Sustainable Livelihood in The Dangs India

A person, rooted in the metropolitan culture and bandwidth ethos, gets entwined with technology, connectivity comforts, mobility and dollars.

Such a road map some times gets modified on account of certain perceptions triggered by some personal experience. I was finishing my college semesters and decided to visit friends in India. They drew upon a plan to send me with Mr Abraham heading an active social organization in the hinterlands of a tribal district “The Dangs" in Western India.

I reached the village ‘Sakarpatal’ which was surrounded by 15 hamlets having Bhil tribals. They were simple, innocent people with modest culinary habits.  Scantily clad they were, but looked but promising. The organization of Mr. Abraham was committed to the rural development. The tribals had farms, small in size but barren and devoid of water compelling them to live on others which robbed them of their happiness. They inherited rich oral traditions in matters of health, and ethics. Despite being poor, they suffered no insecurity. Their daily life began at twilight and they rigorously worked through a cooperative newly created with the mission of harvesting water and doing conservation and forestry works simultaneously for improving their productivity.

The enormity of forest wealth was replicated in their fields by commercial cultivation of Teak trees. These trees were felled under aegis of forest officials every sixth year and such felling promised high income returns to them. The banks in this pocket considered these trees as a collateral security for giving those home loans which they used for renovating their houses and roofs, educating their children. Education was surging as a new hunger. With a mix of local wisdom and new  technology  they had  designed new  water  and soil  conservation  structures  which was transforming  them from being wage-earners  and migratory hordes of labourers to owners of commercial, cooperative pastures. Abundance was being created but within their boundaries. They possessed great knowledge of local herbs and tubers to protect them against any disease. Their earnings had started swelling up, debts thinning down while their human and social development processes were getting fine tuned. That was the time my vacation was coming to an end. 

This short interlude in this region opened my mind like a parachute to new concepts. I was no longer feeling lost in a desert with miles of sands. This stay brought crucial changes in my perceptions. Our great leader Mr Abraham Lincoln had said that “happiness emerges from family prosperity at various levels with God’s grace giving bliss to human lives”. This was truer in respect of these groups of tribals. They were simple, innocent, transparent, modest people and showed the power of dedication and commitment to reap any dividend. I was feeling apologetic for having thought till now only of my own personal welfare.  A new feeling of sharing and caring was slowly emerging in me as a critical index for evaluating my success in life. 

The empowerment of individuals and the role of group dynamics, which I saw were the biggest critical lessons learnt here. They believed in participation for common good and cooperation for community welfare. This value was a big revelation for any social developmental goals. In fact without rural and human development no welfare could be achieved. Their values like “Speak the truth”, “Perform your role with trust”, “Don’t flout local wisdom”, “Do most good to God’s creatures” in my view could make taller claims than any other ethical school of thought. My belief in research and development got strengthened through observance of their consumption of herbs and tubers which had protected them against diseases. They could not be any more belittled since they had capability to grow. Poverty was their only enemy and no project or initiative could take shape without addressing itself to this basic question. Only when poverty evaporates, can the tree of social growth get planted.

Generally we tend to think of technology and spirituality as incompatible propositions but their life styles and efforts to bring change and adopt new things was a striking example of this unification. Like us, they were also innovators, who saw new dreams and transformed them into thoughts and several actions flowed out of that. The power of creativity and Galileo’s law of motion which says “nothing moves unless it is put in motion” were seen more distinctly.

Their group participation, empowerment among themselves accompanied by traits of cooperation, modesty could do wonders for good of man kind, happiness for all, peace and prosperity, and if all of us understand the essence of growth, human values and liberate those who are victims of underdevelopment, we can achieve sustainable livelihood for others, ensure food security, build social capital and protect environment.

About the Author: Salil Nanda is pursuing Graduation in the field of BioMedical Sciences from a university in USA. He can be contacted at salilnanda@hotmail.com.