Shodha Yatra 11th
Atmakur to Kapileshwaram Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh May 9-11, 2014
Chinna Shodha Yatra – 11, (9th May 2014 to 11th May 2014)
From Atmakur to Kapileshwaram, Kurnool district – Distance of 50 Kms
It was 04:45 AM and the bus halted amidst the heavy downpour in Atmakur bus station. Half-asleep, we got down. An hour later, we were joined by few other yatris. We all were waiting for Brigadeer Ganesham sir to arrive. Amongst us were Students, Entrepreneurs, IT Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Agriculture research specialists etc. It was a very diverse group. One special attribute was that there was one guy who contested for the 2014 elections as well.
From the time I heard this concept called Grassroot Innovations, I wondered, how could these poor village folk innovate something related to technology and science. Were they capable of thinking out of the box? Even if they think like that, what would they be thinking about?
Palle Srujana is an organization which conducts Shodha Yatras in all the villages across AP. This organization is led by Brigadeer Ganesham Sir. He is a retired army officer with over 30 years of service in the Indian Army. His vision is simple. He wanted to do something for the farmers. His respect for farmers made him think that even they can innovate and solve their own problems in agriculture.
Therefore, Brig. Ganesham set out in search of the knowledge which is hidden in these villages. The knowledge may have been converted in to products and used currently or there could be many best agriculture practices which very few have been following. The organization therefore tries to dig out these innovations developed by the farmers, document them, get these recognized at national level and support them. Take these innovations with them and spread across other villages in the yatra.
Brig Sir says, there is no one who can understand the problems of the farmers better than the farmers themselves. He also says, knowledge may not have legs, but we humans do. So it is our duty to go search for the hidden knowledge. Walking from one village to another, makes you get closer and deeper into the temples of knowledge and the nature would be your mother and take care of you during the journey.
At around 07:00 AM, the heavy rain subsided and the bus station got filled with water completely. The volunteers asked us to move to the zilla parishat school which was 500 meters away. So, we walked and got assembled there. The instructions which were mailed to us prior to the yatra clearly stated that there won’t be any accommodation and other comforts during the yatra. With minimum facilities, we had to carry on. We took bath under the school taps and the nearby sulabh complex. Brig. Sir arrived by then and we were ready for our first unlearning session. We were taught to make our minds empty. In order for us to understand the simplicity of the villagers, we first had to learn to respect them for what they are. We were there to learn from them and not to argue or force any ideas upon them. This was the attitude Brig Sir asked us to follow in our entire journey. He said, we would encounter four gurus in our jouney. They are the nature, the villagers, the co-yatris and finally our own self.
The journey started and we encountered so many villagers who made us look so small with their humility, knowledge and innovations. I had never thought people in villages were so knowledgeable. We all were awe-struck while listening to them. I shall quote few of them in this blog whom we have encountered and also few who were already recognized by Palle Srujana in previous yatras.
Mallayya’s irrigation motor:
What would you do if your
irrigation motor is damaged
beyond repair and you don’t
have
enough money to buy a new
motor and without which your
livelihood comes to a halt?
This was the problem
Mallayya faced. His
irrigation motor which draws
water from a 40 ft bore well
got damaged and a new motor
would cost him around 40,000
rupees. He didn’t go to
someone to borrow the money
for a new motor. He thought
of a cost effective method
to make his pump back in
shape. And the solution
which he came up with, was
simple but outstanding. I
cannot even imagine what the
mechanical engineers would
have thought about this
problem. But Mallayya bought
a second hand Ape engine for
6000 rupees, went to a
mechanic, asked him to
remove the damaged engine
and replace it with the one
he bought. He then asked to
connect this engine to the
pump set of the motor. He
incurred some 2500 rupees as
fitting charges and another
2000 rupees for the
additional bearings and
bolts. So, with a sum of
around 11000 rupees, he got
his motor back in shape and
guess what? The speed with
which this motor draws the
water out of the well is
almost twice when compared
to the previous motor. And
it has a speed controller
too. It just takes 3 hours
to fill 1 acre. Mallayya
proudly says that he
completes his work quickly
and comes back home. When
asked about the diesel
consumption, he says it’s
almost same and the engine
doesn’t get heated up. He
had to switch off his
previous motor every two
hours since it used to get
heated up. This entire idea,
plan and execution was done
in a single day by a farmer.
