IMPRESSIONS / Sudarshan Govula

To Brigadier Sir and team Palle Srujana,
Every relationship has a memorable beginning. The 25th Chinna Sodha Yatra marks the beginning of my association with rural India, a landscape that has to be experienced to marvel its beauty and innocence, understand its complexity and inculcate the principles of a harmonious relationship between people and nature.
A. Background
Lammasinghi – the very mention of travel to this place made me all excited.
I had read that this is the only place to have received snowfall in south India. When Arun (a Yatri himself) mentioned that the next Yatra would have this place in the itenarary, I had decided to make the journey.
It is then that he revealed me that Lammasinghi is a small placeholder in a bigger and more important concept called the Chinna Sodha Yatra. I read through the objectives of the Yatra and was surprised to find that its purpose was to find grassroots innovators by walking and exploring through various villages for nearly 3 days.
My mind was already in the travel mode and I would let nothing come in its way.
B. Experiences of the Yatra
As soon as we got off the bus at Kothakota, it was evident that we were on a mission. The spring in your steps, Brigadier sir, the immediate unloading of luggage, the welcome we got from people/administrators of the school and how we were sent off in batches to freshen up is still crisp in my mind.
I finally realized that this is not a fun trip but an opportunity to connect with the people who feed us, share their joys, understand their concerns and recognize/reward those who have stood up to the challenges they faced, innovated and as you have mentioned countless times, eased the pain for their collective society.
People like me who have grown in the urban scenario all our lives have always been spoilt with different choices for food, both home and outside, and never realized its true value. But after spending the entire day in nature, checking out local brick factories, seeing people harvesting their crops and rejuvenated by the energy that school children
universally possess, I was in tune with the local environment. Every grain of food I ate that day was with gratitude and mindfulness.
The night walk was definitely the highlight of the second day. I can only say this in hindsight because I was extremely tired and frustrated for the fag end of the journey. It is only now that I am reflecting on that journey and realize how special it was – amazing weather, wonderful conversations with co-yatris, sounds of nature and the will to reach the destination no matter the circumstances. On my own I would have given up after covering 80% of the distance. But your leadership, endurance levels, energy and the stories you narrated are what made me complete my journey. You definitely are a role model Ganesham sir.
The final day was perfect in a different way - beautiful weather, rolling hills and smells of jaggery and coffee. The wide open space in which we had food together for the final time is still stuck in my mind. The big circle we made while sharing our experiences summarizes the whole yatra for me – we have to make ourselves zero at least for the duration of the yatra to understand the local surroundings, get into its shoes to even start thinking of contributing to that society. It has been the objective of this yatra but I have to try once more to fulfil it.
I have 2 magazines, one of the pamphlets and Honeybee newsletter with me. I am slowly going through it as I do not read Telugu. It is heartening to see that the organization has grown and expanded with times with like-minded people contributing and gaining insights from it through subscriptions. By going on a yatra through new villages, we yatris are contributing in disseminating the already documented knowledge and gathering even more through mutual interaction. It is quite obvious that we are just a channel and the villagers are the actual subject and contributors to the magazine.
The most important thought you shared in the beginning of the yatra was unlearning. I confess that it is extremely hard to do and the conversation on the last day (I was a silent listener) showed that I have just started the journey. The open mindedness of the villagers in general would provide me with the motivation required. Their warmth is unbelievable and I am still clueless as to how to reciprocate that.
C. Learnings
I am extremely grateful to Anji Reddygaru for educating about different types of cultivated and wild plants, how every natural weed (a foreign term to the farmers) is also a vital part of the ecosystem and sharing his insights on the current farming scenario.
I would just briefly describe my learnings from the four gurus.
i. Nature – No species has ever impacted nature in ways humankind has. As has been quoted, nature will evolve and take its own course. I just hope that all
people reach the level of co-existence that the villagers have with nature to make it a positive evolution.
ii. Villagers/Farmers – It has been a delight to experience the intoxicating energy that villagers have. The contentment they find in their profession is something I look forward to emulating myself.
iii. Co-yatris – It was amazing to be part of such a diverse group of individuals. Every conversation was cherished and new friends have truly been made.
iv. Myself – I have learnt a lot of things through real time experiences and implementing them in my day-to-day life would be a goal and challenge.
D. Concept of inclusion and changing aspirations
Inclusion was one of the more complex topics raised by you during the yatra. It means a different thing to every individual and here is my interpretation.
Inclusion for me is a guarantee to every individual that irrespective of his/her age, gender and profession; he/she is allowed to live life in his/her own pace. It may not be written explicitly in law but I feel it is how nature works.
Based on this premise, I would like to share a few of my notions of the challenges faced by the farmer community from the outside global (by global I mean the Internet era) and inter-linked world to achieve inclusiveness.
i. Mechanization
You mentioned multiple times that the degree of mechanization and the penetration of technology in the villages we covered is quite less. I wish that the demonstrations you provided in villages will bear fruit.
I feel it has to be made mandatory for all institutions of education to make their students aware of the rural scenario by conducting/including week long or month long stay in villages as a vital part of the curriculum. As you mentioned multiple times, we are all non-resident villagers (NRVs).
This takes me to my next concern.
ii. Technology
As internet penetrates more and more of our country, the aspirations and outlook of the same people we see today is bound to change. It will affect the children and the future generations. We were somewhat lucky to observe that many of the children in the
villages we covered actually aspired to be farmers but it may/may not fructify going forward.
Personally I feel that technology is a boon to the farmers – more than machines and (unnecessary) cultivation advice. In the right hands, it can be used to completely eliminate middle men and ensure fair prices to the farmers. Farming can be viable only when the farmers feel that they get what they should, do not feel cheated and misled.
This takes me to my final point.
iii. Empowerment
For agriculture in India to become viable I feel that empowerment of farmers is of primary concern. By this I do not mean that they should all be given jobs in government offices or they must stand in elections. I give my views in a few points –
 By just acknowledging that what they know about crops, cultivation and nature in general is precious and by considering them as vital inputs for all future suggestions, we make them feel empowered.
 By analyzing the problem in farmers’ terms rather than our perspectives will make them feel empowered.
 As you mentioned many times, listening to them for a longer duration rather than preaching them as a know-all-guru will make them feel empowered.
 By ensuring that they get the monetary benefits and related assurances for the crops they grow and the work they do by eliminating middle men, they will feel empowered.
 Such empowered farmers do not suddenly change their aspirations when they are exposed to a new facet of life or when they become politically more powerful.
Above points are only my perspective and if I have erred, I am ready to acknowledge it.
It is with these points in my mind that I would participate in future yatras. By interacting with more farmers, I would understand their perspective more.
A big thank you to Ganesham sir, the fellow yatris, the logistics team and all other volunteers working the backend.
Regards,
Suhas Bhat
(Email: sbb93@outlook.com)

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