Travelling and meeting people from different cultural spaces, developing relationships and remaining close to the five elements is our tool for unlearning and keeping Navyaa, our 6-year-old daughter, unschooled and a natural learner. When our near and dear ones ask, “So, how long is the trip?” I reply with a smile saying, “Let’s see how it goes”. This liberates me a bit more and brings a smile to Navyaa’s face.

It also somewhere instils our faith in the bigger cosmic plan and keeps the thrill alive in every moment.

I have been passionate about experimental and unplanned travelling for the last 15 years. I find it completely analogous to life, which is an experiment for all practical purposes. Unplanned travel opens the window to a completely unknown world and gives a first-hand understanding of dealing with situations, experiencing people and rethinking our fears and strengths.

Manish, my husband, supports me when I leave on such trips with our beloved daughter.

As always, the purpose of this trip was also to live life in unknown settings amidst nature with new people and trust the universe for receiving love and warmth wherever we went.

This trip had a lot in store which would shape our larger understanding of life.

The Long & Winding Road

Our first journey of about 1200 km began by road from Ahmedabad to Dehradun on 27 August and was going to last till 8 Oct, which was not decided when we left Ahmedabad. By road, the journey began with our two friends Prashant and Divyesh and Manish, who dropped us to the Prakriti Sangam campus near Rishikesh while they all returned to Ahmedabad. We then travelled to Dehradun, Mussoorie, Chamba and Tehri.

We were to spend more than two months in a community living program designed by a friend named Sultan, who was living the philosophy of ‘unconditional love and oneness’. The place was amidst nature, beside the river, a spring, forests and many birds and insects. The day consisted of cooking, cleaning, listening to songs, playing in the river or stream, sunbathing, bird watching, refreshing morning teas, being with sunsetting moments, morning or evening circles, sharing life stories, knowledge sharing, drawing, photography, welcoming new people and resting.

Navyaa would go for long morning walks with him passing through the village, greeting people, dogs, cows and goats, and sharing their stories. Sultan also taught her to swim. Though he was 48, she would call him ‘Sultan bhaiya (brother)’, as that’s how she related to him.

But in a sudden incident, Sultan became one with the river and left for his heavenly abode. This came as a big shock and loss for all of us present there to participate in the program.

It was the first time that Navyaa witnessed death so closely. I was worried about the meaning she is making out of this incident, so I was trying to observe her more. I realised that as children are away from the concept of ‘time’ and ‘space’, they see death as any other normal event in life, unlike adults.

That evening we all prayed for him and lit a lamp in his memory. The next day his relatives took him to his native place for last rites. We all collected a handful of soil from the river to be placed in his grave and sent it along with his relatives, but I was touched by a question Navyaa asked me. She said, ‘Will Sultan bhaiya recognise the soil that I have put in this?’ I assured her that he would.

En Route to Shivpuri

While most of the participants returned home the next day, we had our tickets booked for 8 October.

Though Sultan’s death seemingly brought our plans to a screeching halt, I decided on doing a bit more travelling.

Sultan had recently shared a contact of one Ron, who has a beautiful traditional homestay in Shivpuri, near Rishikesh.

When I talked to Ron about visiting, he was happy to welcome all four of us — my friend Dimple, her 3.5-year-old daughter, Divyanshi (Duggu), Navyaa and me.

Ron gave all of us a very warm welcome and planned interesting activities for all of us that included wall painting, music, village visit to a house of natives amidst hills, water play, making sandcastles on the banks of river Ganga, riding in hills, visiting his campsite in Shivpuri, and slow nature walks where children would collect different leaves, flowers and stones.

Ron has a very witty way of talking with and engaging children. Navyaa and Duggu had a beautiful time venturing out with Ron and his son Mehul.

After staying there for a few days, we were invited by Vandana to the Pauri area of Uttarakhand. I knew Vandana as her family had shifted to Pauri and began their initiative ‘Kashvi Agro’ for natural farming and reviving traditional food practices. So, we left Ron with a promise to visit again.

Heading to The Hills

On the way, at Devprayag, we saw two rivers ‘Alaknanda’ and ‘Bhagirathi’ merging to become the holy river Ganga. The sight was mesmerising for children, as two rivers with different colours of waters were merging at one point.

It took us almost 5 hours to reach Pauri by road.

Vandana and Tribhulochan had planned farm visits, deep forest visits and old temple visits for us. We spent five days staying with them roaming around in hills and deep forests, understanding the flora and fauna of the Himalayas and cherishing the sight of snow-clad Himalayan ranges.

There were so many unplanned events like our children trying to make colours using flowers and leaves, a monkey dropping in for playtime. We also experienced a herb named kandali that creates a current-like sensation to your tummy. Dimple shared her delicious Sindhi recipes while we plucked fresh fruits and vegetables and experienced our own ‘Garhwali’ culture. We met them as strangers and left with a strong beautiful connection.

We stayed in Rishikesh for the next two days without any plan.

We then returned to Dehradun and spent a few days there. We visited Sahstradhara, where we all enjoyed bathing in streams and rope-way to the upper hill where there was a garden, cafe and rides.

We visited Science City, where we all watched a 3D documentary on planet earth and some models that children enjoyed.

We stopped over on the way home so that Navyaa could spend time with her elder cousin sister and be pampered by her grandmother.

From there, we returned to Ahmedabad on the 42nd day.

Experimental travel is a learning tool for a child not attending school. Not only does the child gain knowledge about different landscapes, cultures, environments, languages but also learns to deal with real-life situations, learns to adapt, be responsible, and stand up for themselves.

(Written by Archana Dutta; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

With the Panchachuli peaks, a group of five snow-capped Himalayan mountains, situated at the eastern end of the Kumaon region providing the ideal backdrop, the picturesque township of Munsiyari in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district feels like heaven on earth.

These days, the hill township and its adjoining villages are in the spotlight because of the tulip garden situated along the Thal-Munsiyari state highway.

Envisioned by Dr Vinay Bhargav, Divisional Forest Officer, Pithoragarh, this tulip garden is expected to stretch over 50 hectares. It is part of a larger Munsiyari Nature Education and Eco Park Center, which seeks to attract a plethora of tourists, students and nature lovers who want to witness the various flowers of this scenic region in all its beauty.

Although designed by Dr Bhargav, the real workforce behind this garden are the members of Munsiyari Eco-Development Committee (EDC) comprising largely unemployed local community youth involved in the development of the facility from inception to completion and its maintenance. Local residents are involved right from soil work, site preparation, planting and irrigation to the nurturing process, protection and monitoring of this garden.

The same set of people is also involved in knowledge dissemination, and now act as resource persons for local villagers and tourists who want to engage in a similar endeavour. Presently, the carrying capacity of the site is fixed at 300±50 persons per day and one day of the week it is closed to all visitors. Although the COVID-19 epidemic has put a dampener on proceeding this season, the Munsiyari EDC hopes that next year tourists can grace this site.

Why was this particular site chosen?

The region witnesses massive snowfall and frost during winters followed by long cool springs and occasional rain in summers. Everything from the physio-graphical features viz. elevation (2760 mts. above msl), moisture availability, well drained soil conditions and gentle slopes to ideal ambient temperatures (18 to 25 degree Celsius) and soil pH levels found to be between 6.0 to 7.0, are perfect for growing tulips.

“Meanwhile, the topography of the area is such that north-east facing slopes of the landscape, where the tulips have been planted, will ensure relatively better moisture availability. Complete sunshine from all sides made the site suitable and perfect for tulip growth,” informs Dr. Bhargav.

Early Struggle, Challenges & In Bloom

“The site selected for this pilot project was initially infested with a weed commonly referred to as jangli paalak (Rumex nepalensis). It has a deep root system and can regenerate itself from the slightest of leftover parts that remain in the soil. In fact, it has been creating massive problems in almost all of the Himalayan sub-alpine and alpine areas by encroaching upon the native herbaceous and shrub species,” says Dr Bhargav, in an interaction over email with The Better India, earlier this week.

Consequently, a massive exercise was undertaken in October 2018 by the Munsiyari EDC to completely eradicate this weed using basic garden implements. Certain landscaping and improvement in the aesthetics like paths and trails development were also done.

For the purpose of developing demonstration blocks at Munsiyari, 7000 high quality tulip bulbs, in five colors across seven varieties — Carola (Pink colour), Crystal Star (Yellow colour), Denmark (Yellow-Red colour), Jumbo Pink (Pink colour), Parade (Red colour), Strong Gold (Yellow colour) and White Proud (White colour) were imported from the Netherlands for planting on the pilot site.

However, due to multiple reasons, there was an apparent delay in getting the bulbs, and they only arrived in the last week of March 2019. Although it was not the appropriate time to plant them, the EDC went ahead and did that.

After the snow melted on the pilot site by March end, the next step was to augment soil fertility and prepare the demonstrative blocks made up of raised soil beds to plant tulips and other native species in the first week of April.

“For this, we used a mixture of oak forest soil, farmyard manure and cocopeat in a 1:1:1 ratio, The bulbs and other native species were planted by the members of the Munsiyari EDC. Vegetative growth took around 45 days, after which the site had witnessed intermittent blooms,” he says.

These bulbs went through several stresses during the past year of planting, particularly after the monsoon season. By this time, the bulbs remained in soil and the foliage had started to wither away with the onset of winter in November 2019. The bulbs remained in the soil and witnessed the severe winter of 2019. Although the pilot site remained under snow for more than three months, Dr Bhargav and the EDC were convinced that the Tulip bulbs still had life in them, and proceeded to protect them from field rats, wild boars and Langurs with fencing work around it.

“After the snow melted in March 2020, foliage started to develop back in April 2020. These tulips did bloom intermittently, but they were still at a premature stage. This wasn’t the end of their troubles. Despite the onset of spring, there was a sudden spurt of hail storms, but the Tulips somehow managed to withstand them. As the foliage grew back in strength, we began to witness the sparkling bloom of these tulips in a variety of pink, white, red and yellow. Other wild species of Irises, Ranunculi, Fox gloves also went into bloom around the same time, but bloom of the tulips stole the show,” says Dr. Bhargav.

All the planted bulbs fared well. The site enjoyed 100% success in germination and yielded the desired results. Besides these, they had also planted with them other native wild ornamental flowering species including Irises, Fox Gloves, Rhododendrons, Wild Roses, Liliums, Daffodils, Dogtails, Ranunculi etc., but tulips were the most attractive species of them.

“The core idea was to strengthen the eco-restoration work of previously invaded weed sites in Himalayan subalpine areas, and improve the biodiversity wealth of the area,” he adds.

Thanks to these ideal climatic conditions and the successful planting process, each mature bulb of a tulip has now produced 6-8 daughter bulbs. In order to cut down on repetitive buying expenses on import, the Project has also envisaged developing a technology with due technical support from Dutch partners to process and develop mature bulbs from these daughter bulbs.

Economic Potential

The larger objective behind developing the tulip garden is to boost the sylviculture, horticulture and tourism sector in the state that would provide additional opportunities for sustained rural self-employment. The government believes that landmark projects like these could go in some way to concurrently mitigate the challenges of outward migration from these hills.

How is this happening? What’s the potential?

1. The development of the facility from inception to completion and its maintenance can be credited to the local community. They were thoroughly involved right from soil work, site preparation, planting, irrigation, nurture and care, protection, monitoring activities, etc.

2. Under the aegis of the State forest department and active consent of the EDC, large scale cultivation of tulip bulbs will be undertaken on community lands and on fallow lands of people who have migrated from hill regions of Munsiyari. In other words, all land left barren or uncultivated will receive a new lease of life. Also, the farmers are encouraged to practice floriculture/ horticulture based farming to enhance their earnings.

3. These people are also involved in knowledge dissemination, and now act as resource persons for local villagers and visitors who wish to emulate this initiative. Local residents have even helped execute the work of thermal insulated and disaster proof state of the art alpine Eco-huts near this site. This is a one of a kind structure.

4. “The site also hosts a wide variety of birds of different species (approximately 250), which also opens the potential for Bird tourism. The site also reflects the remarkable effect of ecotones on the flora and fauna diversity in the region. As regard to beneficiaries, upon full scale implementation of the Project, around 1,500 to 2,000 people from the surrounding villages will be engaged in direct/in-direct employment for cultivation, maintenance, eco fee collection and other ancillary activities,” claims Dr. Bhargav.

