Monthly Archives: May 2012

The village that wove clothes for Tipu Sultan, Indira

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Mandya:

Kodiyala village about 12km from Mandya city is famed for its community of weavers who have clothed royalty including the Mysore family and Tipu Sultan. The legacy continues even today.

History has it that about 160 families of the Padmashali community of weavers who migrated from Andhra Pradesh 300 years ago settled down in this village and started their profession. Soon their weaves caught the eye of the royal families around who placed orders for cloth, and thus began a long relationship between the community and the royals.

Some elders of the community said that Tipu Sultan who ruled from Srirangapatna was very fond of cotton cloth manufactured in Kodiyala village. He is said to have helped the Padmashali community by giving concessions in royal taxes and importing raw material from abroad.

Another proud memory for the weavers is of then prime minister Indira Gandhi who visited their weavers’ colony and was impressed with their handlooms and saris. “Leaders like Indira Gandhi former chief ministers Devaraj Urs and SM Krishna were seriously interested in our profession and village” said 80 year-old Narayanappa a weaver. “Impressed that 200 families of our village are running textile manufacturing units SM Krishna had ordered that an exclusive power line be drawn from Tubinakere power station for continuous power supply.” This is perhaps the only weavers’ colony in the state which is so privileged.

Weavers say they are not facing any problem. The market for their products is spread over the entire nation andthereis always a good demand. Neither is there a shortage of raw material and labour. “We are content with our profession. If the erstwhile kings hadn’t supported our ancestors and our profession was not encouraged by the government we may not have been so successful,” said Narayanappa. He claimed their material is of high quality. “We produce rich colourful saris and dhotis, with eye-catching motifs. We have switched to powerlooms and use polycotton thread” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Bangalore / by M K Madhusoodan and Rajendrakumar K R, TNN / April 26th, 2012

Saviours of native seeds

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Uncategorized

PRESERVING TRADITION: Gurusamy with his collection of native seed varieties. Photo: M.J. Prabu / The Hindu

Farmers like Gurusamy have been reaching out to their community

Inside a dingy and dark room of a house at Odayarpalayam village in Karnataka’s Chamrajnagar district, old earthen pots and worn-out plastic jars are lined up on ramshackle wooden shelves. Inside them are colourful beads and seeds, labelled neatly.

These are native seeds, painstakingly collected and documented by Gurusamy, a traditional seed collector and farmer, who has been in the business for the past 10 years.

P. Rajachar, Programme Officer of the Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (Myrada), says that thanks to Mr. Gurusamy’s efforts, hundreds of varieties of native seeds have been collected and distributed to farmers. These varieties are now grown on nearly 25 acres.

“I think there are more than 3,000 farmers in Karnataka who grow and maintain such seed varieties. We’ve a good network of suppliers who see to it that our bank balance [read seed bank] doesn’t go down,” adds the self-effacing farmer, who has sustained his efforts creditably.

His suppliers are mainly farmers who want to grow native varieties. “Mostly my suppliers are growers who are eager to preserve native varieties. While supplying seeds, I reach an informal agreement with them to give me back a portion of the seeds after the harvest,” says Mr. Gurusamy.

Seeds, symbols of fertility and vitality, have been a part of Indian culture and heritage for long; to a farmer they personify self-respect. In fact, long before hybrid seed companies set up shop and went commercial, the traditional farmer had saved his own seeds, swapped them with neighbours or exchanged them with others.

Mr. Gurusamy said:

“Sadly, this intimate knowledge of the farmer and his traditional wisdom have been systematically devalued by several scientists, who are keen to promote technologies and seeds that are not suited to a particular area or community.

“High-yielding seed varieties and chemical fertilizers and pesticides that came with the Green Revolution destroyed several indigenous seed varieties. As farmers stopped saving and exchanging seeds, and instead started buying them from the market, their native expertise became irrelevant and crop diversity suffered. In a land that once had several thousand varieties of crops, most of them are no more to be found.

