Subhadra and I began the new year by taking a trip down to the hills on the banks of the River Narmada in Alirajpur in search of indigenous seeds. Especially Chikni Jowar whose flour is like that of wheat and so was traditionally used by the Bhils for making puris and laddoos. It turned out to be a wild goose chase. Its almost vanished so that one lady had a good laugh at Subhadra when she asked her whether she had any. She just could not stop laughing as if Subhadra had cracked a big joke. Subhadra had collected this seed two years earlier and grown it on our farm and also sold it to others. However, the heavy rains this year killed all the plants that we had sown. So here we were in search of the Chikni Jowar in Vakner.
Someone said that he had seen Pavlia growing this crop and so we should go there. Pavlia lives deep in the jungle cultivating forest land down in the valley where there are no roads. It was an hour's walk down the hills to his farm. Pavlia is one of the founder members of the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath (KMCS) and a doughty warrior who has made the Forest Rights Act possible through long struggles. I had not met him for over five years and I had never been to his farm as it was off the road. So I set off with his father Vangria who stays in Vakner proper. After a while the path we were walking down suddenly became a rough road that had been cut from the hills by an earth moving machine. Vangria said that the machine had come at night and dug the road and he was concerned that it might be the Forest Department trying to revive its old plan of converting the whole area into a wild life sanctuary. I told him that that has been buried completely by the Sangathan and he need not worry. This must be the Panchayat constructing a road. Anyway, once we reached Pavlia's farm the matter was cleared as Pavlia said that their whole hamlet were pooling money to build that road so as to make it connected and ease their life a little. This is the advantage of the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act. Where there is a strong people's organisation like the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath, these laws have enabled the Adivasis to control their lives in a significant way side lining the state.
What was amazing for me is that Pavlia is a living monument of all the principles that inspired the KMCS in the initial years of struggle. KMCS had posited that the jungle, land and water was the people's resources and so they would conserve them and use them with responsibility. There are villages after villages where people have done this. But Pavlia is one of the best.
Pavlia is standing on his farm in which he has grown Kadia Cotton which is an indigenous variety of cotton grown without chemical fertilisers and pesticides. One of the few farmers who are left still growing this cotton. Before him is a stone bund that he has erected to prevent soil erosion and water runoff. Behind him is a dense forest that he has protected from being felled. He of course had the Chikni Jowar we were looking for.
He was extremely thrilled to see me again after such a long time and insisted that I spend the night at his place. When I said that I could not do so as we had to go to other villages also in search of seeds he decided to come along with me up to Vakner. He said that there was no surety as to when we would meet again and so he wanted to make the most of this fortuitous meeting!!
We spent the night in Vakner where there was a huge meeting as people from all over the village gathered on hearing that I had come!! We discussed politics, sang songs and had a great feast. A friend of ours had also come along for this trip. She too is an activist. At the end of the meeting before going to sleep she said that she had not seen such outpouring of love elsewhere. I told her that that was the motto of the KMCS - camaraderie and love. With very little resources we fought great battles and all we needed was love. We are still doing mobilisation work but it does not have the same quality of love that characterised those initial years in Alirajpur. A life lived among the Adivasis struggling for their rights has indeed been fulfilling even though we have not succeeded in pushing back the state and the market.
Someone said that he had seen Pavlia growing this crop and so we should go there. Pavlia lives deep in the jungle cultivating forest land down in the valley where there are no roads. It was an hour's walk down the hills to his farm. Pavlia is one of the founder members of the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath (KMCS) and a doughty warrior who has made the Forest Rights Act possible through long struggles. I had not met him for over five years and I had never been to his farm as it was off the road. So I set off with his father Vangria who stays in Vakner proper. After a while the path we were walking down suddenly became a rough road that had been cut from the hills by an earth moving machine. Vangria said that the machine had come at night and dug the road and he was concerned that it might be the Forest Department trying to revive its old plan of converting the whole area into a wild life sanctuary. I told him that that has been buried completely by the Sangathan and he need not worry. This must be the Panchayat constructing a road. Anyway, once we reached Pavlia's farm the matter was cleared as Pavlia said that their whole hamlet were pooling money to build that road so as to make it connected and ease their life a little. This is the advantage of the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act. Where there is a strong people's organisation like the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath, these laws have enabled the Adivasis to control their lives in a significant way side lining the state.
What was amazing for me is that Pavlia is a living monument of all the principles that inspired the KMCS in the initial years of struggle. KMCS had posited that the jungle, land and water was the people's resources and so they would conserve them and use them with responsibility. There are villages after villages where people have done this. But Pavlia is one of the best.
He was extremely thrilled to see me again after such a long time and insisted that I spend the night at his place. When I said that I could not do so as we had to go to other villages also in search of seeds he decided to come along with me up to Vakner. He said that there was no surety as to when we would meet again and so he wanted to make the most of this fortuitous meeting!!
We spent the night in Vakner where there was a huge meeting as people from all over the village gathered on hearing that I had come!! We discussed politics, sang songs and had a great feast. A friend of ours had also come along for this trip. She too is an activist. At the end of the meeting before going to sleep she said that she had not seen such outpouring of love elsewhere. I told her that that was the motto of the KMCS - camaraderie and love. With very little resources we fought great battles and all we needed was love. We are still doing mobilisation work but it does not have the same quality of love that characterised those initial years in Alirajpur. A life lived among the Adivasis struggling for their rights has indeed been fulfilling even though we have not succeeded in pushing back the state and the market.
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