5. “Furthermore, as upscaling of the project is envisaged, it will demand many direct and indirect support systems like local and distant transportation facilities, promotion of home stays, village tourism, bird tourism, comfortable accommodation in terms of hotels, resorts, paying guest houses, local market to meet out different needs of the tourists, traditional commodities and culture besides Tulip garden management needs (in terms of manpower and inputs),” he says

The success of projects like these can ensure border districts like Pithoragarh can offer the necessary economic incentives for people not to migrate and strengthen their own region. It may not completely stop the migration process, but it can go some way towards at least mitigating it. Admittedly, the Coronavirus pandemic this year has put a dampener on proceedings, but its potential for the future is great.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Nirmala Sawant, the gram pradhan of Gaindakhali, a village in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district, has long held severe concerns about the growing incidence of human-animal conflict in the area.

Her fears aren’t unfounded. Gaindakhali is on the periphery of the Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, which falls under the Haldwani Forest Division of the biodiversity-rich Terai region. In the last 10 years, this place has witnessed over 100 cases of human-animal conflicts, particularly with elephants, resulting in serious crop damage, injury and death.

“Due to the repeated damage and loss of lives, farming and all allied activities had come to a standstill in the village. Our forest officer took cognisance of the problem and reached out to his seniors, who got in touch with Kundan Kumar sir, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). After visiting our village, DFO Sir took a survey of the area and installed a kilometre-long tentacle (hanging) solar fence. Thanks to this, we have started farming again. I sincerely feel that the fencing should extend to other villages on the periphery of the forests,” she says.

Mahesh Singh Bisht, the forest officer of the Sharda range, who first took cognisance of the problem, concurs with Nirmala. “As a result of this fence, no big animals cross onto their land anymore,” he says.

Preventing Human-Animal Conflict

Kundan Kumar, a 2017-batch Indian Forest Service officer, took over as the DFO of Haldwani Forest Division in the last week of November 2019. On his first visit to Gaindakhali, he was alarmed by the severity of the human-elephant conflict in the village.

“The villagers said that they hadn’t planted any crops on their lands for the past six years fearing damage and monetary loss. So, I came up with the plan to install a tentacle solar fence. The initial plan was to install it across 3.5 km, but we began with a 1 km stretch,” says Kundan Kumar, speaking to The Better India.

Following various representations, he decided to survey the village along with his fellow officers. During the survey, his team had first contemplated going with conventional solar fencing consisting of small poles measuring 4-5 feet and between them three-four layers of horizontal wires powered by solar energy.

They found that this method was unsuitable and carried a lot of constraints.

“In setting up a traditional solar fence, you block access to lands beyond the forest. Instead of focussing on our target species (the animal), which in this case is elephants, Nilgai or Sambar deer, these conventional solar fences also block smaller animals like rodents from passing through,” notes Kundan Kumar.

And that’s how they zeroed in on tentacle solar fencing. Construction began in January 2020, and it was completed within the month.

The fence is a robust curtain-like arrangement which has stainless steel wires hanging down vertically from a height of over 15 feet. The wires are suspended from a horizontal steel wire hung from posts planted at a distance. The solar-powered energiser (solar panels) connected to the fence delivers a non-lethal shock to the elephants. These wires are flexible and remain three feet above the ground, allowing forest officers to obstruct their target species, while allowing smaller species to pass through seamlessly.

“Also, if an elephant crashes into a conventional solar fencing structure, and the wire breaks, the entire stretch becomes dysfunctional. Since our hanging wires are very flexible, there is little damage even if the mighty elephant crashed into it. The 12-volt current that passes through these wires is non-lethal, but once an elephant comes into contact with it, they don’t walk past the same area again,” adds Kundan Kumar.

To come up with the ideal length of the wires (tentacles) protruding from the posts to prevent elephants from breaking through, forest officials even took mitigating factors like the size of their tusks and girth into account. They have also developed a fence monitoring system to keep tabs on the voltage discharged by the solar panels, battery and ground conductivity.

Moreover, in traditional solar fencing structures, it’s a real challenge to push elephants back into the forest when they get tangled up with the hard wiring. In this curtain-like structure, however, all forest staff need to do is switch off the electricity and the elephant can comfortably get itself out of it. This system is even more cost-effective.

“The per-unit cost as compared to normal solar fencing, where concrete work is required at the bottom to ensure there is no growth of herbs or shrubs that can damage or short circuit the wires, is also lower. In hanging solar fencing, there is no concrete work. The per km cost of installing a hanging solar fence is 30-40% less than the conventional ones,” he notes.

Before The Fence: Inspiration from Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Kundan Kumar was an officer in training back in 2017 when he went on a tour to national parks and sanctuaries in South India. It was at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka when he first saw the effectiveness of tentacle solar fencing.

“Tentacle solar fencing was established in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in 2017-18. Initially, we had set it up on a trial basis, across 3 km. Today, out of 220 km of our periphery borderline, the fencing stretches around 20 km. It has proven to be very successful and is more than 70% effective in preventing elephants from travelling outside their core area into human habitations on the periphery of the reserve. To an extent, herbivores like spotted deer, sambar and even peacocks are also obstructed. This year, we are going to extend it a further 3 km,” says K Paramesh, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Bandipur, speaking to The Better India.

The fencing was a result of the human-animal conflict on the periphery of the forest reserve. The locals put forward the demand as they didn’t want elephants or wild boars to enter their fields.

“While most aren’t concerned about the type of fencing, some farmers demand railway barricades to fence the border areas. We were among the first to start this fencing system as well. In Bandipur, these railway barricades stretch to about 40 km. For railway barricading, officials at the reserve utilise rails from the railway tracks and procure it from the railway department. It’s quite expensive compared to a hanging solar fence. However, it is permanent, stable, long-lasting and low maintenance. In hanging solar fences, the wires coated with aluminium will deteriorate after five years and require some degree of maintenance. We may have to replace the wires after 5-6 years,” says Paramesh.

“The cost differential is significant. Railway barricading costs around Rs 1-2 crore per km, while for hanging solar fences, it’s at about Rs 3-3.5 lakh per km. But the problem with these railway barricades is also that they result in a permanent hindrance for wildlife movement,” says Kundan Kumar, explaining why he chose hanging solar fences.

According to a report in The Hindu, “the cost of laying [a] fence for 1 km is Rs 1.25 crore” at the Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka. Although farmers in the periphery of the forest area have reported a steep fall in crop damage as a result of this structure, in December 2018, a male elephant tragically passed away while trying to cross a fence.

Nonetheless, DFO Kundan Kumar took inspiration from Bandipur to start work on the hanging solar fence just weeks after his arrival. Since this was the first time such an installation was envisioned in Uttarakhand, he found out that local vendors did not have the technical know-how to construct this type of fence.

“So, I reached out to vendors in Mysore, obtained some drawings of the structure and its technical details. Then, I called some local vendors and asked them whether they could construct it. I had drawn the structure, explained how this could be made and offered them all the technical specifications for it. After this meeting, I floated a tender with all the necessary specifications, and we awarded the vendor offering the best price,” he says.

Taking Ownership

Over the years, critical elephant corridors, which are not officially notified, have shrunk in the Terai region of Uttarakhand. This has brought elephants closer to human habitats. Therefore, no conservation effort is successful unless the local community doesn’t issue its support.

“The villages on our forest fringe, for example, have suffered from crop raids by elephants crossing over into their land that sometimes results in human deaths. This results in animosity against the elephants. Locals start seeing animals as their enemy. Our job is also to create a narrative and make them realise that these animals are not their enemies. Unless we can make them feel safe, we can’t seek their participation in conservation and protection,” says Kundan.

The fencing they have created is on the border of the reserve forest area. Also, Gaindakhali village isn’t a new habitation. This village has been around for years.

To address the situation at hand, however, forest officials are developing bamboo plantations and grasslands to provide a better habitat for elephants in the reserve forest area. In their plantation, they have grown plant species that elephants like to consume. They also create water holes inside the jungles and thus contain them inside so that they don’t have to venture out.

“We are also creating installations like tentacle solar fencing to protect local communities, who have long demanded it. In the event, wild animals kill someone or destroy their crops or kill their cattle, we give them monetary compensation as well,” says Kundan Kumar.

If maintained properly, this structure can prove to be a long term measure to prevent human-animal conflicts. The one issue is maintenance, but forest officials have collaborated with representatives of the local Panchayat, and given them the responsibility to ensure that there is no wire theft or cutting. “They are willing to take ownership of this facility because they understand that this fence will protect their lives and crops,” he adds.

It has been more than five months since this solar fence was set up and the results have been very positive even though forest officials are conducting on-ground studies to contextualise the results they’re seeing now.

“We are conducting a study on how much compensation we have paid to villagers in the past years for crop damage, injury, and deaths as a result of human-animal conflict. But based on the first-hand feedback, locals feel safer,” says Kundan Kumar. Gaindakhali villagers had not sown paddy or wheat in the past six years. Now, they have got back to their agricultural activities thanks to the work of this forest officer.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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A couple of years ago, a group of travellers wanted to travel across the Bangapani region in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. However, due to heavy rains, a bridge over the stream that connected other villages had been washed away.

That’s when a villager informed them about Yamraj, the only man who could help them. The group was confused — Yamraj, in Hindu mythology, is the god of death — but decided to approach him anyway

Since it was late in the night, he refused to cross the stream and promised that he would help them begin their journey in the early hours of the morning. Since the travellers had no place to stay, he took them to a nearby government school and arranged for blankets and snacks. 

Next morning, as promised, he carried each person, by turn, on his shoulder in waist-deep waters and helped them reach a pakka road. Moved by his heartfelt assistance, the travellers generously paid him Rs 8,000. 

As Yamraj a.k.a Diwani Ram narrates this incident, I cannot help but marvel at his courage, willingness and kindness towards strangers. 

“For a family like ours, earning Rs 8,000 in a day is a huge deal but my reward was seeing the happiness on their faces. The group had travelled all the way from another state to visit different temples in our state. Of course, I had to show Uttarakhand’s hospitality so I did whatever I could,” says Diwani, who received the nickname after he was spotted going to school on a buffalo as a kid. 

Due to the absence of a proper bridge, nearby areas including Munsiyari, Bangapani and Dharchula experience flooding; the connecting bridges often get washed. It becomes difficult for villagers to visit markets and government offices. This is where the 49-year-old farmer comes in.

“For three generations we have been helping people including villagers, travellers and officers to cross flooded regions. My father taught me how to walk in deep waters when I turned 14, and since then I have been doing this work every season. Now my son has also joined me,” he says. 

Crossing a flooded region might seem like a task that can be undertaken by anyone, but maintaining balance and taking responsibility for another human being’s life is something that can only be mastered over time.

“Sometimes, the winds and the water currents are so strong, that they uproot trees or cause bikes to lose their balance. Once, I was helping a lady when I lost balance and both of us fell. Some of her belongings drowned but due to my alertness and knowledge of the stream, I was able to save her life,” he recalls. 

To appreciate Diwani’s exemplary work, people voted him to be the Gram Pradhan (village head) of Siling village between 2015-2019 and even as he occupied that post, he continued helping people.

Diwani says he has ferried thousands of people over the years, and prefers to offer his help for free. On most occasions, people, out of their goodwill, end up paying him. “My dad believed that offering help without expecting anything in return is the biggest service you can give for the nation. His words have stayed with me till today, and I have even passed them on to my kids.” 

While Diwani is not averse to accepting money for this work, there are times when he happily forgoes payment. “There are a couple of soldiers who are posted in different regions so if they have to get across the village during monsoons I help them. It feels wrong to take money from them, so they pay for my services with sweets.” 

While Diwani enjoys his work, there is a chance that he will have to discontinue it once the bridge — which is currently being constructed over the Jauligarh river — will be ready. 

“We have already finished working on small bridges in the area and two big bridges are under construction so this problem of flooding will soon be solved by the administration,” Anil Kumar Shukla, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Dharchula area of Pithoragarh, told The Better India

Till then Diwani can continue spreading a little cheer and kindness. 

Edited by Gayatri Mishra

Originally from Bengaluru, Retired Col Nandu Kumar was posted in several regions across the country while he was serving in the Indian Territorial Army for over 25 years, where he was well recognised for his bravery. But, in his own way, this patriot continues to serve the nation even to this day, thanks to his water-saving ideas. 

