Crafting our Future - Bhoomi Magazine

January - March 2013 Eternal Bhoomi 1

BANGALORE VOLUME 4, ISSUE - 1 JANUARY - MARCH 2013 Rs. 80/-F o r E a r t h C o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d S u s t a i n a b l e L i v i n g

Crafting our Future

The Joy of Making Craft and SustainabilityThe Kitchen is a Temple Where the Hand has Ears

Satish Kumar Vandana Shiva Amadou Hampate Ba

2 Eternal Bhoomi January - March 2013

Quoted in the Craft Economics and Impact Study Report

published by the Crafts Council of India, Chennai, April 2011.

Today, an argument, an attitude, faces crafts and artisans in

India. This is the argument of economics, of sustainability, of

marketability, which is the argument of financial survival...

(But) those who believe that crafts are only about beauty and

aesthetics are in error, just as those who believe in the other

argument, the economic argument, and think that paying for

itself is the sole justification, are wrong...

The hard argument, the real argument, which overrides

all others, is not exclusively about sentiment or reason –

but about common sense. And that common sense tells

that whatever we do in terms of economic planning and

development in India, there will always be several hundred

million people in this country, the figure being unverified,

who cannot but live with and through the work of their

hands. Now it is a great compensation of nature that these

hundreds and millions of people have talent in their hand,

which the assembly-liners and the free-marketers do not quite

concede. And that talent is the unexplored reservoir which

needs to be used for their good which means the greater

good of the great number of the people of India.

- Gopalkrishna Gandhi


There is an old story about a girl and her red shoes which illustrates well our modern civilisation’s struggles with a machine-dominated world.

A poor, young orphaned girl who lived with her oft disgruntled aunt, once made herself a pair of red shoes with pieces of cloth and thread and leather and her own enthusiastic hands. It wasn’t the prettiest pair but the shoes had their charm - she loved them and she danced with them and they served her well. One fine day, a lady arrived at her village in a dazzling chariot and asked her if she would come along to live in her big house. She went with the lady and soon she was scrubbed and cleaned and taken to a shop to buy beautiful clothes and the most shiny, fancy pair of red shoes in the world. It was a whole new life - oh, how she loved to wear those shoes and dance to her heart’s content!

To get out of the watchful and restrictive eyes of her new foster mother she walked to the nearby woods, one day, and ran and skipped and danced away. Late in the evening, she was tired and afraid in the dark forest; she tried to remove her smart red shoes to rest – but could not. She just lay down exhausted and slept. The next day, as soon as she woke up, her red shoes seemed to make her dance by themselves… and she danced on and on, but wanted to stop and eat and rest. She came to a village and danced to a cobblers shop and asked him to remove her shoes. The kind man gave her some food but could not remove her shoes – they seemed to have stuck to her feet. Afraid to go back home, she wandered around – or rather kept dancing around trying every now and then to remove her shoes.

Absolutely tired and helpless, she went back to the cobbler - he tried hard with all his tools, but could not wrest them off her feet; she finally managed to stop dancing – by getting her feet cut off.

It’s not a pleasant story – and neither is the story of our modern civilization which continues to celebrate the production of huge amounts of machine made things at every level and in every sphere. Over the last two centuries of industrialization especially, our addiction to stuff has become siucidal. Produced alongside are huge amounts of waste of every kind – plastics, paper, household food waste and hazardous and poisonous waste which often end up polluting our waters and degrading our lands.

We need to go back to valuing our crafts if we wish to live sustainably on earth. As much as oil and capitalism with unending growth are part of the problem, craft and organic agriculture can be part of the solution. The usual question now would be – are we to go back to the jungles? We cannot stop development, can we? The answer is not ‘no development’, but development that does not trash the planet or exploit the 80% of “less developed” people or 100% of future generations.

There are actually millions of people around the world who are showing the way by taking action at a personal, community, activist and at Governmental levels. and the Bhoomi Magazine is committed to sharing their stories.

Going organic and engaging in a craft or buying handloom, handicrafts and other local hand made products, are a few of the many ways in which we can live more responsibly on our planet – and at the same time live with beauty and support the craftspeople. It is one way in which we can celebrate the hand made shoes that make us dance happily and stop the frenzied ‘dance’ of a machine dominated life. It can make life more beautiful and deeply satisfying.

Seetha [email protected]

Craftingour FUTURE

Tree

of L

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by R

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Gon

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EternalBhoomi

Eternal Bhoomi is committed to bringing you holistic perspectives from renowned writers and thinkers as well as practical ideas and examples of earth conscious living from peoplearound the world

Crafting our future:Urban culture generally views handicrafts and organic food with lenses of sentimentality and aesthetics.

We need to understand handloom and other hand made products for their potential in being part of the solution for sustainable living and for being the sector that provides the second largest employment today, next only to agriculture.

Issue No. 13 January - March 2013

Vantage Point

Vantage Point

Multi-view

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10

13

16

22

The Joy of Making Anna Konig

Hands can be used product-ively to shape our material world effectively.

Where the Hand has EarsCraft - A powerful embodi-ment of the mystical life force.

Amadou Hampate Ba

Musings on CraftOn the emphasis on non-permanence reflected in tribal culture. Ramya Ranganathan

Kamaladevi: Tireless Promoter of the Crafts About Kamaladevi Chatopad-hyay who pioneered the revival of Indian handicrafts. Jasleen Dhamija

Craft and SustainabilityOn why we need to look at crafts with new eyes - as im-portant for ecological wisdom Seetha Ananthasivan

By Hand: The Looms that can Lead India

UzzarammaLow energy, ecological way of making a vast array of textiles

The Craft Economics and Impact StudyExtracts from Report by Crafts Council of India

A Hundred Hands Mala and Sonia Dhawan

Kathputlis Priyanka Varma

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34

Positive Steps

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20

Expressions

Recycled Enchantment Anton (Tony) Rager

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Eternal Bhoomi is a magazine published by Bhoomi Network, a unit of K.N.A.Foundation for Education, a Public Charitable Trust registered in 1995.

Masks on cover photograph by the students of Prakriya Green Wisdom School

This Magazine is printed using soy based inks on wood-free paper except for the cover and special pages.

Books

The Craftsman Fiona Maccarthy

Churning the Earth Ashish Kothari and Aseem Srivastava

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In the Cosmic Swimme Eric Maddern

40

Science

Food

Millet Recipes From Nutritious Little Millet

by the ICAR, N. Delhi

47

50

51

53

54

Climate Change

Membership Page

Announcements

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We look forward to your...

feedback, suggestions, articles, poems or pictures. Email : [email protected]

or send by post to: The Editors, Bhoomi Network, No 70, Chikkanayakanahalli Road, Off Doddakannahalli, Carmelaram PostSarjapura Road, Bangalore - 560 035

Corrigendum: In our October - December Issue, 2012, we had printed the name of one of the co-authors as Shivakumar instead of Srinivas Krishnaswamy which is the correct name. We sincerely regret our error.

New Year Special: In celebrationof India's Craft Culture

Indeed, Small is Beautiful Lavanya Keshavamurthy

Thaalavattam Natasha Rego

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38

Young Pioneers

The Bhoomi Team wishes you Wonderful New Year to celebrate and carefor our Home - Planet Earth

Perspectives

42

46

India s Incredible Bazaars Dr. Vandana Shiva

The Kitchen is a Temple Satish Kumar

,

23 to 33


Vantage Point

Quilts have had a good year. The popularity of the recent V&A Museum exhibition showed that there is enormous appetite for the product and process of craft, and deservedly so. Visitors could not have failed to be moved by the beauty of the artefacts and the skill of the makers, many of whom remain poignantly anonymous, their names lost in time. To appreciate the work of a craftsperson, one needs to step back and recalibrate an understanding of what it means to work with hands, an exercise brilliantly articulated by Richard Sennett in his book The Craftsman. But, scholarly analysis aside, there is also much to be learnt through participation in the act of making. Quite apart from the enjoyment of the finished product, the process of working with hands allows us to tap into wisdom that transcends the constraints of time, place or language.

While one is exercising non-verbal parts of the brain, thoughts start to flow in different patterns.

The Joy ofMAKING

Re-engaging with the raw materials from which our lives are shaped is a potent reminder of the difference between what is real and what is only illusory, says Anna Konig

My own re-engagement with crafts came a few years ago during an extended period of illness. I lacked the concentration to read, but felt the need to occupy myself during the long hours at home and - as one so often does in testing times – gained comfort from returning to skills I had made infrequent use of since childhood. Since I had a suitcase full of old pieces of fabric, a patchwork quilt seemed like a good project. What I did not appreciate when I started was just how much I would learn – not only in terms of practical skills.

Making and learning through touch and manipulation of materials has an important role in early years education, but it becomes devalued as literacy develops. Although initially regarded as fine instruments for learning, the hands are

Making and learning through touch and manipulation of materials has an important role in early years education, but it becomes devalued as literacy develops. Although initially regarded as fine instruments for learning, the hands are effectively downgraded as mere devices for holding pens or tapping keyboards.

effectively downgraded as mere devices for holding pens or tapping keyboards. By implication, therefore, craft becomes a kind of indicator of a lack of literacy: at worst, it is seen as being for those who never really got to grips with the written word. But it is this popular misrepresentation of making by hand that I wish to challenge.

Craft is inevitably a sensory experience. For me, there is much pleasure to be taken from handling fabrics, juxtaposing patterns and colours, creating a personalised visual display. No doubt this is true of other crafts: a wood turner appreciates and has an empathy with the material with which he or she works, as does a potter at the wheel. In the face of a culture that increasingly emphasises image over material substance, re-engagement with the raw materials from which our lives are shaped is a potent reminder of the difference between what is real and what is illusory in life.

Through making a patchwork quilt, I learnt that repetitive actions, once mastered, need not be laborious. Rather, they occupy the body in such a way as to permit the mind to wander. While one is exercising non-verbal parts of the brain, thoughts start to flow in different patterns, producing solutions to nagging problems or ideas for new ventures. The rhythm of repetitive handwork is a different beat to work to – hardly surprising, then, that singing has a long tradition of accompanying repetitive work. And with that repetition comes the acquisition of skill: one learns the shortcuts and the importance of sequential action, about when to keep going and when to stop.

A handcrafted object also raises the philosophical question of how to deal with imperfection. Industrial processes have all but eliminated the very concept: we rarely accept ‘seconds’ in the world of mass-produced consumer goods. But anyone who has ever made anything by hand will know the dilemma involved in dealing with a ‘mistake’. On some occasions, it will be undone and reworked, with a rueful ‘note to self’ about taking more care next time. On other occasions, the mistake will just become part of the finished object, an acknowledgment that human hands are not machines. On a more abstract level, it is useful to distinguish the difference between fatal flaws and those that can be lived with. To accept imperfection in one’s work is a step towards accepting imperfection in oneself.

On a more practical level, craft provides the maker with an opportunity to be uniquely eco-conscious. In particular,


patchwork is a beautiful way to use up leftovers and cast-offs. I literally pieced together fabrics from different periods of my life: little visual reminders of clothes I had worn and places I had been. Charity-shop finds sit alongside scraps from favorite shirts, and every piece has a place. For me, the ingenuity of the craftsperson is something to marvel at: it underlines the ethos of making considered use of the material world rather than tearing through it with no thought given to its fragile nature and finite limits.

Makers are devalued in contemporary society. There is an unvoiced assumption that those who use their hands have failed to master intellectual hurdles of school, exams, university, professional training and so on. For a few lucky individuals, ‘craft’ is elevated to ‘art’ and they are permitted membership of a privileged cultural elite, but for the most part we associate manual work with deprivation, poverty and workforce exploitation. My point here is not to suggest that the pleasure of making something in the comfort of one’s own home bears any resemblance to grinding sweatshop labour. Rather, it is a reminder that such a job deserves a fair wage, and may even make us think twice about buying cheap mass – produced goods.

Unless one is very fortunate in terms of career openings, the structures of contemporary life provide limited opportunities for pride to be taken in work. In some small way, to make

something is to understand and appreciate the value of work – Itself a denigrated term, usually prized only for its exchange value in monetary terms. But anyone can utilise the work of their hands in their everyday life. Conceptually, making need not be restricted to such obvious examples as sewing a quilt or making a piece of furniture. Cooking, making music, gardening-any of these activities can and should be recognised as crafts.

Nor should making be the sole preserve of those who consider themselves to be ‘creative’ by trade. One of the most prolific quilters I know is a lawyer who works long hours and has limited free time. Yet she has made quilts for the babies of numerous friends and family members in the past year or so, each quilt unique, each made with much love.

Finishing a project is sometimes the hardest part, and when I came to the end of my quilt, I feared that it might become an unwelcome remainder of those long weeks of illness. Happily, though, its completion kick-started other creative endeavours and it has become a comforting reminder of how the hands can be used productively to shape our material world and the objects we surround ourselves with.

Anna Konig teaches Cultural and Historical Studies at the University of the Arts, London.This article is printed with permission from Resurgence magazine, UK.

Makers are devalued in contemporary society... My point here is not to suggest that the pleasure of making something in the comfort of one’s own home bears any resemblance to grinding sweatshop labour. Rather, it is a reminder that such a job deserves a fair wage, and may even make us think twice about buying cheap mass – produced goods.

Pho

to:

Nid

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ggar

wal


Vantage Point

By Hand: The Looms that can Lead India

How is cotton cloth made? How is the amazing cotton fibre, lighter than air, converted into fabric that even today is the stuff of half the fabric in the world? [If bread is the staff of life, cotton is the stuff of life!] From its original state of a ‘boll’ on the plant, the cotton is picked and the seeds removed. The remaining lint – around 30% of the content of the boll – is freed from trash, aligned and drawn down in the carder, draw-frame and flyer-frame, which make up the pre-spinning stages; and then it is spun into yarn, which is finally woven into fabric. Each step can be done either by hand or by machine.

Then to now: Indian cotton textiles, the prime industry for millennia, flourished peacefully, employing millions in the various stages and making huge varieties. Tome Pires, a Portuguese traveler wrote in 1515 describing ships that came from Gujarat and the Coromandel Coast as “worth eighty to ninety thousand cruzados, carrying cloth of thirty different sorts”. Exports have been documented from India to the Roman Empire as early as in the first century BCE, to such an extent that the Roman historian Pliny is said to have complained that

India was draining Rome of her gold. Indian cotton fabrics clothed “everyone, from the Cape of Good Hope to China, man and woman…from head to foot” as Pyrard de Laval says in the early 17th century.

In the West, however, it was the technology of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century that propelled the growth of cotton textile production. The success of the western cotton textile industry was based on slave labour in the southern states of the USA, used to pick cotton, and child labour to run the machines. When slavery and child labour became socially unacceptable they were replaced by abysmally low paid work, and as this too became socially unacceptable, the cotton textile industry in the West either closed entirely or needed heavy subsidies.

Cotton textiles in India today: We grow our own cotton and we also have all the necessary skills & technologies for textile production. We can supply not only our own vast domestic market but also many regions and segments of the export market.

There are 4 ‘sectors’ of the textile industry that are officially recognized by the State: mill, power loom, handloom & khadi. Spinning mills are included in the mill sector and it is taken for granted that all weaving except Khadi use yarn that is made in mills.

Mills: Weaving mills today produce about 4% of the country’s cloth. The first mills were set up in India in the mid 19th century to export cotton cloth to England, and thrived during the American Civil War. They continued production for a hundred years, but the inherent unviability of mechanical weaving meant that they could only pay low wages to the mill workers, which led to strikes and unrest from 1928. In the 60s the advent of ‘power looms’ sounded the death-knell of the mill sector.

Ecology and energy are increasingly becoming a cause for concern as the world faces global warming and ‘peak oil’. As public opinion begins to focus on these issues, ecological production processes are rapidly gaining in value.

The artisan weaving cotton textiles on the handloom has been unfairly relegated to a peripheral status in the textile industry. Not only does handloom still employ the largest number of people in the country after agriculture, it still makes 12-13%of India’s textiles and has tremendous potential in the future as a low-energy, ecological way of making a vast array of textiles for garments.

- Uzzaramma


Malkha weavers at Burgula.

Power looms: They have taken over about 76% of the textile production of India. Beginning with discarded machinery from mills, power looms now use sophisticated modern weaving machines and out-price the mills by working around industrial labour laws of the country, paying abysmally low wages. Most of the textile export from India consists of the cheapest cotton ‘grey sheeting’ made on power looms. Power loom and hosiery centres such as Bhiwandi, Ichalkaranji, and Malegaon in Maharashtra, Sircilla in Andhra & Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu are notorious for the inhuman working & living conditions of the workers and for industrial pollution.

