they are extremely poor. If I asked them for fees, they would not be able to pay. Then how can I be a healer?” He does not openly practice his trade because he hasn't passed a mandatory exam for vaids in Uttaranchal. We talked about the health conditions in the area – the nearest place with any kind of 'modern' facilities is Panvanola, a half hour walk away. Beyond that, the nearest hospital is in Almora. Therefore, there is a high reliance on local knowledge. Childbirths are attended by the village women – in the event of complications, chances of death are high. On the positive, action by local women has improved the services of health center ANM's. Now, if they do not turn up for their regular duties such as vaccinations, the women complain and even land up at their houses! The women in the area have also started making 2 herbal medicines – one for treating white discharge in women and the other, an oil, for treating aches and pains. These are currently sold locally or in the Nature Bazaar and the women would like to exchange info and prepare more such medicines.

Later, we met with Mithilesh, Harish and Raju of the theater group 'Dhad'. This group was set up and trained on social issues in the Sahyog days and continues to perform in the area. They use the Forum theater method, which tries to elicit answers from the audience. They have done plays on people's knowledge, health and environment, women's participation in Panchayati Raj, caste etc. All plays are performed in Kumaoni and use local styles such as Baul and Ramol. They were extremely entertaining and talked about their experiences at the World Social Forum, where on the first day they were lost in a morass of English. They went to listen to a talk, but unfortunately it was completely in English. Since they were in there with no easy way to the exit, they pretended to understand the lecture and even took faux notes! But the next day, they had a lot of fun with the other theater groups. “There, language is no barrier,” said Harish.

March 7th:

On Monday, we returned to Maniagar and went to the field office, where women from other villages in the area were expected to congregrate. Having seen how much time is spent on traveling here, I realized that these women would end up losing an entire day's work or wages, especially hard during the planting season. It seems Ritu had planned this trip based on earlier visitors' requirements and I hadn't provided her enough inputs, content to leave trip planning to her. In retrospect, I feel I should have gone to more villages and not inconvenienced people as much. On the flip side, a visitor seems to be a big thing for this as well as other such groups. So, short of staying there a month, there may not be an easy way to avoid creating a 'tamasha'!

About 7-8 women turned up. They talked further about the seed bank and its advantages. On prodding from Kiran, a staff member, they started talking about an anti-alcohol campaign they had carried out a few years ago. A bhatti (country alcohol shop) owner refused to close his shop and sat down in front of it. Four women got together, lifted him out of the way and proceeded to close the shop. The owner then filed complaints against the husbands of the women (he was too embarrassed to name the women!) and got them arrested and sent to the jail in Almora. The women protested there and the dharna went on for 3 months, after which they got justice, with the DM personally taking an interest in the matter.

The women from Thola also talked about the problems in their Van Panchayat. Their forest is insufficient for their needs, so they have realized the need to protect it and allow it to grow. But the Sarpanch has been cutting down trees on the sly. They complained to the Tehsil, demanding an investigation. Along with people like the Sarpanch, some villagers have also continued to cut down trees without thinking about the future. They have started discussions with these villages and are hoping to form a separate forest with 7-8 other villages genuinely interested in protecting the trees. They talked about the problems of soil erosion and destruction of farms and various ways of preventing them, including strong walls and planting of trees. We ended the meeting with the women singing beautiful Kumaoni songs (not without a lot of coercion beforehand!)

We left Maniagar for Almora. All along the way, here and there, one could notice the depradations of humankind – washed out slopes, bare mountains and in places with greenery, the never-ending pine trees.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Just breathe

March 3rd-4th:

Wednesday brought me to Una dt., Himachal Pradesh. Devinder Sharma's family hails from Nari, a village near Una, and his father, Bauji, still has a house there. Bauji runs a group EEG (Energy and Environment Group) there, which he started after his retirement from the army some 20 years ago. The group manages Self-Help Groups (SHG's) and a host of other things that I got to learn of during my stay. Bauji is 77 years young and an energetic advocate of Pranayama, a form of yoga that involves a lot of breathing and other exercises.

