most of these photos were taken during the period sept 18 to sept 24, 1999. click on the thumbnails for larger images.

shankar srinivas
june 17, 2000

reforestation

the collective helps with the reforestation of the hills in the local areas. it first convinces the villagers near the hill of the benefits of reforestation, and get their co-optation. this is essential, because it is the villagers who live near the hills are the ones who have to be willing to guard the hills from grazing and fires. once the collective has convinced the villagers of the importance of reforestation of their hillsides, it helps them organize fire watches and etc. the villagers also desist from grazing their cattle and goat on the hills being reforested and prevent people from other villages from grazing on their newly reforested lands.

the hillside that was reforested

all the members of the collective (not just the ones ones in the ecorestoration group) went to the hillside to be reforested, armed with digging implements and seeds they had bought to plant on the hillside. The atmosphere was one of a picnic, with the members of the collective singing songs and joking as they walk along the hillside in the blistering sun, digging small holes in the hard unyielding ground to plant the seeds in.

if the rains come (it often doesn't in this drought prone area), the seeds germinate, and given care, enough survive to start the process of reforestation. The first plants that take hold provide shade for other less hardy plants. The roots of the plants also bind the soil of the hillside, reducing erosion, and helping the soil retain rain water. they also provide shelter for animals and birds, which play a natural role in keeping pests that harm the plants at reasonable numbers. The birds and animals are also for dispersing seeds and pollinating plants.

members of the collective taking handfuls of various seeds to be planted on the hillside

taking a short break to get a drink of water

after the entire hillside had been covered, the collective had lunch hosted by the villagers whose hill they'd seeded. while the lunch was being prepared, there was a discussion, with the collective reiterating to the villagers the importance of taking care of the hillside and seeing to it that seedlings aren't eaten by grazing animals. Members of the collective also spoke with the people of the village about other problems they were facing, and made suggestion on how to resolve them. then the members of the collective and the villagers sang some local ballads before eating lunch.

The lunch consisted of jaggery-rice. This was followed by rice and pappu - lentils and vegetables boiled in water. in this case, the vegetables consisted of hot chilli peppers. The rains had been delayed, and it was very generous gesture of the villagers to provide us with this simple lunch.

resting in the shade, while the lunch is being cooked

a member of the village singing a ballad

the educational activities of the collective

the collective runs four schools or 'alternative learning centers'. one of these, in timbaktu, is residential. when pradeep and i first visited the collective in 1995, the area was relatively barren, but now, the surroundings of the school are relatively lush.

The approaches to the timbaktu school now, and in 1995

the two main class rooms for the timbaktu school

every sunday evening, there is a cultural show in the timbaktu school. This cultural school is organized entirely by the children. on the occasion i visited, a very capable little girl named sowmya was the master of ceremonies. she went around with a clipboard on saturday to all the adults who lived in timbaktu to find out what cultural item they would be contributing (song, dance, skit, story etc.), and to arm-twist them into contributing something if they seemed reluctant. these cultural evening, in addition to being fun for the kids, help them build a sense of confidence, and give them the opportunity to organize events.

sowmya

on Sunday evening, sowmya introduced each of the performers and what they would be performing. The children performed singly, or in groups of two to five. many of the younger ones sang songs they had been taught in school, while two older boys recounted a fable. a couple of them also played instruments like the tabla. The adults mostly sang songs. In preparation for the cultural show, on Saturday, bablu taught us a couple of bengali songs (one particularly enchanting song - sell potatoes, sell salt, but don't ever sell your dreams...) which we sang at the show on Sunday The children picked up the words of the chorus with remarkable ease and joined in.

the kids ended the evening with their favorite dance - the kolatam, which involves sticks that the dancers strike together in time with the beat. the dance is led by one person, who stands oh the center of the circle of dancers and sings a song and keeps the beat. On this particular night, this was done with gusto by a boy named maruti. he was small in comparison with some of his classmates, but he led the dance with an easy authority.

maruti, in the center of the circle.

One of the day schools run by collective, is the nature school in chennekothapalli village. This was the first school the collective started.

One of the students at the school practicing on the steps of the school during free time

some of the classes are held in the courtyard, in a shaded area.

This is the same area that is used for eating lunch.