Feminine Science in VK-nardep newsletter

7/28/2019 Feminine Science in VK-nardep newsletter

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Echoes of EcoFeminist Science In this issue:

Feminist Science

Siddha and Malnutrition-II

The Happenings-I

The Happenings - II Know Sustainable Technology

Our Publication Visions of Wisdom

Herbs rich in Soma, rich insteeds, in nourishments, in

strengthening power,All these have I provided here,

that this man may be whole agaiThe healing virtues of the Plantstream forth like cattle from thestall, Plants that shall win me

store of wealth, and save thy vitbreath

-Rig Veda (Book 10: Hymn XCVI

Hymn in Praise ofHerbs

September , 2010 Vivekananda Kendra- nardep Newsletter Vol:2 No:7

Service to humanity is the highest form of worship Swami Vivekananda

In 1940s she discovered thatgenes are not statically coinedlike pearls on a jewel inChromosome.

Barbara McClintock discoveredthat the genes move. They jumparound. They are involved in adynamic dance of their own. Theorganism at every level isdynamic.

On the other hand the dominant

paradigm in the fields of geneticsand molecular biology at thattime was that genes were staticentities held in bound positionson chromosome. The wholemachinery of molecular geneticsresembled then a strict factoryline with a strong bureaucracy.Challenging that dogmaticassertion of scientific orthodoxyitself was a taboo but that too bya woman? The establishmentpiously ignored her.

But in 1970s moleculargeneticists re-discovered whatshe discovered decades ago.They called them transposonsGenes can move and changetheir position in chromosomes.The jumping genes whichBarbara McClintock discoveredare simply non-ignorable.

Grudgingly and belatedly theestablishment accepted the truththat this lonely lady had stateddecades ago. Geneticist Shapiroexplains how this happened:

So first they said she is crazy;then they said it's peculiar tomaize; then they said it'severywhere but has nosignificance; and then finallythey woke up to itssignificance.

After almost four decades theyrecognized her discovery and gaveher Nobel prize in 1983.

A woman, well versed in TibetianBuddhist meditation techniques,she used the ignoring of hercolleagues as an opportunity tolearn how to work withoutexpecting any recognition. She

wrote to a friend about her feelingswhen her work was ignored by theestablishment:

"...it did not bother me. ..People get theidea that your ego gets in the way a lotof time - ego in the sense of wantingreturns. But you do not care aboutthose returns. You have enormouspleasure working on it. The returns arenot what you are after."

According to Beverly Jones anecologist, McClintock stressed the

need to have a feeling for theorganism and wrote of affection,love and kinship for her plants.This way of participatory knowingresults when all pre-occupationwith self is given over to a state ofcomplete attention. This idea ofparticipatory consciousness inscientific research is a great leapforward and inward in the evolutionof science.


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The Possibility

Be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

Can Siddha help solve Malnutrition

problem?-IIThis month

Green Health Home at VivekanandPuram functioned for 8 days and

treated 230.patients.

Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, September 2010 Vol. 2 No: 7

Why Say No to Plastic Bags?:Plastic bags floating in the sea resemble jellyfish, a staple part of thediet of many marine mammals. Many thousands of animals die every year from choking on ourdiscarded waste or getting entangled in it and drowning.

Though forgotten today, in theknowledge base of indigenousmedical system is preservedtraditional food suppliants fornutritional deficiency which alsotakes into account the differentstages of life which requiredifferent nutritional needs. Theseremedies are based on easilyavailable local resources. Hence

through a thorough study of suchformulations the followingpossibilities have been identified

by VK-NARDEP

a) A complete nutritionalhealth drink which shall be apoor-womans alternative forcostly urban health drinks whichare highly commercial and out ofreach for the common villager oreven an urban poor person.

b) A herbal indigenous ironrich tablet, that helps the ruralwomen folk to prevent theprevalent anemia that is rampantparticularly in rural Tamil Nadu

c) A herbal tablet that isvery specific to the district ofKanyakumari which helps toincrease the immunity (immuno-modulant)

Water and

Sanitation

But this is not just a technicalproduct development based onage old knowledge. It can alsobring some important socialchanges. For example this productwhen developed can

make rural householdsnutritionally self-reliant

effect holistic improvementof health

provide cost-effectivehealth care which isaffordable for even poorrural households

generate rural employment

empower rural women asthe nutritional modules aredone through rural women

self-help groups

revive local traditions offood-diversity andnutritional balance.

A general improvement in healththrough removal of malnutritioncan also boost work quality as wellas functional efficiency of our ruralpopulation.