Handloom: The artisan weaving cotton textiles on the handloom has been unfairly relegated to a peripheral status in the textile industry. Not only does handloom still employ the largest number of people in the country after agriculture, it still makes 12-13%of India’s textiles and has tremendous potential in the future as a low-energy, ecological way of making a vast array of textiles for garments and household use. That there is a substantial market demand for handloom cloth is proved by the fact that most power loom cotton fabric in the country is sold unlawfully as handloom.

Khadi: Weighed down by the Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Khadi has drifted far from the local self-sufficiency of Gandhi’s vision. Cotton lint is transported to 5 or 6 central sliver plants which process it through high energy machines and distribute the sliver to all the sansthas in the country. Khadi today produces only 0.1% of our textile output.

Escaping the technology trap: The textile machinery in use today is derived from the failed technology of the West. How do these processes fare in an ecological, energy and social audit? Does the higher productivity per unit of a power loom justify the starvation wages of workers, pollution of the environment and high energy cost?

We need to find a new direction for Indian textile technology that would buttress our valuable large-scale hand-weaving skills as the basis of a cotton cloth industry relevant to today’s circumstances, with the least environmental, energy and social costs. Doing this would possibly regain for the country the prime position it held for millennia, and one which is lost – India’s textile exports today account for just 3% of world textile trade.

The future: Ecology and energy are increasingly becoming a cause for concern as the world faces global warming and ‘peak oil’. As public opinion begins to focus on these issues, ecological production processes are rapidly gaining in value. Viability is increasingly assessed not just in monetary terms but also in energy, ecological and social terms. Artisanal cloth making gets high ratings here.

India is uniquely placed in this changing world in having a substantial professional artisan textile production sector making ordinary cloth for everyday use, whereas in other countries the handloom has become a toy for the hobbyist.

Bureaucracy and the political class have long been bogged down in thinking of artisanal textile production as

a relic of the past, an antithesis of their idea of ‘modernity’ and therefore something to be discarded. On the contrary, policy-making should be based on a rational prediction of the future, a post-industrial age in which a dispersed, entirely indigenous, low-energy, ecologically sustainable textile industry, catering to both the domestic and export markets, will be invaluable.

In my opinion, the State makes a grave mistake in devaluing the low-energy textile process of the hand-weaving industry. The hand-weaving industry provides social stability by anchoring millions of family livelihoods to rural areas. It produces good cloth by working on renewable human energy. Rather than doling out huge subsidies to distribute the electricity consumed by power looms, the State should bolster the physical energy of the weaver family by assuring them of decent livelihoods – through a ready supply of raw material, and access to finance & markets. Linked to new post-industrial technologies, hand weaving could usher in a contemporary textile revolution.

Uzramma, founder of the non-profit research centre Dastkar Andhra, has been associated with the cotton textile industry of India since 1989. In 2005, Uzramma founded the Decentralized Cotton Yarn Trust with small-scale units to process cotton to yarn at field locations.

She has been a member of policy groups for the handloom industry constituted by the Planning Commission and the PMO. Uzramma is committed to the cause of promoting the artisanal mode of production as a mainstream economic activity.

The hand-weaving industry provides social stability by anchoring millions of family livelihoods to rural areas. It produces good cloth by working on renewable human energy. Rather than doling out huge subsidies to distribute the electricity consumed by power looms, the State should bolster the physical energy of the weaver family by assuring them of decent livelihoods – through a ready supply of raw material, and access to finance & markets.

Pho

to:

Sara

vank

umar

, Eco

tone


Where the HAND has EARS

Everything ‘speaks’, and to those

who know how to ‘hear’, craft

is the powerful embodiment of

the mystical life force, wrote

Amadou Hampate Ba

The meaning we give nowadays to the words ‘art’ and ‘artist’ and the special place they occupy in the modern society do not entirely match the traditional African way of thinking.

‘Art’ was not something separate from life. Art not only covered all forms of human activity, but also gave them a meaning. The Ancient African view of the universe was an all-embracing and religious one, and acts, particularly acts of creation, were seldom, if ever, carried out without a reason, an intention, or appropriate ritual preparations.

In traditional Africa, there was no division between the sacred and the profane, as there is in our modern society. Everything was interconnected because everything was imbued with a profound feeling of the Unity of Life, the Unity of all things within a sacred universe where everything was interrelated and mutually dependent. Every act and every gesture were considered to bring into play the invisible forces of life.

According to the tradition of Bambara people of Mali, these forces are the multiple aspects of the Se, or Great Prime Creative Power, which is itself an aspect of the Supreme Being known as Maa Ngala. In such a context, actions, since they generated forces, were necessarily rituals performed so as to not to upset the balance of the sacred forces of the universe of which humans were traditionally both guardians and guarantors.

The crafts of the iron-worker, carpenter, leather-worker or weaver were, therefore, not considered to be utilitarian, domestic, economic, aesthetic or recreational occupations. They were functions with religious significance and played a specific role in the community.

In the last analysis, in ancient Africa, everything was considered art, as long as the knowledge of some kind was involved. Art was not only pottery, painting, etc. but everything at which people worked (it was called, Literally, ‘the work of the hands’) and everything which could contribute towards developing the individual.

Vantage Point


Where the HAND has EARS

These creative activities were all the more sacred since the world we live in was considered to be merely the shadow of another, higher world conceived of as a mysterious pool located neither in time nor in space. The souls and thoughts of humans were linked to this pool. In it, they perceived shapes or impressions, which then matured in their minds and found expression in their words or the work of their hands.

Hence the importance of the human hand, considered as a tool which reproduced on our material plane (the ‘plane of shadows’) what had been perceived in another dimension. The forge of the traditional ironsmith, who had been initiated into both general and secret knowledge handed down to him by his ancestors, was no ordinary workshop, but a sanctuary which one entered only after performing specific rites of purification. Every tool and instrument in the forge was the symbol of one of the active or passive life forces at work in the universe, and could be manipulated only in a certain way and to the accompaniment of ritual words.

In his workshop sanctuary, the traditional African ironsmith was thus conscious not only of performing a task or of making an object, but of reproducing, by a mysterious analogy, the initial act of creation, thus participating in the central mystery of life.

The same was true of other crafts. In ancient traditional societies in which the concept of ‘profane’ was virtually non-existent, the craftsman’s functions were not performed for money or to earn a living: they corresponded to sacred functions, to paths of initiation, each of which was the medium for a body of secret knowledge patiently handed down from generation to generation.

This knowledge was always about the mystery of the primal cosmic unity, of which each trade was one particular aspect and form of expression. There were a great many craftsmen’s trades, because there were also a great many possible relationships between humans and the cosmos, which was the great dwelling place of God. While the art of the ironsmith is linked with the mysteries of fire and the transformation of matter, the art of the weaver is bound up with the mystery of rhythm and the creative Word acting through time and space.

In ancient times, not only was a trade or art considered to be the embodiment of a particular aspect of the cosmic forces, but it was also a means of making contact with them. To guard against an unwise mixing of powers which might prove to be incompatible, and to keep secret knowledge within the family.these various categories of craftsmen came to practise a system of marriage within their group, regulated by numerous sexual prohibitions. It is plain to see how these chains of initiation or ramifications of knowledge gradually gave rise, through marriage within the group, to the special caste system of the area formerly known as Bafour (savanna region stretching from Mauritania to Mali). These castes enjoyed unique status within society.

Let us take a look at the middle class, which particularly concerns us here, namely the class of craftsmen called, in Bambara, the Nyamakala. Owing to the sacred and esoteric origins of his functions, the Nyamakala could under no circumstances become a slave, and he was absolved from the obligation of war service incumbent upon noblemen. Each category of craftsmen, or Nyamakala, constituted not only a caste, but a school of initiation. The secret of their art was jealously guarded within the group and strictly handed down from generation to generation or from

In traditional Africa, there was no division between the sacred and the profane, as there is in our modern society. Everything was interconnected because everything was imbued with a profound feeling of the Unity of Life, the Unity of all things within a sacred universe where everything was interrelated and mutually dependent.

Stock Photo:Metal Sculpture of Bambara Tribe, Mali.


father to son. Craftsmen were themselves called upon to adopt a hereditary way of life, with obligations and prohibitions designed to keep alive in them the qualities and abilities required by their art.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that ancient Africa can be understood only in the light of an occult and religious conception of the universe, where there is a living, dynamic force behind the appearances of all people and objects. Initiation taught the right way to approach these forces, which in themselves, and like electricity, were neither good nor bad, but had to be approached in the right way so as not to cause short-circuits or destructive fires. We should remember that the first concern was not to upset in any way the balance of forces in the universe which the First Man, Maa, had been appointed to uphold and preserve by his Creator, as were all his descendants after him.

At a time when so many dangers threaten our planet because of human folly and thoughtlessness, it seems to me that the principle thus raised by the old Bambara myth has lost none of its relevance. After the ironsmith come the traditional weavers, who also possess a high tradition of craft initiation. Initiated weavers of the Bafour work only in wool, and all the decorative patterns on their blankets or tapestries have a highly precise meaning connected with the mystery of numbers and the origin of the universe.

Woodworkers, who make ritual objects, notably masks, themselves cut the wood they need. Their knowledge is thus linked to knowledge of the secrets of the African bush and of plant life. Those who make canoes must also be initiated into the secrets of water.

Then come the leatherworkers, who are often reputed to be sorcerers and, finally, also belonging to the Nyamakalaw, there is the special caste of djeli, or ‘public entertainers’, also known as griots.

Griots are not only musicians, singers, dancers and storytellers. Some serve as ambassadors or emissaries, acting as intermediaries between the great families: others may be genealogists and historians. They have other roles, but those I have indicated are their principal functions.

The griots as a class do not have their own initiation rite, although individually they may belong to particular societies which do have such rites. But they are nevertheless Nyamakala, since in fact they manipulate one of the greatest forces acting on the human soul: the spoken word. While the nobles are bound by tradition to observe the utmost discretion in word and gesture, griots are completely free in this domain. As the spokesmen and intermediaries of the nobles, they enjoy special status in society.

As craftsmen in materials or in speech, transformers of natural elements, creators of objects and forms and

manipulators of forces, the Nyamkala occupied a place apart in traditional African society. They fulfilled a major role as mediators between the invisible words and everyday life.

Thanks to them, everyday or ritual objects were not simply objects, but repositories of power. Such objects most often served to celebrate the glory of god and of ancestors, to open the bosom of the sacred Mother, the Earth, or to give material form to impressions which the soul of the initiate drew from the hidden part of the cosmos and which could not be clearly expressed in language.

In the traditional religion-orientated world, fantasy did not exist. A craftsman did not make something in a spirit of fantasy, by chance or to satisfy a whim. The work had a purpose and a function, and the craftsman needed to be in a state of mind which matched the moment of its creation. Sometimes he would fall into trance, and when he emerged from it, he would create.

In this case, the object was not considered to be his handiwork. He was regarded merely as an instrument or medium of transmission. People would say about his work: “God put it into you”, or “God has used you to create a fine work”. Art was, in fact, a religion, a form of particicpation in the forces of life and a way of belonging to both the visible and to return to the very root of African tradition by seeking instruction from the masters who are still alive – instruction not so much in a technique as in a way of ‘tuning in’ to the world.

This would lead them to take a fresh, more understanding and above all more receptive look at the works of art of the past, for these were not only ‘aesthetic’ works (aestheticism had very little to do with African art) but also a means of transmitting something transcendent. Each object from the past is like a silent word. Perhaps the young artists of today, more sensitive and more receptive than most people, will be able to hear that silent word.

The old African saying goes (and perhaps the artist of today can hear it): Listen! Everything speaks. Everything is speech, Everything seeks to inform us, to give us knowledge or an indefinable, mysteriously enriching and constructive state of being.

“Learn to listen to silence.” Says old Africa, “and you will discover that it is music.”

Amadou Hampate Ba was a Malian writer and ethnologist. This is an edited extract from the Craft Reader, an anthology of writings on crafts edited by Glenn Adamson, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, published by Berg. This article is printed with permission from Resurgence magazine, UK.

In the traditional religion-orientated world, fantasy did not exist. A craftsman did not make something in a spirit of fantasy, by chance or to satisfy a whim. The work had a purpose and a function, and the craftsman needed to be in a state of mind which matched the moment of its creation.


Last week, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit and stay at the Buda Folklore Centre in Honnavar for 3 days. This centre, run by Savita Uday and her parents, is a window of insight into tribal culture, traditions, and practices. Savita’s parents have been learning and documenting the lesser-known treasures of tribal practices for the last 40 years. I was both moved and privileged to be able to share some of their learnings and perspectives.

One of the high points of my experience was to be able to interact with and learn snippets of craft, dance, and music first hand from some of the lovely tribal men and women that Savita introduced us to. I was particularly mesmerized by graceful Hanmi Akka (pictured in the accompanying photo), and the patience and perfection with which she weaved blades of paddy and grass to form intricate designs and mats. Just observing her state of relaxed concentration while she was weaving shifted was a mesmerising experience.

While we learnt several facts about the actual traditions and rituals of the Halakki tribal people, an extra something that has rubbed off on me after this interaction is a new perspective on the word ‘craft’ itself. I now see the word ‘craft’ as a verb more than as a noun. Usually, during visits to handicraft fairs and exhibitions, my focus would be primarily on the ‘product’. I was an ardent appreciator of bags, mats, fabric, decorative pieces and toys, etc. that were made of grass and bamboo and other natural material. I used to look at these pieces of art, and admire their beauty and reflect on how many uses are there for simple natural materials. However, after witnessing Hanmi Akka and others at work, and dabbling in my own weaving experiments too, I now see craft as the process itself. I am not in denial of the beautiful final product, but that is more of a side effect. My son and I jointly

Musings on Craft

wove a little mat that is awkward shaped and dotted with gaps and holes, and we will probably never use it. Nevertheless we loved the experience of letting our fingers, eyes and imagination play with the cool fabric of the grass, and that is the experience of ‘craft’ that we savored.

My second learning related to craft was in the context of longevity. Quite a few of the tribal artifacts that we observed were not particularly durable. When we questioned Savita about this, she told us, “They (tribal people) are not obsessed with permanence and longevity as we are. They create, destroy, and create again!” This idea left a deep impact on me. Throughout the trip, I was observing various instances where this difference in attitude towards permanence would come up again and again. Sometimes it showed up in the design of dwelling units, sometimes in clothing and sometimes in decorations like the mud paintings. I even saw this non-emphasis of permanence reflected in the tribal’s use of oral tradition (as opposed to written tradition) to pass on culture, mythology and knowledge. The oral tradition is subject to changes and morphs each time it passes from ear to mind to tongue to ear again. We now know from research that ideas and stories change and morph even as they are being re-narrated multiple times by the same person.

Reflecting on this idea of different

attitudes towards permanence made me wonder whether these tribal people would actually be able to face death more gracefully than we would. Would not a person who is habituated to continuously allowing his or her possessions and beliefs die and decay be more open to allowing his or her own body die and decay when time comes? I certainly think some prior practice in letting go of things we identify with will help us look at death with greater calm and fortitude.

Nature too seems to adopt a similar approach of gracefully allowing transformation and metamorphosis from one form to another. The tree regularly sheds old leaves and grows new ones while water flows from glaciers to rivers to the sea and into vapor. Even the human body renews itself by continuously allowing old cells to die. So the tribal people just seem to be more in touch with nature’s own way of being, where things are not tightly held on to – rather they are allowed to transform from one form to another according to their own inherent rhythm of life and death.

Ramya Ranganathan is an assistant professor in Organizational Behaviour at IIM, Bangalore. She teaches courses in positive psychology, careers, integrative thinking and self-exploration. Read more about her at: http://craftingourlives.com

I saw this non-emphasis of permanence reflected in the tribal’s use of oral tradition (as opposed to written tradition) to pass on culture, mythology and knowledge, says Ramya Ranganathan

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Vantage Point


Book Review

Richard Sennett is a prime observer of society, an American, a pragmatist who takes the nitty gritty of daily life and turns it into a disquisition on morality. His earlier books include The Fall of Public Man, The Conscience of the Eye and The Corrosion of Character. Sennett’s knowledge and interests range widely from architecture, art, design, literature to the ever-fluctuating social life of cities. The components of the man-made environment enthrall him. He is an enchanting writer with important things to say.

