A lonely furrow was opened twenty five years ago, when the Honey Bee Network was set up at IIMA. Slowly and slowly, the volunteers from different walks of life started joining. Seventeen years ago, several innovators, farmers, artisans and other volunteers asked as to why could we not try to learn together by walking through the villages in different parts of the country. There has been a long tradition of pilgrims walking together to their destinations, learning, sharing and sometimes voluntarily suffering to achieve authenticity in their pursuits. We also decided to walk together to discover the new priests of innovations, champions of grassroots creativity, conservators of biodiversity and other elements of nature. Essentially, the Shodhyatra became a journey within and without. While in the external journey, we knew where it would end. But in the internal journey, how would we know whether it would end, if at all, when and where. The journey within and without, provided us new insights into the way knowledge happens, creativity unfolds and individuals and communities live with inertia or try to overcome it.
About 12 years ago, students at IIMA asked as to why there couldn’t be a regular course in the curriculum to similarly pursue the insights from innovations and knowledge systems at grassroots. Accordingly, a course, much sought after, has been running at IIMA for about 12 years, in which we go to Himalaya every year to learn from four teachers: teacher from within, teacher around us, the peers, teacher in nature and teacher among common people.
Earlier we used to walk 250 kms., twice a year for ten days each and now we walk about 150 kms., in a week every summer and every winter in the normal open access shodhyatra. In summer we go to the places which are hot and winter to the places which are cold. The process should convey the purpose. While doing so, we don’t have to establish our credibility, it becomes obvious and we can connect with the communities almost immediately. The 34th walk will be in Sikkim during Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2015 with temperature ranging from – 0 to -15 centigrade.
We honour grassroots innovators and outstanding traditional knowledge holders at their doorstep. The new social movement i.e. Honey Bee Network has tried to create a new idiom of authenticity. People must be honoured at their doorstep so that they understand that country cares. The Office the President of India has taken this concern to the next level by hosting innovation exhibition as Festival of Innovations [FOIN] at President’s House every year March 7 – 13. The grassroots creativity thus gets connected to the highest office of our country. Many of the innovations discovered through Shodhyatra have been showcased at the Rashtapati Bhawan and have received honours at the biennial grassroots innovations award function organised by National Innovation Foundation.
Apart from scouting and recognising grassroots innovations, we get blessings of centenarian dada and dadis. In our culture, generally when we bless we say live for 100 years. But when actually live for 100 years, sometime we don’t care. To correct this anomaly, we decided to seek their blessings. When outsiders come and do that, it is gaining more attention.
We organise biodiversity and recipe competitions for men and women to share various recipes and uses of local plants. We disseminate what we have learnt from elsewhere to cross-pollinate the ideas and promote lateral learning. Markets often make the society vertical, the attempt in shodhyatra is to make society horizontal. Idea competitions among the children trigger new insights of the impatience children have with the inertia and persistent social problems. Some of these children get recognised at the annual IGNITE Competition ny NIF at the hands of Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Bharat Ratna, former President of our country. This IGNITE award function is organised on the birth day of Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam on Oct 15 every year, celebrated as children’s creativity and innovations day.
SRISTI also recognises outstanding teachers, nature conserving institutions, cultural creativity and crafts besides individual social change agents who don’t mind lack of peer appreciation for their ideas and spirit. Many of the recipes with some uncultivated plants as ingredients are invited at the Traditional Food Festival – Sattvik held every year in December at IIMA campus. An attempt is made thus to create incentives for conservation of agro biodiversity by harnessing urban consumer demand and connecting producers and consumers.
Shodhyatra is a collective journey but also an individual quest. Each one of us has to discover for ourselves the unique social purpose that we alone perhaps can serve best in whichever possible way. The portfolio of private, common and public goods, when selected judiciously, reinforces a harmonious society and a joyful personal presence in the world. Come and join Shodhyatra, else pursue it on your own anywhere, everywhere, intensely, self-critically and humbly.