BACKGROUND TO THE SIXTEENTH SHODHYATRA
Shodhyatra is a journey for celebrating people’s
knowledge, creativity and innovations at
grassroots. In summer and winter every year, we
along with the farmers, innovators, students and
others to learn from within, other fellow travelers
and of course the people. Many times, same
contexts trigger different insights in the minds of
different people. By having grassroots knowledge
experts, we also make a point that people’s
knowledge matters. When outsiders come and
acknowledge local experts, respect for such
knowledge goes up in the local community.
Shodhyatra aims at unearthing and honouring such
traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations
that have not only enriched the lives of men, women
and farm labourers but have also significantly
contributed towards the conservation of bio-
diversity. Shodhyatra is a journey of mutual
exchange of knowledge and learning. Whatever
knowledge and practices that we have pooled in,
over the years in the form of Honey Bee database
are shared with the villagers during the Shodhyatra.
Shodhyatra is also a journey to spread the
ecological values of conservation and
sustainability. We do it by involving women and
children to display their ecological knowledge
through biodiversity competitions and recipe
contests respectively.
The Sixteenth Shodhyatra was organised in the
Idukki district of Kerala from 27th Decmber 2005 to
2 nd January 2006. ‘Shodhyatra’ as the name
suggests is a journey for exploration, both inward
and outward. Shodhyatra is organized by SRISTI,
Honey Bee Network and NIF twice a year- in
extreme summer and chilling winter. The yatra is
an effort on the part of the organizers as well as
the participants to celebrate the creativity at
grassroots. The yatra provides a platform for the
scouting and documentation of outstanding
creative grassroots practices and innovations and
honouring people with excellent innovative
ingenuity and traditional knowledge at their
doorsteps. SRISTI, Honey Bee Network and NIF
over the period of time have developed the yatra
as the forum of reverse learning, whereby all the
participants to learn the spirit of experimentation
from the grassroots. The yatra, over the years, has
been instrumental in discovering the creative
potentiality of women and children in regards to
the conservation of ecosystem, which hitherto has
1 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
been an area of academic and programmatic
neglect. Shodhyatra, which began eight years ago,
is the only event in itself where people cutting
across the walks of life walk up to the knowledge
holder with humility seeking the nectar of
knowledge and creativity with an ultimate objective
of making India innovative, creative,
compassionate and caring.
The Sixteenth Shodhyatra was organized from
Kumily to Kattapana in the Idukki district. The yatra
was organized in association with Peermade
Development Society (PDS), which is also the local
HB collaborator from Kerala. The route from Kumily
to Kattapana was marked by undulating terrain and
stray jungles. The Shodhyatra route was very near
to the Tamilnadu border. The primary crop of the
district is spices of various kinds like cardamom,
black pepper, clove etc. Industrially, the district is
a bit backward. However, of late new spices
processing plants are coming up in great number.
The district has four talukas viz. Devikulam,
Udumbanchola, Peermade and Thodupuzha. The
Shodhyatra covered thirteen villages in two talukas
of Udumbanchola and Peermade, with an
estimated distance of hundred km. The yatra was
P. Vivekanandan, Co-ordinator of Honey Bee Network is
inaugurating the Shodhyatra
attended by forty four participants apart from the
volunteers of SRISTI, Honey Bee Network and PDS.
BEGINNING OF THE YATRA
The yatra began from Mannakudy Community
Centre, the community hall of the Mannakudy tribal
colony. The yatra was inaugurated by Mr. P.
Vivekanadan, the co-ordinator of the Honey Bee

