A JOURNEY FOR EXPLORING LOCAL CREATIVITY

Join Sodhyatra -SHODHYATRA - 8 BHIKAMPURA TO NILKANTH (GADH) (Dist.ALWAR, RAJASTHAN) DATE: 24-12-2001 TO 1-1-2002

Popular science movement in India and elsewhere in the world have often tried to take science to the people assuming that science is something outside our day to day life experience. The Honey Bee network of SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions) disagrees with this perspective. Otherwise farmers would have sow any crop at any time. It is possible that they did not know the scientific theories underlying many of the farming operations but they know the relationship between temperature, moisture, humidity and seed germination. The influence of modern chemical intensive agriculture may have stopped majority of them from experimenting but some farmers, however did not give up their exploratory spirit and creative urge to develop local solutions unaided by markets, NGOs or state.

It is to seek such farmer men and women, honour local experts and innovators, generate consciousness about sustainable agriculture and conservation of biodiversity and share the experience with other innovative farmers that ‘SRISTI’ embarked upon "Shodh Yatra".

SRISTI has organised seven Shodh Yatras (journey of exploration) in Saurashtra and North Gujarat in 1998 and 1999 with the objective of participatory learning and dissemination of experimental and inventive ethics among communities. The idea is to walk through the villages for 8-10 days during extreme summer and winter covering maximum distance of about 250km, to learn from local experts, honour them and also share the experiences of innovators travelling with us. The first journey of about two hundred and fifty km was undertaken on foot on 15^th May (from Gir to Gadhada), the second journey of one hundred and fifty km on 31^st December, 1998 (from Amirgarh to Tundia). The third journey started from Bharuch on 15^th May, 1999 (Bholagamri to Ningadh) and the fourth journey took place in Kutch on 26^th December (from Nilpar to Nani-khakar), the fifth Sodhyatra took place from Gujarat to Rajasthan, Sixth from Maharastra to Dangs in Gujarat. The seventh Sodhyatra had a special focus in the background on earthquake in Gujarat. It was taken in Kutch from Dabhuda village to Sarsala in Rapar Taluka and took as its objective "Sikshan Sodh Evam Shram Arpan Yatra". SRISTI honoured the most knowledgeable men and women in almost every village during the journey. In one of the villages a small competition was organised and elderly women were requested to identify the women who could cook the best using uncultivated foods/vegetables. Biodiversity competitions were organised among children, prizes and certificates were distributed to the outstanding children. Farmers showed tremendous interest in the computerised multi-media and the Gujarati textual database, which in fact added a new approach to augment curiosity about innovations. The gesture of honouring the knowledgeable people in their village overwhelmed the villagers. The innovations dealing with non-chemical agriculture, emerging issues about loss of wild as well as domesticated agro-biodiversity, declining water table and the non sustainable practices and need for stemming erosion of local ecological and technological knowledge were also discussed. SRISTI is also trying to uncover the potential of women innovators during Shodh Yatra for documenting women’s knowledge system.

The fifth journey and sixth sodhyatra took us in another state, shodh yatris went across Rajasthan in the first and Maharastra in second covering more than two hundred kms in each. Sodhyatra fifth was the first shodh yatra outside Gujarat.

Reports on 5th and 6th journey are under compilation and shall be made available on the web shortly. 

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