BACKGROUND TO THE SIXTEENTH SHODHYATRA

Shodhyatra is a journey for celebrating people’s been an area of academic and programmatic
knowledge, creativity and innovations at neglect. Shodhyatra, which began eight years ago,
grassroots. In summer and winter every year, we is the only event in itself where people cutting
along with the farmers, innovators, students and across the walks of life walk up to the knowledge
others to learn from within, other fellow travelers holder with humility seeking the nectar of
and of course the people. Many times, same knowledge and creativity with an ultimate objective
contexts trigger different insights in the minds of of making India innovative, creative,
different people. By having grassroots knowledge compassionate and caring.
experts, we also make a point that people’s
knowledge matters. When outsiders come and The Sixteenth Shodhyatra was organized from
acknowledge local experts, respect for such Kumily to Kattapana in the Idukki district. The yatra
knowledge goes up in the local community. was organized in association with Peermade
Shodhyatra aims at unearthing and honouring such Development Society (PDS), which is also the local
traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations HB collaborator from Kerala. The route from Kumily
that have not only enriched the lives of men, women to Kattapana was marked by undulating terrain and
and farm labourers but have also significantly stray jungles. The Shodhyatra route was very near
contributed towards the conservation of bio- to the Tamilnadu border. The primary crop of the
diversity. Shodhyatra is a journey of mutual district is spices of various kinds like cardamom,
exchange of knowledge and learning. Whatever black pepper, clove etc. Industrially, the district is
knowledge and practices that we have pooled in, a bit backward. However, of late new spices
over the years in the form of Honey Bee database processing plants are coming up in great number.
are shared with the villagers during the Shodhyatra. The district has four talukas viz. Devikulam,
Shodhyatra is also a journey to spread the Udumbanchola, Peermade and Thodupuzha. The
ecological values of conservation and Shodhyatra covered thirteen villages in two talukas
sustainability. We do it by involving women and of Udumbanchola and Peermade, with an
children to display their ecological knowledge estimated distance of hundred km. The yatra was
through biodiversity competitions and recipe
contests respectively.

The Sixteenth Shodhyatra was organised in the

Idukki district of Kerala from 27th Decmber 2005 to
2 nd January 2006. ‘Shodhyatra’ as the name
suggests is a journey for exploration, both inward
and outward. Shodhyatra is organized by SRISTI,
Honey Bee Network and NIF twice a year- in
extreme summer and chilling winter. The yatra is
an effort on the part of the organizers as well as
the participants to celebrate the creativity at
grassroots. The yatra provides a platform for the
scouting and documentation of outstanding P. Vivekanandan, Co-ordinator of Honey Bee Network is
creative grassroots practices and innovations and inaugurating the Shodhyatra
honouring people with excellent innovative
ingenuity and traditional knowledge at their attended by forty four participants apart from the
doorsteps. SRISTI, Honey Bee Network and NIF volunteers of SRISTI, Honey Bee Network and PDS.
over the period of time have developed the yatra
as the forum of reverse learning, whereby all the BEGINNING OF THE YATRA
participants to learn the spirit of experimentation
from the grassroots. The yatra, over the years, has The yatra began from Mannakudy Community
been instrumental in discovering the creative Centre, the community hall of the Mannakudy tribal
potentiality of women and children in regards to colony. The yatra was inaugurated by Mr. P.
the conservation of ecosystem, which hitherto has Vivekanadan, the co-ordinator of the Honey Bee

