Nestled in the B.R. Hills of Karnataka, Amrita Bhoomi is an inspiring farmer's training center with a powerful vision that brings together the well-being of farmers, indigenous people and their traditions, and the environment. Started by Professor Nanjundaswamy in 2002 the leader of KRSS (Karnataka Farmers Movement), he believed that apart from resisting the colonization of traditional and indigenous seeds and agriculture, farmers must also create the alternatives to the 'green revolution' agriculture promoted by multinational agri-businesses. Thus Amrita Bhoomi was born to be the place of learning for farmers and the promotion of the ideals of sustainable living.
I visited Amrita Bhoomi in January 2019 to get a deeper understanding of their work and to see it first hand. Even though it was a very short 5 day visit, I left feeling impressed, inspired, and excited for the future of Amrita Bhoomi (AB) and its potential impact on Karnataka. While there I had the opportunity to spend time with Avinash a very dedicated and experienced member at AB who is keen on experimenting with and promoting food forests not just in Karnataka, but India in a large way. What I found that was very unique about his vision was the combination of natural farming (regenerative agriculture) and five layered food forests. The long-term benefits of combining the two are endless for farmers and their families as well as for our ecological crises. As Avinash explained it, addressing climate change requires us to create more forests around the world. But there is very little usable land left for us to do that. He believes that farmlands are our only available land and thus we need to plant forests on agricultural lands. However these are no ordinary forests, but extremely well-designed and high-yielding fruit and food forests that provide the farmer with everything they might need for self-sufficiency as well as enough yield to obtain a decent income. Avinash is in the process of creating demonstration food forests that are designed, created, and maintained by combining the principles of permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and natural farming. Creating deep swales (an important method of slowing, sinking, spreading, and storing rainwater) spaced every 15 ft apart on the slope contour is one of the first steps in the creation of a food forests. The variety and placement of trees and other plants is based on their sunlight requirements which is where the 5-layers terminology comes in.
Promoting forest-based agriculture systems itself is radical but combining it with natural farming techniques such as Jeevamruta and Bijaamruta that enhance soil microbiology takes the 5-layer food forest to a whole new level. As I have been learning more about the importance of soil life and how extremely important it is to promote and preserve soil biodiversity by creating minimal disturbance to the soil, I have found that there are very few agriculture systems that address these needs of the soil. AB's food forest system is definitely one of those ecologically sound systems that improve the soil while providing yields for multiple generations. And it only takes 3 years for these food forests to become established and begin yielding Rs.10,000 per month per acre. AB aims to create multiple demonstration food forests on its lands and also has a vision to create one food forest in every village in Karnataka over the next 20 years. It is important to remember that food forests are important not just for humans but for all living beings since it is a system that creates "food for all." Being with the farmers at AB was also one of the highlights of my time there. As we laughed, sang, and danced together while cleaning toor dal, I realized that there seemed to be a real sense of ownership among the farmers who worked there. It felt like a truly horizontal organization run by farmers for farmers. I was really inspired by members like Avinash who is a passionate, yet humble man dedicated to the future of farmers and the environment, as well as Vasantha, who has almost single-handedly over the last 3 years conserved and collected over 200 varieties of indigenous seeds at AB and has created a seed bank for farmers to access all around that area. I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Amrita Bhoomi at this point in time as they expand their vision and I am very excited to visit again in the future to see how amazingly well their efforts are paying off. For more information please visit www.amritabhoomi.org