Typically, his new book considers craftwork very broadly. Sennett does not stop at potters making mugs or Moroccan leather grainers, though such people do come into it, but extends his warm embrace to the crafts of making music, cooking, and the bringing up of children. This is a book about perfectionist skills, the desire to do things well that (he thinks) resides in all of us, the frustration and damage once these urges are denied. When we downgrade dedication we do so at our peril, Sennett argues, in an erudite and thought-provoking work.

This professional sociologist-philosopher is also a musician. One of his most telling examples of the craftsmanship that verges on craft mania is a scene in a town’s concert hall. The

THE CRAFTSMAN

visiting conductor of the local orchestra rehearses the strings section, going over and over the same passage obsessively. Rehearsal time ticks by, the manager is getting restless. The conductor takes no notice; the orchestra plays on, caught up in the exhilaration of the enterprise, the painstaking process of improvement of performance. This is craftsmanship in action as “enduring, basic human impulse”; the deep inner satisfaction that comes from work perfected for its own sweet sake.

Such idealistic ways of making, flourish most easily in settled social spaces. The quasi-domestic medieval workshop, containing at most a few dozen people, nurtured a tradition of perfectionism, allowing scope to care about the right

choice of materials and methods of construction. These idyllic conditions of making were self-consciously recreated in the late 19th century Arts and Crafts workshops and a surprising number of high-quality individual craft workshops still exist in the UK in 2008. But current economics works against long-term job tenure. Modern “flexible working” discourages pride in craftsmanship.

Pleasure in making comes from innate necessary rhythms, often slow ones. As we know in our own lives there is much more satisfaction in cooking a meal or caring for small children if we are not in a hurry. Doing a job properly takes the time it takes. Sennett argues in a fascinating way that, while we are working, submerged processes of thought and feeling are in progress. Almost without being aware we set ourselves the highest standard which “requires us to care about the qualities of cloth or the right way to poach fish”. Doing our own work well enables us to imagine larger categories of “good” in general. This of course was the belief underpinning manual work in many 19th century utopian communities. But where is it now that pressure to deliver has diminished the capacity for contemplation?

The best craftsmanship relies on a

Fiona Maccarthy writes movingly about

the book by Richard Sennett, who does not stop at

potters making mugs or Moroccan leather grainers...

but extends his warm embrace to the crafts of making

music, cooking, and the bringing up of children.

Sennett views the

satisfactions of physical

‘making’ as a necessary part

of being human. We need

craft work as a way to keep

ourselves rooted in material

reality, providing a steadying

balance in a world which

over-rates mental facility.


The best craftsmanship relies on a continuing involvement.

It can take many years of practice for complex skills of making to

become so deeply engrained that they are there, readily available,

almost without the craftsmen being conscious of it.

continuing involvement. It can take many years of practice for complex skills of making to become so deeply engrained that they are there, readily available, almost without the craftsmen being conscious of it. An obvious example is the glassblower, dependent on tried and trusted ways of using tools, organising body movements, understanding his idiosyncratic raw materials with a depth of involvement so complete the process of making becomes almost automatic. The same total mastery of technique can apply to music making, ballet dancing, writing. But our lives are so fragmented that it is becoming rare. Sennett views the satisfactions of physical ‘making’ as a necessary part of being human. We need craft work as a way to keep ourselves rooted in material reality, providing a steadying balance in a world which over-rates mental facility. He traces these ideas back to 18th century Enlightenment perceptions. Diderot’s Encyclopedia presents manual pursuits as on a par with mental labour, describing the lives of artisan craftsmen to illustrate good work as a source of human happiness, compared with the predictable warm glow of steady marital relations as opposed to the more flashy sudden thrills of an affair.

Enlightenment thinking found a way of coping with the onset of industrial production. As summarised by Sennett: “The enlightened way to use a machine is to judge its powers, fashion its uses in light of our own limits, rather than the machine’s potential. We should not compete against the machine.” It was later, in the mid-19th century that panic set in as more machines spewed out more goods in what seemed to social critics a reckless abandon of luxury and waste. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was a

crushing blow to craftsmanship, as the teenage William Morris seemed to know by instinct, remaining outside the Crystal Palace in a sulk.

By this time hopes had dimmed that artisans could find an influential place in the industrial order. Battle was joined. Sennett’s 10 pages on an almost crazily belligerent John Ruskin are as good as he gets. He loves the strange immediacy of Ruskin’s writing, pointing out that his prose has “an almost hypnotic tactile power, making the reader feel the damp moss on an old stone or see the dust in sunlit streets”. He comprehends the radical nature of Ruskin’s protest against his own “overstuffed” Victorian age, proposing the return to a pre-industrial past in which individual standards of work still signified. Ruskin tackled the by then fixed division of society into artisans who laboured and gentlemen who thought - or failed to do much thinking. Isn’t there still a residue of such class divisiveness about?

Sennett views Ruskin, unforgettably, as a man deeply aware of his own sensations and experience, making the appeal we might today describe as “get back in touch with your body”. Ruskin observed in ‘Stones of Venice’ the draughtsman stopping, fumbling, losing temporary control over his work only to resume with new confidence. These are magic human moments no machines can replicate. Sennett makes a case for such “lost spaces of freedom”: spaces in which craftsmen can experiment with ideas and techniques, risk mistakes and hold-ups, lose themselves to find themselves. “This is a condition for which people will have to fight in modern society,” he writes. Indeed it is.

Sennett says of himself “I am a philosophically minded writer asking questions about such matters as wood-working, military drills, or solar panels.” One of his great strengths, the thing that makes his narrative so gripping, is the sheer range of his thinking and

his brilliance in relating the past to the present. His search of NHS hospitals for any residue of craftsmanship, the special human quality of being “engaged”, makes depressing reading. Doctors’ and nurses’ attitudes to patients are innately craftsmanlike, driven by curiosity, investigating slowly, retaining an ability to “learn from ambiguity”. These special skills have been eroded by the introduction of health care targets that are entirely quantitive. No place for the craftsman’s subtle and practiced “interplay between tacit knowledge and self-conscious awareness” in the brutal Fordism of the modern NHS.

On the other hand Sennett finds craftsmanship resurfacing in unexpected places. He argues that people who participate in Linux online workshops are craftsmen who embody the principles first celebrated in a Homeric hymn to Hephaestus, the master god of craftsmen. Does Sennett go too far in praising the Linux system of “open-source” computer software as a modern example of a public craft employable and adaptable by anyone, which users themselves donate time to improve? The best known Linux application is Wikipedia, the encyclopedia to which any user can contribute. But, as we all know, many Wikipedia entries are just rubbish. Linux workshops are still grappling with an underlying and often inflammatory problem in all communal craft workshops, that of quality control.

Sennett alters one’s view of craftsmanship by finding so much meaning in the detail. The grip on the pencil, the pressure on the chisel: he persuades us that these things have real significance.

Fiona Maccarthy is a British biographer and cultural historian. She has written of biographies of Eric Gill, William Morris and Lord Byron. She has also been a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and is a regular writer for the Guardian.

Doing our own work well

enables us to imagine larger

categories of “good” in general.

This of course was the belief

underpinning manual work in

many 19th century utopian

communities. But where is it

now that pressure to deliver

has diminished the capacity for

contemplation?


KAMALADEVI - Tireless Promoter of the Crafts

Kamaladevi was a charismatic personality with a rich experience of political life, which began when she was still in her teens. She had the ability not only to work hard, but also to carry others with her - an ability she honed while organising the political movement for our freedom struggle. In 1952, when she took up the Chairmanship of the All India Handicrafts Board, she took up the challenge of reaching out to craftsmen spread throughout India. It was a vast ocean of skills, where people worked in remote areas as individuals or in workshops. Often they lived on the fringe of society, and were the most under-privileged and discriminated against. For Kamaladevi it became an emergency. She felt that the bureaucratic norms had to be broken if the crafts were to survive.

She began work without any information, except what could be gleaned from the gazetteers. There were no guidelines, no precedents as to how the work should be organised. The economists and planners wanted to see an industrialized country and had no space for the Cottage Industry Sector. However, Gandhiji’s advocacy got a place for the small scale and cottage industries and India began its 1st V year plan with a mixed economy. Jawaharlal Nehru asked Kamaladevi to head the Handicrafts and Handloom Sector and assured her of support. She felt handicapped due to the fact that there was no data available to be used to develop a plan with facts and figures, and get the needed support. She

persuaded Mr. Ashok Mitra to carry out a Census of the Crafts, which became a massive exercise. Everyone knew that the formal sector would only employ a fraction of the population and it is the non-formal sector that would have to be supported. Kamaladeviji also did not see crafts only as an economic activity; she saw it as an expression of our culture, our heritage and the very inner source of our being.

Gandhiji had told her that it was only if we worked with our hands that we could enrich our lives; and Tagore said to her that man’s personality evolved through music, through rhythm. She listened to everyone and evolved her own creed, based on her own early experiences of being born in a household where scholarship was revered, where they lived close to nature and the cyclic diurnal movement brought its own

rhythms and rituals. The celebrations of the Bhuta, Theyyam and the creation of the objects used in them were a ritual. Their use in the performance created all forms of rasas, from fear to wonder to karuna. These were expressed with great effect through poetry, kavya, music, movement and the hypnotic rhythm of the drum, which she says in her autobiography, moved her immensely.

She understood the deep-rooted influence of the crafts on our way of life. For her, the act of creation and the use of the objects had an important impact on our lives, for they were the very fabric of our life. She did not differentiate between one area of creative expression and another: for her all creativity was enriching. She was indeed very contemporaneous in her approach. We are very fortunate that she had the opportunity to shape not only the craft movement, but also the performing arts as Vice President of Sangeet Natak Akademi, which she virtually organised with Nirmala Joshi as administrative support. Young Kapila Vatsayan, erudite, dynamic and passionate, worked with her as well. When I think of her, I think of a multi-faceted person, whose contribution made our life so much richer.

She enriched us by her work in all the creative fields, and many institutions were linked to her. Besides Sangeet Natak Akademi, she set up Bharatiya Natya Sangh through which she nurtured the theatre movement throughout the country. The National School of Drama is rooted in its beginnings as Asian Theatre

She understood the deep-rooted influence of the crafts on our way of life. For her, the act of creation and the use of the objects had an important impact on our lives, for they were the very fabric of our life. She did not

differentiate between one area of creative expression and

another: for her all creativity was enriching.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay is considered single handedly responsible for the great revival of Indian handloom and handicrafts in the post independence era. Jasleen Dhamija, her close associate, shares her experiences with the great pioneer.

Vantage Point


Institute, which Kamaladeviji started with UNESCO funding. The nurturing of theatre crafts and folk theatre was her contribution. Through her work in the All India Women’s Conference, she was able to make a tremendous impact on the status of women. It was in 1930 that she proposed the setting up of a Home Science Institute for Women, and Lady Irwin College emerged out of that. In 1944, Kamaladevi addressed the women very sharply: she pointed out, “The women’s movement … is not a war of the sexes ... it needs to be directed against faulty social institutions”: an approach that the feminist movement in the west came to understand only in the last decade of the previous century. Kamaladevi involved all her friends in her work with crafts. Rukmani Devi Arundale began with Kamaladevi’s help to revive traditional silk saris in Kanchipuram, and she gave space in Kalakshetra to start the Vegetable Dye Research Centre. Durgabai Deshmukh set up 4 regional Craft Teachers Institutes, which created a cadre of craft teachers. The Central Social Welfare Board began the socio-economic programme for women in 1956, much before International Organisations set up their Income Generating Programme. These centres are still running and have contributed considerably towards upgrading skills and creating a strong base for local craft skills.

I had the good fortune to work closely with her and was her companion on many of her journeys. Each journey was a voyage of discovery and an education in the fullest sense. We visited rural Bengal and saw Jatra performances, we saw the rod puppets at Murshidabad, Sahi Jatra at Puri, the Nautanki at Dhanbad and Meerut and much much more in our travels across the country. Every day, every week, every month was taken as an emergency. Yet it was a joyful journey of learning, of giving and receiving.

Kamaladevi lived very simply and was at home in a simple mud hut or a palace. She enjoyed traditional forms of expression wherever she went, whether it was war torn China, sophisticated Japan, the Maghreb, Ethiopia, in the land of Queen Bathsheba, Scandinavia or among the multi-millionaires of USA. She absorbed the beauty in everyday life, in the clothes that people wore, in the objects

used in their homes, that which enriched their lives. People were drawn to her like a magnet. It was a joy to see her laughing at their jokes and drinking in their songs and stories. Her contribution towards seeking out and nurturing our roots is remarkable. Today we take it for granted that we can easily hear Dhrupad, Khyal, Thumri from the best musicians. We see the finest dancers and select excellent teachers for our children; unlike in the late 30s when my father in Lahore was accused of losing his mind for making singing and dancing girls of his daughters. Today we can walk into a shop and buy a traditional Kanjeevram, Gadwal, Poochampalli, Paithani, Jamdani, Tanchoi- you name it: 40 years ago it was not possible. We have come a long way and we owe it to Kamaladevi.

Her contribution towards creating awareness of the importance of crafts was not confined only to India, but embraced the world. It was she who built the World Crafts Council. She persuaded the heiress Beatrice Webb to finance the setting up of the World Crafts Council. Through Kamaladevi’s indefatigable energy and her multiple international contacts, the Council became an international network. Crafts persons were able to meet and share experiences, exchange ideas and learn from each other. Today in many parts of the developing world, the Crafts Councils are the only organisations that spearhead the movement to nurture and develop craft traditions. The All India Handicrafts Board became operational in 1954, when the first market survey was conducted and the planned activities could be taken up. In less than 5 years,

the work of AIHB became known internationally. People from all over the developing world, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Israel, many newly liberated African countries and even from Mexico, came to study our programmes.

Today we have a private sector that we can be proud of; Kamaladevi inspired many NGOs who are doing excellent work. In the private sector, there are people like Ritu Kumar who were encouraged in their initial efforts by Kamaladevi. Today, despite the limitations and lack of support, handicrafts and handlooms are the biggest employer, after agriculture. Even today however, no clear picture is available of the employment: the figures for the handloom sector alone range from 12 million to 36 million. We know that only 7 percent of the work force is in the formal sector and the rest in the non-formal sector, the largest being those involved in the Cottage Industry Sector. This has been possible because of the pioneering work carried out by Kamaladevi and the structures that she built to support this work.

One could go on talking of her forever. I would however like to end by talking of her as a person. People were in such awe of her and many felt that she was lacking in humour. This was not true. She was of course a very private person, and no one, but no one could fathom her loneliness and the anguish in her heart. But despite everything, she had a fantastic sense of humour. She was a superb raconteur and a devastating mimic. I have spent many an hour laughing with her, listening to her stories. When she wanted to be charming, she could do so in a most artful manner and nobody could resist responding positively if she asked for something. It is because of this that right until her very last days she was able to get support for many an institution and help many people to realize their dreams. Today we live a life that is rich in many aspects, because of the pioneering work that was carried out by Kamaladeviji.

We know that only 6% of the work force is in the

formal sector and the rest are in the non-formal sector; the largest being those involved in the Cottage

Industry Sector. This has been possible because of the

pioneering work carried out by Kamaladevi and the structures that she built to

support this work.

Jasleen Dhamija has written a biography on Kamaladevi. She began work with Govt. of India in 1954, focusing on the revival of traditional crafts, community development and women’s empowerment. She has been advisor to many govts, taught in many universities and recieved awards from around the world.


Multi-view

For a few years now, Sonia and Mala Dhawan who live off MG Road, Bangalore have been throwing open their garden to showcase the works of various artisans of handcrafted products. Whether it was the women farmers of Sirsi, Hase Chitra artists from Sagar or groups from Kumaon to Kundapur, their home has slowly become a hub for small artists showcasing their work. Encouraged by this experience, the two sisters decided to formalise the initiative through A Hundred Hands, a not for profit trust whose primary focus is to provide a platform for artists involved in the creation of contemporary, handcrafted alternatives for our daily lives. It is a mission to help these artisans earn a fair and sustainable livelihood from their work.

Says Mala Dhawan, “working with our hands is an inherent instinct that stems from an ancient urge to express our individuality and create beauty. Our ancestors decorated the cave walls for the joy of it - and steeped as we are in a world of mass-produced toys, automated responses and instant gratification, we view hand crafting as a means to slow down, distress, find satisfaction in the simple pleasures and lead more creative and contented lives.”

