Field trip report

Field trip report

Written by : Kaushika Nair 

Our first field trip from Srishti lead off on 15^th November 2012. Excited to travel to a hill station like Wayanad added to our anticipation. Known as the land of paddy fields, Wayanad is one of the most beautiful hill stations of India. Known for its lovely mist clad hill stations, sprawling spice plantations, luxuriant forests and rich cultural traditions, Wayanad is also home to some of the oldest known tribes in South India. We were 15 people including 2 facilitators and by the end of the 5-day course, I’m certain we all made the most of it. The trip has inspired me on my general approach to a new place or community.

 We started off from Bangalore on 15th at night by Kallada travels. By 6am, on 16th, we reached Kalpetta from where we took a local bus to go to M.S Swaminathan research foundation. After being served with breakfast, we all were taken to Uravu in Thrikkaipetta. It was around 15 kms from there. 

URAVU is a non-government organization working with people, governments and businesses to implement programs for sustainable employment and income generation in rural areas. We were taken around and shown how the NGO works broadly. We were also shown the different processes involved in the production of any handicraft, sculpture, weaving etc.

For the entire bamboo products they make, they utilize the raw bamboo from the locality because of its abundance and economic efficiency due to its close proximity.

On the second day we went to different clusters and interacted and learnt their ways of lives and work. (sneha, niravu, unarvu and soubhagya) There were around 16 SHGs spread all around the community.

On an average they earn about 150/- a day for the labor and it was thus, of no wonder that the workers were all women.  For a simple photo frame it was costing about 800/-in any store like fab India, with our prior knowledge when we went there the previous week. It definitely needs to be questioned on the paucity of salary these women attain.
The rate of women dropouts from the initial count is also questionable. They claim the reason to be due to women being married off and some due to allergies caused from the bamboo dust. The commoners need to be aware of the benefits of joining SHGs and how the thrift system and ‘kudumbashrees’ can help uplift their finance.

The third day we were on a leisure/study trip to Edakkal caves, Wayanad heritage museum and Soojipara waterfalls.  Edakkal caves located 27 kms from Kalpetta, showed us pictorial engravings of the pre-Harappan age. These carvings are certainly noteworthy for their rarity alone as there are very few places in India at which prehistoric drawings in stone have been found. It is not only their rarity, however, that makes the Edakkal carvings so important, but their quality and quantity which is also quite remarkable. As far as we can tell, they were probably created during the Neolithic period of the Late Stone Age and date from about 1000BC. In addition to the pictorial carvings, five ancient inscriptions have been identified of which two have been deciphered.
It is depressing to see how people have ruined the caves in some places trying to draw and engrave themselves. From the sight, I believe its imperative to preserve our history and that the least the officials could do is to get a glass covering for the entire surface of the caves, a railing   or something similar.
After lunch, we were then headed to the Wayanad heritage museum in Ambalavayal. It has one of Kerala's largest collections of the remnants of an era dating back to the 2nd century A.D. At the museum we could see articles as varied as clay sculptures, ancient hunting equipments like bows and arrows, stone weapons and other curios.
Though, I hate to admit; History was never boring to this extent until we visited this place. The articles and weapons displayed is sure to draw anyone’s fascination but in vain. The descriptions written in a piece of paper were all partially faded and hardly legible. The walls had cracked and so were the glass cases in which the articles preserved. It didn’t draw any attention due to its lack of information provision and dull atmosphere. Perhaps rebuilding their children’s park, addition of a couple of cafes and eateries, proper interactive information could help attract more people. 
After wards, the place we were all most looking forward to – Sooji para waterfalls. The scenic beauty of this cool place left us in boundless joy. We were ready to jump in the cold waters any moment. After we made merry at the falls and were set to go (closing time: 5pm), I found it quite requisite that they had a proper washroom for better use of the surrounding. The local guards and people took pride in taking care of the place and it seems they worship it as their goddess and hence to sustain it in the coming years, it should have clean restrooms constructed and maintained. This could in return increase the ecotourism rate and hence enhance the tourism economy.

The fourth day we went trekking to ‘manikunnu’ in the morning. We found numerous varieties of medicinal plants in the forest area that can be of profound use. Getting the aboriginal community well versed in the same field can help in the emergence of a new business opportunity. 
By afternoon, we went to an aboriginal school named as ‘kanavu’, in Cheengode. Set up by writer, activist KJ Baby, it follows the gurukul system and aims mainly at the indigenous children. The unconventional teaching methods include training in traditional performances and music, as well as martial arts (Kalarippayattu) training.
The method of teaching in ‘Kanavu’ was very much alike Srishti. But the school doesn’t run gainfully and doesn’t have enough no: of students. The reasons might be due to the lack of facilities, academics and because they are not government recognized. 

The last and final day we got to spend completely in uravu. We were given an opportunity to make a bamboo product from scratch. Divided into three groups: handicrafts, weaving and sculpting, we came up with shoe stand, key holders, masks, dart gun, lampshade etc. Shailaja chechi (sister in malayalam), was helping us with our lamp shade. With sheer hands on work, we got to learn a lot throughout. The dedication they showed on a prototype we were making was something I admired and would certainly try to build in myself. The ease of working with bamboo by these chechis, left us with jaw drops and  wide grins of embarrassment. Having worked on something so serious made us feel like professionals already!By evening, we were back to our dorms and it was time we left Uravu.

·     Having approached Uravu and different other aspects of the place through various perspective, I believe, popularising bamboo is very important for the sustenance of its craft. It can be done through many ways. There can be ad campaigns and the current handicraft designs can be improvised on and sold under the name of a famous shop (like fab India) initially until it becomes a sort after product.

     These people represent their clusters and go once in a while for bamboo festivals and exhibition around the country but still it has to be more widespread business. There has to be more ways of transportation and storage in other cities (starting form all metropolitan cities). Might as well try having mobile shops travelling around the country during the peak times. (Similar to musical bands performing around the world spreading image and getting fame).

Uravu is definitely a wonderful experience and I’m certain that anyone who has a wide range of interests would sure have something to look upon. Ranging from spices, coffee, tea, bamboo products, honey and herbal plants to history, waterfalls, earth dam, lakes, hills and forests.