The first place we went to was Deri Baba Mandir, a temple in Nari. This temple was established about 500 years ago by a Maharaj-ji and has had a continuous line of priests (called Maharaj) who run it. It has a rich tradition of community volunteering – women from neighboring villages come in daily to clean the place and cook. A 'langar' or meal is offered in this temple as in gurdwaras. The unique feature of this langar is that it is 'akhand langar' or offered all the time. “No one is ever turned away from here hungry,” said an old man who volunteers there. Another tradition exists – that of offering the first harvest, be it wheat or vegetables, to the temple. This also helps maintain the langar. In the courtyard is an intertwined network of five peepal trees – 'panch peepal'. Legend is that 5 mahatmas had given up their lives there and thus the trees had sprung up. It is believed that circling the tree can cure people of a number of illnesses, even snakebite.

On leaving the temple, we visited a village library, one of 5 in the area, setup with help from the Rajiv Gandhi foundation. The library has books and receives newspapers and magazines. The latter, at least, are read by a wide range of people.

From there, we went to Shivbari, a Shiva temple in the area. Legend has it that the temple was built by Dronacharya of Mahabharata fame. The temple is surrounded by a thick forest for atleast a mile around. Wood is cut in this sacred grove only for cremations or for a temple puja. Local belief is that cutting it for any other purpose will harm the violator. Either his/her house will burn down or another such misfortune. According to the temple priest, this belief has kept the grove intact for centuries. This grove was the primary reason Devinder-ji wanted me to visit Una – to see what local beliefs can do for protection of biodiversity. Nice point, but I think this kind of situation, as well as the one at Deri Baba, cannot be easily replicated and should just be admired from afar.

Next, we went to the Community Hospital in Daulatpur, where Bauji is involved in a biowaste disposal scheme. One of his staff members, Bina, took me around and explained the system. Different color dustbins have been set up in the wards, clinics and operating rooms for different kinds of waste – needles and other sharp devices, plastics and biodegradable waste. The plastics, needles etc. are disinfected with bleaching powder and sold off to waste processing units. The biodegradable waste, which includes body parts - placentas, blood, teeth – and cotton etc. are dumped into composting pits. A few months later, the pits are emptied of the compost and filled again. This system as brought a radical change in the waste disposal system of the hospital – as the other doctors informed me, this system of waste disposal is mandated in Himachal Pradesh, but very few hospitals follow it. In fact, they are so happy with the setup that they will be paying Bina a salary so that she stays on at the hospital permanently.

Finally, in the evening, I met girls of a class that meets in one of the rooms in Bauji's house every day. These girls, in the age group 16-20, are being taught cooking, embroidery, painting and other domestic skills. The program is being funded by the Maharaj of Deri Baba Mandir. The Maharaj is highly supportive of Bauji's work and has asked him to start something new. Bauji thought about that all evening. He finally decided to start something for the senior citizens in the community - 'Buzurgon ke liye'. The program would be 6 months long, include a class of Pranayama and discussion of current affairs etc. Then all the attendees would be given a glass of milk.

Friday was a day of extreme relaxation, except for the morning. A women's day celebration was being organized in Una and Bauji suggested that I go, saying that it would be non-political. What he didn't tell me was that it was being organized by the Women's Wing of the BJP! The other staff members he asked to go grumbled that they were going to waste an entire day. But they stayed on. I slipped out at the earliest opportunity – anyway, the festivities were over an hour late as the chief guest hadn't yet arrived from Shimla. Bauji, waiting at an STD booth nearby, was scolded by one of his staff for accepting the invitation when he should have realized that the event would be political! We headed back to his house.

Later in the evening, Bauji said that the activities of EEG were being ramped down as there was no one to take his place at the head of the organization. Both his sons were established in Delhi and he hadn't found anyone with sufficient initiative in the area. Sad, but not tragic, given the relative well-being of the community. Of course, there are always things that need to be done, and most likely other groups will start working in the area, if they haven't already. Also, the house will possibly continue to be used for various community activities, if the past 2 days were any indication.

Seeds of disaster, seeds of hope

March 2nd:

This day was spent in Delhi, the center of power, the land of movers and shakers etc. etc. I was to meet Devinder Sharma, a well-known expert on GATT, WTO and agricultural issues. Due to a delayed train, I landed up in his house at an earthly time (unfortunately, my brother-in-law and his wife couldn't have gotten much sleep in Babina). Devinder-ji and his wife, Meeta-ji provided hospitality in true Punjabi style. We discussed various issues he is involved in, WTO policies and the newly passed Seed Act etc. The Seed Act was passed as an Ordinance along with TRIPS and is, to put it mildly, atrocious. According to it, anyone in possession of seeds not registered with the Government is in violation of the Law. The main implication of this Act is that farmers will no longer be able to legally save seeds from their last harvest or barter among themselves. They will be forced to buy seeds from the market, incurring not only high costs but also the risk of ending up with spurious seeds.