A Hundred Hands has members who are actively involved with groups that earn their livelihood from handmade products. Some make homemade items on a small scale themselves. While initiatives that offer greater incentives to craftspeople do exist, much more remains to be done. A Hundred Hands seeks to combine skills and work in partnership with artists and craftspeople to ensure a dignified life and a fair livelihood for them.

As interesting as the craft work exhibited at the Hundred Hands Melas are the stories of the artisans who are happy to share slices of their life with you.

“Working with our hands is an inherent instinct

that stems from an ancient urge to express our

individuality and create beauty. We are in a world

of mass-produced toys, automated responses and

instant gratification - so we view hand crafting as

a means to slow down, de-stress, find satisfaction

in simple pleasures and lead more creative and

contented lives”, says Mala Dhawan, a co-founder

of the NGO, A Hundred Hands

Ram Soni

Sanjhi, is an elegant and exquisite art that originated in Uttar Pradesh. It can be traced back to the 16th / 17th century when it flourished and decorated the walls of palaces and Vaishnav temples in the Northern belt. The art predominantly depicted scenes and incidents from the life of Krishna. Stencils were created by cutting out fine filigree patterns on paper which were then used as rangolis to transfer the designs on temple walls and floors. Today it is a dying ancient Indian art. Hence it is extremely heartwarming to meet master craftsman, Ram Soni, who zealously guards and pursues the Sanjhi art.

Ram Soni is a classic example of how an artist can blend traditional art with contemporary tastes to keep the art alive and popular. He has incorporated Mughal art patterns & contemporary designs to keep his repertoire wide and appealing. A National Award winner, Ram Soni’s family has been practicing this art for 5 generations now and keeping the art alive in the country.


Shyam Venkat

Shyam Venkat, born into a Gond tribal family, started painting at ten. Venkat worked as a daily labourer for many years before he dreamt of following his passion for Gond art. Gond paintings were originally painted by the tribal people on the walls and ground of their house using limestone and charcoal. They were not mere decorations, but expressions of their religious sentiments and devotions. Common themes are local festivals like Karwa Chauth, Deepawali, Ahoi Ashtami, Nag Panchmi, Sanjhi etc; horses, elephants, tigers, birds, gods, men and objects of daily life in bright and multi-coloured hues. Venkat does everything from culture specific painting to highly abstract themes and his work has been exhibited in many countries. He feels an artist must bring a freshness to the time honoured themes. “When one looks at my paintings, one must feel they are traditional but at the same time, there have to be new elements in them,” he says.

Vidhushini:

Bright colours and clear lines on hand made paper make Vidhushini Prasad’s Madhubani paintings a great addition for any home. Vidhushini was born in Kolkata and later settled in Bihar, the state where Madhubani painting originated. She was a teacher for a while, and after the birth of her first son, she decided to delve deeper into her fascination for Madhubani art.

For someone who has learnt to paint on her own just a few years ago, Vidhushini has come a long way. She has been featured on the Novica website, a National Geographic initiative to connect artists across the world. “Though I have not had any formal training, it was not difficult for me take up this art. I have inherited it from my culture, and it feels great. I take pride in it”, she says.

Asha Ram

Asha Ram specializes in creating novel as well as traditional handcrafted products out of Sheesham, Ebony and Rosewood. Wood carving is a specialized art where the artisan carves patterns out of wood with various cutting tools such as a knife or a chisel or a chisel and a mallet. The highly skilled and ambidextrous Asha Ram has been instrumental in passing on this craft to many youngsters and has given a livelihood to several individuals while keeping the art alive.

Asha Ram, the master craftsman’s range of Mughal Combs are a delight for any lover of art and history. Each piece of intricately carved jaali work is a master’s creation and speaks volumes of the rich Indian heritage. Carved jaalis (lattice)on wood and ivory is one of the most recognized styles of Mughal art. This art is now practiced by only a few highly skilled artisans who have now adapted to changing consumer tastes - Asha Ram’s range of handcrafted wooden products now extends to utility products, novel gifts and home products. His latest passion is handcrafting a delightful range of puzzles.

Adapted from blog post by Geeta Venkat, volunteer, A Hundred Hands.Blog: ahundredhandstumblr.com

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Banwari Lal Bhat says “I do not want my kids to be in this job”. Though he and his family are financially dependent on his current work, he doesn’t want the kids to enter the same profession. He wants them to study hard and get into a different field. He emphasizes on the importance of English in today’s world. Speaking in broken English, he says, first and foremost he wants his children to learn English.

You might be wondering what his current job is and why does he make a statement like that. Banwari Lal Bhat is a puppeteer from Udaipur, Rajasthan, who earns his living by performing Kathputli shows. Banwari Lal says he has been into this profession since he was 12, and now he is 28. For the last 16 years he has been roaming across India showcasing the puppetry art and earning a living. He says he has done shows all over India, except in the beautiful seven sister states. He travels with his Kathputlis, while his family, a wife and 3 children are back at his native village.

His children go to school and Banwari Lal feels that his children should get into this art form only if they are interested and want to do something new in this field. On the other hand, his sister’s and brother’s children have chosen puppetry as their livelihood. This is the story of not only Banwari Lal, but of many artists practicing this dying art form.

While wandering through one of the roads of Bangalore, we heard a shrill voice and dhol beats. We saw a small group of people standing around a small stage. Bright colourful clothes, beautiful eyes, nimble limbs were dancing in front of an enthralled audience. The small wooden stage had a bright yellow cloth as the backdrop and these Kathputlis were dancing to the deft fingers of the puppet man, Banwari Lal. It can be a brave emperor, or a dancing girl, a snake charmer or a snake, all dance to the magic movements of Banwari Lal’s finger tips.

‘Kathputli’, as the name suggests, is a wooden puppet. The head and shoulders are made of wood while the hands and legs are stuffed with cotton, covered with cloth and attached to a string.

The man in a bright blue kurta was engrossed in playing the dhol, with the puppeteer singing and making shrill voices with a bamboo reed. The strong facial expression of the man with the dhol was really captivating. Banwari Lal, dressed in traditional Rajasthani attire, with a colourful turban on his head, was narrating the story through songs from behind the

K a t h p u t l i - Hanging Loose

KATHPUTLI has been used as a medium to provide

moral and social education. These shows have been an

good medium to spread awareness on the evils of the dowry

system, education of the girl child, cleanliness, population

control, etc. It has also been instrumental in offering

messages on these social and environmental issues in a

simple common language through anecdotes and stories.

- Priyanka Varma

Multi-view


yellow curtain. The whole setup brought back nostalgic memories of childhood.

Kathputli is an ancient form of art. Through the Kathputli show, folktales of kings, wars and other historical events used to be depicted. According to Banwari Lal, puppet shows were not only based around folktales of the kings, but also on social issues to create awareness. It has also been used as a medium to provide moral and social education. These shows have been an good medium to spread awareness on the evils of the dowry system, education of the girl child, cleanliness, population control, etc. It has also been instrumental in offering messages on these social and environmental issues in a simple common language through anecdotes and stories.

The Bhat community from Rajasthan began to practice this art as their family profession. Banwari Lal tells us that 11 generations of the Bhat community has been involved only in Kathputli art. These people have not recieved formal education and all the stories that they depict through the Kathputlis have been passed through word of mouth from their parents or grandparents. The Bhat community belongs to the Nagaur district of Rajasthan and apart from the Kathputli shows, they also make these puppets. These wooden dolls known as Kathputli used to attract not only the kids but even the elders. The Kathputli show was one of the main sources of entertainment in many villages.

Depressed by the current conditions and interest of people, Banwari Lal is sure that this art form will disappear soon. He is not keen on passing this art to his children as he feels they cannot have a decent livelihood through it when no one seems to take interest in this age old art form.

Can we do something to keep this art form alive and not just die with Banwari Lal and the people of his community? It is important for today’s children not only to appreciate how rich and diverse our tradition is, but more important to pass it on to the next generation and support them in valuing our rich Indian heritage. I do hope we soon discover ways of helping Kathputli and innumerable other wonderful art forms survive.

Depressed by the current conditions and interest

of people, Banwari Lal is sure that this art form will

disappear soon. He is not keen on passing this art

to his children as no one seems to take interest in

this age old art form.

Priyanka Varma is a software engineer and photography enthusiast. She has been associated with community service since she moved to Bangalore in 2007. She volunteers with Pankhudi Foundation, an NGO working for the under privilged kids and with many other groups at individual level.She blogs at http://wanderingtastebuds.com and http://bangalorecapture.com


The word ‘craft’ conjures up visions of colourful mirror-work, embroidered kurtas or knick-knacks to buy as gifts. But if we go beyond that city-centric view – craft essentially refers to the world of making things by hand, through skills that involve the whole person and often has some personal usefulness or function in a society. As many enlightened educationists talk about learning that involves “the head, hands and the heart”, sustainability gurus are talking about livelihoods and living processes that involve again, the head, hands and heart.

Just let yourself dwell on this world of craft, imagine you could engage in a craft as part of a way of life – even if it is to do gardening as a hobby, cooking or sewing – apart from enjoying yourself and reducing your stress levels, you will be joining a movement of people who wish to live sustainably in our present crises-ridden unsustainable world.

Let us take some tenets of sustainability that are increasingly advocated by several thinkers and

organisations focused on a new economic order for the world:

• Following Nature’s principle of cyclical flow of resources.

• Moving away from globalised capitalism to localization of businesses and resource usage, re-working the finance system to focus on local flows of currency.

• Fostering of enjoyment of life through personally fulfilling activities, relationships and communities.

• Fostering of equity and reducing the terrible gap that now exists between the rich and the poor

All these basic principles and many more can get fulfilled if the world sources a large part of its needs for material goods through a return to a crafts-oriented economy. Just as organic farming is a ‘systemic solution’ to reduce the (35 to 40%) carbon emissions from food and agriculture, crafts can not only reduce emissions from a range of products we need, but also shape a culture of local communities that foster

stability, interdependence and a lower consumption of natural resources.

Gandhiji famously said, “ We need production by the masses, not mass production”. The last two centuries and particularly the last two decades has seen the mind-boggling multiplication of mass produced goods – from cars to clothes, from plasics to books, from electronic gizmos to processed foods. Except for a few products that require high technology and capital, many of our basic needs – of roti-kapda-makaan – of food, clothes and housing, can be met by local crafts and agriculture and local physical activity. Unless we act from this belief, humankind cannot begin to solve the ecological crises we are faced with today.

However, crafts through the centuries have catered not only to basic needs: the human spirit has thirsted for much more – for expression of religious fervour or creativity, for personal adornment with clothes, jewelry and accessories, for beautifying dwellings and various other ways to give oneself a sense of identity or symbols of high status. Traditionally, crafts have supported all these human wants that go beyond basic needs as well, with amazing diversity across the world, mimicing Nature’s abundance in her expressions through flora and fauna.

Except for a few products that require high technology and capital, many of our basic needs – of roti-kapda-makaan – of food, clothes and housing, can be met by local crafts, agriculture and local physical activity. Unless we act from this belief, humankind cannot begin to solve the ecological crises we are faced with today.

While hand crafted goods

are becoming exclusive and

replaced by mass produced

‘stuff’ today, when the days

of cheap oil and transport

fade out, crafts will become

an essential part of the

solution to the climate crises,

says Seetha Ananthasivan.

Craft and Sustainability

Vantage Point


India’s Craft Culture

The tremendous diversity of landscapes, plant and animal life, languages and culture of India can be seen reflected in the vast number of art and craft forms across the ages. The Indic and Chinese civilisations are the longest thriving ones – continuing today with many aspects of their ancient cultures still sustained, despite the onslaught of several invasions and modern western influences. For example, in India, Vedic rites are still performed at marriages and other rituals and ancient shlokas and epic stories are shared with vigour and spiritual vitality even through new age media like the TV.

India has enchanted, bewildered and often frustrated many who have set out to understand her fascinating range and depth. What are some of the underpinnings of the Indian civilisation that have influenced our craft culture?

Behind India’s abundant unfolding is a culturally embedded celebration of diversity: India still has over 2000 languages, has given birth to 4 major religions and has innumerable communities, tribes, castes etc. There is yet a cultural commonality in all of these, that sociologists have called “Unity in Diversity”. The large number of crafts of India ensured a flow of natural resources in a cyclical manner through usage of natural materials and processes. India’s genius has been in her exploration of a wide range of systems of spiritual growth, rather than outer materialistic growth only. The Indian culture evolved through synthesis of external influences - this is especially evident in music, art and crafts and the Urdu language.

These aspects of Indian Crafts culture need to be valued, especially since they will be central to a sustainable culture in the future decades of climate crises we are likely to face.

Why value the Crafts Economy?

Even today, handicrafts and handloom is the sector that provides the second highest employment in India, next only to agriculture. While politicians and industrialists always proclaim the increased employment that large industries will provide, the reality is that from 1991 (the beginning of neo-liberal globalization) to 2007, employment in the organized sector has remained at about 27 million.

A whole range of ‘new’ crafts has also come up, blending craftsmanship with machines and machine made intermediate products – such as tailoring, small fabrications with steel, the making of toys, food items, clothes and much more; in India with 62% of our population still in the rural areas, unlike in many industrialised countries, many craft-based communities still thrive, although many are dying out as well.

The employment in the crafts sector in India, has increased through a gradual organic process spanning millenia, with little or no help from big business, politicians or media; that this has happened despite the hurdles of the promotion of mass produced goods speaks volumes for the sustainability and never-say-die spirit of crafts.

While hand crafted goods are seeking markets around the world today, when the days of cheap oil and transport fade out, crafts will become an essential part of the solution to the climate crises.

“There is a mistaken notion, common to economists and planners, that culture is something which needs to be preserved. The truth is that culture IS the preservative. Culture is the glue that holds people together as a community and as a humane society, not mere economic growth.”

- Krishna Kumar

Even today, handicrafts and

handloom is the sector that

provides the second highest

employment in India, next only

to agriculture.


Foundations of Indian Craft:From the Stone Age to the Indus Valley Civilisation

The merger of art and craft in India India is a country with innumerable temples, palaces and

other monuments which show case a dazzling array of sculptures, paintings, metal structures, ceramics, textiles and more. Yet, rarely are the names of the artistes and artisans recorded or inscribed in the art work itself. The famed author and art historian, Ananda Coomaraswamy argued that this is because, India’s art merged with its craft, and also, for the artisan his craft was a spiritual practice, and not only an expression of his creativity.

The creativity of the artist / artisan was bounded by the stylized forms of the particular school of craft he belonged to, and the themes were either general motifs or dictated by the temple, cave or palace he was working at, most of them being obviously a collaborative endeavour.

The myriad forms of ancient Indian crafts have continuously evolved over thousands of years. When human beings began making tools with stone and sticks of various kinds and also started using their imagination in cave art etc., the stage was set for the evolution of crafts.

While evidence exists of tools, pottery and cave art from pre-historic times, the crafts of the Indus Valley Civilization appear to have made great advancements – it had well developed towns with burnt brick structures and several tools including axes, saws, knives etc. It excelled in sculptures and artifacts in stones, metal and terracotta; gold and silver were also used. A terra-cotta sculpture of the Mother Goddess as a symbol of fertility and prosperity, pots made with a special clay with beautiful and refined detailing of birds, animals and men as well as several enigmatic seals are indications of a strong foundation for Indian crafts being laid.

Bronze sculptures were made using the lost wax process - which is fascinating for one of the oldest civilisations. This technique required sculptures to be first made out of wax. A layer of clay was then put over this wax, and then heated. This left behind a hollow mould into which molten metal was poured. After cooling, the clay was removed, and a metal sculpture remained. A beautiful example of such work, is the naked dancing girl found at Mohenjo-Daro, covered with jewellery, wearing several necklaces and bangles.

Unknown Artist, Paleolithic Cave Painting of a Horse

The most awkward means are adequate to the communication of authentic experience, and the finest words no compensation for lack of it.

- Ananda Coomaraswamy

Jewelery, Indus Valley Civilization


Pho

togr

aphs

from

Wik

iped

ia.


The Buddhist era shows enormous strides made in a range of crafts. The Jataka talks of 18 different craft ‘guilds’ for woodworkers, leatherworkers, smiths, painters, etc. These guilds were organisations to support various craftsmen, including through financial investment. The Buddhist text Milindapanha mentions 60 types of crafts. Villages were named after potters, carpenters, metal smiths, foresters, salt makers and oil makers etc.

The Jataka even mentions a guild of adhyamtrikas – workers who made hydraulic engines and water clocks!

