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The Continuum of Land, Peoples, Livelihoods 

Mitra,

India is witnessing a strange struggle this New Year. Different peoples of this land are fighting  against a common adversary at this time, for reasons that would have been incompatible outside the frame of the greater threat in question. Demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act seem to have organically connected this diverse country like, perhaps, never before. While the resistance in most parts of the country is about the discriminatory nature of the Act that poses a risk to the secular fabric of the country and the right to equality  granted by the Constitution of India to all its citizens, in the country’s Northeast, it is against the move to naturalise non-Muslim minority refugees who ‘apparently’ faced religious persecution in Bangladesh -- which borders a number of Northeast states -- and in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The indigenous people in the Northeast worry that the law endangers their identity and livelihood.

This accidental moment of connection is a threshold from where we the Indian people could indeed rethink our futures in a manner that would allow us to appreciate our lives and livelihoods  in deep relation with this land and its remarkably pluralistic geographical and cultural space.

Following the 1991 shift in our economic policy, India began to willingly accept that in order to facilitate private investments, domestic as well as foreign, more land acquisition was required, especially in the resource-rich tribal areas. Our policymaking process has increasingly been following a blind import-oriented approach wherein we introduce into our context, an external system without analysing its organic ground and conditions. For instance, our expressways built without an overbridge or subway for several miles cut many of our villages into two parts—sometimes separating the cattle from their grazing grounds, at other times, isolating human beings from their sources of livelihood. Hence, a road which must ideally have been a connector often turns out to be a site and tool of deprivation, isolation and avoidable death.

As the blue print for the planned reconstruction of the Central Vista in New Delhi has just been made public, one reflects on how a governance mechanism that focusses on externals like infrastructure to the exclusion of the people and their cultures could form such gaps in the nation’s consciousness that may not be easy to bridge. The question is what will give us an understanding of the organic path that we must follow in pursuing our goals of growth and development as a country. This understanding cannot come from the colonial model education that we are still following. Our educational system with its vertical orientation only promotes the linear attitudes that bring the real people of our multicultural country to such dilemmas that are hard to resolve. We need a multi-centric approach towards education, and that alone will help us understand our land, its people and their means of livelihood as parts of the same wheel of life.

This New Year 2020 issue of Inter-Actions focuses on a fundamental: ‘Livelihood’. It attempts to address some of the above complexities of life and governance that India faces now, and celebrates a few heroes who have found their way “amid the encircling gloom” to help themselves and others to be interdependent in the most healthy way, thereby showing an example to the nation at large. Our LILAIGHT of the Season is Tender Heart, an organisation founded by the compassionate Renu Bali whose perseverance and alacrity have helped transform not only the lives of hundreds of individuals but also many communities. The story of Tender Heart is a saga of an organisation unceasingly exploring possibilities, pushing boundaries, keeping ‘life’ at the forefront of all its work.

This quarter’s Renaissance Person is Binalakshmi Neparam, the founder of two of the most important people’s movements in India’s Northeast, Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) and Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN). Her interventions have, on the one hand, created much awareness in the world outside Manipur about the different levels of armed violence in the state and their tragic consequences, and on the other equipped hundreds of women to find their independent livelihoods.

In Basic Conversations, we feature Prithwi Ghorpade, a businessman turned farmer and his revolutionary thinking on de-canonisation of livelihoods in the primary sector, and Swati Paradhkar, the President of Lijjat Pappad speaking about the business and family values that have made Lijjat the livelihood enterprise that it is today.

Unny’s Leetatoon comes to you with an ironical evocation of the “workers of the world” as he exhorts the “networkers” of the world “to unite”, while Shivani Karmarkar’s regular column Aesthetics of Conflict reflects on the educational need of the hour towards arriving at livelihood solutions for the country.

In Reflections this quarter, we present some extraordinary sites to locate livelihoods and related problems: the possibilities in the Underwater Domain explored by Maritime Studies expert and ex-Naval officer, Arnab Das; Natural Scientist Paulina Lopez examining the many unrecognised reasons of social unrest in Chile; Researcher Prashant Ingole writing on Grassroots Singing Traditions; Development Research specialist Tara Nair tracing the many futures of entrepreneurship; Learning professional V Anand tracing the apparent gaps between education and workforce.