In the meantime, a conference on Food security organized by Navdanya was in progress. I decided to go and attend the second day's session. Revathi and Nammalvar-ji were also going to be present. The conference was in the Constitution Club near Connaught Place. About 150 people seemed to be present. Among other talks, there was one by a Greenpeace activist, a brief speech by an anti-Coke village activist from Plachimada, Kerala and an impassioned diatribe against those who are destroying fishermen's livelioods by Fr. Thomas Kocherry from NFF (National Fishworkers Forum). Later, I talked with and was talked to by a number of people from various groups in and around Delhi. I also met Nammalvar-ji, an old bearded gentleman who could easily be mistaken for a 'sadhu'. The display at the conference included a list of farmers who have committed suicide in the last few years – a grim reminder of the tough times Indian farmers are going through.

In the afternoon, I met Mr. John and Pallavi of CEC (Center for Education and Co-ordination) along with Devinder Sharma. CEC is a networking group that advocates for Labor rights. They are fighting to include a social clause in the WTO and to have labor rights determined individually during Trade Agreements. They also study various trade documents to understand the ramifications for Labor groups. They have been co-ordinating with NFF and working with tea and bamboo workers. They have also been working on the issue of occupational health for sewage workers and studying the effectiveness of child labor laws

The meeting was to plan activities during the Global Week of Action, a week-long series of events to focus attention on the WTO and International trade and its effects on India. 19 states and 20 sectors (areas of work) had been mobilized at this point. Separate activities were being planned for Farmers' groups. Another effort was to organize a debate with G-20 members before their meeting in New Delhi on March 18th. Overall, the idea seemed to be to keep government and media attention on these issues.

Finally, in the evening, I met Dr. Ramoo, director of CSA. He had presented a report on the failure of Bt cotton in Andhra during the Food Security Conference. He mentioned some amazing statistics – the total pesticide use in Warangal and Guntur dts. in Andhra is equal or more than that in Punjab and Haryana combined! Thus, he said, fighting against pesticide use in these areas is a burning need. The Bt cotton report had also brought out something interesting – records had been manipulated to show success for the crop in outright contrast to the evidence of the fields. A 1 had been converted into a 7, 2 into a 4 and so on. Greenpeace had managed to document this evidence and had come out with a film that was being released the next day. All this evidence was also being presented to GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee). “This is the way we have to work,” commented Devinder-ji. “ Evidence from the field has to brought forward, systematically documented and shown to as many people as possible.”

The life in the army, they say is very fine...

Feb 27th:

The first 24 hour train journey of my trip, on Dakshin Express. I decided to use trains for all my traveling on this trip to keep down costs and because they are generally quite convenient. At any rate, it is the only way to reach Babina, where my brother-in-law, his wife and kid live - Dwiji's brother is a major in the army and is stationed in a cantonment there.

Dakshin Express is a 'Janata' train, with people getting on and off at all the little stations along the way. This is one of the few trains that stops at Babina, a small village near Jhansi, so I guess I made a good choice taking it. At Nagpur, another passenger going to Babina boarded the train. This lady was to stay with her pregnant daughter-in-law. Both her son and daughter-in-law are in the military – 'aunty' happily informed me that theirs' is a love marriage. She also gave me full details about her daughters, one of who married a Maharashtrian (they are from Bhopal). This has to be the solution to caste-based divisions in India – more inter-caste marriages! Other passengers included a newly minted TCS employee who talked about how hard it was to get leave - “They (managers) grumble for days even after granting it” and a junior college principal enjoying her last days of freedom before the 'imprisonment' imposed during the approaching public exams.

Feb 28th – Mar 1st:

These 2 days were supposed to be a peaceful interlude in my hectic trip and would have been, except for one tiny factor – my nephew Ammu (Amarthya)! The kid is not yet 7 months, but is crawling, standing up with assistance and already experiencing insomnia. Plus of course everything ends up in his mouth. His parents are sleep deprived and are hoping he'll grow up and sleep normal hours. But then he'll start to talk...

