Natural Amrit
Manoharan is in thoughts. Classmate at IRMA, Colleague at Dairy Board, Girijan. Co-traveller in Development Practice lifework. Silent but lasting work in Gudalur.
Ammaji, an associate in Eastern Ghats, Natural Farming Resource Person, succumbed to Brainstroke. It is no age to rest. Eastern Ghats miss a lifeworker, Devullu misses a partner.
Nivar hit and went. Now it is Burewa.
GHMC Polls concluded. TRS makes it to Mayor but with very strong BJP and strong MIM. In Maharashra MLC Elections, Aghadi could get a near sweep.
AIDS. 40 million are living with it. A million people die every year. Effective vaccine is nowhere near it. With about 10-12 years life expectancy after acquiring AIDS, the way is nutrition and therapy. For others, be careful in connecting through blood or sex.
Disability. At least 10% Families have seriously disabled. At least 15% are affected. Physical, Mental. Cognitive, developmental, intellectual. Sensory. Impairment, activity limitation, participation restriction. Medical, Social contexts. Access and Accommodation are the critical issues. Ageing adds ‘disabilities’. Disability pushes and/or keeps people in poverty, vulnerability and marginalization. Abuse exists. Employment does not happen easily despite their other greater abilities. Disasters affect them more. Relief is less. Living requires courage fighting stigma.
Soil. Earth. Living Soil. 3-state system. Soil Profile, Texture, Matrix; Chemistry and Biology. Soil Organic Matter. Humus. Life sustainer. Soil Health ensures Life’s Health, Planet’s Health.
65/9.6//1.5/0.15M. CovID, fear of wave 2 aggression. Vaccines have been trickling in. Russia, UK – yes. Others – in some weeks. May be less efficient. May be side effects. Outreach may take several months. All may not required. Affordable, or free vaccines is what we are looking for. Economy in Q3 may still see negative growth. Wave 2 will decide Q4. Let us also get ready for hybrid ways of working. Let us be in and with Nature, even while working, more often. We have a duty – to our succeeding generations – to develop and conserve N. If protected, it maintains delicate ecological balance and enables people to enjoy a quality of life, guaranteed under Article 21.
Our experience and knowledge gathered over time, make us limiting and rigid not to learn. Children are opposite of this. Imagination can be infinite and therefore, more powerful. Can we remain childlike? Can we keep imagining possibilities, rather than forecasting based on past, past trends? Of course, with Hope, Faith, Promise, Love. Passion, sincerity, stamina, strength, energy, time follow. Follow in plenty. For our results in future. For our future selves.
Imagining and action has to be now. This cannot be postponed. We have more time, energy, resources, motivation now than in future. Now is the time to do. We can not burden our future selves with more work, more changes, more unfulfilled items on the plate. Today’s plate can be big. Why not? Let us meditate, reflect, imagine, plan and do now. Now onwards. Like Rajnikanth. Jumping in. Into honest, transparent, corruption-free spiritual politics. To play his part.
Gitanjali, TIME’s Kid of the Year, first-ever, starts playing her part even before she reaches 15. Impacting in multiple ways through – observe, brainstorm, research, build and communicate – just focusing on one, however small it is, that excites. If I can do, we can do. You can do.
We knew, studied – roads before preparing and mobilizing tribal communities, can only push them inside. Only outsiders benefit from them. By the same token, unless we have prepared, mobilized and organized farming community into their tiered collectives-federations, the acts, reforms, will not help them but the outsiders, traders, corporates.
Can’t we formalize MSP by saying none can buy farmers’ produce below the MSP?
Entrepreneurs par excellence, farmers on strike for a week now. Not good for anyone. Please be sensitive and resolve in their favour. ‘Nothing about us without us’ has to be followed ab initio.
If Amul can happen in milk, it can happen in natural farming too. Amul started its journey in 1946 (14 December). Today, it is a brand of 3.6 million milk farmers. Its turnover is Rs.400 Billion and is gearing for 1000 Billion in the next 4-5 years. It is a symbol of milk producers of India. It is a result of non-interfering political will, extraordinary leadership team, 3-4 tier institutional architecture, supporting academic institution, and facilitating institutional network.
If we can guarantee some of these, an NF Amul(s) will be real. Federal Farm Family, Farmworker Family Organizations. Cooperatives, MACs, Companies. SHG Federations. Partnership Firms. Or a new Act(s) Organizations. Give a decade. Actually 1.5 decades. Remember Amul took 4-5 decades. Test them but after that, trust some 12 professionals to get going, with clear mandate. No interference, but all the support. Political, bureaucratic, policy. Communities are ready. Consumers are ready. Digital world is waiting. Women’s self-help movement is ready to spearhead. Need is there. World is watching. Unlike then.
Floods will come. Flows will happen. Price bands will happen. Futures will happen. Vested interests will yield. Infrastructures will happen. Portfolio of support institutions will happen. It is a Rs. 25000-50000 Billion Turnover NF economy. A mere 1% is Rs.250-500 Billion. A 5% is 1000+ Billion. Equal to Amul.
Of course, 10,000 new FPOs plan will not suffice. Existing FPOs need support too. We need to consider all ‘farmers’ organizations as FPOs. That will be a shift in policy in government. Some advocacy here. In Government(s), Banks, MSMEs, Start-up hubs etc.
Further. We need to go global. Local globally. Natural locally everywhere. New paradigm. New Leadership. Consumption, Nutrition, Health, Immunity, farming ways, value-addition, living ways, livelihoods, enterprises, values, aspirations, destinations. Destinies.
Please join the movements towards Amrit, NF-Amul. Animating, facilitating collectives, collective enterprises, farmer-enterprises. Local for local. Local value-addition. Local value-chains. Direct producer-consumer links. Producer groups to consumer groups. Consumers pre-booking from producers.
Physically. Digitally. 1000 Movements for Million Million. Communitized Movements.
Amrit is local useful coexistence. With portfolio of freedoms. Simple and Happy. Life. Hues. Emotions. Moments. In Nature. With People. For ‘Life’. 10,000+ hours for Amrit, in N, with N. For 7L.
Join us in the world of yoga of sri-amrit giving local useful coexistence lifework – sudhayoga for 7L.
G Muralidhar