Workshop on Grey WaterTreatment was sponsored RuTAG, IIT, Chennai and waorganized by Vivekananda

Kendra NARDEP at TRC,Kalluvillai on 18

thSeptembe

80 persons attended. ResouPersons were :

Dr.S.Pushpavanam of IIT,Chennai

Sri..S. Gopalakrishnan ofRuTAG, Chennai

Tested water from 14 wells inKanyakumari Dist program

of Central Ground Water BoaChennai

What we label scientificknowledge is lots of fun. You

get lots of correlations but youdon't get the truth. . .. Things

are much more marvelousthan the scientific method

allows us to conceive.

Barbara McClintock

Done with DSTcore support


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Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, September 2010 Vol.2 No: 7

Why Say No to Plastic Bags?: It is estimated that up to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumedworldwide each year, more than one million per minute

INDOCERT General Body Meeting washeld at Cochin on 22nd & 23rd. 50persons attended this meeting. In thismeeting, discussions on Organicfarming certification were held.Dr.P.Kamalasanan Pillai also attendedthe meeting.

This month Networking

students Selvam Arts and Science College,Namakkal: study Azolla technology

In future the water may be the mostprecious resource, How to start saving

it for your posterity?Read our handbook. For copies contact

the SecretaryVivekananda Kendra-NARDEP

Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari-629702

At Vivekananda puram students are having afield visit: Grey water treatment study Awareness Programme on Shakthi Surabhi at

Christian Mission Service Meeting

At Gramodhaya Park students study urban andrural rain water harvesting models


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Why Say No to Plastic Bags?:Plastic carriers take approximately 500 - 1000 years to breakdown in alandfill site

Awareness programmes on Shakti Surabhi Bio-methanation plant under (RIF) NABARD, Chennai wereconducted at :

Maitreyi The Vedic Village, Aliyar, CoimbatoreDistrict on 7

thof this month. 29 persons attended.

(Resource Person: Shri.V.Ramakrishnan)

Christian Mission Service, Azhagiapandipuram,Kanyakumari Dist. on 17

thof this month. 80

persons attended. (Resource Person:Shri.G.Vasudeo)

S.T.S. Kamala Marriage Hall, Nagore, NagaiDist.on 19

thof this month. 40 persons attended.

(Resource Person: Shri.V.Ramakrishnan)

Thanthai Hans Roever College, Perambalur on 21st

of this month. 200 students attended. (ResourcePersons: Shri.G.Vasudeo, Shri.V.Ramakrishnan)

Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Tiruppur on 23rd of thismonth. 35 persons attended. (Resource Person: Sri.V.Ramakrishnan)

Shakthi Surabhi training programme was held atVivekananda Kendra-NARDEP TRC, Kalluvilai on 25

thof

this month. 21 persons attended. (Resource Persons:Shri.G.Vasudeo, Sri.V.Ramakrishnan)

Happenings: This month for SustainaAgriculture

Workshop on Azolla Cultivation wheld for students and staff of Selvam Aand Science College, Namakkal Vivekanandapuram on 7

thof this mon

56 persons attended this workshThe Resource Person wDr.P.Kamalasanan Pillai.

Workshop on Vermi CompostTechniques was held for the studeand staff of MET College of EducatiChenbagaramanputhoor, kanyakumDist. at Vivekanandapuram on 9

thof t

month. 7 students attendShri.S.Rajamony was the ResouPerson.

Workshop on Azolla Cultivation wheld at Vivekananda Kendra - NARDat Vivekanandapuram on 25

thof t

month with S.Premalatha as the resouperson.

A section of students attending programmeon Grey water treatment

Renewable Energy This Month

Shakthi Surabhi awareness programme aNagore with a section of audience


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Why Say No to Plastic Bags? Research shows that every person would normally use a total of 167carrier bags per year; averaging to about 6 bags a week

How Shakthi Surabhi tackthe waste-disposal problem imulti-faceted way:

Alternative fuel for cooking gas

Waste disposal - very good for degradable waste managemsystem

Hygienic - no odor and flies

Arrests green house gas

Digested outlet slurry is good or anic manure

How to feed the future humanity?How to make development sustainable?

Some of the best publications on the subject for layman and

professionals alike, are from VK-nardep.

Contact: The Secretary, Vivekananda Kendra-NARDEPVivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari-629702

Tamil NaduPhone: 04652-246296 Email:[email protected]

Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment aspartners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia James Lovelock

This month Shakthi Surabhi

This month Commissioning of five ShaktiSurabhi plants were done under RIFscheme of NABARD, Chennai


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Echoes of Eco - Newsletter, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, April 2009 Vol. I No: 2

Why Say No to Plastic Bags? Most bags are used for only 12 minutes - time of purchase toreaching home, before being thrown away


From Our

Publications

From Cough to Smile:

An Eco-Journey

Indian culture is a culture of songs.Indias most sacred hymns aresongs. Indias Epics are songs andballads. Every walk of life has a song

in it. Fishermen sing songs whilefishing. Farmers sing songs whenfarming. Weavers sing songs. In facttwo great poets India produced Thiruvalluvar and Kabir are weavers.