In Rubaru, we have conversations with Management innovator and the Founder CEO of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, G Vijayaraghavan on his newest initiative to create a livelihood continuum for the differently abled; one of the Directors of SWaCH, Harshad Barde on creating a revolutionary organisation of,  for and by the waste pickers;  Liby T Johnson, Development Management expert, on building rural livelihoods based on local historical realities; and ground-breaking social photographer Sudharak Olwe on his work to bring dignity to the life of manual scavengers.

Wordactions this time presents Storywallah Ameen Haque and his relentless efforts to retain the essence of the true story in an age when every LinkedIn profile shows its account holder as a ‘storyteller’.  Artactions shows how the exceptional Gond artist Bajju Shyam has made his traditional artistic tradition into a site of artistic dignity as well as an organic means of livelihood.

In Perspectives Anjali Bhushan analyses the many pitfalls of polarising the notions of ‘motherhood’ and ‘livelihood’ in our times, while Rupal Bhandari examines the advantages and challenges involved as many corporate companies open their doors to the members of the LGBTQIA communities. We also present a remarkable excerpt on Radio singer Pyaari Bai from Saba Dewan’s seminal book, Tawaifnama.

There is no end to talking about livelihoods, but we hope we have been able to touch upon many significant aspects of this question. As our country has entered a 37-year period of demographic dividend during which around 63% of its population would remain in the ‘working age group’, the most important concern any government should have is how to impart an education to its people in a way that will enable them to access a means of livelihood in sync with the changing thought processes of the world as well as their own aspirations. Vision 2020 must be focussed on that, and not on constructing the paraphernalia of any projected image of glory.

In India, separating the notion of livelihood from one’s overall evolution has never been the way – even today in a potters’ village in Madhya Pradesh, we will find artists sitting under the moon at their potters’ wheels and singing Kabir bhajans through the night even as they create exquisite forms that are at once functional and aesthetic. It is in that free and open continuum of love and labour that our governance of livelihoods may be located. To that heaven of freedom
let our country awake this New Year!

Heartily

rizio

(for Team Inter-Actions)

Lilaight of the Season

The Tender Heart NGO shows an extraordinary path for inclusive education as well as the possibility of self-dependence for all

The Faces of Opportunity: A Gallery

The Freedom to Contribute; The Freedom to Change

Sticks and Stones Didn’t Break These Bones

Basic Conversations

Insights on the connection between food and livelihood

Manav Kambli in conversation with Prithwi Ghorpade

The Green Mile: Betwixt Life and Livelihood

A businessman-turned-farmer discusses his ideas of productivity, livelihoods and life in this reflective and thought-provoking conversation

Swati Paradkar

Business, Family, Devotion: The Key to Lijjat’s Unprecedented Success

A clear focus on product quality and operational structure has led Lijjat to international markets, and made thousands of women self-reliant

Aesthetics of Conflict

Column by Shivani

Shivani Karmarkar

“Don’t They Have Work To Do?”

The current socio-political context of India implores us to reflect on the biases we hold for or against certain occupations and fields of study, and overcome them to build an inclusive future

Leelatoon by Unny

Cartoon

Renaissance Person

A critical reclamation of the creative individual whose multidynamic praxis is our hope for a New Renaissance


Binalakshmi Nepram
Writer, Activist, Founder Control Arms Foundation of India
Team Interactions

The Face and Voice of Northeast: Binalakshmi Nepram

For nearly two decades Binalakshmi Nepram has been at the forefront of women-led disarmament movements to bring an end to the gun culture prevalent in many parts of the country.

