Birds, bridges and beautiful memoryscapes: Shodhaytra in Tripura-II For a long stretch, while walking in Gondacherra region, Dholai district of the state, we did not hear the songs of the birds nor did we see them flying. Later, we discovered that they used to make clay balls,…
Every time there is a tragedy, the parliament discusses the issue and then business resumes as usual. I hope things will change this time. Not because in the presence of thousands of people, a farmer was allowed to commit suicide. But because the conditions which lead some farmers to take extreme step have their…
How Syrians Saved an Ancient Seedbank From Civil War http://www.wired.com/2015/04/syrians-saved-ancient-seedbank-civil-war/?mbid=nl_041715 for those who may not know, it is useful to also recall Cambodian war and how Pol Pot, the dictator had banned cultivation of local varieties and thus tried to destroy the in situ genetic diversity. http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/4637/Encounter%20of%20Cambodian%20rice%20farmers%20with%20war%20and%20rice%20diversity.pdf?sequence=1 (author of this paper not yet known, inform…
un-courtseUn-course on ways of knowing, feeling, doing In view of huge response to the course, I have to try to ensure they those who might contribute more in the discussions are selected. I m mentioning a few questions which you may reply by tomorrow night so that by 13 th I could decide the final…
Redirecting development: Some Lessons from 33rd Shodhyatra Walking through the villages in Mahendragadh district, Haryana was very reassuring in certain aspects and bewildering in other. We did not come across even a single malnourished child in the villages during the walk. How could ithappen when many other states and regions of Haryana…
Time for change: an avalanche of expectations Never before so many people expected so much of change in such a little time. The election has given a clear verdict in favour of decisiveness, democracy and development. Whether the secular structure will evolve through demolition of caste and region based identities is an issue to be…
SRISTI SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions www.sristi.org), which means creation, was born in 1993, essentially to support the activities of the Honey Bee Network to recognize, respect and reward creativity at the grassroots. The objectives were: systematic documentation, dissemination of, and value addition in grassroots green innovations, providing them…
My manifesto: not that it matters………… vyakti ( individual), vichar ( idea), vyavahar ( practice) and sanskar (embedded values). The Dissent lies at the heart of democracy: great leaders are judged by the extent to which they brook diversity of views and then try to recognize the value of climbing ladder: vyakti ( individual), vichar…
Ten policies that must change soon: Agenda for new government – part 1 With different parties vying for voters support, it is paradoxical that the debate on policies is so feeble or confusing. There is not a strong critique being presented by any party either to herald an incremental change or complete overhaul. Let me…
when we published articles on milk as a means of controlling viral disease, Indian scientists as usual ignored the evidence, now that The Economist has published news about mother’s milk being effective in hiv prevention, hopefully planners and science leaders will wake up, Ah! colonised minds, we missed two decades of possible comparative advantage incidentally,…