The shodhyatris beginning the shodhyatra from Mannakudy
cammunity centre
Network. Mr. Vivekanadan said that the objective
of the Honey Bee Network was to establish
knowledge network though out the country by
reaching out to different sections of society. Prof
Anil K Gupta told that in order to establish a
knowledge intensive society, SRISTI, Honey Bee
Network and NIF have been working in the direction
of blending informal science with that of the modern
one. Mr. Basu, the President of the local Panchayat
hoped that the yatra would convey the message
of eco-friendly farming to the villagers. The
Assistant Director of PDS gave the introductory
speech. Eleven innovators and traditional
knowledge holders were felicitated by Prof Gupta.
GLIMPES OF THE YATRA
Meetings:
Both street meetings and in-house meetings were
organized during the yatra in almost all the places.
However, the effectiveness of the street meetings
Mr. Susheelan is sharing his experience about his
innovations with the shodhyatris
16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
was astonishing. Four street meetings were
conducted in four places viz. Anakkara,
Cumbumettu, Thookupalam and Kattapana. Apart
from the last place, the street meetings were
conducted in the evening and in the strategic
locations of the main market to attract audience.
In the meetings, sharing of the Honey Bee
database was followed by rounds of interaction
between the Shodhyatris and the curious on-
lookers. The gathered crowd was explained about
the creativity movement initiated by SRISTI, Honey
Bee Network and NIF and the role that they can
play to make India innovative. In fact, in follow up
to the database sharing, the audience was asked
if they know about any similar practice in their
locality. The street meeting organized in Kattapana,
two interesting innovations came up on the spot.
The first was the innovation by Mr. Sivprasad, a
tailor, who is educated till class X. He has thought
of a system whereby rockets can be launched from
the ship and it would be remote-controlled from
the ship itself. The innovation of Mr. Susheelan
was even more
interesting. He has
designed a devise
where the wall clock
can measure the
water level of the
overhead water tanks
in the houses. The
clock gives indication
about the water level
in the tank through
indicator bulbs. One
end of the clock is put
in the tank and the
face of the clock acts One of the felicitated
as indicator board. scouts in conversation
with shodhyatris
Indicator lights are
attached to the clock,
which in turn is joined with the devise of the clock
that is put inside the tank.
In one of the places viz. Thooklapam, where the
night meeting was conducted, the response was
tremendous. In response to the NIF documented
innovations, where two students from Guwahati
were able to transmit the sound using the
elementary wires within a house, one of the
audience reported that a person called Tomy in
the vicinity of Thookupalam also practiced the
same technique. In response to the Viju Verghese’s
innovation of disabled friendly driving system, Mr.
Ajith gave information about Mr. Niny, who had also
designed a disabled-friendly driving system on the
lines of Viju. Mr. Ninny was immediately contacted
2