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GRID Alternatives is a non-profit organization dedicated to making solar energy accessible to families with low incomes and training people from diverse backgrounds in solar installation so as to enable them to find work in the solar industry. I came in as an intern to join their solar installation/construction team for 2 months(Jul-Sep 16') at the GRID's Inland Empire office in California. I find that it is important to mention that I am a woman of colour since it directly ties into my experience of the world, and GRID's goals. GRID's goals are not just to provide solar energy, but also make solar jobs accessible to people from low income families and diverse racial backgrounds. This begins with which families get access to solar energy systems and who gets hired as an intern. Before I tell you about my experience as an intern, I want to go back a little bit to what I was doing before the internship. By the time I had applied for the internship at GRID, I had been in the Inland Empire (IE) for almost 10 months and during that time I had made over a 100 job applications. As an environmental enthusiast from a 'developing' country, I had the image of the state of California as being a paradise filled with liberal people who cared deeply about all environmental things. Sadly, I was misinformed about IE. Out of the 100+ applications that I made, I was offered 2 sales-commission-only jobs, 2 seasonal paid jobs, and 1 online job. Everything else was a rejection including jobs at other for-profit solar companies. It is only fair to tell you a bit about myself. I am from India, 5 feet 2 inches tall, I weigh 104 lbs, black hair, my skin color falls between brown and 'exotic', and I have a moderate Indian accent, only. I have a Masters degree and over the last 5 years, trained myself through certificate courses, internships, fellowships, and jobs to become an environmental professional who can grow organic gardens, create permaculture landscape designs, and conduct environmental research. After being in IE for 10 months I realized that these qualifications and experiences did not hold much value to employers. After going through ups and downs and learning harsh lessons along the way, I finally met GRID. Starting with the interview itself, I felt immediately valued and trusted for having diverse experiences and for being myself. Despite being a smaller woman (and as I would find out later the only paid woman on the installation team), and having NO PREVIOUS SOLAR EXPERIENCE AT ALL, the GRID IE team were open to giving me a chance. This chance was something I desperately wanted which then led to a wonderful turning point in my life. As it turns out, GRID Alternatives really believes in giving people another chance. So hats off to them for being an oasis in a desert!
On the work-site knowledge was shared freely and patiently. Mistakes were not considered to be horrific, but rather as being fixable and learning opportunities. What was striking to me as a woman was that all the other men, including the supervisors trusted my physical and mental ability to do pretty much anything. Perhaps it was just me who wasn't trusting myself? I was expecting to be told to go do the 'lighter work' and leave the seemingly 'harder' tasks to the men. But that never happened and I felt so grateful because it taught me to try everything and realize that I could actually do almost anything! Truly I learnt so much that by the end of just 2 months, I accomplished the roof team leader milestone. Before I end this narration of my experience, I want to share a small story of my gender experience at the workplace. I am often in the position of being the only woman in jobs dominated by men doing physical labour and most of my co-workers end up referring to me by a masculine name or seeing me as being 'almost' male. For example when working on farms in India I was referred to as 'Anand Bhai' which is the male version of my name followed by 'bhai' meaning brother. Similarly when I started at GRID I gave my name as Andy (a mostly male name) to make it easier for everyone to pronounce it. I remember some of my male colleagues also referred to me as 'one of us' during an installation which I suppose meant being male like them. But what was very interesting was the transformation that took place as the days passed. Slowly everyone started calling me by my actual name, Anandi. And by the end of 2 months I felt that I was being seen not as a 'masculine woman' but rather just as a skilled and capable woman. Is it not possible do a physically intensive job and also be seen as a woman? At GRID IE it is possible! If I have any advice for GRID it would be to continue trusting and nurturing women in your installation teams, because it goes a long way for them and the community. And my advice for women is, don't be afraid of physical work. You are not weak because you use two hands instead one, you are not weak if you ask a colleague for help, and you are not weak while you are still growing stronger every day. I feel grateful to GRID for allowing me to have this short yet great experience of standing on rooftops, laughing with friends, and sweating in the intense summer heat. They also gave me wonderful references which helped me secure a fantastic managerial position at a landscaping company in the San Francisco bay area. I am thankful I found GRID in the desert, and feel excited about starting my new adventure in the bay. When I said I am going to Goa for one month, people always gave me a shocked and envious reaction. "One month is a long time for a vacation in Goa! So lucky!" Now that I recently got married, I am not going on my usual lonely exploratory travels where I spend a month or two with different NGOs in India. This time it is a India 'darshan' year with my sweet companion. However I do try to continue to at least visit if not volunteer at many different amazing initiatives that are happening everywhere I go. This time I would like to tell you about