1 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

 was astonishing. Four street meetings were
conducted in four places viz. Anakkara,
Cumbumettu, Thookupalam and Kattapana. Apart
from the last place, the street meetings were
conducted in the evening and in the strategic
locations of the main market to attract audience.
In the meetings, sharing of the Honey Bee
database was followed by rounds of interaction
between the Shodhyatris and the curious on-
lookers. The gathered crowd was explained about
the creativity movement initiated by SRISTI, Honey
Bee Network and NIF and the role that they can
play to make India innovative. In fact, in follow up
The shodhyatris beginning the shodhyatra from Mannakudy
to the database sharing, the audience was asked
cammunity centre
if they know about any similar practice in their
locality. The street meeting organized in Kattapana,
Network. Mr. Vivekanadan said that the objective two interesting innovations came up on the spot.
of the Honey Bee Network was to establish The first was the innovation by Mr. Sivprasad, a
knowledge network though out the country by tailor, who is educated till class X. He has thought
reaching out to different sections of society. Prof of a system whereby rockets can be launched from
Anil K Gupta told that in order to establish a the ship and it would be remote-controlled from
knowledge intensive society, SRISTI, Honey Bee the ship itself. The innovation of Mr. Susheelan
Network and NIF have been working in the direction was even more
of blending informal science with that of the modern interesting. He has
one. Mr. Basu, the President of the local Panchayat designed a devise
hoped that the yatra would convey the message where the wall clock
of eco-friendly farming to the villagers. The can measure the
Assistant Director of PDS gave the introductory water level of the
speech. Eleven innovators and traditional overhead water tanks
knowledge holders were felicitated by Prof Gupta. in the houses. The
clock gives indication
GLIMPES OF THE YATRA about the water level
in the tank through
Meetings: indicator bulbs. One
end of the clock is put
Both street meetings and in-house meetings were in the tank and the
organized during the yatra in almost all the places. face of the clock acts One of the felicitated
However, the effectiveness of the street meetings as indicator board. scouts in conversation
with shodhyatris
Indicator lights are
attached to the clock,
which in turn is joined with the devise of the clock
that is put inside the tank.

In one of the places viz. Thooklapam, where the

night meeting was conducted, the response was
tremendous. In response to the NIF documented
innovations, where two students from Guwahati
were able to transmit the sound using the
elementary wires within a house, one of the
audience reported that a person called Tomy in
the vicinity of Thookupalam also practiced the
same technique. In response to the Viju Verghese’s
innovation of disabled friendly driving system, Mr.
Ajith gave information about Mr. Niny, who had also
Mr. Susheelan is sharing his experience about his designed a disabled-friendly driving system on the
innovations with the shodhyatris
lines of Viju. Mr. Ninny was immediately contacted

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 2

 discussion included traditional means of conflict
resolution, traditional method of learning and the
complaint list of the young generation against the
old generation. The meetings were fairly interactive
and revealed the prowess of the collective thinking.

Innovations & Felicitations:

One of the main objectives of the Shodhyatra has

been to honour the outstanding local innovators
and traditional knowledge holders at their
doorsteps. Unless some outside agency identifies
and honours the grassroots innovations and
traditional practices, they are seldom recognized
Daily reflection meeting of the shodhyatris to conceptualise and held in high esteem. The Shodhyatra not only
the shodhyatra experience brings those creative people to the forefront, who
can be the drivers of a knowledge based society
and felicitated on the spot. Mr. Sibi Thomas but also brings those innovations and sustainable
reported about the cardamom drier designed by practices to public knowledge which are innovative,
Daniel, which can dry up to 5000 kg against the cost-effective and eco-friendly solutions to the local
500 kg, which is the strength of the drier that is problems.
available in the market. Mr. Hari Kumar reported
about the innovative windmill of Mr. Prabhakaran. We scouted, documented and honoured many
Mr. P.J. Mathew reported about the machine such innovations during the Shodhyatra. In
designed by George Prakasgram, which separates
green and white pepper. Mr. Uttaman reported
about the innovative vanilla processing unit of Mr.
Rajasekhar Nayar. Though the detailed
documentation of the above practices would be
taken up later, the very fact that so many
innovations could be scouted in less than an hour
shows the abundance of creativity at grassroots
and the potentiality of Shodhyatra in unearthing
such creative grassroots genius. All the scouts
were felicitated on the spot.

On 28th December 2005, the HBN meeting was

organized in the Nettithozu. Initiating the dialogue,
Mr. P. Vivekanadan, the co-ordinator of HBN, said
that networking is not only the networking of Viju Verghese with his innovative driving system in Kumily
knowledge and knowledge holders but also it is a
process of alignment with right people and right
intentions. He emphasized the need of learning Mannakudy, we came across an innovative disabled
more proactively from the creative people. friendly driving system designed by Viju Verghese,
Discussion was also conducted on the issue of how himself a physically challenged person. Viju has
to make the yatra more effective. Discussion converted all the parts of a car that are operated
hovered around the possible venues of the yatra, by feet into hand-operated system. So the gears,
ways and means of making the yatra self- brakes and clutches of a car, as designed by Viju,
sustainable, managing the yatra by a committee would no longer be operated by legs but by hands.
of Shodhyatris etc. Finally the meeting ended with The clutches and brakes of the car designed by
a resolution that all would spend sometime every Viju are made of crude iron rods and are of an
night of the Shodhyatra in discussing some issues elevated structure. The elevated system is placed
of collective interest. In the following days, night near the gears for the convenience of the driver. A
discussions took place among the Yatris and it was similar driving system was also spotted in the street
co-ordinated by Prof Gupta. Over the next three meeting held at Thookupalam. Here the system
four days, the issues that the Yatris took up for was designed by another physically challenged

