Roti, Kapada aur Makaan - what else? Mungaaru -2019

A beautiful note by our Mungaaru participant: Pallavi Raut 
Photos: BuDa Folklore 

A trip that reminded me about what are the basic necessities and how we take some of the luxuries for granted.

A trip that brought me down to earth literally! 

A weekend with team ~~BuDa folklore is a true digital detoxifier. 

Clean air, ample fresh water, good food(yummy too!), clothes - muddy from hard work(and play), a cozy house and a community of people with a similar mindset! What else does one need!

No electricity, no gas, no mobile network!!!! But so much fun!

An experience all urbanites, ever digitally connected but rarely actually connecting, must experience.

One'll have a two-way realization.

First is that a human being really has very few needs(not wants!). We're unnecessarily adding on too many things to our lives and becoming hooked onto them as we go higher up economically. And while adding this we're leaving behind sensitivity, self-reliance, empathy,  awareness of the neighborhood, physically hard-working capability, ability to appreciate simple pleasures and a whole lot of garbage.

Secondly, one gets to learn about the day to day difficulties faced by our rural counterparts. 

Where there is fresh air, there's also smoke from cooking and heating water with wood. 

The tremendous amount of work involved for growing grain of rice(The event, 'Mungaru', is all about paddy plantation). 

The distances one has to go for buying basic things or reaching basic facilities if living on the farm.(Forget about Big Basket, Swiggy and Amazon!!). 

Grinding in millstone instead of a mixer in case of no electricity. 

Exposure to only one community leading to a more judgemental society in some cases.

There are pros and cons for everything. Finding a balance is key.  Asking young men and women in villages not to go to cities is not fair, they too should get a chance to taste economic freedom and luxury and different cultures but not at the cost of forgetting the roots like what has happened to a lot of us. 

Such drops of efforts like the one being done by Buda may go a long way in bringing some of the urban folks, who are done breathing smoke and waiting long hours in front of red light, back to villages with new energy, ecological awareness and ideas that will help fuse the gap between urban and rural. Especially if the ideas are executed with local people's trust and by making use of their expertise, skill and knowledge.

The highlight of the event for me was seeing a teenager find it more meaningful to celebrate her 16th birthday with a group of strangers far away from family and friends just to be able to sow some paddy and hear some folktales and be in midst of mother nature.

Thanks, team Buda folklore for giving me a heartwarming and eye-opening experience!

Mungaru acknowledgments

Thanks, Sumeru for insisting I go. Thanks to Sara for introducing all of us to BuDa folklore and Savitha akka.

Thanks, Vinay and Mihir for making this happen and enjoying this as much ( or more)!

Thanks, Savitha akka for such a wonderful idea to give us this exposure and experience. May your organization grow and have a wide reach!

Thanks, Shanti amma for your passion to learn, document and share local and folk traditions, stories, recipes, medicines.. the list is endless...!!!

Thanks, Gowri Akka and Shalini Akka for giving us wonderful food sitting in front of that smoke all 3 days!

Thanks to Pranav for hot water and all the volunteering!!

Thanks to Madhavi and Joel for salads and juices and for serving and so much of fun singing and talking!

Thanks to Atmeeya and Uday for so many trips to get vegetables and to drop and pick up and for kabaddi!

Thanks to Ishwar Anna, Gopi akka, Padmavati akka and nuggli akka for teaching us baby steps in paddy farming and for making our stay authentic with folk songs and stories!

Thanks to Pavan, Anu, Om, Shakthi, Anish, Sharad, Chhavi, Prakash, Pradeep, Pankaj, Yogi, , Bhavna, Mithali, Aastha, Abhimanyu,Divya, Elbin, Aditi, Pratyush, Meenakshi, Purushi, Jyothi,Prarthana from aravani project.

Thanks also to cat( rangi) and the dog(beera) for adding to the eclectic mix!