Daily reflection meeting of the shodhyatris to conceptualise
the shodhyatra experience
and felicitated on the spot. Mr. Sibi Thomas
reported about the cardamom drier designed by
Daniel, which can dry up to 5000 kg against the
500 kg, which is the strength of the drier that is
available in the market. Mr. Hari Kumar reported
about the innovative windmill of Mr. Prabhakaran.
Mr. P.J. Mathew reported about the machine
designed by George Prakasgram, which separates
green and white pepper. Mr. Uttaman reported
about the innovative vanilla processing unit of Mr.
Rajasekhar Nayar. Though the detailed
documentation of the above practices would be
taken up later, the very fact that so many
innovations could be scouted in less than an hour
shows the abundance of creativity at grassroots
and the potentiality of Shodhyatra in unearthing
such creative grassroots genius. All the scouts
were felicitated on the spot.
On 28th December 2005, the HBN meeting was
organized in the Nettithozu. Initiating the dialogue,
Mr. P. Vivekanadan, the co-ordinator of HBN, said
that networking is not only the networking of
knowledge and knowledge holders but also it is a
process of alignment with right people and right
intentions. He emphasized the need of learning
more proactively from the creative people.
Discussion was also conducted on the issue of how
to make the yatra more effective. Discussion
hovered around the possible venues of the yatra,
ways and means of making the yatra self-
sustainable, managing the yatra by a committee
of Shodhyatris etc. Finally the meeting ended with
a resolution that all would spend sometime every
night of the Shodhyatra in discussing some issues
of collective interest. In the following days, night
discussions took place among the Yatris and it was
co-ordinated by Prof Gupta. Over the next three
four days, the issues that the Yatris took up for
3 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
discussion included traditional means of conflict
resolution, traditional method of learning and the
complaint list of the young generation against the
old generation. The meetings were fairly interactive
and revealed the prowess of the collective thinking.
Innovations & Felicitations:
One of the main objectives of the Shodhyatra has
been to honour the outstanding local innovators
and traditional knowledge holders at their
doorsteps. Unless some outside agency identifies
and honours the grassroots innovations and
traditional practices, they are seldom recognized
and held in high esteem. The Shodhyatra not only
brings those creative people to the forefront, who
can be the drivers of a knowledge based society
but also brings those innovations and sustainable
practices to public knowledge which are innovative,
cost-effective and eco-friendly solutions to the local
problems.
We scouted, documented and honoured many
such innovations during the Shodhyatra. In
Viju Verghese with his innovative driving system in Kumily
Mannakudy, we came across an innovative disabled
friendly driving system designed by Viju Verghese,
himself a physically challenged person. Viju has
converted all the parts of a car that are operated
by feet into hand-operated system. So the gears,
brakes and clutches of a car, as designed by Viju,
would no longer be operated by legs but by hands.
The clutches and brakes of the car designed by
Viju are made of crude iron rods and are of an
elevated structure. The elevated system is placed
near the gears for the convenience of the driver. A
similar driving system was also spotted in the street
meeting held at Thookupalam. Here the system
was designed by another physically challenged