3 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

 with three passes. In one of the passes, the fan is
fitted and the other two passes at the end collect
rice and husk respectively. The fan helps to
separate the husks from the rice. He has also
designed a rope way to transport the hey from one
side of the dwelling to the other.

In Thookupalam, Mr. PJ Abraham was felicitated

for his innovative idea on low-cost solar cooker.
The cooking devise would be placed in a metal
basket laced mirrors. He proposes to build this
cooker at an estimated cost of Rs. 2000. Later on,
a documentation team paid visit to his house to
find out the modifications that he had undertaken
‘Cardamom Wonder’ as it is known was one of the on the ‘Cardamom Drier’. He was given the
important plant innovations spotted during shodhyatra consolation prize for the ‘Cardamom Drier’ by NIF
in the First Award Competition. Discussion with the
neighbours and others revealed that he has
person called Ninny. In Mannakudy Ms. Valsamma undertaken substantial improvement over the
Thomas was felicitated for her unique anti-dandruff original prototype. The main improvements included
oil. In fact, the effectiveness of the innovations can decreasing the height of the machine, reducing
be gauged from the fact that the oil is going to be the number of plates, making the door of the
commercialized by a Chennai based company very machine hit-resistant etc.
soon. The Sebastian couple (Baby & Lizamma)
were felicitated for their outstanding initiative in
organic farming. Baby Lizamma only uses cow urine
as the fertilizer and he has a collection of twenty
cows from different breeds.

One of the most interesting findings during the

Shodhyatra was ‘Cardamom Wonder’ innovated by
Elecy and Sabu Verghese. The variety was initially
spotted by Elecy and later on it was perfected by
Sabu. The variety has a panicle, which is double
the size of normal length (2.5 ft), with pods ranging
from 35/40 per panicle. The variety has three
panicles per plant. Each kg of dried cardamom
includes 4500 pods against 6000 of the normal
variety. The average yield of the plant is about 4-
4.5 kg compared to the normal yield of 2 kg. He T T Thomas with his new indigenously cross bred
pepper variety
has already distributed 20, 000 clums to the
farmers in Kerala and Karnataka.
John P Paul, son of Mr. PJ Abraham has designed
While felicitating the herbal healers (Mr. an AC power alarm cum mini emergency lamp to
Damodaran, Mr. Pooneseriyil and Mr. Anthony inform the people about the power failures and
Mathews) at Nettithozu, it was realized that Ayurveda security guards about the burglary. The devise
is not simply a system of codified medicine but a uses AC current and a relay switch and when there
living tradition in the villages of Kerala. One of the is a power failure, the circuits in the relay switch
herbal healers, Mr. Anthony Mathews said that the ring an alarm bell and light up a small bulb
secret of longevity lies in taking proper diet and associated with it. When the electricity is back, it
he suggested that an ideal diet must have 80% again rings to indicate the coming back of power
alkaline and 20% acid. However, the most supply.
interesting innovation was that of the ‘dehusking’
machine devised by Mr. George Mathew. The The innovation of Benny Thomas was also quite
machine separates husks from rice using an interesting. He had developed a high yielding
electronic table fan. The machine is like a long tube variety of pepper by cross breeding them with