GAIAMITRA located on the Goa-Maharashtra border. Recently I completed my Permaculture Design Certification from New York, NY. After completing this course and understanding the principles and practices of permaculture, I am convinced that this is one of the best alternatives we have for our future and the health of the environment. I have written other blog posts about what the principles of permaculture are and I have been excited to learn about different people and projects that are trying to adopt and implement these principles. In Goa I had the opportunity to connect with GaiaMitra, a movement of people who are committed towards providing a working alternate model to our current capitalist and economic models of development. The foundation, root or the heart of this movement is care for nature. The core principles of permaculture that have been adopted by the GaiaMitra movement are living ethically with care for the earth and people through efficient designs that minimize consumption and increase ecological health. While I had the opportunity to be with the members of GaiaMitra only for 6 days, they gave me their whole hearted attention, explaining with great patience and detail the project's current work and their vision. Being someone who loves working in teams, I found the GaiaMitra team to be wonderfully diverse, self-motivated, and close-knit, all the qualities a great team needs. What was very striking and encouraging for me was to see extremely committed young Indians working in a self-governed manner for this work. Some of them have committed to giving 10 years to this project. Each member was specialized in their own field such as education, biodiversity mapping, website content management, natural building, visualizing functioning alternate economic models, organizing local farmers, permaculture farming, wholesome cooking etc. The work of GaiaMitra can be divided into two physical sections. For the last 4 years or so they have been working on an 11 acre demonstration plot in Gulduve village in Maharashtra which is very close to the Goa border. The second section is an area called Tilari in Maharashtra consisting of pristine forest land that is owned by several different farmers and covers approximately 3500 acres. The demonstration plot is where they have been experimenting with natural house building, crop and vegetable growing, food processing, and other such techniques. The goal is to create a livelihood system for local farmers to encourage them to retain their lands and to stay back in their villages rather than migrate in search for urban jobs. The situation with farmers in the Tilari region is similar and GaiaMitra is making efforts to convince the several hundred farmers of that area to hold on to their lands instead of selling them to land developers and become a part of the GaiaMitra permaculture project. Approximately half the farmers in the Tilari region have agreed and let us hope the rest of the farmers in the 3500 acres will also accept. The vision for these several thousand acres of land and people in Tilari is several fold which is best understood through this beautiful visual presentation that can be seen here (may be unavailable at the moment). To me this is an extremely exciting project as it combines so many essential aspects of the functioning of society and recreating them to influence true and deep system change. Permaculture is exactly about that...learning , changing, and redesigning the foundation of our entire lifestyle as an individual and species. The aspect of the project that appealed to me the most was the visualization of an alternative economic system that places its value in the health and prosperity of ecological systems. Our current economic systems value profit and endless linear growth through exploitation of natural resources and expansion of the market. But at GaiaMitra they will try to create a system that places the economic standard on the value of a tree which is kept at Rs.10,000. Detailed understanding of this concept can be found on their website or by emailing them, but what is important to understand here is the shift from seeing nature as a resource to be exploited to preserving the health of ecological systems due to their complete benefit to humans. The principles of ethics and nature-rootedness in all human activities provides the environment with intrinsic and instrumental value. GaiaMitra combines the aspects of ecologically sound local livelihoods creation, environmental education and conservation, regenerative economic and ecological synthesis, renewable energy, and social empowerment to name a few. A true synthesis of all these with extremely well designed implementations can lead to radical and sustainable social and ecological change for the better. I hope with all my heart that in the next 10 years the seeds of this project will be sown and the fruits will be enjoyed by many future generations of plants, animals, birds, and humans to come. Gulduve and Tilari are very beautiful places but even more beautiful and amazing are the GaiaMitra members. Join them and share your talents! To know more please visit: http://GaiaMitra.in/wp/contact-us/ Extremely moving trailer from a movie about the effect of the waste accumulating in the Pacific Ocean.