His innovative Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) technique has helped close to 400 spots in and around the Jammu valley and Uttarakhand exponentially recharge otherwise depleting groundwater tables while reducing the risk of floods.

“I realised the inevitable problem of flooding while serving as the commanding officer in Pithoragarh and Samba district in Uttarakhand and Jammu respectively. The ironic part was these same flooded regions also faced water scarcity and groundwater depletion, as a result of which the survival rates of plants were very low. With an effective RWH structure, we were able to solve all these problems in one go,” Col Kumar, who commanded the 129 Infantry Battalion (TA) Ecological JAKLI in 2019 tells The Better India. 

For each structure, he spent close to Rs 1000, that can save up to 5,000 litres of water per hour.

He spent the money on purchasing drums and pipe fittings. The labour costs were zero as his men helped in digging the pits and and utilised sand and pebbles locally available in abundance in the hilly areas. 

However, for someone planning to build the structure in urban areas, he/she will have to spend extra on labour and purchasing sand/pebbles. Col Kumar, who presently lives in Bengaluru, points out that the total cost, which is a one-time investment can go up to Rs 5000 depending upon the size. 

Steps For the Cost-Effective Solution

Materials required: a plastic drum, sufficient pipe, pebbles, sand, and a gully trap. 

• Dig a pit in the ground to a depth of 8-10 feet, with a diameter of 4 feet
• Make tiny holes in the bottom and around the drum
• Make the pipe fittings and add the gully trap to collect solid waste (as shown in the image). Insert the pipe from the top in the drum in a way that 2 inches of the pipe peep out of the ground, to let the water penetrate 
• Make the first layer in the ground with pebbles and sand and place the drum on top
• Fill the space around the drum with pebbles up to the brim.
• Cover the drum with one feet of mud and place an iron grill to prevent any kind of damage. 

This structure was constructed by Col Kumar and his battalion in four areas of Pithoragarh and Samba, “A visible change was noted in the campus of our Samba sector where our lawn would turn yellow due to humidity and the staff would have to water it every day. A few months after we installed the structure, he started watering the lawn on alternate days.” 

Seeing the exemplary results, other battalions learnt Col Kumar’s method and replicated it in their respective regions Almora and Pithoragarh. 

“As far as my knowledge is concerned, at least 400 such structures were created during my tenure from 2014-2019,” he says. 

For those wanting to install the same model, he says a minimum area, about 3×3 foot in diameter, is necessary. 

“Dig a 3.5×3.5-foot pit that is 8 feet deep. Sandwich the drum between the sand and pebbles. Make the perforated hole and connect your rooftop pipes with it. This hole will allow thousands of litres of rainwater to percolate underground. This will recharge the groundwater tables,” Col Kumar explains. 

Besides the RWH structures, Col Kumar was also instrumental in creating other water 4000 conservation systems like bunds and canals during his tenure. 

The eco-warrior is also credited for organising a massive plantation drive in 2015 that secured a place in the Limca Book of records. The force along with the participation of the community and local panchayats planted one lakh saplings (15 varieties) in just 19 minutes around the Almora and Pithoragarh districts of the Kumaon region. 

“Such a noble cause can only be accomplished if it is supported by one and all in the society. We intend to involve the social fabric of Pithoragarh so that they develop their concern towards nature and the ecological system,” he said. 

All the images are sourced from Retd Col Nandu Kumar

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Kheti par kiski maar? Jungli janwar, mausam aur sarkar. Throughout the 1980s, this thought-provoking slogan resonated with farmers across Uttarakhand in the aftermath of the green revolution. 

Led by the founder of Beej Bachao Andolan (Save Seeds) (BBA), Vijay Jardhari, the pan-state movement was against monoculture farming and forceful replacement of nutritious cultivation like millets with cash crops.

Vijay, whose family had been cultivating multiple varieties of crops for generations, predicted the long term repercussions of monoculture or growing a single crop on soil fertility and subsequently the rise in farmer distress. 

While growing up he had seen the health and environmental benefits of growing more than one traditional crop in the same land. So, when the government was giving soybeans and chemical fertilisers at dirt cheap rates, it did not go down well with Vijay and he started BBA to conserve traditional varieties. 

Most people from the agricultural field are aware of Vijay’s Dandi march across the state with his friends to collect indigenous seeds (he collected 350 varieties of seeds!). 

However, very few know that while knocking on every farmer’s doorstep, Vijay ended up sharing his knowledge on an ancient farming practice called ‘Baranaj’ (Bara is 12 and Anaj means crop). 

“It is an inter-cropping method of twelve or more crops that is usually practised in rain-fed Tehri-Garhwal regions. It gives a farmer a wholesome land on which lentils, cereals, vegetables, legumes and creepers grow in harmony with each other. For example, stems of grains act as a natural support for creepers of legumes. Once the key to the success of our ancestors, this method was dying in the 80s. It provides food security to the farmer and also raises soil fertility,” Vijay, who is now in his late sixties, tells The Better India. 

I spoke at length with Vijay, who was conferred with Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar in 2009 for his exceptional contribution to saving traditional seed varieties via BBA, to understand baranaj and its benefits.

Baranaj: Process & Specifications

One of the major advantages of this method is that a farmer will never have to worry about going hungry or taking a hefty loan. 

“Some of the crops in the cycle are resistant to drought, pests, and floods so during a natural calamity, even if some crops are damaged, he will still get enough food to sell in the market or for self-consumption. Additionally, the baranaj process is similar to that of forest and hence it does not require any chemical inputs or excessive irrigation. They are all rainfed. Maintaining diversity in plants also boosts soil fertility and it provides varying fodder options for farm animals,” explains Vijay.

According to him, there is no fixed pattern or combinations that a farmer has to use as long as the crops are a mix of grains, masala, vegetables and pulses. 

Vijay’s recommendation: 

• Grains: Mandua (finger millet), jowar (sorghum), ramdana (amaranthus), kuttu/ogal (buckwheat), and corn. 
• Pulses/beans: Rajma, lobia, bhat (black soybean), naurangi (rice beans), urad and moong.
• Vegetables: cholai (Amaranth), kheera, ogal (local variety) and lobia (black-eyed beans) 
• Spices: sesame and til (sesame)

Identifying companion seeds that will boost each other’s growth is very important for a farmer. 

“Roots of jowar hold the soil and prevent erosion during floods. Meanwhile, pulses like lobia or naurangi can provide nitrogen to other vegetables like cholai and cabbage as these need a lot of nutrients. Millets are rainfed crops so its roots will absorb all the excess water and prevent floods. All these plants will have different heights so the tall ones can provide shade during extreme heat,” he explains. 

Apart from being safe from extreme climatic conditions and being companions to each other, the crop rotation will also ensure that wild animals and birds do not destroy the entire field. For instance, birds feed on jowar so Vijay keeps aside a portion just for them. In return, birds help in maintaining bio-diversity. 

Since crops are rotated on an annual basis, insects thrive less on the field and to prevent pest attacks, Vijay suggests using manure made from cow’s dung and urine. This way, a farmer will save on external chemical inputs. 

Baranaj Could Be Zero Budget 

With his budget-friendly tips and effective yield practices, Vijay has inspired thousands of farmers to start baranaj in the last 30 years. The majority of farmers from 15-20 villages around his village follow this method.

This is because the investment cost is considerably less in a world where farmers are at the mercy of expensive fertilisers. 

“Maybe in the first rotation, you have to rely on the market for seeds but after that, you can save some seeds and replant them every year. We still follow the barter system ritual where if one of my seeds is not giving proper yield, I will exchange it with another farmer in a similar situation. This way both of us can try new seeds and in most cases, this works. This a great way to save money,” Dhum Singh Negi, a Senior Chipko leader from Vijay’s village tells The Better India. Negi has been practising baranaj for the last 60 years. 

This understanding and harmony is also reflected when it comes to labour work. Instead of hiring labour, a group of farmers help each in the sowing process, “Sowing seeds is no less than a festival for us where we take dhols and drums in the fields and even dance while sowing. This ritual helps us stay united,” says Vijay. 

Now that a farmer has saved on pesticides, labour and seeds, the inputs costs are almost zero. 

‘We Can Prevent Farmer Suicides’

A farmer’s inability to pay loans coupled with erratic climatic conditions often pushes him to take extreme measures including suicide. The situation is worse for farmers with small landholdings who are unable to produce a higher yield. 

Succumbing to the pressure, the farmer ends up using more chemical fertilisers to artificially increase the production and in turn compromises with the crop quality and soil fertility to an extent where the land altogether disrupts the cultivation cycle. 

To break this vicious cycle, both Vijay and Negi vouch for the baranaj.

“Our ancestral knowledge has helped us become atmanirbhar (self-reliant) as I no more have to rely on any external inputs. It will be hard for a farmer to switch from monoculture and may even suffer crop damage in the beginning. But in the long run, they will benefit. By promoting this method, we can prevent farmer suicides. The best part? A farmer will not be affected by jungli janwar, mausam and sarkar,” Vijay concludes. 

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde) 

How many times have you carefully looked at the green shade of coriander or felt its texture? Because it is such a universal ingredient in food dishes and readily available, this versatile herb cum spice is undervalued.

Gopal Dutt Upreti, an organic farmer from Uttarakhand’s Bilkesh village (Ranikhet), also never paid any attention to his coriander plants until they entered the Guinness Book of World Records on 21 April this year.

The 47-year-old’s coriander plant received the title of ‘world’s tallest coriander plant’ with a height of 7.1 feet (2.16 metres) using traditional ‘Himalayan farming techniques’.

In an interesting twist, Gopal revealed to me that his record-breaking coriander was there only to save his apple orchards from pest attacks and insects. He never intended to popularise his coriander variety, let alone make a world record.

“Coriander is easy to grow and gives flowers that attract butterflies and bees. At the same time, it acts as an insect repellent for flies, mosquitoes and fruit flies. Seeing the benefits, I planted coriander in 2015, and the rest is history,” Gopal tells The Better India.

According to Gopal, neither did he use any special methods, nor did he add any secret ingredients to enhance the height of the plants. In fact, he claims he only realised they were different when farmers in the village and visitors were amazed at the unusual height.

“The average height of coriander in India is 2-3 feet, and in 2018 the height of my plant touched 5 feet. On my friend’s encouragement, I applied for the Limca Book of Records and got the title. For Guinness, I had to compete against a 5.9-foot tall plant, so I waited for mine to grow,” he says.

Gopal has now applied for a patent on his seed variety, which was procured right from his kitchen.

The engineer-turned-farmer quit his lucrative career in civil construction in 2015 after he was mesmerized by organic farming practice on his visit to Europe in 2012.

Though his ancestors once practised traditional farming, the newer generation switched to corporate jobs for a stable income. Gopal too migrated to Delhi in the 1980s.

Gopal spent three years to learn about the latest farming technologies, market rates, soil conditions in his village and so on.

He started farming on 3 acres of land and gradually expanded to 8 acres. Today, he has 2,000 apple trees in his orchard and hundreds of coriander plants. Besides this, he also grows turmeric and garlic.

All You Need to Know About Growing A Tall Coriander Plant

The best part about growing coriander is that it can be grown in any weather conditions, from Rajasthan’s heat to Mumbai’s humidity to Shimla’s freezing temperatures. If the temperatures soar exponentially, it can be kept cool via mulching.

Gopal recommends sowing coriander directly in pots, “Sow the seeds about half to one inch deep in the soil. Keep a space of 5-6 inches between 2 seeds. Water the plants regularly but refrain from over-watering to avoid root rot. Make sure there are sufficient drainage holes as coriander has deep taproots.”

The harvesting may take up to 3 weeks, but if you want to extend the period and get taller plants, then Gopal suggests snipping soft stems and rotating the plant.

Soil fertility is the deciding factor for coriander’s growth. It has to be kept moist, and feeding rich nutrients is a must. Gopal uses everything from a neem cake, jeevamruth, bichu ghas (nettle) to compost.

Gopal gives a detailed explanation about growing conditions here:

By using simple methods like seed preservation and composting, Gopal grew the coriander trees. Each plant gives about 500 grams of seeds, as against 20-50 grams from regular ones.

Gopal has preserved around a thousand seeds in an airtight container, which he plans to distribute to farmers and agriculturists in the future.