I also attended a party hosted by the unit in honor of a former commander-in-charge and got to view the unit's history displayed in their mess. It's complicated, since most of it was under the British, against rulers like Tipu Sultan and surely against the Indian people. On the positive side, atleast the artefacts from that era are in India and not in some European or American museum...

I was told that the army is not as formal today as it was in decades past and can only say that I was glad of that. The career choice for Army wives is just one, teaching, if they want to stay in the cantonment and this was the topic of discussion for a long time. The lifestyle reminded me of other cloistered communities, such as immigrant ones, and the unique societal politics at play there. Thankfully Rekha, my sister-in-law, is goodhearted and generally likes the army life. And wants to be a teacher eventually!


Learning and unlearning

Feb 25th:

My first day in Hyderabad – from the muggy heat of Chennai to the sweltering heat of the Deccan Plateau. Yes, by this point, I was ready to trade in the heat. After meeting my some of my uncles, aunts and cousins, I met up with Mr. Sreesailam from the Auromira Trust. This group has been set up recently by Mr. Srinivas Mulugu (who was, at that time in the US) to provide HIV/AIDS counselling for at-risk populations. The group decided to start work in the Jeedimetla area, phase 3. A number of small industries are based there and the employees are mainly migrants from other parts of Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states. Since these people stay away from their families and have little knowledge of HIV/AIDS, they are considered a high-risk population. In fact, according to Mr Sreesailam, Andhra Pradesh is 2nd in the country in HIV infections. Among the 192 people who have gotten tested after their intervention, 4 were confirmed HIV cases.

Mr. Sreesailam and the staff of 4 (which includes an accountant) have established a system of outreach in the area. They first send out letters to the management of industries in the area, requesting their permission to conduct an introductory session. On receiving permission, they hold a 1 hour introductory session where they talk about STDs and HIV/AIDS, how they are transmitted, their symptoms etc. They try to engage the audience, but in the first session, do not get much responses because of the nature of the discussion. I attended one such session with about 10 male workers in a wire making factory. They received the information with giggles and jokes. The staff said later that they would continue to meet these employees, maybe during their lunch break, in smaller groups or individually to form better contacts and provide more information. Sometimes people turn up at their office by themselves. They are then provided counselling and, if necessary, taken for testing etc.

A few employees at each site are provided further training so that they can become on-site resources. They also let Auromira know when they have new employees, when a situation crops up etc. The staff also visits teashops to talk to their clientele, which include bus and auto drivers, workers from units tey haven't visited etc. 2 boxes with condoms have been installed in the Jeedimetla area. So far, management reaction has been generally positive – the office space itself was donated by the Jeedimetla industries association. Some factory owners are a little suspicious, especially if their workers have to go off-site for any reason. In other places, there are unhealthy management-worker relations where women are coerced into having sex. These are problems the Auromira staff thinks it can tackle by advocacy.

In this age of the continuing spotlight on AIDS, are there people who still need this information, I asked. Yes, I was told – people might see spots on TV but not appreciate what they talk about. Also, there is a lot of fear about the issue. They talked about the case of a bank manager who had committed suicide recently after testing positive. “He didn't receive any couselling,” they said. “No wonder he lost hope.”

In the evening, I visited CSA (Center for Sustainable Agriculture), a group working in various dryland areas throughout Andhra Pradesh to reduce pesticide consumption. Mr. Dharmendra and Mr. Rajashekhar, 2 members of the group talked about their work in the past 15 years to reduce pesticide consumption for cotton, castor and groundnut in particular. In the past 15 years, they have worked on Integrated Pest Management, an approach that uses mixed cropping, intervention in the larval stage, herbal pest repellents etc. to control the pest population. They have also been campaigning against spurious seeds and advocating the use of biomass and vermicompost. Local farmers' networks have been formed to exchange information and spread the word about organic pesticides. As the staff put it, commercial insecticides cost Rs. 6000-7000/acre while organic insecticides cost less than Rs. 1200. Further, these preparations yield an income to the landless poor.

Their work with villagers and 15 other NGO's has resulted in one village, Punukula, becoming completely pesticide-free. In fact, the Panchayat passed a resolution to not use pesticides in the village. 25 other villages have become 60% pesticide-free – equivalent to about 2000 acres. Best of all, the government has been influenced to 'go organic'. It has asked CSA to work in about 500 villages through its 'Velugu' project, funded by the World Bank.

