02 Mar 2011, Posted by Anab in Blog, No Comments. Tagged design, fieldvisit, GUIDE, Invasive, myths, Pilot, superflux

The World of 16 Suns

A claustrophobic bunk bed on an overnight bus through broken, traffic-ridden, bumpy roads was the prelude to our field visit to the marshy desert and villages of North Gujarat’s Kutch district. An incredibly epic week that officially kickstarted one of our Lab’s most exciting, ambitious, and nerve-wreaking endeavours. While we begin to unpack the possibilities and  share the experiences with our team, here are little nuggets of our journey:

We met several Maldhari families more commonly known as the ‘Nomadic Water Seekers’. As legend goes, the Maldharis were the regional nomads, moving with their cattle when there was a drought (a regular phenomenon), seeking water bodies, lakes, bits of grasslands. This was a small Maldhari family we met in Banni, who are now looking for places where they can settle on a more permanent basis. Their deep understanding of the changing weather patterns is incredible… a common language of the earth, shared between the young and the old, the cows and buffaloes, the plants and the birds they move with and around.

The Prosopis Julifora, aka the ‘Invasive Alien’ or  ’Mad Tree’ is found all over Kutch, turning what was once a grassy desert into ‘woodland’. There are several myths and stories around how this plant landed in Kutch. Officially, it was introduced by India’s Planning Commission in the 1950s as a protective barrier to the desert grasslands. However, the myths and stories about how it was introduced are fascinating: ranging from a roaming buffalo bringing it from Mumbai to the Prime Minister dropping seeds from a helicopter. However it was introduced, today, it has literally changed the district’s landscape, spreading like wild fire, surviving the harshest climatic conditions, causing  ecological chaos and killing cows and goats. Yet, its wood is also the main source of fuel for the local people and coal made from it fetches high prices. But all of this was completely overlooked when it was introduced here. Which makes us wonder: what sort of other ecological blunders might we be making, or will make in the future, which may have such consequences? There will be a much more detailed post about this in the coming weeks.

Here the tree is being used create protective fencing around a nomadic settlement.

These sorts of pits are seen all over the landscape, they were once used to collect water.

While many places appear barren and dry,  the last few years have brought good rain to the region, even though statistically the number of droughts have increased over the last 20 years.

Our friend Devraj from Hodko village shows off his family’s beautiful embroidery work. This local craft has made the villages of Kutch world famous. While showing us his wares, we were told of the legend of the 16 suns. How he has seen the ‘world go warmer’, warning us that this will continue to be the case, till one day the heat of not one, but 16 suns will destroy the earth to ash!” So many more stories about the weather to be shared, think they definitely deserve a separate post.

Behind their house, they have set up this coal-making business using wood from the ‘mad tree’.

The mandatory photograph of the house interior. We were not be allowed leave any village without taking photographs of every house interior. An explicit order from our friends in the various villages of Sadai, Hodko, Dhordo, Ludiya, who were super friendly, proud and amazingly hospitable!

The children of Sadai village wanted a group photograph taken.

Finally, some images from the ‘White Desert’ … the end of Indian territory, fading into the sea on one side, and Pakistan on the other. The salt from the sea water deposits on the flat landscapes, turning it into a salty, wet, white desert destroying layers of the earth in the process. But also producing some very exceptional bacteria that could find new uses!

And finally, a big thank you to our wonderful hosts Dr. Vijay Kumar and the scientists and researchers at GUIDE: Gujarat Institute for Desert Ecology, whose work is inspiring and closely aligned to our ambitions for Lilorann. Image below is the map of Kutch, from the GIS data mapping software at GUIDE.

The most exciting possibilities to come from our field-visit is the possibility  of working with collaborators from the various villages. Our design engagements will encompass not only the climate-related concerns, but also the resulting social and political shifts that this will cause. We have realised how this project should really be called ‘Lilorann: The Pilot”. A Pilot project whose lessons, learnings and outcomes will hopefully benefit other communities and places in India in the coming months and years.

Stay tuned.