A huge number of Jain temples and other monuments also exist in various regions in India

Crafts in the Buddhist Era

Unknown Artist, Painting at Buddhist rock-cut Cave at Ajanta, Maharashtra.

Synthesis of foreign influences

“The Buddhist point of view takes the function of work to be at least three fold: to give man a chance to develop and utilise his faculties; to enable him to overcome his ego-centredness by joining with other people in a common task; and to bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence.”

- E.F Schumacher in ‘Small is Beautiful’

Jaali work, Fatehpur Sikri

The Mughal influence is well known in architecture and many other areas particularly in north India. Persian, Arabian, Portughese, French and English art and culture have also been absorbed into Indian culture. Jaali work, Urdu, Ghazals, the Kathak dance, the English language, etc., are a few examples.

Detail from Jain Temple at Dilwara, Rajasthan


Mughal architecture, Qutub Minar, Delhi

National Museum, New Delhi


Crafts and Religion

Every civilization has its religion(s) and supporting canons of myths and symbols. The religions that originated or flourished in India have provided themes and often their whole livelihood for Indian artisans. Interestingly, in some HIndu temples, a craftsman making garlands or the clothes of the God could well be a Muslim.

“Religion, the great milch cow, has given us many

kicks, but never mind, it gives us a great deal of milk.”

- Swami Vivekananda

A huge volume of art and craft has been inspired by Hindu Gods and Godesses. Shown here are many of the gods with their ‘vahanas’ or vehicles, which are birds or animals. Even as huge tracts of forests along with their fauna and flora are being destroyed in recent times, hope exists with many communities which still revere birds and animals, often because of a religious connection. Example: the Peacock which is a vahana of Karthikeya (or Subramanya / Muruga); the elephant, the vahana of Indra and also symbolic of the all time favourite, Ganesha.

Ganesha alone may well be taking care of tens of thousands of artisans, because he makes a very popular gift in various art and craft forms.

“ Myths are public dreams and dreams are private myths… God is a metaphor for all that which transcends all levels of intellectual thought. It is as simple as that.” - Joseph Campbell

The Gods who are worshipped across India as well as local regional Gods and Godesses provide great opportunities for artisans to make small replicas or symbols as souvenirs to be sold at Indias huge number of temples. The Dasavataras or the 10 ‘avatars’ of God are depicted in many temples and pictures for home decoration. The 10 avatars communicate

the story of evolution starting from Matsya (fish), Koorma (amphibian), Varaha (the bull – land animal), and leading on to Rama, the ideal human being and Krishna the super human and finally Kalki, the apocalyptic in the current era. These depictions also serve the function of keeping alive the cultural beliefs regarding time and human vulnerabiity.



Most villages in South India have an annual Festival where the village diety is taken on procession in a Chariot and the burning of the Ravana effigee is an annual ritual during Diwali. These rituals provide work to several craftsmen in the village.

Various rituals - connected with festivals, marriage etc., also foster a range of crafts - ranging from the use of small clay vessels for “ella bellu” for the harvest festival Makar Shankaranthi in Karnataka, to gifting of brass lamps and utensils and tonsuring of one’s hair in temples.

Rites and Rituals need many craftsmen...

Providing flowers and garlands for

marriages and for worship through puja is probably the work

of tens of thousands of people in India. Doing Puja is a daily ritual in many homes, rich or

poor, and certainly in all temples.

One of the most expressive craft forms that women engage in as a daily ritual is the making of floral designs and motifs on the floor called Alpana, Kolam, Rangoli etc. - with rice flour (also to provide food for ants), flowers and coloured powders. Mehndi and Glass bangles are used for certain rituals for women and flowers, kum kum and haldi in almost all rituals.

Craftsman making a Ravana effigee


Thiruvarur Chariot Craftsman making a chariot


Craft and NatureCraft items mostly use natural materials like

wood, palm leaf, bamboo, stone and so on which are bio-degradable if not re-cyclable. India also was highly advanced in metallurgy – and various metals and alloys are used in sculptures and vessels which are often made to last through generations. The use of themes and motifs of trees, leaves, flowers, birds and animals show a closeness to nature in urban as well as rural areas.

In a not-so-nature-friendly development, during the last few decades, some craftsmen have begun using plastics as a base material.

Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh

“ The artist is not a special kind of person - rather each person is a special kind of artist” - Ananda Coomaraswamy

Painting on the walls and floor of the home were the beginnings of people expressing their creativity, with themes involving nature, humans and gods. Gradually with foreign, particularly western influence, today art and craft has become pieces to be displayed and sold. This has brought in a greater awareness of tribal and regional art and craft to urbanites and also their commercialisation on a larger scale has helped in the survival of many artisans.

Tribal Craft and Knowledge

Warli painting, Maharashtra

There are 645 listed tribes in India. Tribals live a truly sustainable life. Most tribals today are using their traditional crafts such as honey gathering, bamboo work or mat weaving etc., to get connected with the ‘developing world’. Whatever their primary occupation or activities, all of them have valuable knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area, about medicinal plants and much more.

Tribal art like Warli, Gondh and Chittara have become popular in exhibitions in cities today - we as city dwellers seem to have an instinctive need to connect with the natural and indigenous wisdom of these ‘eco-system people’.



Madhubani painting, Bihar

Many charms and symbols, like this Tibetan one (above), embody the respect the society has for Nature and biodiversity through the several pictures of animals and plants they portray. Sometimes, they work to the disadvantage of animal life - as when tigers get killed for theri teeth or skin, or Rhinos get hunted for their horn

Handicrafts definitely connect us with Nature, since the materials used are often not excessively processed and give us the feel of cotton, palm leaves, wood etc. During the last few decades, materials like plastic, polyester fibres, cement, steel etc are used to mass produce furniture and buildings; although they too are sourced from the Earth, they do not give a ‘natural feel’ and often re-cycling them is difficult or not possible.

Craft for Folk and Classical Dances India has about 40 folk dances and over 60 musical

instruments which are used for them; The classical dance forms are fewer - 8, but today they are made popular all over the country through several dance schools.

Every folk and classical dance form in India has its own set of costumes, jewelry and other paraphernelia whcih are made by craftsmen who specialise in the work.

Shown alongside is the photograph of a Kathakali artiste preparing to play the role of Ram, with his elaborate costume and make-up.



Craft in Everyday Life

Craft to a city dweller often appears to be an indulgence of the elite or the

hobbyist; also, craft items that have a certain marketability or export potential are

the only ones that are show-cased in various craft exhibitions and shops. But over

60% of India still lives in rural areas, where the function of craft is more important

than its appearance.

Let us remember that cooking, gardening, carpentry, masonry, sewing, knitting

etc. are also crafts! And hand crafted products in India essentially were for everyday

life – be it vessels, foot wear, clothes, the plough or other instruments.

Thousands of craftsmen make articles of daily use like chairs, bags,

cushions, hats, purses, sofas, toys etc. Some of these, like modas

are now found in all cities and towns. In every state in India,

its own unique designs, colours, materials and patterns

are manifested in the handicrafts for everyday use. For

instance, Kashmir is known for its Pashmina wool shawls

as well as carpets, silverware, ivory works etc, Assam

and West Bengal for their delicate ‘Sholapith’ and

‘Shital Patti’ work; Karnataka for its rosewood carving,

sandalwood crafts; and the engraved and enameled

meenakari brassware found in Rajasthan, silk materials

from Varanasi and Kanchipuram, colourful embroidery, mirror

work, quilting and fabric painting from Gujarat etc are some of

the unique crafts from the different states.

“Simplicity is a positive quality; when things are simple they are

well-made, they last indefinitely, they are made with pleasure

and they give pleasure when used.”

- Satish Kumar


“A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse

cotton cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their

function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing before the

separation of the useful and the beautiful.”

- Octavio PazW

all a

rt ,

Raja

stha

n

“Any fool can make things complicated, but it

requires a genius to make things simple.”

- E.F. Schumacher


Craft and the HomeThe skills and culture connected with a craft was passed on to the

young through families, and the house became a natural expression of

art and craft forms. Every region had its own “signature” craft, such as

Warli, Tanjore or Kalamkari Paintings, Kutch mirror work etc. In some

areas, houses are decorated with ‘jali’ work, distinctive motifs and

patterns on walls or have beautiful architectural forms that suit the

climate of the place.

Traditional homes in many places, such as these - in

Kutch, Gujarat (left and above left) and Assam (below left)

are delightful in their diversity and simplicity.

Grass Crafts exist in every

region of India. Thatch roofing

is used in many villages, and

also floor mats, baskets, boxes

etc. made of grass, bamboo and

palm leaves are very common.

Perhaps more than half of India

lives in eco-friendly houses built

with mud, straw, cowdung,

tiles, lime, etc.

“The domestic joys, the daily housework

or business, the building of houses - they are

not phantasms... they have weight and form

and location.”

- Walt Whitman



Craft and RoyaltyThe lives of craftsmen were not always idyllic and full of

creativity and spirituality as may be suggested by the beautiful art

and craft they produce. They often struggled within an unfair and

unjust caste system and increasingly today, are vulnerable to being

exploited by middle-men and even corporate greed : Organisations

have attempted to patent the mango and other motifs which have

been used through centuries by artisans.

The kings and emperors as well as some rich noblemen through

the ages, provided the much needed patronage for artisans to

continue doing their work - especially when it concerned working

with marble, precious stones and such expensive material and

temples and other monuments. Not always were they well

rewarded - certain Mughal kings were known to blind and maim

artisans on completion of their work so that they would not make

equally good pieces of art for others!

Apart from palaces, kings patronised the building of fantastic

temples like the Madurai Meenakshi temple, the huge Hampi

sculptures, the temples at Puri, Somnath, Belur Halebid and

hundreds of others. After the Mughal invasion came the Arabic and

Persian influence on architecture and great tombs and gardens like

the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri were built - and became models

for thousands of other buildings.

Today, the Consumer is King! Despite all the ills of the free-

market globalised economy, many crafts survive because of

national and international marketing often supported by many

NGOs and other organisations. However, there is definitely a need

to judiciously redefine what kind of globalisation is sustainable

and avoid yielding uncomprehendingly to capitalist and corporate

expansionism, and promote more crafts instead.


Photos: By Ananth Somaiah, Nidhi Aggarwal, Wikipedia and free stock images.

20 ft high statue of Ugranarasimha at Hampi built by the Vijayanagara kings


The Crafts Council of India (CCI) undertook the Craft Economics and Impact Study (CEIS) to address the crisis of unawareness and misunderstanding that faces the handicraft sector. The objective of this effort is to suggest a methodology that can provide authorities with a robust and reliable data-base for a sector that some estimates place at involving 200 million persons. Such a foundation for knowledge and action is missing today. As a consequence, India’s artisans are in acute distress, despite the sector’s remarkable growth. The Craft Economics and Impact Study (CEIS) attempts preliminary enquiries to make accurate data available to inform better decision making.

The Handicraft SectorHandicraft, including Handloom

is the second largest source of employment in the country, after agriculture. Yet India’s hand industries are in a crisis of misunderstanding.

Encouraging statistics of growth at the macro level often mask a tragic neglect at the micro level. The centrality of hand production to national well-being is not comprehended in most decision-making circles. There is neglect and ignorance of how artisanal production – such as the weaving of a sari or shawl or making the utterly simple kullhar for drinking tea – contains within itself the incredibly rich philosophy of India’s civilisation,

its culture and its practices. These persistent misconceptions remain as hangovers of India’s colonial experience.

Because modernity has been primarily framed as an evolution or adoption of ideas and ways of living that mimic the West, the products of the artisan are branded as ‘local’, ‘primitive’, ‘ethnic’ etc. that can denote qualitatively inferior products when compared with machine-made, mass-produced objects of uniform quality. Official support schemes, developed from policies that were designed to transform India into modernity, therefore adopted the orientation that artisans were persons who belonged to a pre-industrial past. From this an attitude quickly followed that they were liabilities on a strained exchequer.

Sustaining them was a burden dictated by the politics of poverty rather than the logic of efficiency implicit in modern day economic theory.

There is thus neglect and ignorance of the value of artisanal production, its scale and potential within rapidly changing markets, and its critical contribution to social and environmental stability. India’s fabled wealth that attracted waves of conquerors, merchants, speculators and adventurers was built on what it produced. This was not agricultural commodities or raw materials, but the finest finished goods that fetched huge premiums in global markets. Imperialism converted the production and trade in Indian goods into the production of commodities and raw materials that could be converted in the metropolitan economy and then sold back to the colonial market.

Mahatma Gandhi’s Swadeshi legacy attempted to transform these perceptions, leading free India to include handcraft within the framework of national planning. Official support schemes, often indifferently designed and reluctantly implemented, today touch only a fraction of possibly 200 million or more engaged in craft activity. There is despair, confusion and misery among millions of artisans faced with rapidly changing markets, intense competition, decline of the natural materials on which they depend, and the lack of the information and skills

Because modernity has been

primarily framed as an evolution

or adoption of ideas and ways

of living that mimic the West,

the products of the artisan are

branded as ‘local’, ‘primitive’,

‘ethnic’ etc. There is thus neglect

and ignorance of the value of

artisanal production and its

critical contribution to social and

environmental stability.

The Craft Economics and Impact Study

To address the crisis of unawareness and misunderstanding that faces the handicraft sector, the Craft Council of India (CCI) undertook this Craft Economics and Impact Study (CEIS). Extracts from the full report published in April 2011, available from the CCI website, are given below.

Positive Steps


needed to benefit from new market opportunities. Artisans are confronted by new challenges that include those associated with technology, communication and intellectual property.

Cultural Economics Cultural economics is today

a growing field across the globe, testimony to increasing awareness of the limitations of basing national policies purely on economic theory. Fresh concepts of ‘culture’ and of ‘economics’ are evolving. There is recognition of the living fabric of community and social relationships that go beyond monetary value and powerfully influence everyday choices and actions. Despite its unique cultural heritage, India is yet to acknowledge the synergy between contemporary systems of economic analysis and her own systems of indigenous knowledge.

As environmental awareness has increased, the green dimension of craft activity takes new significance. So too the importance of strengthening the awareness of craft within issues of seasonal livelihoods, migration, the status of women, lifting the relevance of school education to Indian realities, the challenges of natural resource management upon which crafts depend, and even disaster management.

Recognition Demands Visibility, Visibility Requires Data

National planning is a huge and complex exercise. Large ‘organised’ sectors receive better attention than those considered less crucial because they are regarded as ‘informal’ or ‘unorganised’. The opportunity cost of this is enormous, as labels and definitions often fail to respect the validity of indigenously organised, localised production and distribution systems. The lack of awareness about the potential of crafts for economic growth is rooted in the sector’s invisibility resulting from dispersion, and the consequent ignorance of size and scale. The crisis of data also reflects a deeper problem in Indian planning. It has so far failed to bring together, within current administrative structures, the range of economic, social, political, environmental, cultural and ethical concerns that are required for nurturing crafts.

The key factor in this situation is the absence of reliable data that accurately reflects the contribution of the hand sector to national employment, production and income. Without such a foundation of knowledge and awareness, the political will is lacking that can spur investment in the sector’s growth, and thus help ensure its future contribution There can be no excuse for the crisis in India’s handicrafts at a time when opportunities have never been

greater, and a global awakening exists of the importance of artisans and the artisanal culture to a sustainable world order.

Once a base of reliable data is established for the sector, priority may be achieved through better informed decisions that can help ensure employment, a better quality of life for millions of Indians, strengthening pride in our heritage as a force for social and political stability, as well as for environmental sustainability

The CEIS EffortThese factors came together to impel

CCI to work with national authorities and other partners toward developing a methodology for the study.

The Council commenced its “Craft Economics and Impact Study” (CEIS), described in this report, in 2009-10 with the support of a small grant from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage included an investigation of existing sources of information relating to the sector.

The second stage included household enumeration in the two craft clusters of Karur district (Tamil Nadu) and Kutch district (Gujarat). Findings were then shared with others in the sector, leading on to recommendations of next steps toward improving national data-gathering systems.

It is hoped that these can help ensure that Indian handicrafts emerge from grey invisibility to recognition as a giant industry of immense national and global significance.

The full report is available at www.craftscouncilof india.org

Cultural economics is today

a growing field across the globe,

testimony to increasing awareness

of the limitations of basing

national policies purely

on economic theory. Fresh

concepts of ‘culture’ and of

‘economics’ are evolving…India

is yet to acknowledge the synergy

between contemporary systems of

economic analysis and her own

systems of indigenous knowledge.

