After a million deaths and injuries, Russia, Ukraine and Zelensky are out of focus. Israel-Gaza come in.
Elections in five states come in.
Rural Women, Food and Poverty Eradication. Sequential triad.
Rural women. We are their children, their ‘instruments’. Together with plants and other life, microbes and sun, they farm, feed and nurture us.
Women groups. Self-help groups and federations. Everywhere. More than a Crore of them. More than 10 Crore women in them. Majority linked to banks, with near 100% repayment rates. Hope it is not evergreening of loans. Hope interest subvention is not benefiting banks alone. Hope SHGs are accessing their rights and entitlements. Is it good enough? Is poverty, and vulnerability reduced? Is hunger less now? Global Hunger Index rank – is it 111/125 or is it less than 50? Are the risks and challenges managed, and tackled? Is fairshare of the value-chains, consumer rupee accruing to the producers, and service providers? Well-being improved? Agency improved? Maybe yes, partially. Are these institutions sensitive support systems? Are these truly member-owned? Are they self-regulated, self-supported, self-managed, and meeting the needs of the members?
Isn’t Natural farming, food, and living the way forward for all? Can we go beyond survival? For celebrating life for many more years to come.
Natural farming can meet the food-nutrition needs of the planet, better than the alternatives. NF guarantees farmers’ well-being, peoples’ health, planet’s health and cooling, and climate resilience. Chemical free, diverse-intense, reliable, affordable, and trustworthy nutrition to consumers. NF Practice is gaining momentum. Policy is slow to catch up. A la Galileo paradigm shift has matured into Copernicus high momentum and a global movement is in the making. 1% in the last 25 years to more than 50% in the next 25 years. Soil and tummy microbes in sync with local value-chains are getting grounded. Local linkages are emerging. Agency of women – body, home, farm, village, samaj, bazaar, sarkar — is getting enhanced. Communitization is coming to the centre stage. NF nine universal principles, NF Community saptasutra, customizable robust A, ATM, drought-proofing models, practitioner farmer-consumer et al stakeholder champions are driving this. Fairshare VCs and Eco-payments can be new triggers. Collectives, federal collectives, brands, platforms, linkages, and new ambassadors help. More budgets, professionals, participatory field research-knowledge, and structural systems changes help in seeding, scaling and preventing lapsing back. NF is a new discipline. It needs more, most of us.
University Grants Commission’s latest guidelines for Undergraduate courses seek mandatory 120 hours (4-credits, after fourth semester) of internship, and 360 hours (12 credits during eighth semester) of internship for honours, for enhancing employability and developing research aptitude, through active engagement in on-site experiential learning. This is to ensure job-readiness on completing the course.
Do we have substantive editing skills? Improving, enhancing the content, engagement, logic and structure for clarity, brevity, coherence, accuracy, relevance, balance and tone. Do we have copyediting skills? Do we have the ability to proofread in our teams? Checking spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, consistency in style and standards. Redundancies, duplications, and repetitions. Can we include more of them in our portfolio?
Are we seeing two sides – organization, and institution, in our entities? In balance. Economics vs identity; structure-systems vs purpose-values; what vs why and how; frameworks vs culture; controlling chaos vs thriving in ambiguity; success stories, case studies vs anecdotes, folklore; transactional vs emotional; rules, logos et al vs pathways, patterns et al. Dominant organization is suffocating to stakeholders. Institution-in- charge becomes a laissez-faire free-for-all club, loose association. This see-saw of balance takes us forward.
Can we give? Before giving, the heart rejoices. While giving, the heart is purified. After giving, the heart is content. Can we give? Mind can make a heaven out of hell, or a hell out of heaven. If we believe, then we can do now or eventually. And vice-versa. Therefore, can we watch our mind and thought patterns, and work to change them? Can we?
Yes, we can. If we coexist lovingly. If we flow. The flow of N. For 7L.
Join us in the yoga of living in nature – pradaanyoga for 7L.
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