Information Age

In hogging without ruminating

I forgot my Fourth Need ---

Release without polluting. …

Alas! To Remi's help no guru, no god!

(19–03– 2004)

Sri Ganesha

There is a story about epic Mahabharata. Sage Vyas wanted someone to take dictation of epic Mahabharata. Sri Ganesha's name was suggested. Sri Ganesha, too, was ready for the task. But he put a condition to sage Vyasa that he would not stop dictating once he begun. Vyasa, too, agreed, but with a condition, that Sri Ganesha would not write anything without understanding what he writes.

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© Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.

Bhill House and Habitat in Satpura Ranges (Video)

House of Tetya Nusa Koli and Its Environ 

Aborigine-Adivasi Culture is so rich that it should be understood as World Heritage and should be preserved. For more than 10K years, or perhaps from unknown time, they have been living in Harmony with Nature. But now in the hurricane of development on western model it is doubtful how long will they last!

Here is a glimpses of one of the tribe in their house and habitat: 

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TEXT:

Aborigine House and Habitat

• House is living area. Habitat is open work area, mainly forest, wetlands and farming.

•  In contrast the urbanite have mostly enclosed spaces /places for work, education, leisure... etc. in divisions.

• The fundamental cultural difference between Adivasi Community and Civilized Society is paramount. This is neither recognized nor understood by the State.

• The peasants in villages, too, have their homestead as workplace - farm, wetlands, pastures, forest... like Adivasis. They, however, belong to civilized society, divided by class and caste.

• It is vital for the State to understand this unique trait of Adivasi (aborigine) culture in its total governance and administration while dealing with Adivasi Habitat.

• Adivasi's Ancestral Right to their Habitat must be recognized as their Fundamental Right. This indeed must not be superseded by the civilized society.

• Bhills are one of the largest tribes in India.

• Tribal communities are small republics.

• Community is Cohesive Collective, where family is primary unit; hence, it is an Extended Family, where none suffers Identity Crisis.

• Among adivasi communities there is no Division of Labour, as in Civilized Societies.

• Every individual is representative of the Adivasi - aborigine - community.

• They acquire life-supporting skills by experiential learning, and receive their time-tested ancient wisdom from their families and the elders of the community, at early age.

• Community Participation works in every aspect of individual, family and community living such as, housing, farming, leisure, learning... etc.

• Adivasis make their own flute, bow and arrows, bead ornaments, and tools for household, fishing and farm utilities...

• There is no gender discrimination, no prostitution among Adivasis.

• Sustainable living means to take minimum necessary resources from Nature. It is living sanely in communion with Srishti - Mother Nature.

• Finally, adivasi could give authentic anthropological account of their tribe and community. The rest is civilized interpretation, or rather imagination!

• Land and Waters give sustenance to all the living beings and culture to humans. Hence Biodiversity brings Diversity of Cultures. There is no superior culture.

• Remarkable Communication System: within a couple of days a few thousand (Narmada Dam affected) tribal would gather, at Medha Patkar's call for public meeting on the day.

• Societies, Unions, Associations, Corporations... or civil societies are not Communities, or those floated on Internet in the wilderness of World-Wide-Web.

• Everyone in Adivasi - Aborigine - communities dance and sing at will. Why should they watch cinema-video at cost, price, value or worth of elusive time or money?

• Adivasis - aborigines - don't believe in 'Ownership of Land (Water)'. They build live fences to protect crops from animals.

• Concept of Ownership of Land by a person / group / State has no ethical or moral ground in the realms of Srishti - Mother Nature. Revenue Survey Nos. brought by the British Rule is an immoral act.

• Tribal house, when obsolete, goes back to earth, recycled, and some of its parts are reused. Nothing is wasted. This is Natural Way. Modern science and technology do not reach anywhere near.

Read MORE >> Bhill's Holi Festival in Satpura Ranges, India

India, largely a country of immigrants says Supreme Court of India
TRIBAL HOUSING: BUDDHA AND THE ART AND SCIENCE OF KARVI HUT

NOTE: 
1.These photos may seem familiar on this blog. However, they have many dimensions. More you look into the Way of Living of Adivasis more is revealed.

2. When my classmates, college mates, colleagues were going abroad to US, EU, OZ, Middle East… I was going into interiors in search of ROOTS, to aborigine hamlets in forests, to see the beginnings. I went with humility of a child; I was/am not a scholar but scholastic. It brought me transformation. They changed my life, way of living-working-thinking, initiated me to their faith, or whatever you may call, without any rites and rituals...

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©Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.

Clay Silos in Villages of Gujarat (Slideshow)

Such silos are common in many parts of India. These silos are customarily built newly marries women. They learn this art or craft building silos at home, not in the schools.

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Read more clay, cow-dung silos >> Clay–Cow dung Grain Silos of Gujarat

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©Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.

Scratch – Creative Games for the Young and Old

Scratch: produced by the MIT Media Lab

Create stories, games, and animations
Share with others around the world

While Scratch is primarily designed for 8 to 16 year olds, it is also used by people of all ages, including younger children with their parents.

About Scratch
With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community.

Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.

Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge.

Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages. Millions of people are creating Scratch projects in a wide variety of settings, including homes, schools, museums, libraries, and community centers.

For Parents
Scratch is a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world. As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically. Scratch is designed and maintained by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.

Links:
http://scratch.mit.edu/about/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_%28programming_language%29

Text and Images: Courtesy MIT Media Lab
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©Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.

Rupee ₹ Slides in International Market

 Even the wealthy nations face economic crunch

There exist Five Economies in India, of course, not officially recognized.

1. The Fifth World India Economy, of the displaced & marginalized ryot, that started emerging during the benevolent Firangi Raj, and grew at accelerated rate, now, during Swa-Raj. It survives by recycling the waste / effluence left by the elite.

2. The Fourth World India Economy, of the aborigine tribes, which started in ancient times and continues; it has been disturbed by the governments.

3. The Third World India Economy, of the agrarian society in rural India. It has been self-sustaining until colonized by Industrialization. Now it is in chaos.

4. The First World India Economy, which rules the Nation. It is internationally recognized. It is also visible in the countrywide chaos in equality.

5. The Gray Zone Economy, which is variously called: Black Money, secret accounts in foreign banks, scams and frauds, extortion, etc.

What is the rate of Rupee in each of these five Indian Economies?
Before answering this question, let us remember that currency, any currency, has no tangible value.

J. K. Galbraith (one of India's rare or very few friends) described India's society at the start in one of his essays (Ambassador's journal: a personal account of the Kennedy years): there is a horizontal line that divides the society. There are a very few above the line, and a large mass of people below it.

The rupee symbol '₹’ is a graphic representation of Galbraith's words which documents the shameful and drastic inequality and injustice.

A 'Vastu' expert opined, the horizontal line on Devanagari letter ' र ' is inauspicious to India. The Experts fumble!

Alas! None thinks of the 'Centralized Power' is a basic feature of Civilized Society since its birth 5K years ago, also called 'Urban Revolution', which has also proved to be inauspicious to 'Land, Waters and Life' on the Earth!!

(30-06-2013)
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©Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.