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 4

another variety of pepper. The output of the new because of lack of
variety is very good. It was evident when the fruits meaningful inter-
appearing on the branches of the two varieties (the generational
cross-breed variety and the original variety) were dialogue and
compared. In fact, Mr. Thomas and his father (Mr. subsequent transfer
TT Thomas, Who is also an NIF awardee) are well of knowledge about
known for such experiments with the plants. Mr. ecology and
TT Thomas informed that initially farmers in the practices of
village were reluctant to experiment with any new s u s t a i n a b l e
variety that he prepared, but only after a prolonged environmental
demonstration, they started demanding it. conservation. To
counter such fast
The above mentioned are a few outstanding depleting knowledge
innovations and practices that we spotted during resource, HBN
the Shodhyatra. In total, seventy two innovators, initiated the
traditional knowledge-holders and centurions were ‘Knowledge Dam’
felicitated during the Shodhyatra. through bio-diversity
competition and
Recipe contest organised
Bio-diversity & Recipe Contest: recipe contests. Bio- during shodhyatra brought
diversity competition about culinary skills and
Very often the erosion of the natural resources is is organized among biodiversity knowledge of
projected as one of the most serious crises of the the school and local women
last century. However, more serious and college going children
threatening than the erosion of the natural to raise their awareness and curiosity about the
resources is the ‘erosion of the knowledge’ nature around them. Bio-diversity contests initiate
because it is the knowledge that prepares the some sort of knowledge churning in the village
framework for the management of natural where by people belonging to different generations
resources. The erosion of knowledge is primarily start the dialogue on ecology and environment.
Recipe contests, during the Shodhyatra, focus on
unraveling those recipes that are made from
uncultivated plants or lesser known crops or crops
having medicinal and health values. The whole
objective is to make the people aware about the
lesser known and valuable crops in their
surrounding and prod them to use and conserve
it.

During the Shodhyatra, bio-diversity contests were

organized in three villages, where in recipe contests
were organized in two villages. Bio-diversity
competitions were organized in Anakkara,
Cumbummetu and Puliyanmala. The response in
all the places was tremendous. In total there were
ninety six participants in three bio-diversity
competitions. They knew 2631 plant names and
had brought about 2355 plant samples. Geethu
Gopalkrishnan, a student of class IX, who stood
first in the bio-diversity competition held at Anakkara
was outstanding in her effort. She knew the plant
names of around 65 plants and had brought with
her all the samples. What was astonishing about
her was that she could name any plant with
detailed usage information without looking at her
texts and she also told what kind of precaution one
Students enthusiastically participated in the biodiversity should take while using the plants as medicine. In
competition during shodhyatra
Cumbummettu, Sneha Mol PK was given the first

5 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

prize. She knew the names of one hundred and is not accompanied by qualifications and hence is
twenty five plants and brought all the samples. enjoyable.
However, the show-stealers were a group of nine
students, who collectively knew 150 plant names On the way to Nettithozhu, the yatries were moved
and uses and brought the sample of 170 plants, by the unconditional love and welcome that was
highest number by any participant (s) during the showered upon them by the local kids, who rushed
Shodhyatra. The children demonstrated the value to present the yatris the wild flowers. The soft, yet
of collaborative learning, which not only taught the a powerful gesticulation like this strongly exhibits
value of learning from elders but also learning from a culture of ethical acculturation among the Indian
the peers. A. Anith, who stood first in the bio- poor, that is visible through out the country cutting
diversity competition held in Puliyanmala knew the across the regional boundaries. On the way to
usages of 154 plants, highest by any participant Puliyanmala (31/12/2005), the Yatris stopped to
in the Shodhyatra and also brought the same interact with a farmer, who manually pollinated
number of samples. The most interesting fact that vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia). Originally, a crop of
came out to the light was that most of the central Mexico, the crop is self-fertile but incapable
participants agreed to the fact that had this of self-pollination (a membrane separates the male
competition been not organized, they would not or anther and the female or stigma of the vanilla
have talked to their grandparents or neighbours fruit). The original pollinators for the plant are a
to inquire about the plants. This proves the specific species of bees and hummingbirds that
effectives of bio-diversity competition as an
alternative tool for teaching young children about
nature and environment.

Recipe contests were held in two villages viz.

