Sixty folks from throughout India walked by means of distant villages in Tamil Nadu, from Paramakudi to Rameswaram, as a part of the forty seventh Shodh Yatra, documenting conventional information and innovation
Sixty folks from throughout India walked by means of distant villages in Tamil Nadu, from Paramakudi to Rameswaram, as a part of the forty seventh Shodh Yatra, documenting conventional information and innovation
“Remember those dusty mud roads we pass by on bus journeys?” asks handloom entrepreneur C Sivagurunathan, “The ones we yearn to take, but never actually do? We walked on similar roads every day.” The 36-year-old was amongst 60 members on the recently-held Shodh Yatra from Paramakudi to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. The yatra, held twice a 12 months in numerous elements of India, is a seek for conventional information and grassroots improvements. It is led by scholar Anil Gupta, the founding father of Honey Bee Network and is organised by SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiative for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions).
The Rameswaram version was the forty seventh such stroll that the staff undertook, ever because the concept took form in 1998. “Shodh Yatra tries to recognise creativity at people’s doorsteps,” says Gupta, talking over telephone from Ahmedabad, the place he teaches on the Indian Institute of Management. On May 22, 60 folks from numerous walks of life, took Gupta’s lead alongside a slim mud highway at Paramakudi, strolling in scorching solar throughout 25 villages, masking 125 kilometres over six days.
The Rameswaram version is the forty seventh such walks that the staff has undertaken, ever because the concept took form in 1998
| Photo Credit: U Rajesh Kannan
At the core of Shodh (which means ‘research’ in Hindi) Yatra is the Gandhian philosophy of self-reliance and ease. “We travel to cold places during winter and hot places during summer,” factors out Gupta. “This is part of our process of sharing what people there are experiencing. They will trust us and will articulate their thoughts and feelings better.”
They stopped at village squares, college grounds, and temple halls, consuming what locals ate, strolling door-to-door in hamlets whose names are unfamiliar to many people, inviting males, girls, and youngsters to share their improvements and information. In return, the staff provided options to issues they heard, for a lot of of them have been innovators themselves.
“We travel to cold places during winter and hot places during summer. This is part of our process of sharing what people there are experiencing”Anil Gupta
The villages, dotted with palm bushes and scented by the ocean, had many tales to share. The staff distributed certificates in appreciation of native innovators. For occasion, “At Vanniya Vallam, a school student had modified his cycle to look like a KTM bike,” recollects Sivagurunathan. At one other village known as Thethangal, a staff of college boys had put collectively a plant ebook with cuttings of native, labelled medicinal herbs. At Chinna Akkramesi, boys studying silambattam carried out. There was info sharing on either side: V Sreevardhan, an entrepreneur demonstrated his tree-climbing machine, which can be utilized by each women and men.
Gupta was impressed at how girls there have been way more articulate and assertive than the boys. Among the important thing issues the staff documented, was an iron sickle that was used for harvesting. “The handle was heavy, even for male hands and women told us it was difficult for them to use it,” he factors out, including that with a bit of design intervention, the instrument will be simply dealt with.
A boy at Chinna Akkramesi places up a Silambattam efficiency
| Photo Credit: U Rajesh Kannan
The travellers met Keelakarai-based Rukamma, a seaweed diver who spoke to them concerning the sorts of seaweed girls within the area acquire. Jothi, who does cremation providers stopped by to talk and shepherd Kumar advised them how goat’s fur, when unfold out on fields, acts as manure. Then there was the tea-seller who makes use of palm jaggery to sweeten drinks, and likewise promotes natural merchandise at his humble outlet, in addition to girls who weave mats with palm leaves with mechanical precision.
The Shodh Yatra ended on May 27 at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s memorial in Rameswaram. “A lot of planning was done much ahead of the actual walk,” says participant B Stalin, an entrepreneur who runs a palm-jaggery primarily based sweet firm. Stalin recollects behind handed a 40-page booklet that was a whole database on the district, earlier than they set out. “We were supported by Madurai-based NGOs Dhan Foundation and Seva Trust,” factors out the 37-year-old.
60 folks from numerous walks of life participated on the Shodh Yatra
| Photo Credit: U Rajesh Kannan
Stalin says he was amazed at how most individuals they met opened as much as them willingly. “I am quickly writing down everything before I forget,” he smiles, including: “I am already 70 pages down.” There is a lot he desires to file, equivalent to how he witnessed proof to the idea surrounding rain. “One evening, women from Thethangal performed the kummi dance for us,” he recollects. “They just surrendered themselves to the dance. Right after their performance, it started pouring.”
Source: www.thehindu.com