Songs are the best way to conveythe vision of life to people. This

understanding has led VK-NARDEP toproduce a book of songs whichinspire and inculcate sustainable wayof living. There are 56 compositionsbroadly divided under four

categories.

The first category is about innerspirituality. It invokes Divinity thatpermeates the entire existence.Some of the classical Tamil hymnsare also found in this collection. Italso has invocations to SriRamakrishna, Swami Vivekananda,and Holy Mother Saradha Devi

The next and major part deals withenvironmental issues. Lucid eco-rhymes and songs fill the pageswith beautiful small illustrations ofline drawings.

One song brings out the enviablebio-diversity that our countrysidehas in the different number oftrees. Another song shows how wehave to save the trees. Yet anothersong speaks specifically how it isthe duty of each boy and girl toplant a tree sapling and nurture itinto a tree that benefits all. Thereare songs about different commonmedicinal herbs and plants.

A song portrays the tragic

destruction our so calleddevelopment is bringing to wild life.The beauty of the song is that it istold from the point of view of asmall bird. This is good material formono-act or a small eco-skit in aschool function.

There are songs that promotenatural indigenous system ofmedicine, A study recentlyrevealed that a typical urbanschool boy knows at least 50 brand

names of consumer goods buthardly 5 local plants. These songsintroduce many common medicinalplants and how they are useful forour day to day healthy living. Fromeco-consciousness the book alsoadvocates social and nationalconsciousness. The need to live inharmony with each other is alsobrought out in many songs.

These are songs that can betaught to school children and

college students. They can besung as group songs and also canform part of stage plays and streetplays on ecological themes.

Aadduvome Pallu Paaduvome (Let usdance and Sing: Tamil)Pages: 64Price: Rs 20/-(subject to change)

Secretary VK-NARDEPKanyakumari -629 702


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Vivekananda Kendra nardep, Kanyakumari-629702 Phone:91-4652-246296www.vknardep.org

If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self-worth and confidence, andthere is no need to be fearful of others.

His Holiness Dalai Lama

...I had to think myself into the role oan animal that lives in the sea. Tobring this about I had to forget a loof human conceptions. For example,time measured by the clock mean

nothing to a shorebird. His measureof time is not an hour, but the riseand fall of the tides exposing hisfood supply or covering it again.

It is essential that the beginningstudent should first becomeacquainted with the true meaning ohis subject through observing thelives of creatures in their true relationto each other and to theienvironment.

To begin by asking him to observeartificial conditions is to create in hismind distorted conceptions and tothwart the development of his naturaemotional response to the mysteriesof the life stream of which he is apart. Only as a childs awarenessand reverence for the wholeness olife are developed, can his humanitto his own kind reach its fudevelopment.

Symbiosis is a physical associationbetween organisms, the livingtogether of organisms of differentspecies in the same place at thesame time. In the search forgenes outside the nucleus, I

became more and more aware thatthey're cohabiting entities, livebeings. Live small cells resideinside the larger cells.

Understanding that led me andothers to study modern symbioses.Symbiosis has nothing to do withcost or benefit. The benefit/costpeople have perverted the sciencewith invidious economic analogies.The contention is not over modernsymbioses, simply the living

together of unlike organisms, butover whether "symbiogenesis" long-term symbioses that lead tonew forms of life has occurredand is still occurring. Theimportance of symbiogenesis as amajor source of evolutionarychange is what is debated. Icontend that symbiogenesis is theresult of long-term living together staying together,

Feeling Knowing Learning

-

Lynn Margulismicrobiologist-

Rachel CarsEcolo-

Closeness to nature, and inparticular a good relationship withan animal or animals, is animportant element in thedevelopment of a psychologicallywell-adjusted child, who will, with

luck, become a well-adjusted adult.But unfortunately, nature alone isnot enough. First, society as awhole must reevaluate its attitudetoward non-human life forms andthe environment we all share. Evenif a child is fortunate enough tohave a mother with theunderstanding that mine had, theattitude of respect for life, fosteredin early childhood will be at riskwhen, during a science class, thechild is required to dissect a once-

living creature killed simply as ateaching tool. This is even moreshocking since the majority of thekids in the class will not take upcareers in which the informationgained at the cost of suffering willbe even marginally useful.wehave a choice. Will you, I say toyoung people, use the gift of yourlife to try to make the world a better

lace for all livin bein s - or not?

-

Jane GoodallZoologist-

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