Anakkara and Cumbummetu. In total, there were
26 participants with 30 recipes. Leelamma
Sebastian was given first prize for her recipe ‘nelika
karbichar’, where as Karthamma was given the
second prize for her delicious preparation
‘puwakachar’. Punnamma Thomas and Devam
SHG group bagged third and consolation prizes
respectively for their ‘sukien’ and ‘vegetable
upama’. The recipes were made from locally
available less cultivable crops or crops with
medicinal values. Several types of pickles, recipes
One of the farmers demonstrating the manual cross
etc made from the leaves and sheaths of yam were pollination in vanilla
commendable. The significant part of the contests
was that many of the recipes were ready to be
launched in the market with some amount of value are specific to central Mexico. However, other than
addition. NIF, in association with the local SHG winds and animals, the process of artificial or
groups would take up this activity soon. manual pollination was discovered by a twelve
years old slave named Edmund Albious in 1841 in
Learning On the Way: Reunion Island. The method included using a
needle, to fold back the membrane separating the
Shodhyatra provides a platform for the participants anther and the stigma, then pressing the anther
to understand different heuristics of learning. on the stigma. The flower is then self-pollenized,
Learning in most of our lives has been quite fait and will produce a fruit.
accompli, structured and regulated. The
educational environment around a child hardly On the way to Cumbumettu (29/12/2005), the Yatris
encourages him to be creative and think out of the stopped to observe ramphal (Annona Reticuleta).
box. Shodhyatra deconstructs the whole politics The family that stopped the Yatris was happy to
of learning and encourages the participants to serve the food and this gesture of intimacy made
learn from the ‘laboratory of life’ instead. Learning the Yatris overwhelming. As the Yatris, walked
during the Shodhyatra is both horizontal (peer along, they stopped at the house of a Vaidya
learning) as well as vertical (from elders). However, (Traditional Healer), where along with many plants,
the refreshing part of the story is that here learning he used aroma therapy. His house was like a

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 6

grassroots botanical garden. He showed the Yatris
a variety of plants whose leaves emanate aroma
of several spices.

On the same route, the Yatris met a blacksmith,

who was giving temper to the sickle with a sense
of perfection and ingenious way of observing the
e r r o r s .
Seemingly, a
s i m p l e
process of
heating and
beating was
indeed a
complex one. Innovative plantation style: Rows of casava planted
It was between the lanes of banana
regrettable
that he hardly Open Learning:
earned Rs.
60/- per day, The biggest mistake that we make vis-à-vis the
but he would knowledge flow is to assume the linear movement
have earned of it. The Shodhyatra experience proved that
Rs. 200/-, had knowledge or learning doesn’t flow through any
he made new defined corridor but through a network of informal
tools. It is interaction, particularistic association and curious
The uninterrupted attention infused
into the work by the blacksmith symptomatic observations. It very often doesn’t coincide with
surprised everybody of the malaise the hierarchy of education or the pedagogies of
that creativity routine learning established by the educational
is undergoing in our society, where fewer premiums bureaucracy. Shodhyatra is an experiment to open
are put on creativity-based value addition. We have the gate of learning through a network of learners
to gear up our intellectual and policy mechanism that defies formality of discourses and adopts
to put a system in place that simulates value- action learning as the basis of knowledge building.
addition rather than mere sale of raw products.
On the way to Karuanpuram from Kozhitholu (30/ Ms. Roshamma, a veterinary healer from Kumily,
12/2005), the Yatris stopped to meet a banana had a long interactive session with Karimbhai from
grower, who had planted bananas of different Gujarat, away from the public gaze. She was
varieties and ages in the same field. Yatris were basically interested to know the practices adopted
intrigued because, they could not know why there by Karimbhai, to manage cows at the time of
were bananas of different ages in the same field. delivery. She was also taking tips from Karimbhai
The Yatris were explained that the varieties planted on the specific herbs that can be administered at
four months ago would take about fifteen months the time of delivery.
to fruit, where as the variety planted two months
ago would take twelve months. The aim was to In Annakkara (28/12/2005), just before the bio-
regularize the supply. She didn’t want to take risk diversity competition, the local women SHG came
by planting only one variety. The farmer had also to demonstrate a herbal medicine called
planted the rows of banana (Musa Paridasiaca) ‘Murivenna’ that is effective against cuts, wounds
between the two rows of cassava (Manihot and swellings. The medicine is prepared with the
Esculenta Crantz). On the same route, the yatris following ingredients: cocoanut oil (500gm), leaves
met an organic farmer & his wife who had of drum stick (Moringa Oleifera) 250 gm, elovera
developed an organic bio pesticide from arrowroot (Aloe Barbadensis) 250 gm, bark of karanj
(Maranta Arundinaceae). Traditionally arrowroot (Pongamia Glabra) 250 gm, Tardavi (Spermaco
(Maranta Arundinaceae) is grown in coconut farms Tisspida) 250 gm, Satavari roots (Asparagus
for avoiding the pests and termites. From that he Racemogus) 120 gm, piper betel (250 gm) and
got the idea of testing decoction form of arrowroot onion (Allium Cepa) 250 gm. First of all, four bottle
powder in the water. On the same route, the Yatris (1.5 liter) extract of leaves of drum stick (Moringa
stopped to see a traditional house made from mud. Oleifera), elovera (Aloe Barbadensis), bark of