You can reach Gopal Dutt at: Gopaldupreti@yahoo.co.in

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Some nature lovers are often considered crazy for their relentless passion to conserve and protect the environment. While nature conservation might be a weekend hobby for some, there are others who care deeply for the subject and make it their whole life.

This Nainital-resident, who has given up a full-time job to dedicate his life to protecting the forests of Uttarakhand, is an epitome of what passion can lead you to do.

Chandan Nayal, from the remote Nai village of Uttarakhand, quit his lecturer job in 2016 and returned home to plant over 12,000 trees to revive the forests of the region. He also took up water conservation activities.

“I completed my diploma studies in electronics from Rudrapur in Udham Singh district in 2014. The district is about 170 km from the village and I interned in the travel sector and later took a lecturer’s job in the same college,” the 26-year-old says.

Chandan says that he has always shown an inclination towards nature.

“I have seen nature getting destroyed since childhood. I remember running with the villagers to extinguish forest fires in pine trees. The frequent forest fires also impact small forest plants and biodiversity,” Chandan laments.

A personal loss

The former professor says that the small natural water ponds used for cattle grazing also dried up over the years.

“During my teenage years, I got involved in nature conservation activities like planting trees and understanding the ecology of the area. I learned that forest fires also cause deforestation, and it is crucial to allow the natural regeneration of forests. Also, more oak and deodar trees native to the geology are needed,” he tells The Better India.

But it was in 2010 that Chandan lost his mother due to a prolonged illness.

“The incident left a big void in my life. I felt depressed and lost in life. While grieving, I often left for the mountains and forest areas to find peace. The time spent under the shade of trees brought me closer to my purpose,” Chandan says.

Since then he got more involved in nature conservation activities around his native village.

But living away from home for work meant limited time to invest in environmental causes.

Passion for nature

Chandan could only get involved in protecting forests during his vacation period. Many villagers also questioned his dedication. “If you want to work so much for the village, why don’t you stay and continue instead of working and doing it part-time? They used to ask,” Chandan recalls.

Driven by his conviction, in 2016, he quit his job and decided to dedicate his time to increasing forest area in the region.

But going against the village trend where youth migrate to cities like Delhi for better job opportunities, he faced a lot of opposition. “Everyone mocked me. Villagers said this is not the way to behave. People thought I was crazy and nothing would come from protecting the environment. Some people said that forests existed even before humans and they will continue to survive, we do not need to do anything to conserve it,” Chandan says.

However, he relied on his 50 nali farm, a measure used to calculate land to earn Rs 10,000 a month.

“I understand that money is very important. But my passion for protecting the environment is more satisfying,” Chandan adds.

Research before action

Continuing his work, Chandan met environmentalists like Sundarlal Bahuguna, Anil Joshi, Sacchidanand Bharati, Jagat Singh Chaudhary, Kalyan Singh and other experts to seek guidance.

“I realised there was a need for mixed, diverse forests and planting one species of trees won’t work. So I took up Deodar and Bharuch trees as well to plant in schools, empty spaces and private individual land with due permissions,” Chandan says, adding that watching his effort, more nature lovers started joining him.

With no funds in hand, Chandan took the support of the forest department for saplings and also for designated spaces to grow trees. Dinkar Tiwari, divisional forest officer at Nainital forest range, says, “I have seen Chandan’s work sincerely for three years now. We provide free saplings and even transport them to locations as this youngster does not have funds.”

The officer adds that over 10,000 saplings have been provided to Chandan so far.

However, Chandan along with 120 other volunteers have planted over 12,000 trees in the village and surrounding areas. “We have distributed close to 30,000 trees across villages of Uttarakhand and a record is kept to ensure that trees are traced and that they grow in protected spaces. Many people now know about our work and demand saplings for plantation,” he adds.

Critics turn admirers

Chandan has inspired other neighbouring villages like Almoda, Kujeti, Supi, Chakuta, Aghariya and others to plant trees.

He adds that the COVID-19 pandemic helped villagers understand the importance of nature better. “Many residents returned home and got back to farming and other activities. People started realising how much they depend on forest wood, nature and water,” he adds.

Through his research, he also found that 30% of water sources and streams have dried up. “During the lockdown, we created water ponds in the forest area and worked to revive some of the dried water sources,” Chandan adds.

Dinkar says the work done by Chandan is commendable. “We get paid to conserve the forest, but this man is doing it without any returns and no financial support. Chandan is invited, for various awareness programmes of the department,” he adds.

“We are planting trees but, more importantly, we need to protect the existing forests. As humans, we are heavily dependent on nature, and people should realise that” he concludes.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

“On 7 February 2021, I got news of a disaster having occurred in Chamoli. I was in a town called Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand and could rush to the site immediately. I knew that Chamoli is a disaster-prone zone, but I had no idea of the magnitude of the disaster,” begins IAS officer Swati Bhadoria, District Magistrate, Chamoli. She is one of the four female administrators—which includes DIG Garhwal range Neeru Garg, Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP) DIG Aparna Kumar, and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) DIG Riddhim Aggarwal—who are anchoring the rescue and relief operations in the Himalayan terrains.

That fateful morning of 7 February a horrific disaster reminiscent of the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy occurred when a huge glacier burst in the Tapovan area of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district in the Garhwal Himalayas.

The Better India caught up with two of the officers—IAS officer Swati Bhadoria, DM Chamoli, and DIG Garhwal Range Neeru Garg—to get their perspectives of the operations.

Call To Rescue

It was on her drive to the affected area that Swati started getting numerous calls, each one describing the tragedy to her. She mentions that by the time she reached the area she had a fair idea of what she was up against.

“Once I reached the site, I was apprised of the situation and was told that almost 150 people were missing,” she says. The first rescue operation involved getting people who were stuck in the hydropower plant tunnel out, and that gave the team some confidence to go on. There were also so many people who unfortunately got washed away by the flooding that happened. “Even in those cases we had to make a list of the people, send it to the various state governments,” she says.

As for Neeru, she was in Dehradun when she got a call about a possible avalanche or ‘cloud burst’. She says, “No one knew what exactly had happened. What I was told was how there was debris all around. Once we reached the site, our first operation involved rescuing the 12 people stuck in the tunnel.” All the districts in the downstream area had to be alerted, and some, even evacuated, she says.

The disheartening sights of broken, destroyed buildings, homes, and slush were everywhere on social media. The more difficult sights were of the people of the valley, most of whom had lost something or someone to the disaster. Bodies being recovered from unlikely places, including the river bed, is something that will never be forgotten in years to come. Neeru, who spent 10 days at the site and returned to Dehradun on 16 February 2021, aptly says how these were the tough moments.

Dealing with Adversities

Swati says the challenges in this mission were plenty. From not having any idea of the number of missing people to figuring out ways in which those trapped could be rescued — these officers were behind it all. “The terrain did not aid us much in our rescue operations,” she adds. Swati is still at the site and says that even now, almost 10 days after the glacier burst, rescue operations are still underway.

Neeru was the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Rudraprayag in 2008, and in 2013 she was posted as commandant Indian Reserve Battalion 2 Uttarakhand when the Kedarnath disaster occurred. She says that knowing the lay of the land has helped her in this mission. “This has certainly been one of the most challenging missions I have been a part of. Even now, with the passage of time, we are doing round the clock rescue operations,” she says. The first few days were very intense and the hope of saving as many lives as possible kept the team going.

Both Swati and Neeru agree that rescue missions of this nature are not just physically taxing but also very emotionally draining.

Speaking about missing family at a time like this, Neeru sums it up best saying, “It’s my duty that trumps everything, no matter what. I have a nine-year-old daughter who understands what my job is. Every day when I video called her, she would ask when I would return but never cried and made it difficult for me to go on with my job.”

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

At 78, Steve Lall is as exuberant as one could be. As I connect with him via a short video call, I’m greeted by a vibrant smile and a booming, “Hello!” But our call is cut short by a rocky internet connection that day, for Lall lives with his wife, Parvati, in the quiet foothills of the Himalayas among the Kumaon ranges in Uttarakhand. He owns and resides in the Jilling Estate, which he has spent decades protecting and preserving. Since the 70s, Lall has worked to rebuild and protect the ecosystem of the 140-acre estate land. The estate consists of agricultural land and orchards, interspersed with rhododendron, oak, chestnut, apricot and pine trees and is surrounded by forests.

“My father was in the Indian Civil Services in the UP cadre, and I was born in Banaras (now Varanasi). For five years, we were in Gangtok, Sikkim, when my father J S Lall was sent there by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to be the Dewan of Sikkim, from 1949-1954. From there we lived in different parts of the country like Jhansi, Agra, Bareilly and Delhi. Our family moved around a lot of forests, so I developed an attachment to nature quite early in my life,” he tells The Better India.

Destructive commercialisation

Since he was 6, Lall desired to be a fighter pilot. He spent a decade in the Indian Air Force and returned to Jilling to run his family estate. “My mother, Hope Violet Lall, purchased it in 1965,” he says. She bought it from a man who was given the land by the Government of India sometime after the Partition. Before this, the estate belonged to a British family, the Stiffles, who owned the land in the early 1900s. At the time, it was called Jilung. Over time, the expanse, covering orchards, forests, and farmlands, came to be known as Jeeling, and now belongs to the Lall family. Today, it’s known as Jilling, or Jilling Estate, as named by the Lalls.

“I used to come back here when I was on leave from the Air Force, and ramble around in the area. After I quit the airforce and returned for good, I met my wife, Parvati, and we fell in love,” he says. Parvati was native to the area, and her father had served in the Kumaon regiment during World War II. For Lall, this shift from a life of combat to one amid isolated mountains was not a dramatic one. He reiterates his affection for nature and says the shift was simply a continuation of what he had always loved.

Kumaon had been struggling, and its destruction began slowly, says Lall. “The surrounding areas outside our boundary began taking a beating when outsiders started lopping trees to build their own dream homes,” he recalls. “The area also began experiencing a shortage of fodder. Locals would then come to our boundaries to chop off a few branches or leaves to feed their cattle and for firewood, for which I don’t blame them.” Moreover, water sources were drying, and the locals were slipping further down the slope of poverty.

Lall hadn’t returned with too many savings in hand. With Parvati by his side, he tried his hands at farming and selling produce but still lived hand-to-mouth. “It became a labour of love — we weren’t earning too much money,” he says. To make a better livelihood, the Lalls began hosting guests at their estate. “People from various embassies, travellers from abroad, among others, would come and stay with us. My daughter, Nandini, and I would take them out on treks,” he recalls. “We did small things here and there to keep ourselves afloat, but I’ve been more or less of a chowkidar,” he quips.

Many battles, every day

With the expanse of his estate, Lall could very well be a “multi-crore chap”, as he says, through commercial tourism and by building a massive resort. Instead, he never hosted more than five to six couples at a time and kept the whole operation low-key and low-density. This ensured that destruction in his area due to booming tourism was prevented. “I’ve got nothing in the bank, but have plenty else,” he laughs.

“The Stiffles had maintained a fruit orchard on this land,” Lall says, adding, “By the time they left, there were many vacant areas where I later tried to replant and maintain the orchard. But I eventually realised the best way was to look after the boundaries, ensure there’s no damage in the area, and nature herself would take care of the rest.” This chowkidari bore fruit when oak, chestnut, rhododendron, among others, began growing slowly in the area in and around the estate. In about 30-odd years, Lall says, the forests have thickened multifold. This also saw the growth of flora and fauna that was native to the area. “We were not taking crops from outside and planting them here. The ecosystem remained pure,” he adds.

The Lalls battle forest fires and the devil’s weed to sustain their land. “Climate change has meant that our surroundings are getting drier, especially when it doesn’t snow. Forest fires start in the winters itself,” Nandini, Lall’s daughter, tells The Better India. “When it rains, we take care of the small gullies to see where the water is flowing, to prevent landslides,” she adds.

That a man of Lall’s background chose to turn his back on a thriving life in the city to grow a forest was absurd to his friends. Visits to him were infrequent, because of the steep climb that must be completed before arriving at Jilling. “But the new Indian is different,” Lall says of the enthusiasm that the younger generation has to explore. “Things have changed a lot since 40-50 years ago. Initially, my guests would only be people from embassies or foreigners but now more than 90% of our visitors are Indians.”