By the way, do you know what
an Ape engine is? It’s that
same engine which is used in
the 7 seater autos. Simply
out of the box thinking. Who
could have imagined a second
hand auto engine could be
used with an irrigation pump
to draw water from a well.
Mallayya did.
What we did? We clapped for
him and showed our respects
by presenting him a shawl.
Mallayya smiles and says,
“This thing worked and so
everybody claps. If it
didn’t, then I would have
been a laughing stock.” But
he had the courage to move
forward and he won.
Vadla Brahmaiah’s wooden
hammer:
As we were walking through
the village of kothapalli,
we came across a vadrangi
(carpenter) working under a
big tree. We found something
in his hands with which he
was cutting the wood and
shaping it. It was a hammer
and it was not the iron
hammer which is commonly
used. But it’s a wooden
hammer. The shape of it
looked like a small mace or
club. I had never seen such
a tool before.
When asked, why he was not
using the normal hammer, he
just gave a simple
explanation saying that,
this is the hammer with
safety at its best. With the
iron hammer, the chances of
the carpenter getting hurt
is more if he misses the
shot. But with this wooden
hammer, there is no chance
of it. I just looked at the
hammer by holding it, it
weighed alright. When I
asked what its weight was,
he replied 5kgs. But let me
tell you, it was designed so
well that it didn’t feel
like it was 5kg material.
Then I understood why maces
were used in olden day’s
battles. It felt so powerful
and easy to hold.
One more reason Brahmaiah
says is, this reduces the
effort also. How? Because of
the weight distribution with
which this thing is made.
You don’t have to use your
muscle power so much. Just a
small movement and the
weight in the club hits the
wood very hard. So, hitting
the wood three times with a
normal iron hammer is equal
to hitting the wood with
this wooden hammer once. The
hammer is made from the wood
of Tamarind tree. He has got
these in many sizes from
small to medium and large
ones.
Nice way to reduce the
carpenter’s effort and above
all, the safety it offers is
great. Well, it was an age
old tool. But we appreciated
him for using it and keeping
the tradition alive.
Krishna Reddy’s cart wheel
iron rim repair:
Cart wheels have a problem
during summer. A typical
cart wheel is made up of
wood and its outer rim is
made of iron. During summer,
the iron used to expand
because of the heat and
thereby making the rim lose
its shape and come out of
the surface of the wooden
wheel during its motion.
Now, putting the rim back
onto the wheel was a huge
task as it required one to
take out the entire rim,
heat it in a furnace until
it becomes red hot, then
slowly applying it along the
circumference of the wooden
wheel. And there was no
guarantee that it would hold
enough throughout the
summer.
Krishna Reddy faced the same
problem many a time and he
was tired to go through the
tedious process of fixing
it. Then he thought whether
there was any easy process
of repairing it and
sustaining the repair for
long. He got the idea and
gave it a try. Krishna Reddy
also knew welding work. He
used welding process for the
parts which came out of the
rim and got the rim fixed on
to the circumference. And
while he did this, he used
iron clamps and bolts and
fitted them along the iron
rim at every 30 degrees
(approx. six clamps)
surrounding the
circumference. The iron
clamps act as locks for the
rim so that it doesn’t
expand during rotation of
the wheel. This was the
simple solution he
implemented on his cart
wheel. When asked, how long
this would hold the rim, he
just says, “I don’t think
this will come out, ever.”
Now, the farmers from nearby
villages saw this and asked
him to repair their cart
wheels. He now offers this
as a service for a charge.