7 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

 conservation joined the yatra. Currently, she is
working on the conservation of an indigenous
variety of cattle known as ‘Vechur Cows’. During
the conversation, it was discussed that the
conservation of endangered or less known
varieties of cattle should be connected with the
market value that it can fetch such as use of the
hair from tail as art brush etc. It was also discussed
that the interested farmers group in dispersed
places can be encouraged to experiment with the
conservation of Vechur Cows. Prof Gupta
suggested that benchmarking Vechur Cows with
other varieties of the cows would be an interesting
and meaningful exercise that can yield evidence
about the superior value of the breed.

In Mandipara (29/12/2005), the Yatris had an

interactive session with the local women self-help
groups. The interaction began with the cultural
exchange among the women shodhyatris from
Gujarat and local women from the SHGs. The
SHGs were informed that in their monthly meeting,
if they can pool the practices pertaining to health
Members of women’s self help group demonstrating the
care, food, beauty care etc in their locality, then
preparation of herbal medicine to the shodhyatris best of the practices can be further value added
with the help of NIF and can be launched in the
karanj (Pongamia Glabra), Tardavi (Spermaco market as ‘viable products’.
Tisspida), piper betel, onion (Allium Cepa) is made.
Then the paste of Satavari roots (Asparagus The amount of hospitality that the yatris received
Racemogus) is added to the extract. The new from the people through out the route was
formulation is then mixed with the cocoanut oil and unprecedented. From lunch to snacks, the food
boiled for one and half hour. It is boiled till the froth that they served was not only bore a careful
comes out of it and then the remaining is dried finishing touch but also a strange rural
and used for medicine. They also had a medicine sophistication. All the SHGs and the collaborating
called Tanishpatradichurna, which was effective institutions were very gracious and cooperative.
against common cough and cold. In fact in Puliyanmala, the host organization VDS
(Vandanmedu Development Society) also offered
On the way to Mandipara (29/12/2005), Prof to share the best practices pooled by their women
Sosamma Iype, a known activist in the field of animal SHG with NIF, so that they can be converted into
marketable product with the help of NIF.

All the days in the Shodhyatra began with collective

prayers by the Yatris and the volunteers. The
prayers offered during the yatra, amply reflected
the multicultural and multi-religious temperament
of the Yatris. From Suryavandana to Koran Sharif,
the yatra in truest sense was a collective journey
into the exploration of the personal sensibilities.

Fun Time:

The Yatris also had a few moments of laughter,

gala and celebration. Though, the walk for seven
days was the greatest fun time in itself, but
Members of Honey Bee Network in conversation with the everyone found out their own ways of relaxation.
members of local S H Gs On the way to Nettithozhu (28/12/2005), the Yatris

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 8

 eve of the New Year, during the routine night
reflection meeting, the young shodhyatris and
volunteers from SRISTI organized an educational
cum entertainment programme entitled ‘Protest
against the Old’. The programme was organized
in the backdrop of a courtroom and both the
generations viz. old and young, had a face off on
the issues raised by the younger generation. The
issues included non-sharing of the responsibility
on the part of the older generation with that of the
young generation, non-adherence to the advise
given to the young generation by the old
generation themselves, not giving employment
opportunity to the younger generation but insisting
Shodhyatris engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the local on having work experience etc. The overall
Malayalee group conclusion of the evening was that the energy and
enthusiasm of youth is unparalleled and needs to
be tapped. However, the framework of tapping the
had a session of pranayam and yoga. In energy should be provided by the old generation.
Cumbummettu (29/12/2005), while a few people The old generation should shake off the
were busy in decoding the ‘Cardamom Wonder’ of conservatism and try to embrace the wind of the
Sabu Verghese, some shodhyatris were having a change. All the fun that the Yatris had somewhere
tug of war and at the latest count, they had lost to fed into the rich treasure of experience that the
the local Malyali team thrice and were pleading for shodhytara had yielded.
a mixed team match. In Kozhitholu (29/12/2005), a
young girl zapped the audience through her PROBLEM AT HAND
powerful performance of a mono acting. Her theme
was on global peace. She acted out on a plot, On the very first day of the Shodhytara, the
where a survivor of the World War III is pleading Shodhytaris were informed that in the entire Kerela,
the God to take him away from this earth, for he Idukki district has the highest rate of farmer’s
has no one to converse. The performance was both suicide. During the seven days tryst with harsh
entertaining and thought provoking. reality cloaked in natural benevolence, Shodhytaris
realized that the prosperity that is made out from
On 31 December, the yatris visited the famous the flourishing spices trade is not all about a happy
tourist spot of the region ‘Ramkelmeetu’. The yatris story. Spices, the backbone of the regional
enjoyed the beautiful sights visible from the hill economy, are not insulated from the fluctuations
station. The two statues namely, ‘Kuravan Kurathi’ and compulsions of the global market. The price
made from concrete captivated the yatris. On the of almost all the spices have gone down
dramatically in the global and Indian market and
this had considerable impact on the earning
potential of the farmers. A look at the domestic price
index and price trend makes the point crystal clear.