‘Cardamom Wonder’ as it is known was one of the
important plant innovations spotted during shodhyatra
person called Ninny. In Mannakudy Ms. Valsamma
Thomas was felicitated for her unique anti-dandruff
oil. In fact, the effectiveness of the innovations can
be gauged from the fact that the oil is going to be
commercialized by a Chennai based company very
soon. The Sebastian couple (Baby & Lizamma)
were felicitated for their outstanding initiative in
organic farming. Baby Lizamma only uses cow urine
as the fertilizer and he has a collection of twenty
cows from different breeds.
One of the most interesting findings during the
Shodhyatra was ‘Cardamom Wonder’ innovated by
Elecy and Sabu Verghese. The variety was initially
spotted by Elecy and later on it was perfected by
Sabu. The variety has a panicle, which is double
the size of normal length (2.5 ft), with pods ranging
from 35/40 per panicle. The variety has three
panicles per plant. Each kg of dried cardamom
includes 4500 pods against 6000 of the normal
variety. The average yield of the plant is about 4-
4.5 kg compared to the normal yield of 2 kg. He
has already distributed 20, 000 clums to the
farmers in Kerala and Karnataka.
While felicitating the herbal healers (Mr.
Damodaran, Mr. Pooneseriyil and Mr. Anthony
Mathews) at Nettithozu, it was realized that Ayurveda
is not simply a system of codified medicine but a
living tradition in the villages of Kerala. One of the
herbal healers, Mr. Anthony Mathews said that the
secret of longevity lies in taking proper diet and
he suggested that an ideal diet must have 80%
alkaline and 20% acid. However, the most
interesting innovation was that of the ‘dehusking’
machine devised by Mr. George Mathew. The
machine separates husks from rice using an
electronic table fan. The machine is like a long tube
16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
with three passes. In one of the passes, the fan is
fitted and the other two passes at the end collect
rice and husk respectively. The fan helps to
separate the husks from the rice. He has also
designed a rope way to transport the hey from one
side of the dwelling to the other.
In Thookupalam, Mr. PJ Abraham was felicitated
for his innovative idea on low-cost solar cooker.
The cooking devise would be placed in a metal
basket laced mirrors. He proposes to build this
cooker at an estimated cost of Rs. 2000. Later on,
a documentation team paid visit to his house to
find out the modifications that he had undertaken
on the ‘Cardamom Drier’. He was given the
consolation prize for the ‘Cardamom Drier’ by NIF
in the First Award Competition. Discussion with the
neighbours and others revealed that he has
undertaken substantial improvement over the
original prototype. The main improvements included
decreasing the height of the machine, reducing
the number of plates, making the door of the
machine hit-resistant etc.
T T Thomas with his new indigenously cross bred
pepper variety
John P Paul, son of Mr. PJ Abraham has designed
an AC power alarm cum mini emergency lamp to
inform the people about the power failures and
security guards about the burglary. The devise
uses AC current and a relay switch and when there
is a power failure, the circuits in the relay switch
ring an alarm bell and light up a small bulb
associated with it. When the electricity is back, it
again rings to indicate the coming back of power
supply.
The innovation of Benny Thomas was also quite
interesting. He had developed a high yielding
variety of pepper by cross breeding them with
4
another variety of pepper. The output of the new because of lack of
variety is very good. It was evident when the fruits meaningful inter-
appearing on the branches of the two varieties (the generational
cross-breed variety and the original variety) were dialogue and
compared. In fact, Mr. Thomas and his father (Mr. subsequent transfer
TT Thomas, Who is also an NIF awardee) are well of knowledge about
known for such experiments with the plants. Mr. ecology and
TT Thomas informed that initially farmers in the practices of
village were reluctant to experiment with any new s u s t a i n a b l e
variety that he prepared, but only after a prolonged environmental
demonstration, they started demanding it. conservation. To
counter such fast
The above mentioned are a few outstanding depleting knowledge
innovations and practices that we spotted during resource, HBN
the Shodhyatra. In total, seventy two innovators, initiated the
traditional knowledge-holders and centurions were ‘Knowledge Dam’
felicitated during the Shodhyatra. through bio-diversity
competition and
Recipe contest organised
Bio-diversity & Recipe Contest: recipe contests. Bio- during shodhyatra brought
diversity competition about culinary skills and
Very often the erosion of the natural resources is is organized among biodiversity knowledge of
projected as one of the most serious crises of the the school and local women
last century. However, more serious and college going children
threatening than the erosion of the natural to raise their awareness and curiosity about the
resources is the ‘erosion of the knowledge’ nature around them. Bio-diversity contests initiate
because it is the knowledge that prepares the some sort of knowledge churning in the village
framework for the management of natural where by people belonging to different generations
resources. The erosion of knowledge is primarily start the dialogue on ecology and environment.
Recipe contests, during the Shodhyatra, focus on
unraveling those recipes that are made from
uncultivated plants or lesser known crops or crops
having medicinal and health values. The whole
objective is to make the people aware about the
lesser known and valuable crops in their
surrounding and prod them to use and conserve
it.

During the Shodhyatra, bio-diversity contests were

Students enthusiastically participated in the biodiversity
competition during shodhyatra
organized in three villages, where in recipe contests
were organized in two villages. Bio-diversity
competitions were organized in Anakkara,
Cumbummetu and Puliyanmala. The response in
all the places was tremendous. In total there were
ninety six participants in three bio-diversity
competitions. They knew 2631 plant names and
had brought about 2355 plant samples. Geethu
Gopalkrishnan, a student of class IX, who stood
first in the bio-diversity competition held at Anakkara
was outstanding in her effort. She knew the plant
names of around 65 plants and had brought with
her all the samples. What was astonishing about
her was that she could name any plant with
detailed usage information without looking at her
texts and she also told what kind of precaution one
should take while using the plants as medicine. In
Cumbummettu, Sneha Mol PK was given the first