Midway Movie Trailer Kalyani admiring the grand and beautiful Sahayadri mountain range running along the western coast of India. The Western Ghats is one of the top 5 biodiversity hotspots in the world and comprises about 6% of India's landmass. But it is home to 30% of all animal, plant, and insect life of India. Extending from Gujarat to Kerela, it is home to 508 species of birds, 157 species of reptiles, 126 species of amphibians, 137 species of mammals, and 218 species of fish and several of the above are endemic. Truly a global treasure and my home... I have always considered the western ghats as my home, living in a city that is in the midst of the ghats. However the mountains, forests, and wildlife of the range are suffering and are stressed. There is severe fragmentation all along the ghats with no corridors between poorly protected areas restricting movement and ecosystem exchanges. This is causing isolation and extinction for several species of plant, animal, and insect life. It is also leading to the loss of ancient tribal cultures of the ghats as industries begin encroaching upon their forests and lands. Kalyani is from the organization called Saha Astitva ( http://thankindia.org/). The aim of this organization is the integration of fields, forests, and people. They hope to create corridors and buffer zones around several fragmented parts in the northern Western Ghats. Their hope is to work together with the Warli tribe in their village and begin the conservation and protection process. As an alternate means of livelihood, they wish to provide the tribal farmers with training and employment in organic farming. The interdependence and integration of people, forests, and fields is the key answer to our rapidly deteriorating lives on earth. During my time with Saha Astitva, I had the opportunity to meet several amazing people such as Mr. Bhaskar Save the father of natural farming in India and contemporary of the late Fukuoka of One Straw Revolution. Save's definition of natural farming, "If you can farm without harming the air, soil, water, plant kingdom, animal kingdom, and micro-organisms, then that is natural farming." I also met a couple of honest forest department officials that helped challenge my cynical assumptions about the corrupt forest department. However I was not very wrong. Mr. Thatte, the owner of another NGO working on similar issues helped me understand the Forest Laws. He explained that when the British were in India their Forest Law stated under its heading, "For the movement of timber." The forest dept. under the British was mainly to cut the forest as they felt and when needed. Our current forest department seems to still be under the influence of this old laws as can be seen by their atrocious activities. Apart from meeting forest dept. officials, I also was deeply moved by working with the owners of Saha Astitva who are foreigners but care more about the forests of India than most Indians. Other activities during my time at Saha Astitva included riding on top of jeeps, sleeping on top of a mountain with roaring winds, meeting holy sadhus and babas, riding an Enflield bike and lots more... Thanks Saha Astitva for an amazing month full of things that I would have taken a lifetime to experience. Photos: http://emotionallandscapes.weebly.com/photography.html I was intrigued by his long flowing beard and his bent back as he slowly made his way around the temple with his walking stick. I could see within him the fading strength of his hard working younger days. I wondered what stories and wisdom lived within him. Here are his words; “I used to climb the hill near Lokkere every Monday to go the cave on top. A sage lived there. I would go alone and often at night. There used to be elephants, tigers, bisons, deer, and many other wild life living in the forest. But I was not afraid of anything. The forest creatures never did anything to me even though I often fell asleep up there. When I used to take flowers to offer to god and walk up, if there were any animals they would see me and go away. My path would be completely clear. Why be afraid of the forest? The forest is where so many animals are living and that means that we can also live in it. It has everything we need and everything has its own place. The biggest change that I have seen in my life is that people do not live in the forest anymore. Humans should learn to live in the forest. It gives so much. When Rama, Laxman, and Sita were sent into the forest who is it that took care of them? There were no relatives or friends and so it was the forest that took care of them, fed them, and protected them. If the forest grows there is so much benefit to everyone and so it is important for the forest to be well. Conservation of the forest is essential. People have forgotten how to live in the forest, the old way of life is gone, and the wisdom has vanished.” I am here in a village that seems to be in the middle of nowhere. There are dirt roads for miles in every direction and an endless dry deciduous forest with streams flowing through it. At night I awaken to the call of elephants. Within this basic, yet spacious room with half a roof, I live. Staring at the night sky from my bed, I recall the majestic elephants I had been lucky to see in the day. Here I am in Chik Yel Chetti village, near the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, India. So what is the story of this place that I wish to write about?
