For a decade or more, we in India have been a witness to re-emergence of appropriate technologies together with traditional science and technologies. The thinking has taken a full circle in the last five decades or half-a-century. These decades have literally seen a closer examination of basic operations in agricultural sector -farm technologies, handling of techniques of farm and animal husbandry produce and products, food preferences for processing; medicine; dietary habits and food; educational techniques and assisted technologies; women and child health; lifting of water for irrigation and masonry architecture; management of water; and, energy such as solar.
Appropriate means what people can learn, create, operate and maintain all by self with a little training and learning. Most things could be created and maintained through local resources and skill, supported by village artisans -Lohar, Carpenter, Weaver, Potter or Kumhar, Mason, Dyer etc. But in the 1965 onward, the storm of new technology took over the agriculture sector and mechanization took command of life in most fields of human activity in our countryside. We lost our artisans, self-reliance and polluted our food and environment.
1970 onward there was also a surge in academic inquiry about appropriate technology and support was available through institutional interest. Papers were written, books were published and enormous literature produced to for a reawakening and preserving the traditions. But to no avail. We suffered through the years that constituted the last three decades of 20th century. Knowledge and wisdom slowly dawned when dreadful consequences of Green Revolution began to transcend.
Consequently not even many new NGOs appeared on the horizon with practical work in mind but also the most criticized M S Swaminathan, considered as doyen of green revolution in India, transformed and established a foundation that only adopted and popularized the much discarded and obsolete looking Indian wisdom in agricultural, horticulture and live stock rearing and maintenance. Finally it turned into organic farming with most produce beyond reach of the common person. In the aftermath we lost many useful apparatus, installations, lifestyle and culturally relevant practices, names of objects, loss to linguistics, domestic architecture, literature and what not ! We now have defunct Wells and dried up beds of ponds, ruined havelis, discarded cows and no oxen, nylon ropes and tractors ugly rest houses instead of beautifully designed and embellished Chaupals and cricket instead of swimming and bullock races. We are now an addict of industrially processed food rather than something that was processed in homes cooked in hearths. Consume millions of barrels of wine but not milk. This is the journey of AT in India. We only have regrets. Think of the quality of life that we provided to our children and future generations.
All pics- copyright by me
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