5 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala

prize. She knew the names of one hundred and
twenty five plants and brought all the samples.
However, the show-stealers were a group of nine
students, who collectively knew 150 plant names
and uses and brought the sample of 170 plants,
highest number by any participant (s) during the
Shodhyatra. The children demonstrated the value
of collaborative learning, which not only taught the
value of learning from elders but also learning from
the peers. A. Anith, who stood first in the bio-
diversity competition held in Puliyanmala knew the
usages of 154 plants, highest by any participant
in the Shodhyatra and also brought the same
number of samples. The most interesting fact that
came out to the light was that most of the
participants agreed to the fact that had this
competition been not organized, they would not
have talked to their grandparents or neighbours
to inquire about the plants. This proves the
effectives of bio-diversity competition as an
alternative tool for teaching young children about
nature and environment.
Recipe contests were held in two villages viz.
Anakkara and Cumbummetu. In total, there were
26 participants with 30 recipes. Leelamma
Sebastian was given first prize for her recipe ‘nelika
karbichar’, where as Karthamma was given the
second prize for her delicious preparation
‘puwakachar’. Punnamma Thomas and Devam
SHG group bagged third and consolation prizes
respectively for their ‘sukien’ and ‘vegetable
upama’. The recipes were made from locally
available less cultivable crops or crops with
medicinal values. Several types of pickles, recipes
etc made from the leaves and sheaths of yam were
commendable. The significant part of the contests
was that many of the recipes were ready to be
launched in the market with some amount of value
addition. NIF, in association with the local SHG
groups would take up this activity soon.
Learning On the Way:
Shodhyatra provides a platform for the participants
to understand different heuristics of learning.
Learning in most of our lives has been quite fait
accompli, structured and regulated. The
educational environment around a child hardly
encourages him to be creative and think out of the
box. Shodhyatra deconstructs the whole politics
of learning and encourages the participants to
learn from the ‘laboratory of life’ instead. Learning
during the Shodhyatra is both horizontal (peer
learning) as well as vertical (from elders). However,
the refreshing part of the story is that here learning
16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
is not accompanied by qualifications and hence is
enjoyable.
On the way to Nettithozhu, the yatries were moved
by the unconditional love and welcome that was
showered upon them by the local kids, who rushed
to present the yatris the wild flowers. The soft, yet
a powerful gesticulation like this strongly exhibits
a culture of ethical acculturation among the Indian
poor, that is visible through out the country cutting
across the regional boundaries. On the way to
Puliyanmala (31/12/2005), the Yatris stopped to
interact with a farmer, who manually pollinated
vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia). Originally, a crop of
central Mexico, the crop is self-fertile but incapable
of self-pollination (a membrane separates the male
or anther and the female or stigma of the vanilla
fruit). The original pollinators for the plant are a
specific species of bees and hummingbirds that
One of the farmers demonstrating the manual cross
pollination in vanilla
are specific to central Mexico. However, other than
winds and animals, the process of artificial or
manual pollination was discovered by a twelve
years old slave named Edmund Albious in 1841 in
Reunion Island. The method included using a
needle, to fold back the membrane separating the
anther and the stigma, then pressing the anther
on the stigma. The flower is then self-pollenized,
and will produce a fruit.
On the way to Cumbumettu (29/12/2005), the Yatris
stopped to observe ramphal (Annona Reticuleta).
The family that stopped the Yatris was happy to
serve the food and this gesture of intimacy made
the Yatris overwhelming. As the Yatris, walked
along, they stopped at the house of a Vaidya
(Traditional Healer), where along with many plants,
he used aroma therapy. His house was like a
6
grassroots botanical garden. He showed the Yatris
a variety of plants whose leaves emanate aroma
of several spices.
On the same route, the Yatris met a blacksmith,
who was giving temper to the sickle with a sense
of perfection and ingenious way of observing the
e r r o r s .
Seemingly, a
s i m p l e
process of
heating and
beating was
indeed a
complex one.
It was
regrettable
that he hardly
earned Rs.
60/- per day,
but he would
have earned
Rs. 200/-, had
he made new
tools. It is
The uninterrupted attention infused
into the work by the blacksmith symptomatic
surprised everybody of the malaise
that creativity
is undergoing in our society, where fewer premiums
are put on creativity-based value addition. We have
to gear up our intellectual and policy mechanism
to put a system in place that simulates value-
addition rather than mere sale of raw products.
On the way to Karuanpuram from Kozhitholu (30/
12/2005), the Yatris stopped to meet a banana
grower, who had planted bananas of different
varieties and ages in the same field. Yatris were
intrigued because, they could not know why there
were bananas of different ages in the same field.
The Yatris were explained that the varieties planted
four months ago would take about fifteen months
to fruit, where as the variety planted two months
ago would take twelve months. The aim was to
regularize the supply. She didn’t want to take risk
by planting only one variety. The farmer had also
planted the rows of banana (Musa Paridasiaca)
between the two rows of cassava (Manihot
Esculenta Crantz). On the same route, the yatris
met an organic farmer & his wife who had
developed an organic bio pesticide from arrowroot
(Maranta Arundinaceae). Traditionally arrowroot
(Maranta Arundinaceae) is grown in coconut farms
for avoiding the pests and termites. From that he
got the idea of testing decoction form of arrowroot
powder in the water. On the same route, the Yatris
stopped to see a traditional house made from mud.
7 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
Innovative plantation style: Rows of casava planted
between the lanes of banana
Open Learning:
The biggest mistake that we make vis-à-vis the
knowledge flow is to assume the linear movement
of it. The Shodhyatra experience proved that
knowledge or learning doesn’t flow through any
defined corridor but through a network of informal
interaction, particularistic association and curious
observations. It very often doesn’t coincide with
the hierarchy of education or the pedagogies of
routine learning established by the educational
bureaucracy. Shodhyatra is an experiment to open
the gate of learning through a network of learners
that defies formality of discourses and adopts
action learning as the basis of knowledge building.
Ms. Roshamma, a veterinary healer from Kumily,
had a long interactive session with Karimbhai from
Gujarat, away from the public gaze. She was
basically interested to know the practices adopted
by Karimbhai, to manage cows at the time of
delivery. She was also taking tips from Karimbhai
on the specific herbs that can be administered at
the time of delivery.
In Annakkara (28/12/2005), just before the bio-
diversity competition, the local women SHG came
to demonstrate a herbal medicine called
‘Murivenna’ that is effective against cuts, wounds
and swellings. The medicine is prepared with the
following ingredients: cocoanut oil (500gm), leaves
of drum stick (Moringa Oleifera) 250 gm, elovera
(Aloe Barbadensis) 250 gm, bark of karanj
(Pongamia Glabra) 250 gm, Tardavi (Spermaco
Tisspida) 250 gm, Satavari roots (Asparagus
Racemogus) 120 gm, piper betel (250 gm) and
onion (Allium Cepa) 250 gm. First of all, four bottle
(1.5 liter) extract of leaves of drum stick (Moringa
Oleifera), elovera (Aloe Barbadensis), bark of