“Farmers used to grow these, swap them with neighbours and preserve them for tough times. These seeds have beaten several odds. In fact, even today we’re able to hold out against the multinational seed companies that are trying to dislodge us and our collection.

“I normally do not charge for the seeds if the farmer desires to grow it in a small area, say, in his backyard. I simply request him to return a small portion of the seeds. But for those growing the crop on four to 10 acres, I charge a nominal amount. It could be anything between Rs. 5 to Rs. 20, depending on the seed one wants.”

There are four persons who help Mr. Gurusamy in his work. They go to various places in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to source seeds, and update and maintain a database of native growers.

“Like Mr. Gurusamy, C. Rudriah from Kadambur, C. Palaniammal from Bargur, V. Narayanan from Kottamallan, D. Mahesh from Kadatti, N. Alamma from Kottarai and B. Ambamani from Hongalvadi are some of the farmers who preserve and supply native seeds,” says Mr. Rajachar.

These people are simple farmers who cultivate on their meagre holdings. It is their interest in protecting local and native seed varieties that has turned them into seed saviours.

Mr. Gurusamy’s phone number is 09008167819; Mr. Rajachar’s is 09449203217.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> S&T> Agriculture / by M. J. Prabu / Chamrajnagar, May 02nd, 2012

 

Tracking 400-yr-old family roots in Indian milieu

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

While tracing one’s genealogical roots is all a rage in the West, it is yet to find traction in India, where tracingone’s ancestral roots is all but impossible. But that did not deter Claudius Pereira, who with help of his six siblings wrote a sprawling saga, Echoes in footprints, that dates all the way back to the 17th century. The book, set to be officially released on May 1, will also be released in the US and London.

The book, which mainly focuses on how Pereira’s father raised seven children as a single parent, starts in 1673, when Pereira’s ancestors were among those who came and settled down in India from France.

“My great great grandfather James Bernard Pereira wanted one of his sons to become a priest in Madras. But my great grandfather was sent back home by Father Superior who saw him play football and figured he should pursue that instead. But James was furious at his son and in his rage chopped his leg off,” said Claudius, who started working on the book in 2006, when he was visiting his siblings, as a way to keep the memory of his father alive.

His great grandfather never became a priest. He instead got married and had four children, one of whom became a priest. In order to trace his family’s at times tragic past, Claudius even went to London, to access the birth and death certificates of his great grandparents. “The British had kept impeccable records, so I found even the marriage certificate signed by my great grandfather,” he beamed. But it was through his grandparents that he got a wealth of information.

“My grandfather’s brother was a priest himself and he set up my grandfather and his wife. He was at that time a railway ticket collector and my father, Clarence Joseph, was one of six children,” added Claudius.

However the book centres on his father, and how his family over several generations merged spirituality with their circumstances. “I was three years old when my mother passed away. My father had to raise seven children by himself. My oldest sister, then 13, had to take up cooking and taking care of us. He had to pawn my grandmother’s jewellery to keep our family going,” he said.
Claudius’ father worked as a telephone operator in a gold mine.

“Due to conditions in the goldmines, he lost his hearing and developed severe asthma and my brother when he got older, joined a gold mine company as well, but by that time the gold mining business started declining,” he adds. The book also chronicles Clarence Joseph’s brief struggle with cancer in the early 90s.

“At that time they didn’t know much about it. Even right now we don’t really know what it was. But his struggle was brief and his death is chronicled in this book by my siblings,” he said. With religious overtones, the booklooks at its historic context and focuses more on familial struggles.

“This is our book about how we came up in life. How we weathered the struggles. Everyone will find some form of inspiration from this book,” he adds. However tracing one’s history in India is close to impossible, says Claudius. “Only few familieshad records. People here can only get pockets of their life history. But my research led me to people who were my cousins, but I didn’t even know existed!” he exclaims.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / Daily News & Analysis  / Home> Bangalore> Report / Place: Bangalore, Agency: DNA / by Aishhwariya Subramanian / Tuesday, May 01st, 2012