So far, CSA has not been able to make such a breakthrough with fertilizers, but they have increased the use of biomass and vermicompost. They have also started working on consumer awareness and will be launching the 'Know your Food' Campaign in Hyderabad.

One of their biggest concerns is how to increase income for farmers. “A cotton farmer with 2 acres earns about Rs. 1000 a year,” Rajashekhar said. “How can he survive?” For them personally, it has been a learning experience. “We have had to unlearn everything we were taught in college,” said Dharmendra.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Every worm has its day

Feb 23rd:

Having spent most of the previous day traveling, I spent Wednesday at the AID office, again contributing very little but hearing about their weekend camp, which was a huge success. One major issue which will concern AID and other groups working with coastal communities after the tsunami is the implementation of CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) rules. According to an internal document circulated by the Special Relief Commissioner to District Collectors, the government has decided to relocate fishing communities beyond 500m from the sea, using 'whatever methods' necessary. But hotels and resorts will be allowed to occupy this space. One does not need too much imagination to foresee what will happen next. During the camp, AID staff and volunteers presented a play on this issue and discussed the likelihood of a tsunami attacking this coast again. They think that enough interest has been generated and new information provided to the volunteers, many of whom requested the team to visit each of their villages and spread this message. The AID office was busy preparing pamphlets about the issue and distributing them directly or through other groups such as NESA.

In the evening, I met with Dr. Sultan Ismail, a professor of Agriculture and an expert in vermicology. By this time, I'd begun to realize that there are factions in the organic farming community in Tamilnadu. Dr. Ismail may be one person who gets along with almost everyone. He personally was not happy with those he called the 'younger generation' – he thought they were too rigid in their definitions and unaccepting of other people's work. “The need of the hour is to encourage each other's work, not condemn it,” he said. I asked him if he thought organic farming was viable - “Not while the government continues to subsidize fertilizers and genetically modified seeds,” he said. But he was still hopeful that things are changing – at least words like vermicomposting were in people's vocabulary. He works in the Agricultural department at New College and thinks that training students to rediscover the science in our traditional methods of farming was a crucial step in countering the advance of so-called biotechnology.

Organic farming in action

Feb 21st:

The best day of my trip so far! We headed out by bus to Sathyamangalam in Erode dt., where a number of farms have become organic. This is where Nammalvar-ji first started working after quitting his government job. A few successful experiments and satisfied farmers provided the impetus for a great many others to change their practices.

We first met up with Mr. Kumar, an organic farmer who has recently become a trainer. He had hired a car to take us around the area to see various practices. We first toured his farm. He has 7 acres under cultivation and plenty of water, but is moving in the direction of using less and less of it. He is a bit of a poet and used eloquent language to describe how he is trying to revive and rejuvenate the earth so that it can take care of the plants under cultivation by itself. In some fields, he uses various mixtures of cowdung, cow urine, jaggery, coconut milk etc. as fertilizer. In others, he uses green manure – in a field of banana trees, the trees were nearly buried under a crop of 'daincha'. The trees were growing better than those in a neighboring field which were receiving mulch and organic solutions. Mr. Kumar has vermicomposting pits where cow slurry (the leftover product after biogas generation) and organic matter is deposited. A handful of worms are enough to start the process of manure generation. He showed me some of the compost deposited under a tree. It smelt like the earth does after the first rains – what we typically call 'bheegi mitti ki khusboo'. “Ah, but this is not the smell of mud. It is the smell of life – of earthworms, micro-organisms and everything that thrives in the soil. We just have to let them live.”

Mr. Kumar also showed us his paddy nurseries. In his style of planting, based on the Madagascar method, only 2 kg. of rice seeds are sufficient for one acre of a paddy field (conventional methods require at least 10 times that). The saplings were very lightly watered. He pulled one out to show us its roots and the number of processes formed. In typical paddy cultivation, he said, the roots are flooded and do not develop this good a network of roots. Therefore, they are weak and vulnerable from the start. Nearby, he had planted some saplings. They were about a foot apart and lightly flooded, with plenty of organic manure in the field. The water was bubbling and green due to the presence of earthworms and algae. “This is all the nourishment I'll give this field,” he declared. “Even watering will be once a week after the ground starts drying up. The crop doesn't need more.”