Members of women’s self help group demonstrating the
preparation of herbal medicine to the shodhyatris
karanj (Pongamia Glabra), Tardavi (Spermaco
Tisspida), piper betel, onion (Allium Cepa) is made.
Then the paste of Satavari roots (Asparagus
Racemogus) is added to the extract. The new
formulation is then mixed with the cocoanut oil and
boiled for one and half hour. It is boiled till the froth
comes out of it and then the remaining is dried
and used for medicine. They also had a medicine
called Tanishpatradichurna, which was effective
against common cough and cold.
On the way to Mandipara (29/12/2005), Prof
Sosamma Iype, a known activist in the field of animal
Members of Honey Bee Network in conversation with the
members of local S H Gs
16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
conservation joined the yatra. Currently, she is
working on the conservation of an indigenous
variety of cattle known as ‘Vechur Cows’. During
the conversation, it was discussed that the
conservation of endangered or less known
varieties of cattle should be connected with the
market value that it can fetch such as use of the
hair from tail as art brush etc. It was also discussed
that the interested farmers group in dispersed
places can be encouraged to experiment with the
conservation of Vechur Cows. Prof Gupta
suggested that benchmarking Vechur Cows with
other varieties of the cows would be an interesting
and meaningful exercise that can yield evidence
about the superior value of the breed.
In Mandipara (29/12/2005), the Yatris had an
interactive session with the local women self-help
groups. The interaction began with the cultural
exchange among the women shodhyatris from
Gujarat and local women from the SHGs. The
SHGs were informed that in their monthly meeting,
if they can pool the practices pertaining to health
care, food, beauty care etc in their locality, then
best of the practices can be further value added
with the help of NIF and can be launched in the
market as ‘viable products’.
The amount of hospitality that the yatris received
from the people through out the route was
unprecedented. From lunch to snacks, the food
that they served was not only bore a careful
finishing touch but also a strange rural
sophistication. All the SHGs and the collaborating
institutions were very gracious and cooperative.
In fact in Puliyanmala, the host organization VDS
(Vandanmedu Development Society) also offered
to share the best practices pooled by their women
SHG with NIF, so that they can be converted into
marketable product with the help of NIF.
All the days in the Shodhyatra began with collective
prayers by the Yatris and the volunteers. The
prayers offered during the yatra, amply reflected
the multicultural and multi-religious temperament
of the Yatris. From Suryavandana to Koran Sharif,
the yatra in truest sense was a collective journey
into the exploration of the personal sensibilities.
Fun Time:
The Yatris also had a few moments of laughter,
gala and celebration. Though, the walk for seven
days was the greatest fun time in itself, but
everyone found out their own ways of relaxation.
On the way to Nettithozhu (28/12/2005), the Yatris
8