Binalakshmi Nepram

In Manipur, Women Lead The Peace Movement

Leading the movements for peace in Northeast India, Binalakshmi Nepram shares crucial lessons the rest of the country can benefit from today

Reflections

Different disciplinary takes on the theme of the quarter towards evolving an inter-linked methodology of thought

Prashant Ingole

Grassroot Dalit Singing Tradition Keeps Ambedkar’s Philosophy Alive

From Chokhamela, the 13th century Mahar saint poet to Vilas Ghorge, meet the unexpected grassroots cultural activists keeping Ambedkar’s philosophy alive

Paulina Lopez

A Story of Disconnections

From climate change to the lack of interdisciplinarity in academic and policy spaces — a natural scientist explores the unseen reasons behind the social unrest in Chile

Arnab Das

Underwater Domain Awareness: A New Perspective for Young India

A Maritime Studies expert explores the possibilities of developing a comprehensive awareness of the underwater domain in the Indian Ocean region to enable young India to seize opportunities

V Anand

Education vs. Workforce: The Apparent Gap

India’s unemployment problem affects job seekers from different demographic sections differently, so its solutions will also have to be developed diversely

Tara Nair

Tracing the History of Entrepreneurship: Where Do We Go Now?

As support for the new-age, tech-savvy, risk-taking entrepreneurial individual rises, an economist assess why collaborative entrepreneurship models may be a better bet for the country

Rubaru

In-depth thematic conversations with practitioners from various streams of knowledge and creativity

G Vijaya Raghavan

Working through Disabilities: Catalysing Change

A governance and entrepreneurial thinker proposes a remarkable education-livelihood continuum for the differently abled

Harshad Barde

The Waste Pickers’ Revolution: Organising for Livelihoods and Rights

A scorchingly insightful conversation about the waste pickers who keep the dream and possibility of Swachh Bharat alive by risking their own lives

Liby T Johnson

From Disaster to Development: Exploring Rural Livelihoods

A Development Management Expert discusses the need and significance of focussing on building rural livelihoods on the basis of local historical realities

Sudharak Olwe

The Faces that Make the City Beautiful: Life and Times of Manual Scavengers

A seasoned photographer talks about his deep relationship with a community that was flung to the lowest pits of the society, and his efforts to bring them to the surface

Wordactions

Ameen Haque

Chup raho

A powerful poem that inspires you to raise your voice when other voices try to silence you

When Tellers Rise and Stories Fall… The Voice of a Storywallah

In our Linkedin Age where storytellers outnumber the stories worth their salt, what may help us tell a true story and its narrator from the rest of the world? A seasoned storyman tells us.

Artactions

Bhajju Shyam

Stories, Myths and Interpretations: A Gallery

“There are stories behind some paintings and none behind some. In the case of some, it is easier to interpret the story without having to be told [verbally] by the artist.” – Bhajju Shyam

The Accidental Artist

Gond art has created an unprecedented new means of livelihood for the Gond-Pradhaan tribe. But what must the youth of the community remember through these changes? Bhajju Shyam shares

Perspectives

Critical and creative viewpoints on and responses to topical and philosophical issues

Anjali Bhushan

No Supplements, Please!

Why should a woman have to choose between motherhood and a livelihood? A mother-working shares her experience to raise critical questions about the choice available to women in society today

Rupal Bhandari

Q-rious Entries into the Corporate Space

As more and more companies begin to open their doors to the LGBTQIA community, we speak to different stakeholders to understand the strides taken, and challenges that remain

Saba Dewan

Pyaari Bai, Radio Singer

“I thought I should tell her to shut up but then remembered your desperation to sing again.” The author’s call with a renowned musician reveals a continued disregard for marginalised professions

Revisits

Our Earlier 'LIVELIHOOD' related Inter-actions

Team LILA

17 March 2014 Where does art live in our cities? Culture industry ‘appropriately’ labels tangible

Team LILA

Sex and the Market

12 May 2014 What an irony: the practitioners of the world’s oldest profession are still

Team LILA

Video cover realised on the basis of Walk Free’s wonderful video 23 June 2014 While

Ela Bhatt
Dolonchampa Chakraborty

Ela Ben: Women, Work and Peace

Women’s struggles in our country have persisted for centuries, with rays of hope coming from different sectors. Ela Ben’s collective SEWA is one such space

Honey Bee Network

Pathbreaking Innovations From The Grassroots

Meet the brilliantly perceptive innovators who, despite not having degrees in engineering, are able to significantly improve their technologies and occupations

Jaya Jaitly

The Eco-System of Crafts

“Unlettered” in the modern sense, traditional wisdoms relate to survival, sustainability and holistic integration of many different facets of the planet

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