What does Samkamana Gamana mean?

Very loosely, as the blog name suggests, Sankamana Gamana means Shifting Pace. But, frankly I did not come across those two words together anywhere (would love to know if someone has!). But individually, each word has a lot of meaning.

Gamana: A Sanskrit word, it has usage in several Indian languages and means 'pace'. Literally it can be used for either 'going' or 'coming'. But based on the context, it can mean travel, movement, departure, walking, shifting. What it primarily symbolises is change in a physical sense.

Sankamana: This is a more complex word with many different and varied interpretations. Also, the word had usage in several ancient languages like Pali, Prakrit along with Sanskrit. Since it has very limited usage in Sanskrit, I assume it was primarily Pali. That could also be the reason why the word has many references in Buddhist scriptures. Some of the meanings include: going over (steps, bridge, passage, etc), move in a (undefined) direction, bringing change, being doubtful (Sanskrit).

So, I presume, when used together they would mean a careful, calculated, slow change in movement, a shift in pace (towards a positive direction).

For me it the slow change I am trying to bring in my life towards sustainability!

And then the mason said: Let there be gate!

Brian, one of my friends I bought the land with, and I have been traveling to Denkanikottai for the last two weekends, calling several masons, hardware shops, real estate brokers in an attempt to get a gate fixed at the farm. But nothing worked, as most contractors made payment to the masons and labourers on Saturday, which is called 'salary day' by the locals. And Sunday was the day when these salary earners enjoyed the fruits of their labour by eating, drinking and making merry! Unfortunately for the two of us, with a regular job to keep, those were the only days available for getting this work done.

After a lot of searching, we found a mason in the adjoining village who was willing to fix the gate on a day we prefer. Knowing the locals' penchant for ditching in the last minute, we refrained from celebrating before the actual work begins. So early morning on March 30th, we started towards our farm, had breakfast at Atibele, the last town before we hit Tamil Nadu and reached the the village of Mr. Palani Mastri. Surprisingly, he was there and waiting for us. We took him to our farm, where he took some measurements, and then dropped him back at his place.

We then gave him some advance for procuring material for the base and left to Denkanikottai to get the gate, which had been ready for close to 2 weeks. On way back, we picked up the two helpers and loaded the material in the Tata Ace we hired for carrying the gate, and reached the farm by about 10am with all the stuff needed for fixing the gate.

It took the mason almost the entire day to get the pits dug, place the gates and align them and pour the concrete into the pits. A major part of the work was walking over 100 meters to get the water, which was needed to soften the hard soil so that they can dig a deep enough pit and also for mixing the concrete.

Another major time consumer was aligning the gates once they were placed in their respective pits. The issue was that the ground was slanting so the pits have to be of different depth to align the gates. Also, since we were not erecting cement pillars to which the gates will be attached but were placing iron pillar to which the gates were prefixed, the aligning job was further complicated. 

But the most irritating work, that consumed a lot of time was a result of bad planning by the mason. Towards early evening, the mason realised that the quantity of cement and jelly was not sufficient. So he decided that he will come the next day and finish the rest. Brian and I knew what 'next day' meant, so we insisted that we close it within the same day, even if he charges extra for working late. So at about 5.30 pm I went back to the nearest town to replenish cement and jelly.

Funnily, the mixing and pouring of concrete into the pit, once the gates were properly aligned and held in their places using wooden poles, was the easiest of the jobs; took less than an hour in all.

By the time the gates were fixed it was almost 7pm. A good 10 hours. But then, now we could lock the place ... not that it needs one yet!

Next step ... water!

Story of a defiant village ...

A heartwarming story of how a village transformed its fortunes against a seemingly impossible situation. A story of how one man can impact and make a difference to his community. More importantly on how focusing on long term sustainability can bring lasting impact to societies.

Also, while a major part of Maharashtra reels under drought, even though the state has one of the largest network of dams and irrigation projects, villages like these have managed to fight destiny by working at the grass root level.

Therefore, this story brings me to a very fundamental question. Which is a more sustainable approach between centralized irrigation at a national or even state level and judicious water management at a village level. I think it is the later route that is more pragmatic, but would like your thoughts on the same.

How slow things change ...

Its been close to two years since much has happened at the land (previous post) ... mostly due to some issues with the land dimensions with the seller, the broker running out of money due to failed crop, my own busy schedule, arrival of the little angle: my second daughter ... but at last some movement!

Finally the land now has a fence and the gate is getting ready. Hopefully by next week the gate will be installed and then will get some traction in getting some water source up ... it will be a borewell to start with and then think of some other environment friendly way to supplement this.

What really caught my attention during this period is how fragile and vulnerable the rural economic fabric is. Take the broker I work with for example. He is educated and has a decent (in comparison) land holding of 4 acres. To supplement his income he does some land dealings. Has his own house, has one young daughter and doesn't indulge in any excesses. So for an outsider he should be leading a fairly straight-forward life! Last year, before the rains started, he went for tomato as his crop for the season (rainy season is the most awaited season as, unless one has electricity and borewell, which is quote rare, is the only time people farm!). Unfortunately for him, while the crop itself was a good one, the price of tomato plummeted and he couldn't even recover half of what he invested. He was therefore forced to take up a job in a mandi near Coimbatore (thanks to his education!)

What really impacted was not that his crop did not fetch him enough, but because he had taken a sizable loan for the pesticides and fertilizers (which, I learnt, is more that 60% of the total input cost). What he (and most farmers) doesn't acknowledge is that another reason for the mess he was in is because he put all his eggs in one basket. If he had planted a mixed crop, he would have hedged himself against fluctuation in the prices of any one vegetable! The alarming regularity of such incidences, coupled with negligible macro economic net for protection (low interest loans, insurance, etc.) makes the lives of most farmers so vulnerable that one bad season could take an entire community to the edge of despair!

And the way government is looking at farming in India (intensive farming, free electricity, centralized irrigation, GM!!! and what not), the situation for the farmer isn't getting any better any soon!

Do leave your thoughts on what can we as individuals to to help in any which way possible!