Now that tourists are enjoying a spot like Jilling, the Lalls are approached by many who want to buy land in the area to build a home. “Everyone wants a house in the mountains,” Nandini says, adding, “But they also want the luxuries of a city life. Striking a balance is hard.”

“At first, it was just about keeping locals at bay. Now, we’ve got multimillionaires and affluent people in our neighbourhood buying up large tracts of land, who want to make it a posh city-like township. They want to make mansions and helipads.” Lall says. He adds, “We remain fearless and shall continue doing what we do.”

Alongside, Parvati has been fighting to keep kaala jhaad, also known as the devil’s weed, which is an aggressive type of weed, from threatening to destroy the ecosystem the Lalls have slowly spent time building. It arrived here a few years ago and has spread quite fast. In particular, horses in the area have been dying owing to a respiratory disease that is caused by ingesting the weed.

Guardian of the hills

When it comes to essaying the role of a chowkidar, Lall says he’s done many things to keep intruders out of Jilling, including chasing them down the small paths of the hills. “I scared the hell out of them,” he laughs. “See, they (the intruders) are all our own people at the end of the day. If I were poor and without my own resources, I would also be looking at other ways to protect myself and earn a living. But our family is respected in the area. I don’t strut around and behave like a bully. The idea is that you approach the better side of the people, and hopefully, they respond the same. This has worked all these years,” he says.

In 2014, Lall’s estate was covered by English writer and adventurer Ben Fogle for the second season of the show, Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild. The show covered various people around the world who have left behind a thriving life in the city to find happiness in the countryside.

But is a quiet life in the hills boring? “Never,” Lall says. “I have a multitude of interests that keep me occupied.” These include Lall’s favourite motorcycle, which he has used to travel to various parts of the country to visit his friends. These bike rides had to take a backseat after Lall got into an accident a few years ago. Regardless, he engages in reading, playing instruments, engaging with guests in the estate, and in other activities, and says he is never bored, never lonely.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lall and his wife were cut off from their extended family and friends for quite some time, and tourism prospects further decreased. But not a hint of bitterness can be found in his voice. Lall is a man of his convictions, and has not strayed from the cause he felt so strongly for, ever since he was a child. Today, Jilling — lush, green, and thriving — stands as a result of the dedicated efforts of one family.

Edited by Yoshita Rao

In mid-2000, Lovepreet Kumar was yearning for open roads sans traffic jams, rickety cycling trips, unadulterated food, pollution-free air, a meditative experience and a house in the hills. He was a software architect at the time, and constantly thought about escaping a mundane life in the city.

Unlike those of us who limit our wanderlust desires as soon as reality hits, Lovepreet took the plunge in 2012, and moved to Ramgarh, a village in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district. He purchased a 2.5 Naali (1 Naali = 240 square yard), built a house and reserved some area on his plot for farming.

It was a combination of reasons that pushed Lovepreet and his wife, Preeti to leave Gurugram to lead a quaint and peaceful life in the hills. “I wanted to free myself from the clutches of a 9-5 corporate job. My hectic job at an MNC left me with very little time to enjoy and appreciate much else. Besides, I wanted to live in a healthy environment with clean air, food, and water. I was done with the rat race, and wanted something that could resonate with me,” Lovepreet tells The Better India.

As for Preeti, leaving behind a comfortable life was scary, but something she was willing to try. “Who doesn’t love the idea of escaping their hectic routine? But I was apprehensive about adjusting to the climate, slow pace of life, and absence of amenities. Fortunately, because of Lovepreet, I fell in love with nature.”

But the couple was faced with several tough decisions, including choosing a school for their children, giving up on many materialistic aspects of life, and so on. Lovepreet and Preeti have been actively sharing their experiences and learnings from their new home on their YouTube channel, Punjabi Trekker.

Making the move

Lovepreet’s fascination with the hills and mountains began in 2006, when he took a trip to Shimla with Preeti. Awed by the breathtaking vistas, he began taking more trips thereafter. He would judiciously utilise his leaves from work, and drive from Gurugram to Uttarakhand with Preeti. He had found the time to explore lesser-known locations across Uttarakhand, and a partner who was as adventurous as he was. But his discontent was growing.

In 2008, Lovepreet quit his job and took up freelancing opportunities that allowed him flexible working hours and the ability to work from anywhere in India. During one of his trips, he spontaneously rented a house in the region.

“After returning from the trip, Lovepreet told me he had rented a house and was going to shuttle between Delhi and Uttarakhand. By this time, I had gauged his love for the hills, and the house only affirmed it. We would visit the house during our children’s vacation from school. After a few years, I was ready to move there permanently” Preeti says.

In 2012, they purchased a property in Ramgarh, a village with a relatively low population. For the next few years, Lovepreet shuttled between his house in Gurugram and Ramgarh. In 2018, Preeti and the two kids joined him permanently. They enrolled their son and younger daughter in a public school in the area.

The couple has designed the house in a way that resonates with their philosophy of sustainability and minimalism. It has pinewood flooring and roofing, small windows at various intervals, a studio-like kitchen in the living room, and overlooks a beautiful cliff, allowing ample sunlight in.

Lovepreet strongly suggests experimenting with the idea of living in the hills before making life-changing decisions such as purchasing land or quitting a job.

‘Keep yourself busy’

With unpredictable WiFi, cellular network and limited entertainment options, getting bored (or even frustrated) is a common phenomenon, says Lovepreet. Thus, having an activity that keeps you busy is a must. The couple found solace in farming.

Unlike Lovepreet, Preeti, who is originally from Haryana, has agrarian roots. However, she had never tried her hands at farming, “Our main aim was to consume organic and healthy food. So, we collected some seeds and began growing,” says Preeti.

Ramgarh falls under Kumaon, a region that is favourable to fruit trees. The couple started by growing peaches. This was followed by apple, maple, walnuts, pumpkin, malta, apricot, plum, oranges and sweet limes.

“The main produce in fruits are peaches, and we have around 150 peach trees, each producing up to 40 kilos. We also have five plums, four apples, two apricots, one walnut, three deodar and four oak trees,” says Lovepreet. The peach trees are also a revenue-generation source for the couple. Each tree gives around 40 kilos of peach, and they sell per kilo from anywhere between Rs 150 and Rs 400.

The farmland also has vegetables including bottle gourds, tomato, potato, cucumber, okra, french beans, rajma beans, radish, brinjal and other seasonal items for self-consumption.

“For me, farming is like meditation. I forget my worries while working with the soil and plants. It brings me immense satisfaction to know we’re maintaining good health and consuming organic food. We use spring water for farming, which enhances the taste and health benefits of produce,” Preeti says.

Joy in the little things

Lovepreet proudly reveals that the family’s overall expenses have drastically reduced as they have stopped chasing “unnecessary” things.

“We don’t have superstores or shopping malls, where one goes to buy one item but ends up buying multiple things they may not even need. The cost of living is less in a village compared to the city, as groceries are cheaper. We get wheat flour at Rs 28/kilo in the hills, in contrast to Rs 45 in Gurugram. Besides, the quality of produce here is better, as it comes directly from farms. Medical expenses are negligible, as we live close to nature. Likewise, electricity and water bills are very low,” Lovepreet says.

As for the family’s health and well-being, the biggest difference they have noticed since moving to the hills is in their son’s migraine issue. After moving here, he no longer gets headaches. The family’s endurance levels have also improved.“The hills are our gym. Our exercising routine entails working on the farm and running daily in the fresh air. We feel more energetic,” says Preeti.

Lovepreet feels like he is finally out of the rat race.

Summarising the overall experience of living in the hills, Lovepreet and Preeti say it’s the small joys in their daily routines that keep them going. “Whether it is feeding rice to the birds in the morning, taking a stroll near a stream during sunset, learning about the local culture and listening to historic tales, or spending time with our Hachi, our Husky, we have experienced unparalleled joy every day,” says Lovepreet.

As for their children; they will move in with their joint family in Gurugram after they complete Class VIII. However, Lovepreet and Preeti are content knowing that their kids have learned valuable life lessons.

Edited by Divya Sethu

On 7 February 2021, Uttarakhand suffered a devastating natural disaster when a portion of a glacier broke off in Joshimath, Chamoli district, causing a glacial lake outburst flood, according to the Associated Press news agency. The deluge killed over 30 people, washed away an entire village, destroyed livelihoods, cut of remote villages and damaged two power projects — NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project. Amid all this tragedy, the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) called upon startups like EndureAir Systems, an IIT-Kanpur-incubated company, to assist in search and rescue operations in Joshimath. Using their fleet of indigenously developed advanced drones, the EndureAir team performed search operations in the disaster-hit area to look for survivors. They also inspected the hydel power project sites to assess the extensive damage done by the flood.

This is the first time in India that startups were called to assist first responders to a natural disaster. This endeavour not only benefited the rescue operations but also gave valuable feedback to startups like EndureAir on how to further adapt the technologies to make them more useful and user-friendly for disaster management. Speaking to The Better India, Dr Abhishek (no last name), an associate professor at IIT-Kanpur and co-founder of EndureAir Systems, talks about how they assisted the NDRF, the challenges they endured and what they learnt through this endeavour.

The Call That Came Too Late

“Our team landed in Joshimath only on 10 February. A day before, our team started preparing for the task ahead, but there was initially some confusion about whether we were needed or not. I think the NDRF wasn’t fully aware of the extent of technology available with us and thus unaware of how to best use expertise from EndureAir and other such startups. But, on the initiative of AGNIi – Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations – a programme of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, the NDRF gave us the green signal and we were airlifted the next day,” says Dr Abhishek.

Just a month prior to the disaster, EndureAir did a demonstration for the NDRF, where they showcased their high-endurance unmanned helicopter drone called Vibhram, which can carry a 5kg payload and fly for 80 minutes. The drone can play a dual role in surveying a disaster area and reach any survivor who may need food, water or as a communication device.

“I think nobody in India has developed a drone that can fly this long, carry such payloads and meet both requirements at the same time. Meanwhile, our smaller drones weighing 100-200 gms can be used for surveillance. On the ground, we brought in a lot of our smaller drones because we reached ground zero at a much later stage when the water had receded. The need to reach survivors was no longer there except for those stuck inside tunnels in Tapovan and other areas. Many people were reportedly stuck inside these tunnels and it was tough for the authorities to figure out if there were any survivors left. But our team was not allowed to enter the tunnel due to the misadventures of some other startup that had gone before us. Also, by that time, there was no hope of finding any survivors,” he notes.

One of the common themes running through our conversation was how the NDRF should have called them earlier with a proper briefing on how to proceed.

“For example, we found that flying a small drone inside an enclosed area where there is no GPS signal is very hard to manoeuver. These drones often crash into walls. But at IIT Kanpur, we had already developed GPS-denied navigation systems. If we were given the right kind of support and instruction, we could’ve been ready with solutions for immediate use. We can create sensor networks there that can be used to navigate our drones autonomously in enclosed areas and go deep inside these tunnels. Similarly, when we joined the rescue operations there were no more survivors to be found. If we were called earlier, maybe we could have garnered some positive results,” claims Dr Abhishek.

Lessons For The Future

Although their search for survivors yielded limited success, EndureAir used smaller drones to fly very close to the dams that were damaged. They created very high-quality videos of the whole structure to help engineers obtain a clear perspective of the extent of the damage.

“We could give the authorities a very detailed presentation on the damage caused to the hydropower plants and river banks there. Our drones flew very close to the damaged equipment, took very clear shots, videos and gave the authorities a proper assessment of the damage done with our Micro-Drones (installed with a high-resolution digital camera with onboard 4K recording and long-range analogue video transmission capability up to 5km LOS) and Surveillance Quadcopter Drones (installed with a 3-axis stabilized 4K resolution camera and backed by 30 minute endurance with camera payload),” claims Dr Abhishek.

Having said that, this was the first time in India when startups were called to assist first responders in the event of a natural disaster. Every natural disaster presents its own set of challenges, but by involving startups on the cutting edge of indigenous technology, the government allows them to get the big picture at the early stage.

“In exposing our drones to a crisis, we received the right sort of inputs on things we needed to improve. Without such exposure, it wouldn’t have been possible. For example, they were happy with the 5 kg payload capability of our Vibhram fully autonomous helicopter UAV, but also expressed a need for drones that could carry 10 kg payloads. We have a system that can lift 10 kgs and fly for 2 hours, but it hasn’t been fully developed. It’s still in the prototype and testing stage, although we will keep their request in mind,” he says.