“Laxmi Asu Machine” by
Mallesham:
“Sorry, my son, I cannot do
this anymore”. These were
the words a mother spoke to
her son with tears rolling
down her eyes.
Asu is the process which is
carried out before the
actual weaving takes place.
This is an important process
which is a part of handloom
silk saree weaving. Entire
design on the sarees is
totally dependent on this
process. Traditionally,
ladies of the family
performed this activity.
This process involves moving
hand over a space of one
meter for 9000 times for one
saree. It also demands high
concentration and accuracy.
Each saree requires five
hours of such labor.
Mallesham’s mother Laxmi used to work on this Asu process for 8 hours in a day, moving her hand to and fro. At the end of the day, she used to suffer from excruciating pain in her right shoulder. One day, having suffered silently for many years, his mother said with tears rolling from her eyes, “Son! Enough, I cannot do this anymore. The pain in my shoulder is increasing by the day. Please get out of handloom weaving. At least your would-be wife need not suffer the way I suffered”, she lamented. That was the first time Mallesham understood the pain the ladies in these families undergo, undergo silently.
Listening to his mother’s
words, he thought, what else
he could do apart from this
handloom business. He
couldn’t get anything in his
mind. It has been the family
tradition to weave silk
sarees in Pochampalli
village. He thought whether
there was something which he
could do to reduce his
mother’s pain. With these
thoughts in his mind, he
stepped forward. Deep in his
heart, he felt that he could
come up with a solution for
this. He thought why not
build a machine which
automates the Asu process.
He discussed this with his
friends and relatives and
they just laughed and made
fun of him saying that he
was not an engineer to build
a machine and he didn’t even
complete his intermediate.
But Mallesham thought
otherwise. For him, his
mother’s agony was more
important. He set out to
build the machine.
He put his entire savings
and the money which his wife
brought, into this. He was
able to make the steady
progress. No bank offered
him a loan. He borrowed
money from few private
financiers. After 5 years of
struggling like this, he was
stuck at a point where he
couldn’t get the movement
required for the final stage
of the Asu process. Finding
solution for this took long
time. His father said,
enough of the craziness and
asked him to go to the city
and find some job as daily
labor. Even the financiers
started bothering his family
for returning the money
which he owed. Amidst all
these things, Mallesham one
day left home with his Asu
machine and went to
Hyderabad and found himself
a daily job with an electric
contractor. He used to work
throughout the day in his
daily job and in the
evenings, he quietly used to
sit in front of his Asu
machine and work on it. He
sent the money which he
earned, back to his family
and with some savings, he
bought the parts and tried
on his machine. But it was
going nowhere.
Two more years went by and
one day, Mallesham went to
work in a machine shop in
Balanagar Area in
Secunderabad. There were
many machines, which
interested him. He began to
observe each one of those
machines with utmost
attention. The owner called
him and asked whether he was
there to inspect the
machines or to work.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on
one machine which performed
the movement similar to the
one he required for the
final stage of Asu machine.
He made the mental notes of
the parts that are causing
that movement in that
machine and rushed to a
workshop nearby. Got the
parts required and with so
much excitement in his
heart, went to his home and
fitted the components to the
machine. With prayer on his
lips and his heart pounding
fast, he switched the
machine on. And the rest was
history.
Today, not only his mother
is using it, but many such
mothers in many such
villages where handloom
weaving is carried out.
Whenever the girls in the
village see Mallesham, they
say, “Anna, because of you
we are going to college”.
Girls were married to those
houses where Asu machine is
available. The society which
uses this Asu machine is
called the Asu family.
Mallesham named the machine
after his mother. It’s
called, “Laxmi Asu Machine”.
A success story with a deep
social impact. Hats off to
the son who took care of his
mother.