Shodhyatris engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the local
Malayalee group
had a session of pranayam and yoga. In
Cumbummettu (29/12/2005), while a few people
were busy in decoding the ‘Cardamom Wonder’ of
Sabu Verghese, some shodhyatris were having a
tug of war and at the latest count, they had lost to
the local Malyali team thrice and were pleading for
a mixed team match. In Kozhitholu (29/12/2005), a
young girl zapped the audience through her
powerful performance of a mono acting. Her theme
was on global peace. She acted out on a plot,
where a survivor of the World War III is pleading
the God to take him away from this earth, for he
has no one to converse. The performance was both
entertaining and thought provoking.
On 31 December, the yatris visited the famous
tourist spot of the region ‘Ramkelmeetu’. The yatris
enjoyed the beautiful sights visible from the hill
station. The two statues namely, ‘Kuravan Kurathi’
made from concrete captivated the yatris. On the
Shodhyatris taking an ariel view of the villagers down the
hill from the hills of Ramkalmettu
9 16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala
eve of the New Year, during the routine night
reflection meeting, the young shodhyatris and
volunteers from SRISTI organized an educational
cum entertainment programme entitled ‘Protest
against the Old’. The programme was organized
in the backdrop of a courtroom and both the
generations viz. old and young, had a face off on
the issues raised by the younger generation. The
issues included non-sharing of the responsibility
on the part of the older generation with that of the
young generation, non-adherence to the advise
given to the young generation by the old
generation themselves, not giving employment
opportunity to the younger generation but insisting
on having work experience etc. The overall
conclusion of the evening was that the energy and
enthusiasm of youth is unparalleled and needs to
be tapped. However, the framework of tapping the
energy should be provided by the old generation.
The old generation should shake off the
conservatism and try to embrace the wind of the
change. All the fun that the Yatris had somewhere
fed into the rich treasure of experience that the
shodhytara had yielded.
PROBLEM AT HAND
On the very first day of the Shodhytara, the
Shodhytaris were informed that in the entire Kerela,
Idukki district has the highest rate of farmer’s
suicide. During the seven days tryst with harsh
reality cloaked in natural benevolence, Shodhytaris
realized that the prosperity that is made out from
the flourishing spices trade is not all about a happy
story. Spices, the backbone of the regional
economy, are not insulated from the fluctuations
and compulsions of the global market. The price
of almost all the spices have gone down
dramatically in the global and Indian market and
this had considerable impact on the earning
potential of the farmers. A look at the domestic price
index and price trend makes the point crystal clear.
The above price lists reveal that the domestic price
for cardamom has come down to Rs. 205 from Rs.
500 in just three years. The price trend of
cardamom over the last six years reveals that the
Rs. 500 figure per Kg of cardamom prevalent in
2003-03 is the figure of third quarter. In fact, in the
first and second quarter of the same year, the
cardamom price was as high as Rs. 850. The price
fall is certainly alarming and had a big impact on
the cardamom growers in Kerala. However, the
most shocking news was in vanilla production. The
farmers who made a killing in 2002-2003 harvesting
season with a price of Rs. 3,850 had to sell their
 Price list of cardamom for last three years

