Yatra - Kuthambakkam

We started our discussion on the ToeHold Artisans initiative (Athini, Belgaum),  we had interacted with a few days back as we waited for the Yatra train at the station in Whitefield. It soon became clear that discussing (and arguing) in a group as large as 20, would be a real challenge. So we decided to split ourselves into smaller groups. Our presentation the next day was crisp, we conveyed our thoughts well and was entertaining. Smaller groups seemed to work better.

We should not feel bad for the inconvenience rain has caused today, said Mr.Elango. It was a very small inconvenience for us, but a happy moment for the rest of the area as rains were the life line for farmers there.  We were visiting Kuthambakkam village near Chennai. This village was supposed to have gone through tremendous change, both socially and economically, thanks to the efforts of Mr.Elango, who quit his job as a scientist and headed back to his village and became a sarpanch about 15 years back.

When Mr.Elango said it is was at the level of the panchyats that one must work to bring about real change, it seemed to make sense. Our personal experience was also that smaller groups worked better. This seemed to be true of our workplaces also.

Mr.Elango spoke of creating self sustained clusters of villages/panchyats who would only sell value added products based on indigenous knowledge and not just export raw materials like now. This he said would help make villages economically independent.

Visual Minutes by Rowan Watts & Marcel O'leary

He also spoke of the twin houses concept they experimented with, where the two parts were occupied compulsorily by families of two different castes.

Decentralization of energy generation and distribution was the other subject he spoke passionately about. It makes a lot of sense to generate and consume energy in smaller pockets. A hybrid model of large scale power generation, wide spread local renewable energy generation and usage of appropriately rated appliances, seems like a possible solution to the energy crisis in the rural areas.

But most importantly it made sense when he pointed out that sensible enterprise building considering these issues would bring in a larger sense of purpose helping address these multiple problems.