Once a base of reliable data is

established for the sector, priority

may be achieved through

better informed decisions that can

help ensure employment and a

better quality of life for millions

of Indians. This may finally

translate pride in national heritage

into conditions for strengthening

that heritage as a force for

social and political stability

The Craft Economics and Impact Study has been published by Crafts Council of Inida, Chennai 600 017.

Email: [email protected],in


Young Pioneers

Indeed, Small is Beautiful! ”““During my 2 1/2 month stay at a beautiful homestay in Munsiari, Uttarakhand,

I came to see how putting people at the forefront of development, and not technology, could actually work.”

Rooftop solar power generators.

- Lavanya Keshavamurthy

Schumacher talkes about...small means leading to

extraordinarily satisfactory results. A demonstration of this principle

could be seen in the little village of Paton,

Munsiari, Uttarakhand. The village is off the grid, yet people have light, can charge their mobiles and watch their favourite TV serials –

all powered by solar energyfrom their rooftops!

Last autumn, while I was in Canada as a reluctant MBA student, a friend shared a video about Malika Virdi, titled – ‘Transforming Lives in the Hills’, featured on a TV program called Amazing Indians. Prior to leaving Canada, I chanced upon One Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka’s book on natural farming, and questions that arose about “running away from the fast pace of urban life” and “shunning technology for simplicity” lingered on in my mind ever since. I was about to come to terms with my decision

to do an MBA in Sustainability and had even begun to enjoy it, when Steve Jobs died, and ‘Follow your heart’ signs started popping up everywhere. It is then that I acquainted myself with Malika and her efforts with Himal Prakriti, an NGO working on conservation and livelihood issues in the Gori Valley, Uttarakhand. I wrote to her immediately, expressing my desire to do an internship with the community at Munsiari, Uttarakhand, to seek answers to my questions through hands-on work.

Munsiari - “place with snow” in the local language - is at a height of 2200m above sea level, with stunning views of the Panchchuli peaks in the Kumaon region. The journey to this beautiful place was physically exhausting: the fatigue enhanced by the fact that I travelled in a shared taxi from the plains of Haldwani through the lower Himalayas to the higher Himalayas. However, the exhaustion magically disappeared as I was enthusiastically greeted by the family who hosted my stay. In the two and a half months that I stayed in Munsiari, I had the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of five different homes, all part of the home-stay program started by Malika when she was the Sarpanch of this village.

As I went about planting potatoes, digging a pond, fixing solar lanterns, clearing cow-dung, taking care of goats, knitting my scarf, driving a taxi, etc., I felt a strong connection with the land and its people. There was a sense of satisfaction in doing all the “small things” that made me happy, without the fear of being branded a generalist. In urban settings, specialization is the norm, and holistic living is given little importance.


Lavanya Keshavamurthy is committed to working towards equitable and sustainable development through responsible use of resources.

Her current focus areas are urban waste management and transport.

Another book that influenced my musings around small-scale development was ‘Small is Beautiful’ by E.F. Schumacher. Though the book was written more than 30 years ago, the ideas of linking human behaviour and economics, and putting people at the forefront of development are still relevant, now more than ever. Though progress and development are meant for people, most of the huge development programs that we generally know of somehow overlook the human aspect. A classic example is the surge of many flyovers in Bangalore, most of which have no provision for people to cross the road.

Schumacher talks about the use of simple ‘Intermediate Technology’, which is not only less expensive, but also easy for training and control. I could see this in action as a few people made a stone path in Sarmoli village in Munsiari. The people cut locally available stones and laid them out using their hands and simple tools. They seemed satisfied with their work and happily posed for photographs. The other important thing is how easy it is to incorporate feedback in the process. In this case, the local who was accompanying me told them that the stone path is better than the cement one since the stone path provides a better grip especially during snowfall. Whether the suggestion will be implemented or not is secondary, but the ease of providing feedback is nothing compared to the complexity and bureaucracy involved in massive projects in cities. In all the mayhem of complicated drawings, huge plans and abstractness, common sense does not seem to prevail.

The concept of simple technology was reaffirmed when we visited a couple of micro hydropower projects and watermills in and around the beautiful village of Bui (Munsiari, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand). These mills are not only built almost entirely from locally available materials, but are owned and maintained by the local community. Unfortunately, some of these have begun to shut down as huge hydropower projects are making their way into these serene places, and their impact is already visible through many landslides in the area.

The shift is causing whole villages to migrate towards towns and cities in search of “better” livelihoods. Buddhist

Economics has simplicity and non-violence as its base and recognizes the need for meaningful work that not only pays an income, but also fulfills the human need for utilizing and developing his faculties. So without opportunities for any work, whether it is meaningful or not, the natural tendency is to migrate out. Instead, if projects can be initiated which create jobs leading to fulfillment of local needs, real development can be achieved.

Schumacher also talks about achievement of maximum well-being with the minimum of consumption, i.e., “small means leading to extraordinarily satisfactory results”. A demonstration of this principle could be seen in the little village of Paton in Munsiari, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. The village is off the grid, yet people have light, can charge their mobiles and watch their favourite TV serials – all powered by solar energy from their rooftops!

Around the kitchen fire which doubles

up as a room heater, we requested our sweet 14-year old hostess to sing us a Pahadi song and she immediately asked me to turn on bluetooth on my mobile so that she could transfer the song from her mobile! All this without the use of dynamite, without cutting trees and without building huge concrete dams. Talk about taking technology to remote villages! In trying to satisfy the ever-increasing consumption in urban areas, we have resorted to violent means to exploit energy and resources from these beautiful and serene places and bring them into our poorly designed homes and offices.

In trying to satisfy the ever-increasing consumption in urban areas, we have resorted to violent means to

exploit energy and resources from these beautiful and serene places and bring them into

our poorly designed homes and offices.

The stone path we built.


At the back of a humble house in a small neighbourhood in a big city, there lives an eccentric man who uses his extraordinary voice to express his many ideas. He is a short man with a cheeky laugh, a distinct Malayalee accent, and the personality of a busy squirrel gathering provisions for the winter.

His name is Montry Manual, his instrument of choice is the drum, and his voice is Thaalavattam.

Like many good ideas, Thaalavattam, which means “circle of rhythm” in Malayalam, was conceived while walking down a street. Montry, who was out for

Marching to the beat of his own drum, Montry Manual gives new meaning to music and musical instruments

- Natasha Rego

Thaalavattam

an amble one day in Bangalore, noticed plastic soft drink bottles in a pile of garbage by the road, not an unusual sight in the city. But for Montry, the discarded bottles became, in a flash of inspiration, the symbolic instruments through which he would achieve his musical dream: to concoct an original sound.

Those bottles also became, literally, the instruments which helped him produce that dream sound. When Thaalavattam was born in 2011, the aim was to bring onto one platform, musicians who performed raw, rustic pieces, along with dancers and visual artists. Hosted

by Montry, a seasoned drummer who had been frustrated by the lack of what he calls experimental space, Thaalavattam conducted impromptu jam sessions as well as “interactive drum circles”, the latter being a way to communicate with the audience, to show that each one of us has rhythm within us, as Montry puts it.

With Thaalavattam, Montry went back to the basics, using unconventional methods that reflect his commitment to the environment. Those small soft drink bottles became his drumsticks; used paint cans, his drums; metal scraps, his hi-hats; and, inspired by America’s Blue Man Group, he fashioned old PVC pipes into “thaalavattam drums”. The bigger bottles, cut open and filled with beer-bottle crowns became shakers for use by the audience participating in his drum circles.

A big factor in the group’s constantly evolving sound is Thaalavattam veteran Mehdi Dehbandi, an Iranian self-taught multi-instrumentalist. Mehdi, who is also a gifted craftsman, makes his own didgeridoos – aboriginal wind instruments – and Native American flutes out of scrap wood, used bamboo, and old PVC pipes.

Mehdi asserts that for a sound like Thaalavattam’s, it’s essential to extract and throw out the defined vibrations and frequencies in terms of musical notes. “That is how you get space to explore what is in between,” he says.

When the rhythm created by Thaalavattam’s outlandish instruments is combined with the melodious performances of the different featuring artists, the result, Montry says, is pure magic.

Along with the music it has been creating, Thaalavattam has evolved over time. “I want Thaalavattam to become a way of life,” says Montry, who, since

Like many good ideas, Thaalavattam, which means “circle of

rhythm” in Malayalam, was conceived while walking down a street,

says Montry Manual

Young Pioneers


he was able to transform junk into musical instruments so effectively, figured he could make other, more useful things, too, from waste material. With his team of “creative sweethearts”, he has created household articles out of unwanted stuff: a discarded bicycle wheel became a wine glass stand; empty jam bottles and old T-shirts were turned into lamp shades. These items are among the many products that are now part of the Thaalavattam merchandise.

Thaalavattam: the origins It all began in Fort Cochin in Kerala,

where a young Montry grew up with a hankering to become a musician.

Influenced by his friend John Thomas, the drummer of Motherjane, a rock band, and Jerry Peter, his drumming guru, Montry moved to Bangalore in 2002. He was 24 years old.

Like many young, small-town dwellers, Montry came to the big city with no money, a Class X education, and a big dream. He had to scrape together a living, first as an office boy at a computer hardware company, and later as a graphic designer with small DTP centres and advertising agencies. He says he also spent a wasted year in Chennai – “I learnt a lot, though” – before he finally got a break in 2004 when he became an art director with Mudra Communications in Bangalore.

More good news followed when, in 2006, during a freelance design project, he met Vasu Dixit, who was looking for a drummer for his folk-rock band, Swarathma. Montry fit right in. And two years later, he quit his day job to make music his life.

In Swarathma, Montry found a musical haven. The band played original music and when their popularity grew, they started touring the country, playing back-to-back shows in different cities.

When Swarathma toured England in 2009, Montry was drawn to the street culture. “I felt I was discovering a new artist every time I turned a corner,” he says. He found this to be the perfect setting to give free reign to his voice. Two years later, five years after he had joined the band, the time came for him, he says, to find his own sound.

Thus it came to pass that, on October 4, 2011, exactly 33 years after he was born, Montry found his voice with Thaalavattam. Life, it seemed, had turned full circle. Fittingly, that circle happens to be the “circle of rhythm”.

With Thaalavattam, Montry went back to the basics, using

unconventional methods that reflect his commitment to the

environment. Those small soft drink bottles became his drumsticks;

used paint cans, his drums; metal scraps, his hi-hats; and, inspired

by America’s Blue Man Group, he fashioned old PVC pipes into

“thaalavattam drums”.

Natasha Rego is doing her MA in journalism and audio-visual communication. Her association with Thaalavattam is part of her search “to free herself from conformity to the society”.


IN THE COSMIC SWIMME

Most scientists see life evolving as the result of chance events. But Brian Swimme sees the Universe as moving in a purpose-filled direction. Eric Maddern reports.

He leans forward on the edge of his chair, his hands sweeping the air. “Now this”, he says with a grin, “is my favourite fact about the Universe!”

The speaker is Brian Swimme. As a mathematical cosmologist, co-author (with Thomas Berry) of The Universe Story and director of the Center for the Story of the Universe at the California Institute of Integral Studies, he knows a thing or two about the Universe. But Brian is no impartial, objective scientist. He is a man with passion who truly loves the Universe and, even more, the facts about it that he has at his fingertips.

His favourite fact? That if the early Universe had expanded a trillionth of

a trillionth of a trillionth of a per cent faster, it would have blown apart. If it had expanded the same percentage slower, it would have collapsed.

This is an uncomfortable fact for many scientists. How could the Universe have got it so right? It can’t have been Intelligent Design because that would mean a Creator and many scientists don’t want to believe that. So perhaps there are an infinite number of Universes, each one struggling to come into being. Maybe ours happened, just by chance, to get it right.

The explanation Brian prefers is that the Universe is intelligent, not by design, but in an implicit, emergent, dynamic, self-organising way. It is an intelligence

that arises from the fundamental nature of matter and energy. There may be random chaos in the Universe, but there is also logic, order, elegance and even an inevitability to its unfolding. And, whereas most scientists see life evolving as the result of innumerable chance events, Brian sees the Universe as moving in a purpose-filled direction.

His own purpose, he believes, is to reveal the fundamental patterns and processes at work in our Universe because, he suggests, if we can learn to align ourselves with these “Powers of the Universe” (as he calls them), then we can live a meaningful and spiritual life. Not that Brian Swimme is trying to create a

Science


new world religion. But he believes a radical creativity is required for us to root deeply in the Universe and to really see our planet and ourselves as the miraculous blossoming we are.

Last year, during a five-day course at Schumacher College, he told us about three of the eleven Powers of the Universe he has identified. Here, in brief, are two of those three:

The first he talked of, perhaps surprisingly, is The Power of Cataclysm. The truth is that life requires death. It was in its final, cataclysmic collapse at an unbelievable 900 million degrees that a supernova star spewed forth 100 newly created elements that were to be the building blocks of Earth and life. Death surprises us with the birth of creativity. Ninety-nine per cent of all species that have ever existed are now extinct. But, after each major extinction, life has leapt forward with a new burst of creativity.

So cataclysm is not a mistake. It is profoundly necessary and our job is to enhance it. First though, we must face that it is happening. For example, we’re in the midst of a mass extinction; the worst for sixty-five million years. Yet most of us would rather not know.

The second thing is to absorb the pain and allow it to change us. Marcel Proust wrote in Remembrance of Things Past: “Illness is the most heeded of doctors: to goodness and wisdom we only make promises; we obey pain.” We must obey the pain we feel about the state of the world and the fate of future generations. By working with cataclysm, we have a chance to bring about deep change. It may feel like being under tremendous pressure, like being held in a vice-like grip. But it is necessary to abide in these feelings for true spiritual development and for the vitality of the whole.

Another Power of the Universe is The Power of Emergence. The Universe is not static. It is an evolving story with creativity running through it at every level. The Earth is possibly “the most creative being in the Universe”. Why should this be so? Well it’s not hard rock like Mars. It’s not gaseous and insubstantial like Jupiter. Earth is fluid. Its tectonic plates shift, its molten lava erupts, its ocean tides rise and fall. Earth is in between. It holds and expresses “a balanced turbulence”

(according to Thomas Berry); “a shimmering disequilibrium” (as described by E. O. Wilson). Under these conditions creativity flourishes. The biodiversity on the Earth when humans arrived two million years ago was the greatest ever seen on the planet. It took that amount of richness and variety to bring forth human consciousness.

Brian Swimme argues that creativity must be an essential part of spirituality. It requires finding your way into balanced turbulence. If you’re in doubt as to what to do, turn up the heat. Feel the stress. Embrace the suffering. Become disturbed. These are good signs you’re on your way to creativity. Indeed, “the ideal condition for the human is the highest degree of tension that can be creatively borne” (Alfred Kroeber). A measure of spiritual maturity is the degree to which you can handle turbulence. When you feel an urgent restlessness within, you know something wants to attain realisation through you. Don’t be afraid of failure. Wander about looking for something. Live with ambiguity. Surprise yourself. Ninety-nine per cent of all species came forth through trial and error.

Creativity is also a one-time thing. All hydrogen atoms were created near the beginning. Galaxies were created a billion years later. Neither was created before or has been created since. We, humanity, can do now what we couldn’t do fifty years ago. And if we don’t ‘seize the day’, the moment will have passed. We won’t be able to do in even twenty years what we can – and must – do now. Timing is of the essence.

To take a course with Brian Swimme is to be constantly astounded, delighted and puzzled. So much about the Universe is counter-intuitive. For example, we can ‘see’ the birth of the Universe when we look out into space 13.7 billion light years away and reach a ‘wall of light’. And yet the birth of the Universe is also here, in this galaxy, where we – the most complex beings we know – are now.

Then there’s the scale of it. There are 100 billion galaxies, each one with 100 billion stars. How do you get your mind around that? Try this: on a starry night, extend your hand above you. Behind one fingernail a million galaxies are concealed. Each galaxy is 100,000 light years across. Awesome. Literally. Even more mind-blowing is the notion that the Universe may have to be this big in order for human consciousness to arise. As Stephen Hawking puts it, “the Universe is as vast as it is because we are here”.

This is an example of creative tension. On the one hand, how insignificantly tiny we are in this shockingly enormous Universe. On the other, perhaps we are the most complex and conscious expression of the Universe there is.

Maybe, in the end, that’s the response Brian is seeking to evoke in us. Awe. After all, he says, we are made to fall in love, to be astounded by beauty and value. What is more astonishing than the grandeur of the Universe and the realisation that every one of us, an expression of the Universe becoming conscious of itself?