Year Price of the pepper (Rs/Kg)

2002-2003 500
2003-2004 300
2004-2005 205

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/30/stories/2006013000480700.htm

Price trend of cardamom for last six years (Overseas)

Source:
http://finance.indiamart.com/cgi/commodity_study.pl?code=/commodityStudy/Cardamo
m_study.jsp

produce at a paltry rate of Rs. 50 in 2005. The
crash is unprecedented and broke the back bone
of most small and marginal vanilla growers. Even
in the international market, the price decline for
black pepper is even stiffer; from The gap between
the high input and low output ratio is too big for
most of the small and medium farmers to eschew.
Ironically, the pesticide that is bought to kill the pests
is being consumed by the farmers themselves to
end their lives. The non-sustainability of the
chemical agriculture was becoming obvious to the
Shodhytaris.
AND THE CURTAIN FALLS
The Shodhytara ended on 2nd January 23, 2006
at Kattapana with the felicitation of all the
Shodhytaris . There is no doubt that the
Shodhytara was a collective journey in to the self
to locate the child in everyone that becomes unrest

16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala 10

at the sight of every inexplicable thing. Some
discovered but all tried to discover. The
Shodhytara was not merely a journey for the
promotion of grassroots creativity but also a unique
event to learn and unlearn; through tradition and
modernity. So in a fist of an argument Prof Anil
Gupta went on to say that Hindiusm has given birth
to highest number of insurgents in the world; from
Bodos to LTTE, from Nagas to PWG, all the
insurgents are Hindus. In a casual argument,
suddenly, the Shodhytaris discovered that there
are three stages through which a plant is
domesticated: through being named, categorized
and assigned a particular function. Never ever, the
Shodhytaris would have realized that there are so
many traditional methods of conflict resolutions that
they collectively know, such as, bringing community
pressure to solve family disputes, taking recourse
to the arbitrator in the village, the villagers bringing
the feuding families together and not letting them
go unless the conflict is resolved etc. The
Shodhyatris being felicitated at the end of the shodhyatra in Kattapana
11
knowledge churning that the Shodhytara initiated
through out the route was as important as the
knowledge churning that was set out among the
Shodhytaris themselves. The Shodhytara, as
confessed by the Shodhytaris themselves, taught
them several lessons: from the importance of
cleanliness in the village to the knowledge about
the importance of organic farming, from the
ayurvedic perspective to sustainable health to the
victory of will power as exemplified by Viju Verghese
and Niny. The learning basket of the Shodhytaris
is still half empty; for learning is not only iterative
but life long.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEXT SHODHYATRA
The 17th Shodhytara would be held in Orissa in
the first week of May. The details of the Shodhytara
would be posted on our website (www.sristi.org)
soon. To register yourself for the next Shodhytara,
write us at Shodhytara@sristi.org.
16th Shodhyatra, Idukki District, Kerala