This travel tale has lot to tell... A SYMBIOTIC SETTLEMENT!!

Prof. Anil Gupta, a mentor, leader who needs no introduction, has been conducting “Shodh Yatras” i.e a journey meant to learn and find out more...strongly inclined towards research and learning from people located in various remote corners of India, who have lot of natural treasure in store, who with lack of infrastructure, convert challenges into learning footprints for rest of the world to follow. Prof Anil Gupta with his ‘yatra’ intends to document and spread these learning’s to inspire the rest of the world.

The 41^st Shodh Yatra this time was to Andaman and Nicobar islands, a place which has been more known for tourism and not much focus has gone in from deriving inspiration...The locals  learn, earn from and live with nature; that’s their cash, their wealth, their money...it is a best demonstration of a symbiotic settlement!! Hence, they respect and protect nature a lot, unlike urban inhabitants who are completely slaves of infrastructure and technology.

6 days - 140 km on foot – 17 villages/ settlements; 57 people including 6 school children and 11 women.  In these few days, the key points which were extracted are:

INFRASTRUCTURE:

1.       The houses in villages are quite colourful, adding on to the natural feast already present.

2.        High degree of sanitation in schools, a very healthy and friendly environment in schools with open relationship between the educator and pupils, giving them enough comfort to express their views.

3.     Overall sanitation standards are very high compared to rest of rural India. The citizens are quite sensitive towards individual, community and societal needs with high moral values. Reliability quotient is very strong which leads to strong EQ, IQ and SQ, though they haven’t undergone such training sessions. The qualities are imbibed in them through their high standard upbringing.

FOOD and NUTRITION

4.      In terms of diet,  the most noteworthy fact is, Malnourishment percentage is ‘zero’, as they are gifted by plenty natural resources. Rice, fish, jackfruit, mushrooms and leafy vegetables are found in bounty. Apart from this, mothers breast feed their children for minimum period of two years to four maximum; scientifically breastfeeding is known for enhance immunity, growth and development.

5.       Food of poor (so called), in this region has high nutritional value compared to the food of prosperous segment of population whose food nowadays is very low in nutrition (fast food).

LIVELIHOOD

6.       Beetle nut farms impart boost in the economy, as it is major cash crop. The size of beetlenuts is much bigger than normally found in rest part of India; so is the case with coconuts. The entire belt is rich in minerals, as the soil comprises a lot of volcanic ash.. again the crop we can say is naturally organic as compared to the new organic fad in urban areas, a drive to avoid synthetically produced food and crops.

7.       Fisheries and paddy contribute again to a large extent. Hence the belt is dominated by agriculture and tourism.

8.       Noni fruit is another upcoming drug supplement which is known for its cancer cure properties.

All the above provide sufficient economic resources for people to prosper and grow...

Education and Development

9.       There is strong need for entrepreneurial development and rising aspirational standards of children who just aim for diplomas after completing Grade 12. The intellectual standards however are quite high as children and locals have created and developed various solutions for their daily challenges most of which are aimed at conserving and protecting the environment largely..

·         A child has developed an idea of putting LED lights near turtle nests, which will protect their nests so that people don’t walk upon the eggs. 

·         They are developing a car jack like device which will help in coconut tree climbing

·         Make a bigger umbrella which can accommodate more than three persons.

·         A robotic car cleaner which can travel under the beds and small corners to clean areas difficult to reach.

Unity in Diversity

This is one of the rarest places in India where the majority population are migrants from all states of India and some parts of world, including Burma... yet the peace and safety quotient is one of the highest.. villages have best Sarpanch, leaders follow ethical standards so do people.

So Andaman isn’t just made up of exotic locales, it’s about the quality of their inhabitants who have kept cultural exchanges and human values at supreme position, they respect nature, be it humanity or environment..

To conclude.....The biggest extract of shodh!!!