Brian Swimme argues that creativity must be an

essential part of spirituality. If you’re in doubt

as to what to do, find your way into

balanced turbulence.Feel the stress. Embrace

the suffering. Become disturbed. These are good signs that you’re on your

way to creativity.

Eric Maddern is a storyteller, musician and children’s author. He is currently touring a show called What The Bees Know. www.ericmaddern.co.ukThe above article features in Resurgence issue 259, March/April 2010.

This article is reprinted courtesy of Resurgence & Ecologist. To buy Resurgence & Ecologist, read further articles online or find out about The Resurgence Trust, visit: http://www.resurgence.orgAll rights to this article are reserved to Resurgence & Ecologist, if you wish to republish or make use of this work, you must contact the copyright owner to obtain permission.For more information on Brian Swimme, visit www.brianswimme.org


India’s Incredible Bazaars - In Defence of India’s Retail Democracy

India is a unique marketplace: Village squares burst into life as farmers set up their weekly ‘haats’ (santhes) - shops in small town bazaars cater to our daily needs, and a myriad of sellers set up their goods on city streets while the ambulant vendor melodiously announces his wares at our doorstep where he arrives in the morning with vegetables picked up fresh from the ‘mandi’.

Official estimates put the figures of small retailers at 40 million. But I do not think this takes into account the farmer who sells directly at the village ‘haat’, or

the millions of hawkers and vendors who do not have a ‘shop’. My estimate is that retail democracy provides livelihoods to about 100 million people and supports at least 300 million through the incomes that retail brings. This is the real ‘Incredible India’ which creates the vibrancy and colour , the diversity and democracy that India is.

Today both agriculture and small retail are under assault from agribusiness and giant corporate retail. The assault is multifaceted – and it is cultural.

The Cultural AssaultThe cultural assault is exemplified in an

India Today article, which described local vegetable shopping in a small market as “90% perspiration, 10% inspiration” and shopping at a supermarket store as “99% inspiration and – 1% perspiration”. The attempt is to present the low cost human scale neighborhood markets or vendors as “primitive” and the air-conditioned supermarket as “sophisticated”.

Another article in the Time Magazine* titled “Supply Chains’ Food

Just as the colonies used the concept of “Terra Nullius” (Empty Earth) to colonise land that

belonged to others, Wal-Mart is using the concept of “Trade Nullius” to hijack our retail – as if

there were no trade, no skill, and no knowledge before Wal-Mart’s arrival.

- Vandana Shiva

Perspective


Today both agriculture and small retail are under assault

from agribusiness and giant corporate retail. The assault is

multifaceted – and it is cultural.

Fight” also tried to project the picture of primitiveness.

“As the early morning light slowly illuminates the mishmash of streets around the Krishnarajendra Market in central Bangalore, pushcart vendors wade through ankle deep mud and cow manure and past heaping piles of cabbage leaves and rotting tomatoes. Skinny porters doubled over beneath burlap sacks full of vegetables shuffle though the quagmire, trying to avoid the trucks that belch blue clouds of diesel exhaust and the sacred but occasionally cantankerous cows munching on piles of trash...

“Across town, in an eight month old processing warehouse run by India’s largest company, Reliance industries, half a dozen women wearing balaclavas, woolen trousers and bulky jackets work inside a room kept at constant 3 degrees C, peeling and chopping vegetables, spinning them dry and then heaping them in small plastics packets before placing them in plastic transport crates. At the other end of the 5,600 sq-m warehouse, men unload crates of grapes from a truck pulled up to a spotless loading dock. A quality control expert samples every tenth crate…”

What this presentation hides is the millions whose dignity and livelihoods get snatched when a Reliance or Wal-Mart sets up a store, or the billion of units of energy used and millions of tons of carbon dioxide emitted to run air-conditioned warehouses and long distance supply chains.

Wal-Mart, one of the largest corporations in the world has been at the forefront of pushing the FDI agenda in India. A typical Walmart store sells 60,000 different items, a superstore sells 12,000 items and 80% of these are sourced from China. Wal-Mart is one of the best beneficiaries of corporate led globalization, and has made communities dependant on supplies from thousands of miles away for everyday items – including the food we eat and the clothes we wear.

Wal-Mart and the Myths it Propogates

Yet Wal-Mart is spreading myths about its corporate reach and its predatory growth. Charles Fishman in his best-seller “Wal-Mart Effect” has exposed these many false claims it makes such as that it

carries local products from local suppliers, that appeal to local tastes, needs and fashions. But the Wal Mart model is based on the opposite of localization – on the principles of globalization. By being the biggest buyer of most commodities, Wal-Mart decides the fate of the producers – whether they will continue to produce and at what price they will sell their produce.

Wal-Mart is presenting itself as an ally of the small retailers it will destroy: “The Joint Venture will sell quality merchandise directly to retailers – big and small, including ‘mom and pop’ or kirana stores. The purpose is to establish an efficient supply chain linking farmers and small manufacturers – who have limited infrastructure or distribution strength.”

One is made to believe that there are no wholesale markets or mandis in India which get farmers’ produce to the retailers. But our trade network is more sophisticated, more complex, more multilayered and more efficient than any system Wal-Market can introduce. The Wal- Mart system, however, will destroy millions of livelihoods in mandis and wholesale markets. In the mandis the retailer can choose to buy from hundreds of traders. With Wal-Mart, farmers will have only one buyer and consumers will have only one seller. There is no reason to imagine that Wal- Mart will not destroy India’s small, independent retail as it has done in the US.

Another myth propagated by Wal- Mart reads, “We expect to provide direct and indirect jobs to thousands of Indians”.

India has at least 40 million people in retail. A few thousand jobs will not compensate for the millions of livelihoods destroyed by Wal-Mart. And a person at a Wal-Mart cash register might be unskilled; India’s small traders are highly skilled, they are their own purchasers and marketing managers, they know finance and supply management. Just as the colonies used the concept of “Terra Nullius” (Empty Earth) to colonise land that belonged to others, Wal-Mart is using the concept of “Trade Nullius” to hijack our retail – as if there were no trade, no skill, and no knowledge before Wal-Mart’s arrival.

Let us not fall into the trap of Wal-Mart’s myths. Let us not create a monster for India’s small producers and retailers.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is one of India’s leading scientist-activists and the founder director of Navadanya and Foundation for Research in Science, Technology and Ecology. She is a farsighted visionary who has been battling for India’s Food Security. She is the author of several books on Agriculture, Biodiversity, Corporatisation of Agriculture, The Politics of Food, etc.This article includes extracts from Dr. Shiva’s article in the Bija Magazine.


Churning the Earth is a much needed book in India which brings together undeniable data and hard-hitting facts about the violation wreaked by globalization on India’s people and ecology. The authors, Ashish Kothari and Aseem Shrivastava have undertaken painstaking research and analysis to spell out the problem in detail as well as to offer alternatives.

Given below are a few extracts from a brochure on the book - given under the two sub-headings of Problems and Alternatives

State of the Economy and the Society>> Employment in the formal (organized) sector of the Indian economy has remained virtually stagnant at around 27 million workers between 1991 (the beginning of neo-liberal globalization) and 2007. They constitute less than 6% of india’s overall labour force.

>> In 2011-2012, debt servicing accounted for 30% of the expenses of the Government of India’s budgetary expenses from it. While defense accounted for 8%, health and education together amounted to less than 2%.

>> The London – based New Economics Foundation (NEF), using World Bank data estimated that between 1990 and 2001, for every $100 worth of growth in the world’s income per person, just $.60 found its target and contributed to reducing below the $1-a-day line. This means that to reduce poverty by $1 involved paying the non-poor an additional $165

>> Over 80% of Indians live below its current per capita income of Rs. 150 a day.

>> India has the world’s largest number of undernourished people, more than all of sub-Saharan Africa’s countries put together. FAO’s estimate for the period 2004-06 is 251 millions, a fourth of the countries population.

State of Environment & Environmental Impacts>> According to a recent report, India has the world’s 3rd largest ecological footprint, after the USA and China.

>> The per capita ecological footprint of the wealthiest Indian (top 0.01) is 330 times of that of the poorest 40% of India’s population. It is over 12 times that of the footprint of the average citizen in an industrialized, high-income country.

>> Chronic water shortages are affecting ever more regions of the country. India has the highest volume of annual ground water overuse in the world.

>> According to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), 16 tonnes of top soil per hectare are being lost annually, or about 5 billion across the country.

>> According to the Central Pollution Board the 187 coastal towns and cities release 5.5 billion liters of waste water into the ocean every day.

>> Plastic wastes jumped from 101,312 tonnes in 2003-04 to 465,921 tonnes in 2008-09.

>> Despite impressive growth in several sectors in India, the share of the country’s budget going directly into environmental work and regulation has remained extremely low (well below 1% with the 2009-10 allocation being the smallest ever share of the budget).

>> Since 1991, some of the world’s largest mining companies are investing in India. This includes Rio Tinto Zinc(UK), BHP(Australia), Alcan(Canada), Norsk Hydro (Norway), DeBeers(Africa), Meridian(Canada), Raytheon(USA), and Phelps Dodge(USA). Many of these have as bad or worse environmental and social records as Indias’s own mining companies.

Consumerism and WasteTERI estimates that consumption of packaged paper will

rise from 2.7kg per person per year in 1997 to 13.5kg per person per year by 2047. Electronic waste, was estimated at 1,46,180 tonnes in 2005, and likely to go up to 8,00,000 tonnes by 2012.

The Problems

Must-Read Book


The authors suggest Radical Ecological Democracy (RED) as a means to provide an alternative to these huge and interconnected problems. Broadly, RED is to be a social, political and economic arrangement in which all citizens have the right and full opportunity to participate in decision making, based on the twin principles of ecological sustainability and human equity.

LocalizationLocalization, a trend diametrically opposed to globalization,

is based on the belief that those living closest to the resources to be managed (forest, the sea, the coast, the farm, the urban facility, etc), would have the great stake, and often the best knowledge to manage it.

There are thousands of Indian initiatives at decentralized water harvesting, biodiversity conservation, education, governance, food and material production energy generation, waste management, and others (in both villages and cities)

For localization to succeed, it is crucial to deal with the socio-economic exploitation that is embedded in india’s caste system, inter- religious dynamic, and gender relations.

Working at the landscape levelMany of the problems we face now at much larger scales,

are emanating from and affecting entire landscapes (and seascapes), countries, regions, and indeed the earth. Climate change, the spread of toxic, and desertification, are examples. Landscape and trans-boundary planning and governance are exciting new approaches being tried out in several countries and regions. These are as yet fledging in India, but some are worth learning from. The Arvari Sansad (parliament) in Rajasthan brings 72 villages in the state of Rajasthan together, to manage a 400 sq.km river basin through inter-village coordination, making integrated plans and programmes for land, agriculture, water, wildlife and development

Governance, local to nationalCentral to the notion of RED, is the practice of democratic

governance that starts form the smallest, most local unit, to ever-expanding spatial units.

Meaningful education & healthThe most relevant knowledge for Red will also be that

which disregards the artificial boundaries that western forms of education and learning have created between the ‘physical’, ‘natural’, and ‘social’ sciences, and between these sciences and the ‘arts’.

The more we can learn and teach and transmit knowledge in holistic ways, giving respect not only to specialist but also to generalist knowledge, the more we can understand nature and our own place in it.

Employment and livelihoodThe combination of localization and landscape approaches

also provides massive opportunities for livelihood generation, thus tackling one of Indias’s biggest ongoing problems: unemployment. Land and water regeneration, and the resulting increase in productivity, could provide a huge source of employment, and create permanent assets for sustainable livelihoods.

Village based or cottage industry, small scale and decentralized, has been a Gandhian proposal for decades. Such industry would be oriented to meeting, first and foremost, local needs, and then national or international needs.

The role of the stateThough communities (rural and urban) will be the fulcrum

of the alternative futures, the state will need to retain, or rather strengthen, its welfare role for the weak (human and non – human)

International relationsThe reversal of economic globalization does not entail the

end of global relations! Indeed there has always been a flow of ideas, persons, services and materials across the world, and this has often enriched human societies. RED, with its focus on localized economies and ethical lifestyles, learning from each other, would actually make the meaningful flow of ideas and innovations at global levels much more possible than a situation where everything is dominated by finance and capital.

Is such a transformation possible?RED entails huge shifts in governance, and will be resisted

by today’s political and corporate power centers. But in India, there are many signs that a transformation is possible over the next few decades.

India is perhaps uniquely placed to achieve the transformation to RED. This is for a variety of reasons: its thousands of years of history and adaptation (including ancient democratic practices that perhaps pre-date even the famed Greek republics), its ecological and cultural diversity, its resilience in the face of multiple crisis, the continued existence of myriad lifestyle and worldviews including ecosystem people who still tread the most lightly on earth, the powerful legacy of Buddha, Gandhi, and other progressive thinkers, the adoption of revolutionary thinking from others like Marx, zealously guarded practices of democracy and civil society activism, and reconstruction. But of course it cannot do this alone, it will need to convince, teach, and learn from, other countries and people… which too it has done for many centuries, but now in an entirely new and far more challenging context.

Extracts from the brochure of the book, ‘Churning the Earth - The Making of Global India’ by Ashish Kothari and Aseem Shrivastava.

Towards Alternatives: Radical Ecological Democracy


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Shri Satish Kumar visited the Bhoomi College for Sustainable Living at Bangalore, to inaugurate the Bhoomi campus on the 16th of November, 2012. The few words he spoke after he lit the fire in the kitchen and then visited the dining room “Vasundhara” and the Bhoomi Library, were so simple, yet powerful, so warm and wise that we are sharing them here.

The Kitchen is a temple, and the food that we make everyday is the prasad; and all of us are gods and goddesses. We offer prasad to each other as gods and goddesses in this temple! Our motivation and dedication transforms cooking into a spiritual practice. Cooking is not to just feed the body: cooking also feeds the soul. The love, the caring and the sacred spirit that you put into cooking makes it spiritual. The practical work is to feed the body, but the soul is fed by the mother’s love, the father’s, brothers and sisters love – the soul is fed by the whole family coming together.

When I started a school in Devon, called ‘The Small School’, we made the kitchen the first class room. So the first thing children learnt here, was not Darwin or Shakespeare or science or literature but cooking! Once they learnt cooking, children could learn science or maths or anything else. So cooking needs to be not the wife’s work or the servant’s work, but our work, everyone’s work. We need to bring back spirituality and dignity to cooking.

I spent part of my years as a young man in the ashram of my guru, Shri Vinobha Bhave, at Bodh Gaya in Bihar. Before a meal we would chant the shloka:

Sahanavavathu, Sahanau bhunakthu, Sahaveeryam KaravavahaiTejasvinava thithamasthuMaa Vidhvishavahai.

The brief meaning of this shloka is this:

Let us as students, teachers and friends should share and do everything together; When we work together and eat together, our energy will flourish. When we act together, rather than alone, we will have tremendous energy.

May we work together with love and sharing, without quarreling.

But when we are together, the ego may become strong; each one wants to do things his way or her way. Each one wants to control rather than participate. So the last line of the shloka says, do everything together without quarreling, without the ego getting in the way. The quality of the soul is the quality of love, spirituality, sharing and compassion. The need to control and quarrel are qualities of the ego. So I wish for all of you, that you come together here to work together and eat together with love for each other and not quarrel together! This is a beautiful dining room made with mud – and beauty is food for the soul. As my mother used to say, everything we make should be beautiful, useful and durable – BUD! So may everyone who comes to cook and eat in this Bhoomi dining room, Vasundhara, which is Beautiful, Useful and Durable, do so with happiness and spiritual flowering.

Just as the kitchen is a temple, the Library is also a temple. The mind and the soul are fed in a library, while the body and soul are fed in the kitchen and dining room. Knowledge can be used for power or for serving. When we know to cook, we can make a meal and serve others. We can use knowledge not for fame or name, for money or status – which are all for the ego – but to serve – to serve the humanity, the earth and each other.

By serving others we are actually in a process of self-realization. How do we find joy and happiness? Not by being in isolation but in relationships – with family and friends, with trees, with the house and the soil.

Satish Kumar is the Editor-in-Chief of Resurgence Magazine and the co-founder of the Schumacher College, U.K.

He is also a member of the Panel of Advisors of Bhoomi College and the Bhoomi Magazine.