Every ten feet, he would stop to show us another plant variety to talk about its nutritional and medicinal value. This one was good for treating urinary tract infections, that one for blood pressure and so on. His field has a green fence, with coconut and drumstick trees and creepers galore. In each of his plots, he has at least 2 varieties of plants growing together – in his opinion, mixed cropping is the best method of pest control. Also, none of the organic material in his farm is thrown out – it is all dumped in the fields to reduce evaporation and provide the next layer of mulch. We ended the visit with a delicious lunch, in which everything except the salt was homegrown.

The visit ended on a bittersweet note – with the news that a new railway line is to be laid out, bisecting Mr. Kumar's field. The government will purchase one acre of his land at a greatly reduced price – just one-sixth of their assessed value, which is again one-sixteenth the market value. And of course all of his field will be adversely affected by the noise and pollution. He plans to close shop and start off somewhere new, and is remarkably cheerful about his changed circumstances. “This place is getting too 'developed' – I had to move out anyway!” he says.

We next headed to Mr. Nagaraj's fields. Mr. Nagaraj has about 10 acres and practices raised-bed harvesting in a portion of his field. Here plants are grown on a layer of compost generated the year before while new mulch is deposited in between rows of plants. Watering is done on the mulch, in every alternate row since the loss of moisture is so low. Mr. Nagaraj had a different setup for vermicomposting – instead of pits, he had piles of slurry and organic matter (wood, straw, leaves etc.) covered by gunny (jute) bags. These piles are watered once in a while – too much moisture drives the earthworms away.

Another novel setup in Mr. Nagaraj's field was the mother-daughter banana trees. Here, instead of cutting down all the smaller trees near the banana tree, he allows them to grow. So, around each tree is a ring of younger trees 4,8 and 12 months younger. After the banana harvest is collected, the mother tree is cut and the remainder of the trunk left in place. As Revathi put it, the nutrients from the mother tree flow to the daughter tree. As in Mr. Kumar's farm, all the stem, leaves etc. are spread in the field to generate mulch – all that is not used for vermicomposting, that is. In this system, bananas can be harvested every 4 months instead of every 10 as in conventional practice. The bananas were also more healthy and tasty – especially the red variety, of which I happily consumed 3-4.

The third farm we visited was Mr. Appaswamy's, who has about 3 acres. The main thing to admire here was his watering system for vermicomposting, which consisted of tubes with holes to generate a fine spray, a system he had built himself. He used techniques similar to Mr. Nagaraj’s for his bananas.

The fourth farm was very different, in a much drier part of Erode. This is being farmed by a manager – the owner lives in a nearby town and is a textile trader. The farm consists of 65 acres of dry, sandy terrain and was purchased at Rs. 10,000/acre (in comparison, Mr. Kumar's farmland could fetch Rs. 16,00,000/acre). A number of trees were planted here – chikoo, amla (gooseberry), mango, jackfruit etc. The farmer does not do any composting – he simply mixes water with cow urine and dung and waters the trees with this mixture once or twice a week. A thick layer of mulch has been deposited around each tree. The trees are lush and healthy in a region filled with scrub and yield a bountiful produce. In fact, the value of the land has increased five-fold in the last 4 years. Since a network of tubes has been set up for the entire process, the manager has only to turn the taps, do routine maintenance and harvest the crop - “This is do-nothing farming,” he said!

Finally, we visited a farm that is turning organic – this 35 acre farm had been bought recently by Mr. Chezhiyan, a young MBA graduate. Mr. Chezhiyan has rows of coconut, cocoa and areca nut, all planted alternately. He has designed a sprinkler system which simulates natural rainfall and thereby cut his water consumption to a fourth of his previous usage. A lush undergrowth has developed and the place feels like a forest. Mr. Chezhiyan plans to grow ginger and turmeric in the areas between the rows of trees. His sugarcane fields are still conventionally farmed and he plans to shift gradually – the transition has not been uniformly smooth and he has loans to pay off.

On the way back to Sathyamangalam, Revathi and Kumar, who had accompanied us, got into an argument over whether the last farm we saw could ever be considered truly organic. The varieties of plants and trees are non-local and the crop will be completely commercial – therefore, was it following organic principles? But they agreed that giving up chemical fertilizers and pesticides was in itself a good thing and should be encouraged.