Venkata Krishna’s Tulasi:
“My God, does all these
chemicals get into the food
we eat?” This was the
question that scared Venkata
Krishna while he was working
in a chemical factory which
makes the pesticides used in
farming. Farmers now-a-days
use the chemical pesticides
in their fields. This has
two effects. One, the plants
absorb all these into the
yields which they produce
and second, the soil becomes
uncultivable after some
years by the continuous use
of these chemicals.
Venkata Krishna thought, why
not prepare an eco-friendly
solution which acts as a
good growth promoter of all
varieties of plants and
which also acts as a good
pesticide. He thought that
the environment will have
the necessary ingredients
for the environment to
sustain. So, he resigned his
job and came back home and
started to work on the
solution. He made a small
portion of his house into a
laboratory. He brought the
raw materials required for
the preparation. Soon, he
was able to come up with a
solution. He tested that in
his friend’s field and the
results were good. The yield
was more than expected from
the same space of
agriculture land. He went
ahead and gave samples of it
to the farmers in his
village and the nearby
villages. They used the
solution and came back for
more. There was no stopping
for him from then on. He was
the proud owner of a
bio-pesticide and growth
promoter. He named it Tulasi.
Today, he is the sole person
maintaining this entire
business from buying the raw
materials, to preparing the
solution, marketing the
product in villages and
selling it. His wife and
kids help him in packaging
and labelling the bottles.
When asked about the natural
ingredients he had been
using in this solution, he
mentions, sugarcane juice,
coconut water, cow-urine and
other bio-degradable matter.
When we joked saying that,
he was revealing his formula
to us, he smiles and says,
“Go ahead and prepare it.
You don’t know the volumes
that are to be mixed and the
process of preparing it.”
When Brig Ganesham went to
Venkat krishna’s shed where
he prepares this solution,
he was amazed because the
entire process was manual
and it didn’t require any
electricity. There were no
labor costs as well. A half
liter bottle of Tulasi would
cost around 230 rupees and
the total input cost for
producing it comes around 50
rupees. Please don’t be
astonished when I mention
his monthly earnings. It
comes around 2.5 lakh rupees
per month. After hearing
what he said, all the group
members looked at each
other’s faces and sighed,
and the entrepreneurs in the
group hooked onto him for
the rest of the day. Maybe
to learn some practical
lessons in social
entrepreneurship.
Guravaiah’s Seed drill cum
herbi sprayer:
An Agri scientist, in a
farmer’s meeting, challenges
the group of farmers to
develop a custom machine to
dispense the maize seeds for
zero tillage farming in the
paddy fields immediately
after harvesting. A 60 year
old man accepted the
challenge and went on to
build it.
(Source: Wikipedia): No-till
farming
(No-till farming (also
called zero tillage or
direct drilling) is a way of
growing crops or pasture
from year to year without
disturbing the soil through
tillage. No-till is an
agricultural technique which
increases the amount of
water that infiltrates into
the soil and increases
organic matter retention and
cycling of nutrients in the
soil. In many agricultural
regions it can eliminate
soil erosion. It increases
the amount and variety of
life in and on the soil,
including disease-causing
organisms and disease
suppression organisms. The
most powerful benefit of
no-tillage is improvement in
soil biological fertility,
making soils more resilient.
Farm operations are made
much more efficient,
particularly improved time
of sowing and better
trafficability of farm
operations.)
Guravaiah accepted the
challenge. He had a clear
idea of the device which can
meet the needs of the
farmers for the purpose
stated above. However, he
did not had the requisite
technical knowledge to make
such a device. Nevertheless,
Guraviah was sure that he
would deliver.
Initially, he got some help
from the Agri Engineering
College in Bapatla, where he
could prove his concept. He
got the confidence but the
college couldn’t support
further. Then Palle Srujana
introduced Guravaiah to
NABARD (National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural
Development). With the fund
support available and the
mentoring provided by Palle
Srujana, Guraviah set about
making the machine.
He then found a young
mechanic from a nearby town
and with his help, he was
able to develop a device. He
then invited many farmers
from his village for its
demonstration. The farmers
used to provide many
suggestions to improve the
device and Guravaiah used to
listen to each and every one
of them. He then used to
implement those suggestions
on the device and
demonstrate it again to the
villagers. After five such
brainstorming sessions,
finally, there were no
suggestions coming out from
the villagers. He thought
the device was finalized.
This entire process took him
just 3 months’ time.
Today, Guravaiah’s device is
used for the zero-tillage
farming by many villages
around his region. His
device performs five
functions in single go. It
makes furrows on the
harvested land, drops the
seed, adds fertilizer,
closes the furrow and sprays
weedicide between the
furrows. And he also got the
patent for his device.
He says, by using this
device, farmers can reduce
30% of input costs per acre
of land. This device can be
owned by an entire village
and can be shared amongst
the farmers in the village.
Guravaiah was the 1st runner
up in Samsung Innovation
Quotient, Season – 2, for
the year 2012.
There are so many success
stories. I just listed few
of them. Few other
innovations are the solar
sprayer, solar powered
cotton flower picker, Sri
Tailam (herbal oil) for
burns and joint pains, a
herbal powder for curing the
post pregnancy stomach bulge
for the cows and many more.
After seeing and hearing
about these farmers, my
opinion on the Grassroot
Innovations changed
completely. Brig. Sir
explains all these
innovations made by farmers,
to the farmers in most
attractive way by using a
big LCD TV connected to
Laptop. He showed them
videos of these innovations
and the villagers watched
with great excitement. They
asked so many questions
which showed how curious
they were to implement those
tools and techniques in
their fields. He says to the
farmers, “They are farmers
like you with no education.
If they can do it, so can
you.”
We met with the children in
the villages and distributed
the stationary that we all
brought for them. There were
smiles all around. Brig Sir
also conducts idea games to
the children where the
children are given pen and
paper and asked to write any
idea that pops up from their
minds. Guess what, there was
not a single blank paper.
Brig Sir says, these kids
are the future. They would
build many wonderful things
and make the country
prosper.
Brig Sir is a visionary and
a true leader. A great
mentor and very humble in
nature. I got the
opportunity to go with him
on a morning walk too. You
just have to walk with him
and you could learn so many
things from his experience.
He would discuss the
problems and innovations of
the farmers, how they need
to be supported, how Palle
Srujana came into being and
what the future plan is and
many other things about the
agriculture sector in India
and its drawbacks and how
Palle Srujana, as an
organization is fighting it
out. You just have to catch
up with Brig Sir because he
walks so fast. Throughout
the journey, I thought
whether I was walking slowly
or he was walking faster. No
wonder he was an Army
officer.
The Nature:
The nature was the most
beautiful part of this
journey. It was never harsh
on us. The first day it
welcomed us with showers and
the remaining part of the
journey was very pleasant.
Cool breeze from the fields
touched our faces and made
us forget all the worries of
our lives. We walked through
the muddy roads and fields.
Brig Sir says, do not avoid
the mud while walking. Walk
right through it. Become
part of nature and it will
surely take care of you. And
so we did. Walked bare foot
in the mud and felt its
smoothness and coolness. We
took bath under the hand
pumps in the villages and
drank water from the same
hand pumps. Sat under the
huge trees and had our
lunches while we shared
lighter moments. Heard the
crystal clear sound, the
leaves of the trees make in
a silent field with no motor
vehicle activity. Believe
me, the sound was 1000 times
clearer than the Dolby
digital sound which we feel
in the movie theaters. We
walked amidst the dead
snakes, the croaking frogs,
the peacocks, monkeys,
goats, oxen. The beautiful
hills that never ended
throughout the journey. The
bore wells and the fresh
water ponds in the fields
which aged back to the time
of the kings. We walked in
the nights and the moon
followed us and showered us
with its silver light. We
slept in the nights under
the clear skies.