The Kitchen is a Temple


Perspective


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Food

Millet Recipes

Samey Set Dosa

Ingredients

• Samey Rice - 1 cup

• Black Gram Daal - 1/2 cup

• Puffed Rice - 1/2 cup

• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp

• Oil - 2 tbsp

• Salt to taste

Procedure

• Soak samey rice with fenugreek seeds and soak black gram daal separately.

• Grind them together with puffed rice into fine paste, add required amount of water to get batter consistency.

• Allow the batter to ferment overnight.

• Add salt and make dosas by pouring required amount of the batter on pre-heated tava.

Samey Thalipattu

Ingredients

• Samey Flour - 1 cup

• Grated Carrot - 1/4 cup

• Chopped Onion - 1/4 cup

• Chopped Green Chillies - 1 tbsp

• Chopped Corainder Leaves - 1 tbsp

• Chopped Curry Leaves - 1 tbsp

• Oil - 4 tbsps

• Salt to taste

Procedure

• Pressure cook samey flour by adding 4 cups of water, cook open in a kadai and keep stirring till the water is well absorbed.

• Mash cooked samey flour and add all the ingredients except oil, mix well and make dough.

• A little amount of rice flour can be added if the dough is too soft.

• Divide the dough into balls, pat the balls on pre-heated tava.

• Apply oil and roast thalipattu fromn both the sides.

Millets are indegenous crops which are much more nutritious than rice and wheat, and can be grown with less water and are not as vulnerable to pests. Hence they have great potential as crops that can help us adapt to climate change.

Here are a two recipes from the booklet “Nutritious Little Millet” by the ICAR, New Delhi.

Photographs by Ananth Somaiah


Expressions

Chandigarh, India, is an unlikely location for the world’s largest folk-art environment. Chandigarh, a stark 20th-century utopian dream city, Chandigarh was designed by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier. In the midst of this carefully planned, 1950s-style architecture lies a 40-acre garden kingdom of meandering paths, courtyards, waterfalls, pavilions, theaters, plazas and thousands of sculptures, created by an untutored builder named Nek Chand Saini (b.1924). In the past few years, completing this monumental endeavor and guaranteeing its preservation has become an international effort involving many individuals and organizations.

In 1951, Nek Chand arrived in Chandigarh to work as a road inspector for the Indian government’s Public Works Department. In 1958, he began collecting curiously shaped rocks,

Recycled ENCHANTMENT

discarded materials and recyclable items from the demolition of the villages that once stood on the site where Chandigarh was being built. Around 1965, working secretly at night and on weekends in a publicly owned forest reserve, Nek Chand assembled the materials, including rocks, broken crockery and colored stones, using concrete and a few primitive tools. He had carefully observed the techniques of using concrete in building the new city, particularly in the Government Center, then under construction. Nek Chand was fascinated by the plastic nature of concrete, and his creative impulse was stimulated by the building work going on around him.

The place he chose for his exotic kingdom had been designated as a land conservancy, where any kind of building was forbidden. Nevertheless, he built a miniature world there, depicting Indian

village life, as well as a fantasy kingdom of palaces, pavilions and other structures. Ten years later, in 1975, city inspectors stumbled across this illegal construction in the forest. The Chandigarh bureaucracy wanted it destroyed. Nek Chand’s creation occupied government land that had been set aside as green space between the government buildings of Le Corbusier and the city proper. When word spread, hundreds of people found their way through the forests to see this enchanted kingdom. After much debate, the Chandigarh Landscape Advisory Committee relented and allowed Nek Chand to open his creation to the public.

After visiting the site and recognizing its artistic value, Dr. M.S. Randhawa, an agricultural scientist, gave the site the name “Rock Garden”. The Rock Garden was formally inaugurated on January 24, 1976, before a crowd of thousands. Thereafter, with a small budget and a group of helpers provided by the local government, Nek Chand was encouraged to enlarge his garden and continue his many projects.

Nek Chand assembled the materials, including rocks, broken

crockery and colored stones, using concrete and a few primitive

tools and his creative impulse was stimulated by the building work

going on around him.

- Anton (Tony) Rajer


The stages of the garden’s complex construction have been designated as Phase I, the earliest, begun in 1965; Phase II, completed around 1983; and Phase III, which was completed in 2009. Nek Chand set up a local network whereby broken crockery, tiles, rags and other discarded items could be brought to the garden for recycling.

With the aid of government workers, Phase I was quickly completed, and Nek Chand moved to Phase II, which included a waterfall, several plazas, a small theater, gardens, paths and nearly 5,000 pottery-encrusted concrete figures, some embellished with human hair, which Nek Chand had collected from barber shops. In order to safeguard the sculptures and still make the pieces available for public viewing, Nek Chand placed them on high sloping terraces connected by pathways and divided by tile- embellished walls with narrow, low doorways. Most of the sculptures are smaller than life size and range in subject from human figures to monkeys, peacocks, elephants, bears and many imaginary creatures.

In another section of Phase II, Nek Chand created a miniature village with shops, houses, paths, temples and a cascading waterfall. This make-believe world is enhanced further by the trees, vegetation and birds that inhabit the remaining forest. Hundreds of birds live in the garden, using the small nooks and crannies as nesting places.

An important aesthetic feature of the garden is the sense of compression

and expansion of space. In moving from one section of the garden to another, the visitor goes through narrow passageways and arrives into broad open courtyards - an integral part of Nek Chand’s design.

In Phase III, Nek Chand’s work has become monumental in scale. He works without formal plans but directs his workers to construct what he describes. The heart of this section of the garden is the “great swings”, dozens of swings that hang from huge concrete arches, resembling ancient Roman aqueducts. Each of the swings can hold several people at once, and visitors take pleasure in this activity. Phase III also has several pavilions for soft rag sculpture displays,

an aquarium and an open-air theater. As the size of the site has expanded, public interest and visitor volume have increased exponentially. International exhibitions of figures from the Rock Garden have been held in London, Berlin and Paris. In Washington, he created a sculpture garden at the Capitol Children’s Museum, and was given the keys to the city of Baltimore. The Postal Service of India issued a Rock Garden stamp in 1983 to honor his work. In 1984, he was awarded the prestigious Indian award, Padma Shri. He has received hundreds of awards, which he displays in a special room in his house.

Unfortunately, all has not gone well in this garden paradise. Some people, including local Indian bureaucrats, have worked against the success of Nek Chand’s creations. However, significant steps have been taken at local and international levels to guarantee that Nek Chand’s vision will be completed and preserved for future generations.

Today, Nek Chand is revered as a national hero. Nearly 3,000 people visit the garden daily, making it the most visited folk art site in the world and one of the most visited tourist sites in India. The Rock Garden Society in Chandigarh and the Nek Chand Foundation in London help document oral histories, site plans, photography, preservation activities and promotion.

Most of the sculptures are smaller than life size and range in

subject from human figures to monkeys, peacocks, elephants, bears

and many imaginary creatures.

ANTON (TONY) RAJER 1952-2011 was a Harvard-trained art conservator specializing in the preservation of folk art. Rajer was the author of many books including Evolution of an Artistic Vision (1998).He wrote numerous articles for the Folk Art Messenger regarding his travels, conservation work and other folk art projects. His continued quest for knowledge and the sharing of this knowledge was unbounded.

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Emissions Alert:

Climate Change

The most important number in history is now the annual measure of carbon emissions. That number reveals humanity’s steady billion-tonne by billion-tonne march to the edge of the carbon cliff, beyond which scientists warn lies a fateful fall to catastrophic climate change. According to Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Switzerland’s Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich:

Global total of carbon emissions in 2012: 52 gigatonnes (billion metric tonnes)

To stay below two degrees C of warming, global emissions should be between 41 and 47 gigatonnes by 2020

The earth has already grown warmer by about 1 degree Celsius over the last 100 years, and if we do not reduce emissions, scientists say the earth will be warmer by another 2 to 6 degrees in the next 100 years.

This year has ranked as one of the nine warmest since records began more than 160 years ago, continuing a trend for the planet that is increasing the dangers of extreme weather events, according to UN Meteorologist. According to a recent report by the Met Office, globally, 2013 will be 0.57C above long-term average.

Record Warmth:

In the Antarctic glaciers, thousands of feet deep into the sediment, geothermal heat keep things warm enough for methane to keep producing methane. A scientific report published in September suggests that as the methane gas diffuses upward, it enters a zone where it feels not only the pressure but also the cold of the overlying ice sheet. Once the ice melts, this methane escapes into the atmosphere which increases the rate of warming here.

Warming in Antarctica:

Melting Ice:Studies on climate change revels that

polar ice sheets are shrinking fast. The study, published in the journal, Science this month says in a 20 year span various regions have lost the following quantities of ice a year:

Greenland -152 billion tons West Antarctic - 65 billion tonsAntarctic Peninsula- 20 billion tonsEast Antarctic - gained 14 billion tons

Scientists say the storm surge along the Atlantic cost was almost certainly more intensive because of decades of sea-level raise linked to human emissions of greenhouse gases. They emphasized that Hurricane Sandy, should be seen as a foretaste of trouble to come as the risks of climate change accumulate and the political system fails to respond. The 11 billion-dollar extreme weather events across the US include hurricane Sandy, which alone will cost about $100bn

Hurricane Sandy:

Ghent Goes Vegetarian

The city counceil of Ghent (Belgium), is promoting a weekly ‘meat-free day’ in a bid to raise awareness of the impact of livestock farming on both personal and planetary health. According the UN, livestock rearing is responsible for one – fifth of global green house –gas-emissions, so a weekly meat – free day will not only address issues of climate change, but also reduce Ghent’s environmental footprint, because a meat-based diet requires far more land, water and fossil fuels than the equivalent vegetarian diet. To encourage citizen to participate, 90,000 maps have been printed to identify the city’s vegetarian restaurants, and school children will enjoy their own ‘veggie day’, starting in September 2012

Climate Change - 2012

Climate Change and Plant Stress

Scientists in many parts of the world are working at both understanding effects of climate change and at creating tools to adapt to them. Tools to understand the impact of climate change on agriculture become particularly important.

In July 2012, farmers in the U.S. Midwest and Plains regions watched crops wilt and die after a stretch of unusually low precipitation and high temperatures. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) observed another indication of drought in data from satellite imaging: plant stress. They developed a way to use satellite data to map that plant stress.

Plant stress information has the potential to improve the skill of existing forecasts that predict drought out to weeks or months. Also, because the plant stress information is derived from satellites, it can describe drought conditions in areas where rain gauge and radar networks are sparse -- and it can do so at the scale of individual fields.

Source: New York Times Service and The Guardian

Source: NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio/USDA-ARS http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov


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No.1 - Focus on Food

No.2 - Ecological Sanity

No.4 - Rethinking Education

No.3 - Uncommon Sense

No.5- What’s a Good Life?

No.6- Gaia, Our Living Earth

No.12 - Youth: Seeds ofChange

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EternalBhoomiIssue No. 13

Editor:Seetha Ananthasivan

Consultants

Rema KumarK.G. ParvathiA. Santhi LakshmyPreetha RameshChitra MansukhaniRavi Somaiah

Design, layout and photo-editing Nidhi Aggarwal

Design Consultant:Chinmay Dholakia

Production Support: Ananth Somaiah

Research Assistant: Preethi Narayanan

Marketing and DistributionBhavani Patnam

Issue: January - March 2013 Pages 56: Including Cover

Printed and Published By Seetha Ananthasivan (Editor) On behalf of The Bhoomi Network for Sustainable Living P.B. No. 23, Carmelaram Post, Off Sarjapura Road, Bangalore – 560 035 [email protected]

Printed at: Colours Imprint 150/9, 1st Cross, 8th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560095. Ph: +91-9945640004 Website: www.coloursimprint.com

Published at: Bhoomi Network for Sustainable Living c/o Prakriya Green Wisdom School Campus, 70, Chikkanayakanahalli Road, Off Doddakanehalli,

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Editor: Seetha Ananthasivan

Kemmanagundi is an overnight journey away from Bangalore in Chikmangalore District in Karnataka.

These range of hills offer fantastic views of meadows and magical clouds that you can touch! Trekking on the top of hills, visiting exhilarating waterfalls and ancient temples will be the highlights of this wilderness programme.

Other interesting activities will include climbing with ropes and adventure games.

For enquiries and registration : [email protected]

Hill Top Trekking in Kemmanagundi

Bhoomi College

Dates: 4th and 5th May, 2013 (Sat - Sun)

and

Phone: 080 28441173, 9449853834

Dates: April 19 to 21, 2013“What we enjoy we love, what we love we care for…”

The Western Ghats is one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world - an area for all of us to experience, explore and cherish. The programme in the Sharavathi Valley will include treks through breathtakingly beautiful routes along the Sharavathi River, waterfalls in remote areas as well as camp at Muppane, which isideal for water activities.

Dates: May 18 to 22, 2013 5 days of intensive and exciting exploration in the Sharavathy Valley Rainforest is meant to give a rich understanding of Nature’s ways in the wilderness as well as within our bodies, minds and communities. Using a 5 elements framework of Prithvi, Jal, Vayu, Agni and Aakaash, this programme will provide space for collective and collaborative as well as individualefforts to re-connect with Nature.

The Bhoomi CollegeOffers new short programmes:

Rainforest Adventure at the Sharavathi Valley Rainforest

Explorations in Inner and Outer Ecology

For enquiries and registration:[email protected] Phone: 080 28441173, Mobile: 9449853834


The Bhoomi College 40, Chikkanayakanahalli Road, Off DoddakanahalliSarjapur Road, Carmelaram Post, Bangalore - 560 035Phone No: 080 2844 1173, 9449853834 email: [email protected]

Visit us at www.bhoomicollege.org

offers a full time 1 year programme on:

Science and Management for Sustainable Living(August 2013 to June2014)

The Bhoomi College For refreshing, meaningful, collective learning...

About Bhoomi CollegeThe Bhoomi College for Sustainability Studies is a participative space for holistic learning. It is located in the outskirts of Bangalore on a campus with an organic garden and eco-friendly buildings.

The Bhoomi College believes in an integrated approach, combining the arts and sciences, theory and practice, eastern and western wisdom as well as intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual self-exploration.

This one year programme will include• Sessions by great teachers with a holistic approach • Cutting-edge curriculum & exciting learning processes• Gift culture - no tuition fees! Pay as you wish...• Projects in the Sharavathy Rain Forest• Focus on holistic science and management• Perspective building “to see the whole picture”y• A lovely campus, vibrant community and surprises! b

About this ProgrammeThis programme has been designed for those interested in Green Careers or Green Entrepreneurship,

for students, researchers, mid-career professionals, teachers, home makers and others keen on sustainable living. In a world headed towards climate crisis and social and political conflicts we need to re envision economics, technology and science which are aware of ecological realities. This programme aims at bringing to its participants the best work on these issues from around the world and use them meaningfully with committed facilitators and innovative and creative methods.

Bhoomi offers 1 to 3 month internships on:• Organic Gardening• Holistic Food and Nutrition• Audio/Video Documentation• Eternal Bhoomi Magazine


We thank the members of our Panel of Advisors and all the writers and

visionaries who have shared their ideas and experiences of positive

action with the Bhoomi magazine as well as with the Bhoomi College.

Shri Satish Kumar Dr. Vandana Shiva Dr. Madhu Suri Prakash

Dr. Ashish KothariMr. Narayan ReddyMr. G. Gautama

Dr. Harish HandeDr. R. BalasubramaniamShri Devinder Sharma

Calendar of Programmes for 2012 - 2013:

The following are some of the short programmes offered by the Bhoomi College. They are usually offered on weekends (Saturday & Sunday) unless otherwise indicated.

• January 25 Workshop: Writing new Stories for Gaia- our Living Earth

• February 2 Workshop: Organic and Terrace Gardening

• February 16 Crafts Mela - A Bhoomi and Prakriya Event

• Feb 17 to 21 Connecting with a Deeper Ecology – Programme at Sharavathi Rain Forest

• Mar 16 & 17 Holistic Nutrition and Conscious Kitchen

• April 19 to 21 Rainforest Adventure at Sharavathi Valley

• May 4 & 5 Hill Top Trekking in Kemmanagundi

• May 18 to 22 Explorations in Inner and Outer Ecology

• June 28 & 29 Beyond Economic Globalisation, towards Earth Democracy

For enquiries and registration please contact: [email protected] Or log onto: www.bhoomicollege.org or bhoomicollege on fb

The Bhoomi College


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Crafting our Future - Bhoomi Magazine

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Transcript of Crafting our Future - Bhoomi Magazine