MY VIEWS ON CSY-IV:
The fourth Chinna Shodha Yatra was scheduled from 15th june to 17th june 2012, from chintur to mothugudem of Khammam district. Our journey started from hyderabad to kothagudem to bhadrachalam to chintur. We reached chintur at around 11.00 a.m. Ganesham sir addressed all the participants after a brief self introduction of every other participant. The overall view of CSY was given by sir in detail. There were around 20 yatris participating in the yatra with wide range in age difference starting from 10th passed outs, inter(+2), b.tech 2nd yr, 3rd yr, final yr, b.tech passed outs, a few innovators. This particular yatra gave scope to meet many participants spread over different age groups and left over many beautiful memories to carry forward with life. After the initial introductions we had a meeting with the government school children where many were eager to know about new things. When asked about various ways an already used match stick can be put use to, many interesting answers popped out. A student named Abdul studying class 4, who was very shy initially, actually thought out of the box to say that an already used match stick can be made into a pencil surrounding the lead with match sticks. The creative minds of children at this age, when ignited in proper way can bring about amazing results even one can never think of. To spread about such an inspiring competition called IGNITE, is also part of Shodha Yatra. After the meet, we had lunch at a small hotel in chinthur. The husband and wife enthusiastically served and fed us very tasty meal. We stated off our walking spree to the nearest village pothupalli by travelling 6kms on foot. There we had a meeting with the school children and the ladies in the village. The video about innovations was played for the children and the women. The ladies who were initially gossiping nd chit chatting later understood the real need for us to go there and involved cheerfully in the talk. Some of the girls came forward to develop and create some new inventions in their village. The little talk by sir has inspired them to bring new changes in their village. A girl named Durga specifically came forward to build the innovative wind mill in their village that would help water to pump out of the bore pump.

After the meet we headed out to our next destination which was 10 kms from the village. On the way, we met some villagers who carried bow and arrows with them. We found out that they hunt wild animals etc with the arms they make for themselves. Some of them patiently cleared all our doubts as to how they make and why they put certain things while making. It was interesting to know the details. After the really interesting meet with the villagers we headed towards thulasipaka mid way from the dense forest. The walk through the forest was memorable in that we mever get to such an adventure in daily life. After about 3 hrs of walk(10kms) through the forest till night, we reached a school in thulasipaka where we shared our views on the first day of yatra. Many interesting things and different perspective views were shared among the yatris. Later we had dinner and headed off to sleep under the clear sky with stars, with the peace that cannot be obtained in cities even if we sleep on the terrace of 10th floor building.

The next day started with the pleasant weather surrounding us. Everyone of us had bath in the lake which again was one of its kind of experiences. We headed off to the next village bearing in mind that we had to walk ~22kms that day. We distributed some of the special farmer products to a few villagers clearly explaining their advantages. A creative bamboo ladder was made out of the nature by the villagers to get onto the palm tree, using the bamboo branches as steps. It was fascinating to know that nature can be used in such a way and that villagers use nature in their daily activities as much as they can. On the road that we were walking on, we found a small girl of about 3 yrs or less, carrying a tiffin pack for her dad. It was told that she was going from her home to her dad's work place to give the carriage, which was nearly 3-4 kms far away. It kind of troubled me to see that a small girl had to do that walking all the way alone every day. After treating her to a biscuit pack, I followed the crew towards the journey ahead. After passing a different kind of forest we came across a village where we spoke to a few women. We were told that all the villagers were celebrating "bhoomi panduga"(earth/soil festival) as the rains had already started. It was kind of worshipping the rain to be supportive to them all through the season. On the way to another village many interesting things about many co-yatris was known. The walk had been the best with the yatris who never complained anything about the walk and were always cheerful spreading joy. After reaching dabbhagudem, we had lunch under the tree and discussed over various issues relating to innovations and various perspectives were known. In the village we were destined to see the tribal dance of the women on account of the festival. Starting from there, we headed towards mothugudem distant 8 kms. On the way to the village we talked about various issues of the country. Brigadier Ganesham sir explained us our country's relationships with neighboring countries then and now, many issues relating to Kashmir, constitutional matters, independent India formation and many more things. The distance became less with our talks on the country and by the time we reached mothugudem by night. We had our dinner and had a sound sleep with all the pains and aches vanishing.

The next day we headed towards waterfalls located 7kms from mothugudem. On the way, I learned about many innovations by the grass root innovators from my co-yatris. On the mid way, we came across a village were children were carrying frog-like beings(called kudumulu in telugu). They were supposed to be sold in the village. The children at about 4-5 yrs age group, all of them go to forest to catch them, kill them and make a living by selling them. It was in complete contrast to many children playing outdoors on a routine sunday, these guys were earning on that day. After the encounter we walked 3-4 kms to reach waterfalls. It was an amazing sight of nature. We played and took many photos in that pleasant atmosphere. It was as if every element was talking to us in that place...the water, the mountains, the soil everything. Nature with perfect weather was a treat to eyes, heart and mind. We concluded our yatra there near the waterfalls. Each yatri shared their respective opinions and experiences about the yatra. We came back to mothugudem, had our lunch and were ready to depart from mothugudem. We met many villagers before leaving and gave them the products prepared by farmers, explained them in detail. Many were keen on trying out and bringing a change. After a really interactive session with the villagers we boarded the bus to bhadrachalam, got into train and got back to home the next morning.

Chinna Shodha Yatra-4 gave me a new insight into the villages, their culture, festivals, rituals etc. Every yatra is different in its own kind. Everywhere, every time there is more and more to discover in villages. Nature is a mystery and to get best out of nature, visit to interior of villages is necessary which is ultimately the discovery of ourselves in the process, as we are part of nature and nature always does support us all the time. There is no way to be afraid of nature at anytime, anywhere. Be good to nature and vice versa will happen to us. Protect nature and it ultimately leads to your own protection. Living with nature is an amazing experience that can be obtained from the Shodha Yatra and I am glad I could experience it through Shodha Yatra. :)