The old story goes like this... Once upon a time, elephants, tigers, leopards, gaurs, cheetal, hares, snakes, and many other wild animals, birds, bees, and butterflies roamed this land. One day the tribal man walked through the forest silently, unafraid, and barefooted. He heard a sound ahead. He looked at the tracks below and realized it was the elephant. He then walked noisily and confidently knowing that the elephant will turn away. Just as he thought the elephant turned away and the tribal man continued onwards now distracted by a honey bee. Ah yes, just what he had been looking for. Following the honey bee he is led to the sweet and nourishing honey. He climbs the tall tree, plucks part of the comb, and takes it home to his family. Sweet nectar... One day, the forest official come to the tribal man and says that they must leave for the forest and animals must be protected and humans cannot be allowed within the forest anymore. Shoved into government housing at the bottom of a nameless hill, the tribal man finds himself and his family. One concrete road with half-baked houses on either side is his home now. No more the community living that had houses in a circle, a fire pit in the middle where all the important occasions took place; weddings, trials, conversations. He must live in a row for a few years only to be moved elsewhere in another few years. He is given land and no longer can he follow bees into the forest, and walk amongst the giants. Now instead he must grow things on this land and grapple with a new concept he has never dealt with before...money. The new story goes like this... Several years have passed and now the tribal people live in villages like Chik Yel Chetti, Guddekere, Buddhikatte etc. and have become accustomed to agriculture, living separately, and earning daily wages. Some of the tribes called the Jenu Kurubas and Soilgas knew the forest like the back of their palm. Now they are dependent on money for survival and do not go into the forest anymore. They have forgotten how to live or walk in the forest. Fear follows them as they grow worried about losing their crops to herds of migrating elephants. They try to scare the elephants away. This has caused the elephants to become fearful of humans and attack them. The elephants are feared, and no one ventures out after dark. Stories of elephant attacks fill their nights. They understand why the elephants come and why they attack. They come because the forest size has decreased due to excessive logging and harmful invasive species of plants that have taken over causing a lack of food for the elephants. Do the tribal people hate the elephants? No. They are a part of life, a reality. As one man said, “we are in their territory and we must accept the loss as a part of life.” Outsiders love to call this as the human-elephant conflict. But is it? Who is really in conflict? We have forgotten one character in this story; the corrupt forest official. One of the biggest reasons for the diminishing size of the forest has been excessive logging and hunting in the Bandipur forest. About 25 years ago vehicles were allowed within the forest at the rate of Rs.5 per entry to take one load of dead and dry wood that people could find. They were prohibited from cutting trees. However with some bribing, the loggers from bigger towns and cities in Kerala and Karnataka were able to get away with 200 loads of green trees per day with each load weighing approximately 9000 to 10,000 kg. Suddenly with most of the tigers being wiped away and the elephant habitat becoming threatened, certain tiger and forest reserves were put in place throwing the tribal people out. They were accused of hunting, and logging. What do I find now? None of them dare to enter the forest to cut trees or kill animals, because the fines are so high. But is that the only reason? When I ask them about the forest, they say, “We can only survive if the forest is healthy, and so we want it to be healthy.” Now the forest department comes out with a draft that claims 2500 acres of land need to be added to the national park within which are 140 odd villages. Nowhere in the document is it mentioned that the people of these villages need to leave. However one official decides to use this draft and the illiteracy of the people to his advantage and spreads the rumour that they will all have to leave. He wants the people to sell their lands. The tribal people have been made to feel afraid, small, insignificant, and dirty by these forest officials over the last several decades. Before that there were others who made them feel that way. I look at Satish, a friend I have made here. He tends to his cow that broke her horn and hurt herself. He has not gone to work since she got hurt. He refuses to leave her alone and tends to her wounds. Every day I see him in the fields. Today he has tied her to a tree, letting her rest, while he works nearby. I see no hate in him towards the elephants, the forest, the forest officials, and life. All he wants to do is to get by. But to get by he must earn his daily wages. Where is the conflict? What do we value in life? Can you feel it slipping away? I spent one month amidst the beautiful plateaus of Panchgani in Maharashtra. The month went by swiftly once I settled into my “volunteership” with Grampari (www.grampari.org). Grameen Paryavaran Kendra a.k.a. Grampari a.k.a. Rural Development and Ecology center started 3 years ago as a part of the NGO (not for profit organization) Initiatives of Change (www.iofc.org). IofC, an international organization has played an