The above price lists reveal that the domestic price

for cardamom has come down to Rs. 205 from Rs.
500 in just three years. The price trend of
cardamom over the last six years reveals that the
Rs. 500 figure per Kg of cardamom prevalent in
2003-03 is the figure of third quarter. In fact, in the
first and second quarter of the same year, the
cardamom price was as high as Rs. 850. The price
fall is certainly alarming and had a big impact on
the cardamom growers in Kerala. However, the
most shocking news was in vanilla production. The
Shodhyatris taking an ariel view of the villagers down the farmers who made a killing in 2002-2003 harvesting
hill from the hills of Ramkalmettu
season with a price of Rs. 3,850 had to sell their

9 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

 Price list of cardamom for last three years

Year Price of the pepper (Rs/Kg)

2002-2003 500
2003-2004 300
2004-2005 205

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/30/stories/2006013000480700.htm

Price trend of cardamom for last six years (Overseas)

Source:
http://finance.indiamart.com/cgi/commodity_study.pl?code=/commodityStudy/Cardamo
m_study.jsp

produce at a paltry rate of Rs. 50 in 2005. The chemical agriculture was becoming obvious to the
crash is unprecedented and broke the back bone Shodhytaris.
of most small and marginal vanilla growers. Even
in the international market, the price decline for AND THE CURTAIN FALLS
black pepper is even stiffer; from The gap between
the high input and low output ratio is too big for The Shodhytara ended on 2nd January 23, 2006
most of the small and medium farmers to eschew. at Kattapana with the felicitation of all the
Ironically, the pesticide that is bought to kill the pests Shodhytaris . There is no doubt that the
is being consumed by the farmers themselves to Shodhytara was a collective journey in to the self
end their lives. The non-sustainability of the to locate the child in everyone that becomes unrest

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 10

at the sight of every inexplicable thing. Some knowledge churning that the Shodhytara initiated
discovered but all tried to discover. The through out the route was as important as the
Shodhytara was not merely a journey for the knowledge churning that was set out among the
promotion of grassroots creativity but also a unique Shodhytaris themselves. The Shodhytara, as
event to learn and unlearn; through tradition and confessed by the Shodhytaris themselves, taught
modernity. So in a fist of an argument Prof Anil them several lessons: from the importance of
Gupta went on to say that Hindiusm has given birth cleanliness in the village to the knowledge about
to highest number of insurgents in the world; from the importance of organic farming, from the
Bodos to LTTE, from Nagas to PWG, all the ayurvedic perspective to sustainable health to the
insurgents are Hindus. In a casual argument, victory of will power as exemplified by Viju Verghese
suddenly, the Shodhytaris discovered that there and Niny. The learning basket of the Shodhytaris
are three stages through which a plant is is still half empty; for learning is not only iterative
domesticated: through being named, categorized but life long.
and assigned a particular function. Never ever, the
Shodhytaris would have realized that there are so ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SHODHYATRA
many traditional methods of conflict resolutions that
they collectively know, such as, bringing community The 17th Shodhytara would be held in Orissa in
pressure to solve family disputes, taking recourse the first week of May. The details of the Shodhytara
to the arbitrator in the village, the villagers bringing would be posted on our website (www.sristi.org)
the feuding families together and not letting them soon. To register yourself for the next Shodhytara,
go unless the conflict is resolved etc. The write us at Shodhytara@sristi.org.

Shodhyatris being felicitated at the end of the shodhyatra in Kattapana

11 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala