Guru Ji Namaskar.
Ji Namaskar.
I had heard a lot about your work in Delhi
and also from my friend Sankalp Ji who lives in Sagar district.
So I am glad that I could visit your place and meet you finally.
So first of all, we would like to know about your journey as a poet and academician
when you worked closely with the local tribes to write about their culture
and also to document local folk songs, sayings and proverbs.
We will be happy to know about those amazing experiences.
Well, I am son of a farmer and was born and brought up in my village.
Our family has been practicing farming as a profession for many generations.
However, after completing my education, I was more inclined towards literature,
and especially towards the rich literature of local dialects of our region.
In Madhya Pradesh, we have got four major dialects - Bagheli, Bundeli, Malti, Mewari.
And our region falls in Bagheli region which covers seven districts of the state adjoining Chhattisgarh on one side and Uttar Pradesh on the other side.
Bagheli is the main dialect of this region. The dialect is like Awadhi and other dialects and considered like younger sister of Bhojpuri dialect.
So I used to write on the local culture of this region.
It used to be published in a local newspaper under a column titled 'Ka kahin, ka na kahin', which means 'What to say what not to say'.
Then one day, Adivasi Lok Kala Parishad, Bhopal (Tribal Folk Arts Council) approached me with an offer.
They said that since I am a poet and have studied literature
My poems were included in B.A. final course of Rewa University by then.
So they said that since I write poems and articles on folk culture and language,
Therefore, I can help the Council in documenting songs, proverbs, stories and all other aspects of folk culture and lifestyle associated with the region.
I accepted the offer and they paid me for the assignment too.
So when I started working on the project, I got to know that most of the proverbs, folk-songs and proverbs are rooted in traditional paddy and other crops.
For example, there is a variety of paddy called 'Kutuk' which grows even in adverse climate
Shyama is another variety which is the first to ripe in season. It can grow only in one and a half months.
These traditional crops are so reliable as they can grow even with one or two showers in monsoon.
Traditional crops like these two have played a great role in saving lives of our forefathers during drought like situations.
In those days, these crops were considered most dependable and sown by a majority of farmers.
For example, there is one variety of paddy called 'Kodo' which is very heavy and even a handful is enough for one diet.
Similar story with other indigenous varieties and you need two portion of vegetable/dal for one portion of rice.
These traditional rice varieties were highly nutritious and used to provide strength to body.
So these were our main crops in those times.
But in 1960s, the traditional crop patterns suffered heavy losses when green revolution started.
People shifted to newly developed varieties of crops for increasing production and many of the traditional varieties disappeared from farms.
So while working on the project, I thought that alongwith the local folk culture, its equally important to save traditional varieties of rice.
As I told you in the beginning, most of the proverbs and local sayings are based on traditional paddy varieties.
Therefore, If you want to save local proverbs and folk songs, you will have to save these paddy crops too. Else proverbs will lose relevance among future generations.
Many of the folk stories popular in local culture may not be true but they certainly tell you that we had rich diversity of crops in earlier times.
In the era of Green revolution, focus was mainly on high yield. Therefore, seeds of some three to four new varieties were available in market and everyone switched over to these varieties,
I have witnessed this transition myself and it was painful to see the indigenous varieties disappearing from our fields.
Therefore, I decided to work on conservation of the local crops, esp. paddy as it had got numerous varieties.
Whenever I used to participate in 'Kavi Sammellan' or other literary activities, I used to enquire about the local varieties of rice.
I used to collect whatever samples of seeds from these places and used to document their names and other details too.
This way, the collection kept increasing over a period of time. I have also written some six books about the stories related to traditional paddy crops.
There are many interesting stories about how these traditional crops got their names.
It is interesting to see the traditional ingenuity of our forefathers as to how they used to describe qualities of rice in proverbs which could be understood by anyone.
I was always passionate to listen to these folk stories and document them.
People have hobbies of collecting old postal stamps and coins. Similarly, I had hobby of collecting seeds of traditional crops :)
I used to jump with joy when I was in field and witnessing the amazing sight of green crops.
I got Padma Shree last year from the hands of The President of India and it was definitely a matter of honour.
However, the sight of green farms in fields gives me a greater sense of accomplishment as its my creation.
So, now you have collected over 200 varieties of rice.
Yeah. you can see the collection here.
And all these names have been compiled from the respective local farmers too.
And the farmers have named these varieties based on their characteristics.
Its so amazing to get these deep insights. So , you also said that biodiversity Board is now supporting your initiative.
That's correct. They found me somehow :)
I am a man of self-esteem and have never begged before anyone for help. I didn't even apply for Padma Shree nomination too.
So they appreciated my efforts and provided some funds for conservation work.
And now you have established a 'Seed Bank' in the village.
Yeah. They have provided infrastructure for that.
Its very beneficial as seeds are conserved for next season even if the crop in field gets destroyed due to bad weather.
We grow all paddy varieties every year.
You mentioned about a special variety of rice and you gave it a name too.
Yeah. I found a special variety of paddy in which two grains come out in one shell. One is smaller and other is bigger in size.
My grand son discovered this unique quality while studying different paddy varieties grown on farm. Paddy has 52 characters from sowing to reaping.
I had got it from somewhere and it didnt have a name.
I named it 'Ram Laxman' then as one grain was bigger than the other :)
Now let us something about other aspects of your life. You are 74 years old and yet looks so fit and energetic.
Yeah, I travel a lot both within and outside state and participate in many literary events.
That's great to know!
Also you must be aware about the recent interventions on natural farming in Nagpur and Andhra Pradesh. Do you practice it in your farms too?
Yeah. we prepare our manure and do not use chemical fertilizers in our farms.
We have reared two cows and use its dung and farm waste to make manure.
These days, we face some problems of agriculture laborers. But still, we practice natural farming only.
We are into farming more to feed ourselves and less to run it as a business.
It has been an absolute pleasure listening to your awe-inspiring experience Sir.
In the end, it will be great if you can recite a few lines for our viewers.
Sure. I have written a few books and will gift you a copy too.
I have worked mainly on environment issues and written poems on the same topic too.
(Narrating poem in Hindi)
Many thanks for sharing these wonderful stories with us Sir.
We will try to disseminate your success story to farmers in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
Sure. Please feel free to ask for any kind of support from my side. I can provide seeds and knowledge about its cultivation to interested farmers.
Thanks again for your valuable time Sir, Namaskar!