Apart from these, EndureAir is also developing some unique high-speed systems which could be used for the supply of emergency services to remote regions. It’s a very simple and reliable design and can even be operated in populated areas.

“This can reach speeds of 120 kmph. We are also in the process of developing a bigger version of the same 5 kg payload carrying drone called the Quadrotor Bi-plane Tailsitter UAV that can carry 10-20 kg payloads over longer distances. This can be relevant for transporting vaccines or other medical and healthcare equipment to remote areas,” he adds.

Key learnings for companies

Following their work with the NDRF, EndureAir submitted a detailed report to AGNIi laying out areas to improve on and how better coordination with the government can be achieved.
Among the list of recommendations, two key points stood out.

One dealt with “greater focus on increasing the ease of operations with their drones”. They felt that the drones in the current version can only be “operated by someone with technical background” and “to make it useful for the NDRF with minimal training will require some more development”. Secondly, the “Drona maps faced issues with transmitting the data back to their main server where the computing for 3D map stitching takes place”.

This delayed their operations significantly. Now they will “come up with a solution to not depend on mobile networks for their operations”.

Meanwhile, EndureAir is convinced that had they been called earlier, they could have proven to be much more useful in assisting with search, relief and rescue operations.

“Our gasoline helicopter (Vibhram) which can lift 5kg for 1 hour could have been useful for multiple missions. The task of delivering emergency supplies to the villagers on the opposite mountain with no contact to the mainland could have been very easily achieved with this drone. This particular task is currently being carried by full size helicopter. As this is the only line of sight operation, the whole village could have gotten supplies at the Tapovan site within 3hrs. The same task was performed by ground teams after building the trolley bridge, which took 4 days to construct. Also, in building those trolley bridges, ropes are needed to be transferred to the other side of the river, which can be done with heavy lift drones,” the company notes in its report to AGNIi.

Should the government engage more startups? “Absolutely,” notes Dr Abhishek. “As a startup, you’re a problem solver. When you’re at ground zero, the challenges are very different from what you may imagine in your offices. This was a great opportunity and an eye-opener as well. It helped us understand what we needed to work on in our research and development process,” he adds.

Looking Ahead

Incorporated in 2018, the co-founders at the IIT-Kanpur incubated startup had been engaged in drone development for quite some time, although it really picked up in 2019. Initially, they were hoping that an existing established company would come forward, test their technology and commercialise it. However, when it didn’t happen, the co-founders realised that if they wanted people to use their technology in the real world, they must do it themselves.

“Development of these drones for the market has been happening for the past year and a half. We sold our first drone last week. But in the future, our sincere hope is that next time government agencies like the NDRF call us, we will be better prepared,” says Dr Abhishek.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

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As a child, Jagdish Kudiyal from Sirkot village of Dehradun always saw a spring flowing along with his ancestral fields and tea gardens. Surrounded by dense greenery, the spring, locally called gadera, served as a water source for the villagers.

However, growing up over the years in Kumaon valley, the 55-year-old also witnessed the environment deteriorating around him. There was rampant tree felling in the area which drastically reduced the green cover. This further impacted the groundwater table and the natural spring flowing through the year.

In the early 1990s, Jagdish became inspired by the Chipko movement. He decided to help repair the damage himself caused to the environment by planting saplings. Jagdish took the responsibility upon himself and started the initiative.

However, his individual efforts did not live up to his expectations, as the saplings fell victim to cattle grazing, animal stomping and youngsters destroying it for fun.

However, the relentless work of a single man persisting for 30 long years revived a spring. It became a reliable drinking water source to 400 families in the village. His success saw praise by the governor and even earned him a ‘kudos’ in PM Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat.

To Plant Hundreds of Trees

Jagdish tells The Better India, “The spring began drying up in the 1990s, and I could see it shrinking over the years. I learned that planting trees would help rejuvenate it as the roots have water holding capacity and become a source of water pockets to last through the year.”

The farmer and grocery store owner says that he planted hundreds of trees until 2000, and hardly some survived due to the damages. “The spring was reduced to a small water line by then, and a different approach was needed. Hence, I started growing tea plantations around the spring area,” he adds.

He also hired labourers to take care of the tea garden. “This served two purposes. One was to maintain the garden and the other to protect the trees from damage. The approach worked. Slowly, the trees grew. I continued planting saplings of native species in and around the area,” he says.

Jagdish observed the first signs of the revival of the spring in 2012. The size of the water channel widened, and the water flow increased as well. “It encouraged me and the locals started accessing small amounts of water from it. I also planted trees in other parts of the village to help increase the groundwater table,” he says.

Gopal Dutt Shakeel, a resident from the village, says, “The villagers consume the spring water and use it for irrigation. The massive tree plantation drive helped recharge the groundwater. The other villages have also appreciated his efforts.”

Jagdish says that he must have planted at least 15,000 trees in the past 30 years. “I plant hundreds of trees every monsoon. Last year, about 2000 trees dried up as there was less rainfall. But I continue my efforts,” he adds.

When asked about what kept him, Jagdish replies, “I believe in good karma. I help widows with their livelihood, pay school fees for children who can’t afford it, among other social work. I never received any help from the government or anyone else for my work. It was my wish to contribute to the betterment of the environment.”

About receiving appreciation from PM Modi, Jagdish says it was unexpected. “I will not deny that I was happy. A Doordarshan reporter covered my work, and that must have reached the PM. The praise gave me satisfaction for the work done,” he adds.

Jagdish has become a local celebrity, so much so that the neighbouring villages have also approached him, seeking help rejuvenating natural springs around them.

Edited by Yoshita Rao

In Uttarakhand’s Bandasari village, Nirmala Devi Pawar, along with 10 other women, produces, packages, and sells organic wheat flour, gram, pulses, rhododendron juice and other products. “We collect the produce, clean it and package it to sell to tourists and locals. On a good day, I earn Rs 2,500 as profits,” the 50-year-old says.

Like Nirmala, around 100 women across five villages in the Bhadrigaad range, which comes under the Uttarakhand Forest Department, are involved in various jobs to generate livelihood. This is all thanks to the efforts taken by Forest Range Officer Medhavi Keerti (30), who conceived Dhatree (which means mother), an initiative for women empowerment. Dhatree has helped women increase their income by almost ten times. The initiative was launched in May 2020, wherein a few women were roped in to source locally available material and turn it into organic, natural and chemical-free products.

Understanding the hardships of a woman

“My father passed away when I was young, and my mother shouldered the entire responsibility of the family. I have seen her toil and work hard to educate and allow me to become a forest officer,” Medhavi tells The Better India.

She adds that having understood and seen the hardships and sacrifices faced and made by women, she knew their empowerment was essential. “Four months after I joined the services, I discussed the idea with Divisional Forest Officer Kehkashan Naseem. The officer agreed, and we began training women in various skills,” Medhavi says.

The initiative began in Budgaon village, with 25 women undergoing training in making turmeric soap, cosmetics, incense sticks, oils from medicinal plants, shampoos, and other products from locally available raw materials.

“All of the agriculture produce, such as rajma, dals, or cereals, is organic and chemical-free. Many farmers here cannot afford chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the first place. In October, a store by the name of Dhatree was opened to house over 100 products,” says Medhavi. She adds that the initiative was an instant hit. Women earned thousands of rupees during the festive season of Diwali.

Among them was Shalini Bhandari. “I sold incense sticks, idols and other items made from cow dung. Initially, the sales were slow, and I would earn around Rs 8,000 a month. But now I register a business of Rs 1 lakh,” she says.

The 21-year-old adds that the line of work serves best, as women do not have to migrate for work. “Many women marry at a young age and become busy with house chores. They are unable to seek any opportunity to become financially independent. Men often discourage women from exploring employment opportunities. Hence, the initiative helps make women financially secure,” she adds.

The more, the merrier

Dhatree’s success soon spread to other villages, and many women approached Medhavi to be part of the initiative. “I started getting calls from women who expressed their wish to learn the skills we were teaching,” Medhavi says, adding, “The products made by women across all villages are sold under a single brand, Dhatree. The forest department’s role is limited to marketing and establishing the supply chain.”

She adds that it is not that such business models never existed. “But the experiment had never been tried at a collective and professional scale. The women sold juices, jams and extracts of rhododendron and other materials on a small scale. But they were not hygienic and did not market their products professionally. The improved skills helped upscale and earn better,” Medhavi says.

She adds that men in these villages have also become a part of Dhatree, and are helping women procure raw materials and providing any assistance needed in production.

Despite the new zeal and confidence, Medhavi says that it was difficult to convince women to join the initiative initially. “They were apprehensive about how successful this initiative would be. They were also doubtful that tourists and villagers would want to buy their products. But our initial success removed these fears,” she adds.

The women are now working to make eco-friendly plates from leaves and receiving training to prepare dyes from natural materials such as flower petals and leaves. “We are calling the brand Tikri, named after the village it started in,” Medhavi says.

Medhavi’s efforts have earned her the popular tag of ‘Ranger Didi’ among the women.

Edited by Divya Sethu

In Madhya Pradesh’s Shahpur Khurd village, Kavita Singh is busy cutting her freshly harvested sikiya variety of rice, which stands tall at 1.5 metres on her three-acre field. Judging from the heavy-looking grains and tillers (stems produced by grass), Kavita predicts this is going to be her best-ever harvest in terms of yield. The high yields are also reflected in her other crops, including maize, mustard and chickpeas. 

Her situation, she says, was very different three years ago. At that time, she was growing only rice in a cramped space and shallow water, just like other farmers in the Panna district region. While she was planting more seeds per square metres in the conventional method, the yield was less than what she gets now.

“Initially, I was hesitant to adopt a new technique that required planting fewer crops. I thought it would be a waste of space, in addition to being more labour intensive. But the staggering results painted a different picture,” Kavita tells The Better India. 

Kavita uses a farming technique called System of Rice (or Root) Intensification (SRI), which requires less water and seeds, but doubles the output. The system, which was invented in Madagascar in the 1980s, centres on mitigating chemical fertilisers and thereby improving soil, groundwater and nutrients. The method was developed by Henri de Laulanie, a French Jesuit priest and agronomist, and taken around the world by Professor Norman Uphoff, director of the International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development at Cornell University. 

Kavita was introduced to this technique by Debashish Sen, director at the People Science Institute (PSI). In 2006, he and his team of agri-experts began training farmers based in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

“The rice plants are kept alternately wet and dry instead of being flooded. The spacing between each plant provides more oxygen, and minimises the competition between plants for nutrients and sunlight. This makes them more resilient to flood and drought. SRI came to India in the 2000s, and when we first learned about it, we started with just paddy cultivation. Gradually, we executed the technique on other crops, including wheat, maize and pulses, to name a few,” Debashish tells The Better India. 

According to him, PSI has helped close to 50,000 farmers switch from conventional farming methods to SRI in the last 15 years. PSI is a non-profit research and development organisation that provides technical knowledge and guidance to farming communities to promote a sustainable livelihood. 

The Better India speaks at length with Debashish to understand SRI, its process and benefits, and why it can be a long-term sustainable solution without burning a hole in a farmer’s pocket.

How it works 

The most vital aspect of SRI, which determines its success, is transplanting the plants to the field when they are 7-8 days old (2 leaves per seedling), in contrast to 30-60 days in a conventional method. Another important step is giving water at critical stages of the growth cycle. Even though the system can be more labour intensive, as was Kavita’s experience, the exceptional results cover the labour costs.

Here’s the step-by-step process: 

1. Develop nursery beds to raise seedlings. Apply manure around the seedling and mulch it with paddy straw or any agro-waste. Water it daily till two leaves appear. You can use gunny bags for germination as well. 
2. The process of land preparation is similar to that in the conventional method. Make sure you level the land so that water is applied evenly. Mark the places where seeds will be sown, so that they are equidistant. 
3. Depending on the seed variety and soil conditions, plant the seedlings at a distance of 25 cm or ten inches on the main field. If the soil is nutritious, increase the spacing. 
4. Use organic fertilisers like jeevamrutha, panchgavya, and so on, thrice for healthier and faster growth. 
5. Since there are fewer seedlings, the weed growth is faster. Keep removing them. 
6. Due to alternate drying and wetting of land, the water usage is cut down by 40-50%. It also increases microbial activities. 
7. Since younger seedlings are shorter in height, they need less water. Just wet the soil in the beginning, and water only when you see cracks. 

