(Originally published on the author’s personal blog.)
In an earlier post, we had taken a photographic tour of some routine practices followed in India even today, primarily in rural areas, and to some extent even in urban areas, which reflect the essence of the age-old sustainable Vedic culture. It has been evolving over millennia and advocates living in sync with the surrounding environment, while adhering to universal principles applicable to all. Let’s take another tour of such sustainable practices, through photos clicked during my field outings.
Water, one of the five basic building blocks of life, called Panchmahabhutas in Indian culture, has always been respected in our country, and rightly so. As long as a community is dependent upon the local water body to satisfy its various needs, the same is revered and protected as can be seen in the form of myriad crystal clear streams, ponds and wells in rural areas. Those of us who get tap water from the municipality, should learn something from our rural brethren.Many houses in rural areas, especially the older ones, retain their local flavour in terms of design and building and roofing material, which is taken from the resources abundantly found in the surroundings and/or which suits the climate of the region. For instance, most houses on the west coast, which experiences heavy rainfall, in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, are made of lateritic stones, which form the main rock strata of the region, with sloping roofs (to allow the rain water runoff) covered with Mangalore tiles made of red soil, also found in the region.In some places, particularly in Kerala, small shallow canals branching off the backwaters, are used for local transport with canoes, thus linking nearby villages. This mode of transport is not only eco-friendly; but also offers amazing vistas of the surrounding lush landscape as one moves about!Small bridges across streams are often built using local material such as wood and bamboo and ropes to keep them together. Using local material avoids transporting alien material over long distances, which in turn conserves fuel. Moreover, as long as the local forests are maintained, reasonable harvesting of wood does not affect the ecology in any major way.India is blessed with abundant sunshine for the greater part of the year. For ages, people have been drying grains, beans, fruit, flowers and some prepared eatables to preserve them as well as to make some of them healthier for consumption. This practice continues to a large extent in cities as well, whenever there is access to sun-bathed balconies and terraces.Transport using bullock carts is nothing new to people in rural India, although there too motorized vehicles have taken over for the most part. However, just like bicycles, use of bullocks, buffaloes and horses for local transport with modern carriages for better comfort of the animals and humans, is not a bad idea for both rural and urban areas! Some food for thought…Storing water in earthen pots is no rocket science and is a common sight in both rural and urban areas. As per Ayurved, such water is good for health as compared to that stored in some other containers and the temperature is gentle on the throat as well, and conserves electricity.Festivals in India have always been a celebration of the bounties of nature either after harvest or to herald a season. Diwali – the festival of lights – that highlights one’s journey from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge, falls at the beginning of winter when the nights start becoming longer in the northern hemisphere. Celebrations have traditionally been eco-friendly and continue to be so to some extent even today, such as colourful lanterns made of paper or cloth.
Reviving our eco-friendly traditions in both urban and rural areas, to the greatest extent possible, will surely be beneficial in terms of health and wealth as well!
The author works as Content Developer – Curriculum & PR, MIT Group. He can be contacted at atul.sathe@mitpune.edu.in
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