important mediator role in bridging gaps between various countries, communities, and people. It strives to provide ethical living and leadership training to people and promotes taking the initiative for bringing change in the world by starting with one’s own life. Grampari was started by an IofC member known as Jayashree Rao who wished to bring this training to the rural part of Panchgani. Grampari is a participative organization that works in collaboration with villagers in strengthening the Panchayat Raj (local government) system, encouraging women’s gram sabhas, setting up water harvesting systems, replenishing water sources, promoting the creation of low cost toilets and hand-washing with soap (www.tippytap.org), encouraging organic agriculture, and sustainable alternate livelihoods (diyas/lamp painting, leaf plate making, mobile repairing, computers, brick making, sewing etc.)
While in Grampari my job was to start an organic vegetable garden that might serve as an example to villagers around as a better alternative to chemical farming. One month in the life of a vegetable garden is like one hour. However I decided to give my best even in the short time. With the help of wonderful mentors and bosses that gave me free rein, and colleagues who had similar convictions, we were able to set up the garden and begin the planting while I was there. I feel proud to say that we cleared a jungle of weeds that were taller than me, created the beds, added compost, and planted chilli, tomato, cabbage, onion, brinjal, and garlic seedlings. What a wonderful feeling to work hard and see a wonderful garden. I can only hope that it inspires other farmers to stop using chemicals. I have always been sceptical of working in any organization that has the word “development” in it. I have wondered what it means. I am an urban dweller and I can walk into a village and decide what development is for the people. I could say development is better roads, more jobs, better infrastructure, more economic growth etc. Or I can be like Grampari and ask the people what they think development is, and then collaborate with them to achieve their own goals. However we live in a world now where mobile repair classes and computer classes and making quick bucks is what the villagers think development is. I struggle to accept these. Why? Is it because I have lived with these luxuries and so now I can readily say that these are not what I want? Maybe. Maybe my privileged life has given me access to the knowledge about the other side of development. The inevitable decline. A decline in growth, GDP, environmental conditions, human happiness, health, and motivation to live deep and simple lives. But who am I to judge what a person wants? Who am I to think that this decline is not inevitable? Check out the Photographs: http://emotionallandscapes.weebly.com/photography.html “Maushi” in Marathi means my mother’s sister. She is often called Mangal Maushi or Mangal Bai. “Bai” is also used to mean lady or maid servant in Maharashtra. By profession, Mangal is Mangal Bai and has been working at the IofC (http://www.iofc.org/) center in Panchgani, India, called Asia Plateau for several years. I wish I could give you a figure, but what if she cannot tell you her age? So I will guess that she has worked here for 45 years. Once upon a time, there used to be a farm at the center where Mangal spent her younger years working. Due to my interest in farming, I asked her about her work. She told me about the days when the center was completely self-sufficient and produced all kinds of vegetables using only cow dung and compost as soil additives. She feels horrified by the use of chemicals now in the fields. Her eyes glowed as the memories of the early years flowed through her and she described how the center did not have enough money but they always had a lot of food. So for the extra work they did, they received 4 kgs of potatoes instead. When I asked her if she preferred to have received money instead of food, she merely responded, “Work is not for money, it is for personal satisfaction. Those were the days of abundance.” There were 20 cows, and 500 chickens that once lived and all of them slowly died. She looked pained as she thought of the cows that died. She felt that she had a special connection with them. Then she said something that moved me so much, “ माणूसच प्रेम तुटतो पण गायच प्रेम कधी तुटत नाही" Love and loyalty between people breaks but the love given by a cow never breaks. Times have changed. How we live, how we love, and how we grow food has changed. Instead of working in the fields which she loves, she folds laundry and cleans rooms. She dislikes the newer maids; they do not understand what working with integrity means she says. They only work for money. Gone are those days, when we harvested 100 sacks of potatoes, 100 kgs of cauliflower, and went home with happy hearts and full stomachs. Mangal Maushi is living her long life, as I look towards the future, hoping not to be laughed at again and again when I propose a chemical-free, simple life. There is not a single place you could sit and not have a wonderful view of green mountains and valleys in Nagaland. Clouds hugging the peaks of mountains that are full of diverse vegetation and Kohima the capital city spread out on the top of one of the hills, is a a typical scene from Sechu Zubza. As I am driven through narrow, winding roads between bamboo and Alder trees, I find that something is missing. Where are the birds and the animals? That is when I realized that I have entered the quiet forest.