The mango grove with huge
mango trees. I never saw
such huge mango trees in my
lifetime. We ate the mangoes
that fell down from those
trees. That was the day, I
tasted real mangoes. So
sweet and juicy. Finally on
the evening of the third
day, we arrived at the small
fisherman village of
Kapileswaram where the back
waters of Krishna river
flows. Our journey ended
there and we took bath in
the river as the storks and
cranes flew just above our
heads and the group of small
fishes jumped right through
us. Awesome experience it
was.
A fantastic way to end the
walk.
About the Co-Yatris:
Coming to the co-yatris, as
I already mentioned, it was
a very diverse group. All
strangers and yet we were
all together to achieve a
single objective. That made
us collaborate more and
learn from each other.
Dhananjay(DJ) was the best in the journey. He was an innovator himself and he was in the final stages of developing a tractor which can harvest the cotton fields without affecting the crop (Cotton crop produces the flowers thrice for single sowing). He was so obsessed with his invention that he can talk about it for 24 hours without any break.
Raju, had contested the 2014 elections as an MLA. His story was very interesting. How he was left alone by his near and dear ones and how he fought the system in his journey. He says, “I will not win this time, I may not win the second time, but I am confident that I will win the third time”. Great guy.
Ekansh and I work for the
same company and we shared
many lighter moments
together during the journey.
We shared our views about
the program and compared
these innovations with those
in the IT field.
Rajeshwar was a mech
engineer and the volunteer
and he was the one who shot
the entire documentary
throughout our journey. All
the groups pictures and
videos of us explaining the
day’s take offs.
Raj Janagam was the one who
was into the social
entrepreneurship. He runs an
incubator which provides
support to the social
entrepreneurs. We talked
about the same area and he
explained what they do
exactly.
We were joined on the second
day by Dr. Varaprasad, an
agricultural research
officer from ICAR. He talked
to us about where we stand
in terms of agriculture and
what he thought about the
government’s approach
towards the sector as a
whole. He also gave us
information about various
plants and their uses during
our walk.
Navanth works as an
assistant professor in an
engineering college in
Kurnool and he was the one
who answered all the
questions put by me
regarding the types of
fields that we came across,
the farming methods they
use, the plantations etc.
Naveen worked for an NGO and
he was the person who was
ready to serve people. He
was a volunteer in this
yatra and the sheer
enthusiasm he shows in doing
things in the interest of
the organization, impressed
me.
Shiv, Vrushank, Sandeep,
Bhargav, Rajiv and Vishal
were the younger ones in the
group who carried the same
zeal about helping the
village folks.
All the yatris were very friendly and we never had any issues with one another. Maybe because we learned to be humble from the villagers we met in our way. We helped each other throughout our journey. We landed as strangers and we got attached so well in this yatra.
The villagers:
The villagers were so humble
in welcoming us in all the
villages. They talked to us
without any apprehensions.
They enquired about our
accommodation and food
arrangements when we entered
their village in the nights.
Some of them went to an
extent of holding our hands
and dragging us into their
homes to have a cup of tea.
If we had missed someone,
they would ask why we didn’t
explain it to them. A stone
cutter whom we presented a
shawl, humbly tried to
return it to us post the
picture shoot. Maybe he
thought we were one of those
political parties who came
to show off.
As we all were explaining
about the program, one of us
asked for water and the lady
at the shop took out a
mineral water bottle and
gave him. When asked how
much, she humbly replied,
“You asked for water and I
gave you to drink. This is
not a city.” Well, that
shows all. Maybe I am not
qualified enough to even
write about them.
We took the bus back from
Kapileswaram till Atmakur.
It was then I realized how
much I got connected to
these villages during the
journey. When I looked
outside the window, there
was very little light but I
could recognize all the
fields, the trees, the
hills, the wells, the
villages and the roads that
we walked through. I felt as
if I belonged there for ages
and was leaving all of them
suddenly. With the memories
in my mind, heart filled
with sadness, and carrying
hope for building a better
tomorrow, I began my journey
within….
Regards,
Subash