They asked me what I thought about the farms and Kumar had a number of questions about America and its government. I tried my best to answer them and to tell them about the organic movement there. One significant point about the Indian organic methods is that they use locally developed compost and manure and reduce external costs - therefore organic food is cheaper to produce than conventional food. This should be the clincher where organic farming is concerned. The reasons why most farmers do not practice these methods are varied and include lack of knowledge, suspicion and a 'mental laziness' – it is easier to follow instructions than to think and innovate by oneself, according to Kumar.

Finally, loaded with plenty of food and food for thought, we headed back to Coimbatore.

Marriage, AID ishtyle

Feb 19th – 20th:

On Saturday, Feb 19th, I was supposed to attend a camp organized by AID Chennai in Mahabalipuram for volunteers from the new blocks taken up. But my stomach, fed up with the constant travel and change in food, revolted. With my trip to Palghat also in jeopardy, I dropped the Mahabalipuram plan and concentrated on calming down my stomach and on being entertained by the younger Kapugantis (my friends' children, on a visit from the States). At night, I boarded Alleppey express to Palghat.

Shailja and Suresh, friends and active AIDers have recently gotten married and were having their reception in Palghat, Suresh's hometown. Shailja is from Himachal Pradesh, practically the other end of India (OK, maybe not as far as Assam!) Luckily for their relatives, their marriage was in Nagpur. Suresh's dad Mr. Madhu, like a significant number of Malayalis, worked for a while in the Gulf – incidentally, Suresh is my senior from Indian High School, Dubai. On his return, Mr. Madhu started a senior's home in Palghat. He was already active with the Alzheimer's Foundation and was the one who got Suresh interested in social development issues, eventually leading him to AID (Thanks, Mr. Madhu!).

After rest and refreshment, we headed to the seniors' home, called 'Kaarunya'. A weekly medical camp was in session and atleast 50 seniors seemed to be present. Like everywhere else in India, isolation and neglect of senior citizens seems to be increasing. Perhaps Kerala is leading the way in this – uncle talked about the number of Keralites living abroad, the fact that so many women here work outside the home etc. He told us of a case where a son and daughter-in-law brought their father to the center, unceremoniously dumped him there and took off. The old man was not happy here. Mr. Madhu wants only happy and willing seniors to come and live in his center – unwilling ones will upset the atmosphere. But he agrees that that may not always be the case – some children are even willing to fork out the stiff fees to enroll their parents here.

The center will require a one-time deposit of Rs. 50,000 - Mr. Madhu plans to use the interest from that deposit for the resident and return the principle on his/her death. Even with this, a significant amount of investment is required. One building has come up – the plan is to have a number of buildings with 1-2 residential units, vegetable gardens etc. Mr. Madhu has used some of his savings from the Gulf and his network of friends and acquaintances to get this far – he says his contacts are now exhausted. Now Suresh is stepping up and approaching various organizations. Because the steep entry fee can be seen as restrictive, some might not be willing to contribute, so it will not be easy.

Prof. Nambiar of the Vanvasi Ashram Trust, a group in Wayanad supported by AID Boston, was also present to attend the reception. His group is also having financial troubles. They have a residential school – an ashram - to provide education for tribal boys. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs representatives visited the school and seemed set to support it when the government at the Center changed. Since then, he hasn't heard back. He still is hopeful because no tribal school has had its budget confirmed yet. The group also has a hospital set up through a grant from a family trust. The problem they are facing is getting a doctor to stay there. What they can pay is a small fraction of what doctors earn in urban centers nearby. So they have not been able to retain a doctor for long. They might have to close the hospital, which is the only one for miles around. I did ask about training village health activists etc., but the professor wasn't very optimistic about their ability to sustain a hospital without a doctor. Suresh and Prof. Nambiar spent a significant portion of the afternoon drafting proposals for funding from various organizations including AID.

In the evening, it was time for the festivities. Shailja was resplendent in a sari, and to her relief, relatively mild makeup. Suresh refused to do more than don a kurta. At the Hall, he protested the thrones and stage set up for the newlyweds. Not being in his or Shailja's position, I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Finally they made a simple arrangement in front of the stage – everyone but the photographers were happy, I guess. Wedding photographers! And worse, their floodlight wielding cohorts!!

Towards the end of the reception, I headed out to catch a bus to Coimbatore. My plan was to meet Revathi and gang there. I reached Coimbatore at 10 pm, was picked by RT, Revathi's husband, and brought to Revathi's parents' house for the night.