Advantages and challenges

PSI’s pilot project was carried out in 2006 in three villages of Uttarakhand. Twelve farmers were roped in, and saw their yield increase by 50-100%. Seeing these results, 60 more came on board the year after. By the fourth year, the number had touched 1,000. At this point, civil society organisations and state agriculture departments extended financial support. 

“We didn’t find success at the very beginning. Convincing farmers to shed their traditional practices and to trust us was hard. Some left SRI in between, stating that alternate drying isn’t feasible as the land was rain-fed. Our package didn’t suit all farmers, so we had to tailor the process as per their requirements. We identified farmers who were willing to take a risk and innovate to inspire other farmers, and the strategy worked,” Debashish explains. 

The biggest takeaway for Debashish and his team was realising that farmers are the real scientists, he says. They have to research weather, soil fertility, and crop variety every day to ensure a decent outcome. Debashish once found a farmer in Himachal Pradesh putting less water than required. Upon inquiry, the farmer said the irrigation water that came directly from the stream was cold, which would damage the younger seedlings. Debashish wouldn’t have realised it, given that he wasn’t actually farming himself. Another lesson he learned was using varieties that need a shorter duration to harvest. 

In 2008, when the system was implemented beyond rice cultivation, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were experiencing drought-like conditions. Yet, the yield was high as compared to the conventional method. For example, the yield of maize had risen by 35%, and pulses by 25%. Rajma saw a jump of 50%. 

Collective farming is another impactful change that has occurred, says Vinod Niranjan, a master trainer of PSI based in Panna. He has trained close to 1,000 farmers on SRI over the last eight years. 

“Farmers practising SRI in a particular region realised each of them excel in a particular activity, such as sowing, cutting or mulching. In some regions, one farmer will sow in another’s fields, and another farmer will return the favour by doing something else. Even collective nurseries came up. They grow the seedling in a common nursery, and from there, transplant it to their respective fields,” says Vinod. 

The benefits of SRI are many, from grain productivity enhancement, low input costs, increased incomes to drought resilience. If small-scale farmers like Kavita across India implement it, and their yields increase even by 20-30%, SRI could go a long way in mitigating farmers’ distress.

Edited by Divya Sethu

It’s close to 10.30 am on 15 April, 2021, and Harikrishnan and Lakshmi are relishing their piping hot tea in Rishikesh. Today is their fourth day in the city of sacred rivers and mountains, and they have just ticked off river rafting on their bucket list. 

Despite low network coverage and the occasional noises of vehicles passing by, the couple is enthusiastic about discussing their road trip experiences across eight states — Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We started the trip from our house in Thrissur, Kerala after quitting our respective jobs in October 2020. The pandemic had stalled our plan to travel to Thailand on a bike, so we channeled our travelling bug to a lesser ambitious car trip in India. Our original plan was to return home in two months, but after seeing the breathtaking beauty of the places we visited, and experiencing the warmth of people and mouthwatering food, we decided to extend our trip. Each corner of India has something different to offer,” Harikrishnan  (31) tells The Better India. 

The couple have chronicled their journey through travel vlogs on their YouTube channel, ‘Tinpin Stories’, under their series, ‘Living the car life in India’. Yes, their car doubles up as their home while on the road. The idea is to live, sleep and travel in this vehicle in order to make this a budget-friendly journey, especially considering that the Indian economy has taken a serious hit due to the pandemic. 

They have already covered a distance of more than 10,000 kilometres, and are well within their budgetary confinements (Rs 2,50,000). At present, their earnings come from freelancing and their monetised YouTube channel. 

A makeshift home

Under any other circumstances, the trip may seem impressive. But against the backdrop of a pandemic, it raises several disclaimers, the foremost being the safety from coronavirus, followed by incessant lockdowns, border closures, and availability of food. To tackle these issues, the couple modified their car, made it self-sufficient and were flexible enough to alter routes. 

“We have always been fond of traveling, and after our marriage, had gone to Thailand. That’s when we created our channel and posted our first vlog.

A single-burner stove, a five litre cooking cylinder that can be refilled, and three 20-litres plastic cans for drinking and non-drinking chores have been neatly accommodated in the car. The couple refills the cans and cylinder during layovers.  

Their makeshift home has been a blessing, especially when there are curfews, or when eateries are shut due to COVID-19. On most days, they have cooked only during the day, and that too, only basic food like rice. The food made in the morning is used for other meals as well. In the night, they park the car in petrol pumps or public places for safety reasons and use public toilets for bathing. 

The couple has booked a hotel once and stayed at a relative’s house during the six-month journey. “In Kashmir, it was too cold to sleep inside the car, and in Rajasthan, we had to live at a relative’s place due to the curfew. Overall, the trip has been pleasant. Our biggest takeaway from this has been learning to live with minimal needs. You don’t need to visit supermarkets, malls or shops constantly to fulfil your needs. It can be done with most basic necessities,” says Harikrishnan. 

Collecting memories

The couple strictly adheres to their mantra of themselves learning about a place’s history, culture and traditions while travelling, instead of relying on locals to guide them. For example, they read about Lonar Lake in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district in advance, and how it was created by a meteorite collision. Usually, people visit conventional places such as Mumbai and Pune while visiting the state, but their homework helped them discover this lesser-known but magnificent place. Likewise, they were stunned by the handicrafts in villages of Kutch. 

In Jaipur, they met Padma Shri awardee R K Derawala for his work in Bagru block printing. His grandson, Manu, gave them a tour of their printing factory. They also unexpectedly stumbled across Indian Coffee House where legendary painter M. F. Husain drank coffee in the pink city. 

They visited India’s last village, Chitkul in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, which is 11,320ft above sea level. They made khichdi in temperatures as low as -10°C, which they say is one of their most treasured memories. The next morning, they visited the Indo-Tibetan border, and then drove for an hour to meet India’s first voter, 104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi in Kalpa village. 

In terms of cuisine, they have tried every regional dish, including Sachin Tendulkar’s favourite breakfast, the famous Kolhapur Bawda Misal at a local restaurant. In Gujarat, fafdas and jalebis came to the rescue. 

And finally, their encounters with people from different communities was their most enriching experience. Whether it was a father-daughter duo that gave them a free boat ride around the Hanging Bridge in Karnataka, the girls in a Rajasthan village welcoming them with their famous phrase ‘Padharo Mhare Desh’, a Kutch family that invited them to spend the night at their home or their interactions with the Siddi tribes of African ethnicity in Yelapur, Karnataka — they experienced immense outpouring love and kindness from strangers.

Their weekly videos and pictures are a testimony to this. The way they have shot and edited videos are engaging and hold a narrative. No wonder their subscribers shot from 10,000 to 1,00,000 in just a couple of months. 

You can watch their vlogs here. 

Edited by Divya Sethu 

Edward James Corbett paints a picturesque landscape of Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region in a book. He describes a place from where Nainital, Bhimtal and Sattal lake can be seen from atop a hill.

The book was released around the 1930s but it was only some 70 years later when Padmini, owner of Retreat homestay, found out that her homestay is the only place from where this view was visible.

“I don’t remember the book’s name but it was a private edition with around 300-500 copies. As far as my knowledge goes, there are only 2-3 copies in the world and one of them was at the Jind estate where SOS Children’s Village NGO operated. I had read the book in 1980s when my father was a director. Based on the description, it is safe to conclude that Jim Corbett stayed at the guest house some decades ago,” Padmini tells The Better India.

The Retreat homestay holds several fascinating tales like these with famous personalities having visited the house.

The family recalls that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had also once visited his scenic colonial house nestled between deodar and oak trees. More recently, director Shekhar Kapoor lived here for three months in 2020. Interestingly, some parts of his movie ‘Masoom’ (1983) are shot at this house.

“This 154-year-old house has hosted diplomats from around the world over the years. We have had author Bruce Chatwin as well. It was only in 2011 that we opened it for the general public. Since then we host an average of over 100 guests annually,” adds Padmini.

The house was originally a tea estate that was converted into a homestay by Padmini’s father-in-law, Frederick Smetacek. He hailed from the Sudetenland, a German-speaking enclave that was part of Czechoslovakia.

His journey to India, particularly Bhimtal is an interesting story that involves Adolf Hitler and Tipu Sultan.

Way before Kumaon was recognised by its lakes and mountains around India, Frederick had made Bhimtal his home. His presence drew attention from people around the world and put the quaint albeit charming town on the tourism map.

A Tryst With History

In 1853, a tea estate spread over a thousand acres was sold to British planters. Almost a century later, Colonel Bertram Owen Jones owned it. He later sold it to Frederick in partnership with Major General Madan Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana and the Rani of Balrampur.

But Frederick’s entry into India was a dramatic one. He had fled the Nazis after an unsuccessful assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler before the Second World War. He sailed to India and settled in then Calcutta. Here he met his wife, Shaheda Ahad who was a descendant of Tipu Sultan.

Just a year before Partition, the couple moved to Naukuchiatal in Kumaon. And in 1951, he started a guest house for diplomats. The duo’s hospitality resulted in several diplomats visiting the house.

Frederick was fascinated with nature. An avid entomologist, he soon came to be known as the man with an extensive collection of butterflies and moths. His and his son Peter’s collection is available at the Butterfly Research Centre.

Frederick dipped his toes into several professions, from business to agriculture. He even stopped the commercialisation of timber from the forest despite having the permissions for conservation purposes.

“He planted several trees and orchards in the forest area. We have deodar, oak, cypress, padam or wild cherry. Presently, we own a part of that forest whose trail has become a favourite among tourists,” says Padmini.

A Sustainable, Solitude Retreat

Built in the colonial style with large windows and openings, the house was constructed using local stone and mud. A mortar of clay, cow dung and straw was used to hold the stones together. Like the traditional Kumaon style of architecture, the walls are thick to make the property more energy-efficient.

The interior of the house will transport you to ancient times with period furniture, several antiques, paintings, old china and water jugs with cracks placed in different rooms. The silverware of the British Raj times is sometimes used to serve meals.

The guests are offered either Indian or Continental cuisine at additional costs.

“We prepare all kinds of meals — vegetarian, vegan, non-vegetarian, gluten-free, Jain and diabetic meals. We use locally sourced fresh ingredients and home-grown herbs to prepare a wholesome meal,” says Padmini.

The house makes for a perfect weekend getaway with lakes, trees and more importantly solitude in place.

“The best kind of holidays are the ones that allow you to get lost. In January 2020, armed with enough woollens we made our way to this quaint little cottage. The first word that comes to mind when you enter this place is how well hidden this gem is. Though this was a trip we took almost three years ago, I still remember how the food tasted! The freshly baked bread and local cuisine were absolutely the best we have had. Set deep inside the woods, this homestay is truly one of its kind,” says Vidya Raja, a resident of Gurugram.

Click here to check out The Retreat

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

How do you sell mushrooms to a community that believes they are poisonous?

At 22, Babita Rawat from Uttarakhand’s Umeral village, was faced with a similar question.

For her, the only motive to start farming was to care for her father. She had to start working by the time she turned 19 due to his ill health. With nine members to care for in the house, the financial responsibility fell on her shoulders.

“Due to my father’s heart issues, I had to learn the basics of farming and juggle my studies. I didn’t want my family to go under huge debt, so I decided to introduce new crops besides wheat and pulses on our 17 naali (an acre) of land,” she tells The Better India.

Resilience and determination are Babita’s strengths. Not only has she eradicated myths around oyster mushrooms in her village, but has also trained 500 more women to grow the fungi themselves.

“I approached the markets run by local governments and told them about my produce, which I had packaged properly. I spoke to customers directly and answered all their questions. This worked and soon the demand for mushrooms increased,” Babita, now 25, tells The Better India. Her first sale brought her a profit of Rs 1,000.

Juggling studies & farming

From learning to plough and sow on her own to attending training programmes conducted by the Agriculture Department, Babita prepared herself in many ways to introduce new techniques on her land. Alongside, she began dairy farming.

Her days started with ploughing the field, after which she would walk nearly 5 kilometres to attend college. On her way, she would sell milk. After returning home, she would visit her farm once again, or attend a training workshop. Evenings and nights were reserved for studying.