To say that the forests of Nagaland are dead would be an exaggeration because bugs are plentiful in all possible shapes, sizes, and colours, thanks to the lack of their predators. This realization that animals and birds are missing in an immensely rich ecology pushed me to try and understand Nagaland's story. So here it is now, through my eyes. Nagaland is, to me, quite obviously a state in transition. It attempts to balance at a point that many have passed through. A place that is so treacherous and inevitable. For someone like me who has lived all my life in urban areas, this turning point at which Nagaland stands, is obvious and painful, yet amazing to witness. Once a space for several Naga tribes isolated from each other by mountains and rivers, Nagaland is now struggling to unite for its dream of freedom. After the British put the North-East of India as a few big chunks under the Indian constitution, the Naga people have fought for freedom from India. An honest struggle for freedom to preserve their culture and people, led to the formation of Nagaland as a new state. Now the freedom movement has turned into a corrupt organization attempting to place one Naga tribe over another with an abysmal gap between them. With the increasingly dramatic changes in the lifestyles of the dwellers, capitalism and corruption have found their way into the hearts of people in power. The rapid change that I speak of is what puts Nagaland at a turning point. The exponential rate at which lifestyles have changed for the people can be seen between just two generations. There is immanence and alienation at every corner. Goats grazing at the airport while Jeeps zoom around is not an unusual sight. I am on the road now in a Jeep myself, I gaze around at the immense beauty of the hills, when I am jolted out of my wonderment to the reality of an unbelievable bumpy national highway destroyed by landslides. Landslides that have been caused by logging, excessive stone mining, and heavy rainfalls. The pollution enters my nostrils and lungs while I am on the road, but just off the road, I stand amongst the trees breathing in what I believe to be the freshest smells on earth. The radio comes on and someone says, 'oh this is Khasi music'. You may be quite surprised to know that Khasi music sounds very similar to rock music. Actually, it is rock music. I enter Kohima now, a big city. It is full of youth walking around in hip western clothes that come from Thailand. Most of the same youth, take the bus back in the evenings to Khonoma. Khonoma is a beautiful village on the hill in an isolated part of Nagaland. I enter a house and a young girl in Levis jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt squats on the floor while she cooks on a wood stove. I go to many different houses in the village and they load me with food growing in their gardens. Their paddy fields lie in the distance while the chicken run around freely. They discuss their land, the forests, the river, and the tree from which their furniture was made. I am overwhelmed by their generosity. But why is the forest so quiet? The animals are dead and the birds have fled. A journalist attempted to search for a story from the Naga tribes that displayed an awareness of human beings' dependence on nature. After her disappointing search she said, "the stories have been forgotten. All I found was cruelty towards animals in the stories that remain." The youth wonder whether to live the life of their parents or reach towards "development." "Development is the answer to our problems" said one man. The youth live in a world of technology, while their parents and grandparents remain the dying race of basket weavers. See photos: http://emotionallandscapes.weebly.com/photography.html |
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