These women are going back to their native wisdom to, at least, secure the health of their coming generations.

Spotlighting grassroots voices and faces that are amplifying ecological alternatives to promote dignified livelihoods, sustainable agriculture and traditional arts

The simpler systems under the well-recharging programme can be installed with around Rs. 5,000, and there is government support of varying degrees for different sections of the society.

“Every water body from the past should be treated as a heritage body.”

Millets farming does not need fertilizers and pesticides to grow and also can be cultivated in low irrigated and even non-irrigated areas.

With committed citizen groups working with the local government it is possible to preserve heritage and be water sufficient.

“... while the outer world around us has changed, we haven’t changed much inside. Those conflicts are a part of my poetry,” he says.

Participants were judged on their ability to cut grass without harming other plants, and on their knowledge of the forest.

Students walk bare-foot on the red, loamy soil, amid peacocks and rabbits. They harvest organic fruits and vegetables such as mangoes, pumpkin, guavas, and jackfruit.