With the money she gathered from these, she decided to take the risk of adding more vegetables to her land — peas, okra, capsicum, brinjal, cabbage, onion, garlic, mustard, spinach, radish, and more.

With help from her father, brothers, and sisters, she also introduced organic fertilisers to eliminate use of chemicals, she says.

“We make vermicompost from cow dung and use it as manure for soil. We spray either neem oil or neem paste for nutrients and to keep pests away. Finally, jeevamrutha, a mixture of cow dung and cow urine, helps in strengthening the roots. It was only a simple switch, but it gave us great returns. Additionally, we saw changes in our health,” says Babita.

Next came a tiny polyhouse where she started growing tomatoes. In just one cycle, she harvested 1 quintal, which she says was almost twice of what the conventional way would give. The polyhouse maintains the required temperature throughout the year, so it is easy to have more than one cycle, she notes.

However, the best selling product became mushrooms, which interestingly, did not require high investments. Babita adopted an easy method to use stubble or agro-waste and soybean waste to grow one of the most healthy, albeit expensive foods in the Indian market. She began with an investment of Rs 500.

“I first soak the straw in water for a few hours to soften and remove dirt. After sterilising and drying it, I mix it with the seeds and deposit them in a polybag. After 2-3 weeks, the mushrooms start sprouting. My income from the crop alone is close to Rs 20,000 every cycle,” she says.

After experimenting in a small room of her house, she moved to an abandoned house in her village, where she conducts mushroom workshops from this house.

Rajni, a farmer in the village, underwent training under Babita last year, and was able to yield 12 kilos of mushroom in her first cycle. Each kilo fetched her around Rs 300, she says.

“Mushrooms are easier to grow when compared to vegetables and fruits. The investment is also less. Babita helped me get seeds and polybags and even gave me market linkages to sell my produce,” she says.

Babita’s training soon gained popularity in her district, and even in the neighbouring district of Chamoli, she says. As demand for organic seeds and plants from farmers, especially women, increased, she started her own nursery.

For her organic farming methods, the state government felicitated her with the prestigious Tilu Rauteli Award last year.

Over the years, Babita has inspired farmers in her village to shift their practices from single cropping to multi cropping while eliminating the use of chemicals. This includes Rajni, who is happy she does not have to spend money on purchasing fertilisers from outside.

Edited by Divya Sethu 

Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who holds several portfolios in Uttarakhand and he says, “It is my dream to transform the economy of the state.”

It is perhaps prudent to applaud the relentless efforts of Dr Sundaram in ensuring that forced migration from the hills is curtailed. Projects worth more than Rs 3,632 crore have strengthened the rural economy by giving a boost to the cooperative, farm and allied sectors.

Speaking to The Better India, Dr Sundaram says, “I come from a village called Thiruppathisaram in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. I pursued a degree in veterinary sciences and then went on to complete my Master’s in animal genetics and breeding from Tamil Nadu University. In 2001, I joined the civil service and was allotted to the Uttarakhand cadre.”

Being part of the administrative service allows one to reach many more people and serve the nation well, he says. Having worked on implementing several schemes in the state, he narrates the impact of a few.

Success in Horticulture

Dr Sundaram says, “The apples produced in Uttarakhand are now regarded as among the best in the market. With apple cultivation in the state covering 25,785 hectares and an annual production of over 62,000 metric tonnes, the major apple crop comes from Uttarkashi and Dehradun districts. More than 60 per cent of the fruit in Uttarakhand is produced in these areas.”

Now that apple cultivation has been established, Dr Sundaram says that the government wants to double the area under apple cultivation and is also moving the state’s 4.5 lakh farmers towards crop diversification to increase their income.

Mushroom cultivation, trout farming, aromatic plants, medicinal herbs, off-season vegetables, pulses, spices – all these are areas of focus for the state, he says.

Farm To Fodder Assistance

In the last three years, the total organic farming area in Uttarakhand, he claims, has witnessed a 23 per cent rise. “Out of the total agriculture area, 8 per cent of land was being used for organic farming in 2017 and this figure went up to 21 per cent in 2020.”

Even the number of farmers who have shifted to organic farming, he says, has seen a steady increase. In 2017-18, a total of 585 clusters with 2,92,50 farmers were involved in organic farming on 11,700 hectares of land. While in 2020-21, organic farming was being done by 4.59 lakh farmers on 2.18 lakh hectares of land.

Dr Sundaram says, “We have promoted organic farming through dedicated schemes of the Government of India, namely the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). The scheme provides end-to-end support to organic farmers. Farmers are provided handholding for all stages of production including certification and marketing. Farmers are also supported for post-harvest management including processing and packing.”

“In this way, highly comprehensive support has been provided to organic farmers.”

Speaking about the Uttarakhand’s Mukhyamantri Ghasyari Kalyan Yojna (MGKY), Dr Sundaram says, “I am particularly excited about the impact this scheme has had. The purpose of the initiative is to empower the rural women of the state by reducing their burden of fodder collection and venturing into other income opportunities.”

The scheme is tailored to address a particular issue that is widely prevalent in Uttarakhand. With a livestock population currently at 47.94 lakhs, more than 70 per cent of the state’s population earns its livelihood from farming and livestock. Adding to this, Dr Sundaram says, “Up in the hills, it is usually the women who undertake the work of animal husbandry. Close to 88 per cent of the farming population believes that it is their [women] burden to bear. This is not just physically taxing on the women but also an exhausting process.”

Anita Devi, from Mansuna in Uttarakhand who is one of the beneficiaries of the program, says, “Being a part of the scheme has resulted in our cattle getting better nutrition and that in turn means an increase in the milk output. Additionally, more milk to sell has resulted in better income for us. I have been speaking about the benefits and have also got many others into this scheme.”

Dr Sundaram also points to a study conducted in Almora according to which women engaged in collecting fodder often experienced extreme pain in their shoulders, upper back, lower back and knees.

The women involved in this job would travel up to 8-10 hours on foot in search of fuel and fodder.

Anita says, “Up until now, we had to undergo a lot of stress to go and collect fodder. Many times we have also been injured in the process. This has significantly reduced the dangers that came with having to go and collect the fodder.”

The MGKY policy implemented by Dr Sundaram reduces the need to collect fodder under difficult circumstances. An increase in the availability of fodder by using scientific resources and tools to preserve crop remains and forage has helped reduce environmental pollution caused by burning forage and increased the income of farmers by devising ways to improve their health and milk-producing abilities of cattle within the state.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

When environmentalist and Padma Shri winner Dr Anil Joshi, and his team, visited Uttarakhand’s Ramadi and Pulinda villages, they came across a unique dish for the first time. Dark pink in colour and sweet-sour in taste, this chutney had been made by the village people using buransh, or Rhododendron.

The dish sparked an idea for economic change. Dr Joshi’s organisation – the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO) – began training individuals and organisations in setting up processing units for the flower.

HESCO now regularly trains village women in making and selling buransh products. They claim the initiative helped bring buransh squashes and juices into mainstream tastebuds.

So what’s so special about this flower?

Besides being a beautiful ornamental plant known for its deep pink flowers, Rhododendron has immense horticultural value and is an integral part of Uttarakhand’s local economy. It’s an essential source of livelihood for women in particular, who regularly use it to produce a variety of juices, jams, honey, squash, chutneys, and more. It also finds immense value in traditional medicine, and its wood makes khukri handles, gift boxes, etc.

In particular, the R arboreum species is most prevalent in this region. Flowers bloom between February and April every year, and as per a report by Mongabay, 10-20 per cent of households in four Uttarakhand districts harvest and trade the flower.

Besides its peculiar colour and taste, buransh also offers many health benefits.

The flower contains phenolic compounds (known for being vital in defence responses) quercetin, coumaric acid, saponins, and tannins. It is also replete with amino acids, vitamins, organic acids etc. In particular, ursolic acid (found in the leaves) and quercetin have anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, anti-tumour, anti-viral, and anti-microbial properties.

Buransh is a nutraceutical (protects against chronic diseases) food for diabetes and related complications. These compounds also provide the flower with anti-diarrheal and anti-allergy properties. They also help in the treatment of gout and rheumatism. In addition, the presence of flavonoids can help alleviate cough, cold, fever, headaches, etc.

The Rhododendron tree’s roots also have alkaloids, terpenoids, reducing sugars, and anthraquinones. Alkaloids are often used as anaesthetics and for pain relief. Terpenoids offer similar relief and are replete with anti-parasitic properties.

The bark and the stem come with similar healing characteristics. One study says that the latter can help reduce the risk for excessive bleeding, hay fever, bronchial asthma, and cardiovascular diseases.

Like with any other food product, Rhododendron must also be used in moderation due to tannins, which, while known to prevent liver injury by inhibiting lipid peroxides, can also precipitate proteins and inhibit digestive enzymes and affect the utilisation of vitamins and minerals. When consumed in excess, the flower can also have intoxicating effects.

 

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A flower to elevate everyday dishes

Now that you’re aware of all the goodness that buransh offers, there’s a lot you can incorporate this sweet flower into — from squashes to mocktails and chutneys; the list is endless.

To get you started, we picked out a few recipes we’re sure you will enjoy:

Buransh Sharbat — a perfect respite from the hot, scorching summer

Ingredients:

• Fresh Buransh petals
• Sugar
• Lemon
• Black salt (optional)
• Water

How to prepare:

• Remember that all you need are the petals, so make sure you remove the stigma and stems. Wash the petals thoroughly.
• In a vessel, add water and the petals, and cook on a slow flame for about 30 minutes after the water begins boiling.
• Steep well, then let it cool for about 15 minutes. Then, strain the petals out so all you have is the juice, which would be deep red.
• Add the sugar and lemon juice.
• Continue slow cooking for about 20 minutes on a very low flame until the mixture becomes thick. Then, turn off the heat and let the liquid cool.
• Store it in an airtight glass container. Whenever you feel like stirring up a glass of this refreshing drink, add two spoons of the squash, some lemon, black salt if you enjoy it, and water.

Buransh chutney — a sweet and sour accompaniment to rice, parathas, and more

Ingredients:

• Five-six buransh flowers
• One bunch of coriander
• Half a bunch of mint
• Two tablespoons of chopped onion
• Two tablespoons of sesame seeds
• One teaspoon of chopped ginger
• Two teaspoons of lemon juice
• Half a teaspoon of honey
• Salt to taste

How to prepare:

• Wash the flowers, coriander and mint thoroughly.
• Blend the ingredients well.
• Toast the sesame seeds and add them to your blender.
• Now add the onions and ginger, and continue blending until you reach a chutney’s consistency.
• Move the mixture to a serving bowl, and add salt, lemon juice, and honey. Mix these well, and you’re good to go.

Buransh paratha — a healthy and beautiful twist to your favourite breakfast food

Ingredients:

• Two cups of wheat flour
• Half a cup of gram flour
• Half a cup of buransh flowers
• Chopped coriander
• Two tablespoons of chopped onion
• Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder
• One teaspoon of grated ginger
• Chopped green chillies (optional)
• Salt to taste

How to prepare:

• First, sieve the wheat and gram flours, and mix well.
• Now add all the other ingredients — buransh, onion, turmeric, coriander, ginger, chillies, and salt.
• Add water, and knead the dough till it becomes stiff.
• Cook with ghee like a regular paratha.
• Serve with dahi and pickle.

Sources:

‘Buransh: The delicious and intoxicating rhododendron juice of Uttarakhand’: Published by Pooja Bhula for DNA

‘These flowers are likely to climb up the Himalayas as temperature rises’: Published by Sahana Ghosh for Mongabay, India, on 2 July 2020

Kumar, V., Suri, S., Prasad, R. et al. Bioactive compounds, health benefits and utilization of Rhododendron: a comprehensive review. Agric & Food Secur 8, 6 (2019).

‘It’s The Season of Rhododendron’: Published by Ayandrali Dutta for Slurrrp, on 31 March 2022

‘The goodness of the Rhododendron arboreum’: Published by Surbhi Kapila for Media India Group, on 5 June 2017

Chung KT, Wong TY, Wei CI, Huang YW, Lin Y. Tannins and human health: a review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1998 Aug;38(6):421-64. doi: 10.1080/10408699891274273. PMID: 9759559.