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Significance of Swadeshi Ideals in the New World Order

Joseph Chittoor

Swetlana Alleluva, daughter and biographer of Joseph Stalin one of the architects of Communist Russia, mentions that, whenever anything new; - be it medicine, food, delicacies or any article of curiosity – was brought to him, he used to ask ‘is this made in Russia’? If the answer was ‘no’ he never kept those things for his use. As we know, Stalin was very particular that Russia should be self-sufficient in food, medicine, machines weapons and so on. It was basically to promote the socio-economic and cultural development of Russia. Primarily, India imported machines and technologies like aeroplanes and generators for hydel projects from Russia. In return, India supplied cotton and coal.

More than getting machineries and related technologies from a neighbouring nation, Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, got inspiration from Russia to set up our own industries. It was manifested through the Five Year Plans devised and implemented with different focuses in the socio-economic and cultural fields. Even before independence Mahatma Gandhi placed before the country the concept of swadeshi and we should be proud about that.

In consonance with Gandhi’s idea of swadeshi;

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We should produce our own ‘raw materials’ (for example, cotton).We should produce our own traditional food and practise our traditional food system. We should nourish and develop our traditional health care for community health needs. We should employ our own traditional technologies and develop the same with scientific innovations. We should conserve the nature and eco-systems for the welfare of the humanity.

For an Independent India, ideals had been set by Mahatma himself. Subsequently Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Rajagopalachari, Lal Bahadur Shastri et. al. advocated and propagated the message and struggled for the cause.

Where are we now?

Let us have a retrospect on our current situation. We see a situation now that for the ordinary people of India ‘imported’ and ‘foreign’ food or medicine have become equivalents of ‘genuineness’ and ‘good quality’

Swadeshi Food

What does it mean? Now the modern commercial restaurants serve ‘Indian Food’ like parotta, chappathi, biriyani, papad, curry and chutney and different kinds of sweets like jilebi, khhir etc. It is O.K. for, the restaurants to sell food to tourists or visitors according to their taste. This is quite understandable. But the real question is it real Indian food?

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Whether, swadeshi materials and methods have been used in its preparation.

In a hospital, the doctor was making his rounds. The doctor shouted at the attendant of a patient “I was always telling you not to give apple and grapes to the patient. These are full of poisonous pesticides. If he wants to eat fruits, why don’t you give him banana or orange? At least he can peal it and eat”

When we visit a patient, we seldom give bananas. But the present tendency is to give grapes or apple which carry greater dignity and respect. It should be also noted that they are more expensive. This is only an example of an attitude. Grapes and apple can also be swadeshi as they grow in India.

In the area where I work the staple food is ‘ragi’. People make ‘ragi balls’ and eat it with dal or leafy vegetable curry. It is very nutritious, low cost, grown by most of the people and they are used to its taste. Then why should they change their agriculture pattern?

Millets are going to be extinct as it has become out of fashion to cultivate and eat. Why only about millets? Many of the native varieties of paddy are also getting extinct. Our government promotes only a few varieties of paddy. In 1985, there was a demonstration of different native varieties of paddy and a seminar on conservation of natural varieties of rice at Rausila Farm, Hoshangabagd, Madhya Pradesh which was managed by Friends Rural Centre of Quakers. The chief

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resource person was Dr. R. H.Richharia. He was one of the leading rice experts in the country and associated with a number of research institutions and was heading the Central Rice Research Institute. In the seminar he said he had been transferred several times to make it impossible for him to work. In his own words, “Mr. Arjun Singh (then the chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh) .... asked the Department of Agriculture” and the answer was “The World Bank said No.”

We can quote more incidents and cases. But the question is ‘for whom do our Government and Departments work and who influences our scientists? Can scientific findings be adulterated by influence? so that videshi can become swadeshi?. Different varieties of rice were introduced for cultivation e.g. Philippine – IRRI, IR-8 & IR-2, Chinese ‘Thainan and Thaiching’ and others. But the farmers like the quality and taste of native varieties. So the question is, “is videshi for market and swadeshi for the consumption of the producer?”

One more word in this regard. Gandhi dreamt and imagined an alcohol-free India. But now the sugarcane factories in India manufacture sugar only nominally; and the thousands of sugarcane growers now produce sugarcane for the preparation of spirit from which all Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) are made! Sugarcane and paddy are cultivated in our precious irrigated lands. Both sugarcane and paddy needs similar climate, water and manure. But now the paddy fields are changing to sugarcane fields; and we import both rice and sugar! The drastic phenomenon of swadeshi becoming videshi!

Swadeshi Medicine

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We remember Gandhi healed a boy who was declared dead by the people including medical people. He gave an enema and may be some food and drink afterwards. Drugless therapy is not unheard in India. We have also parallels in Europe and China in this respect. The body is an automatic machine which also does self-repair. The medical people will agree that whatever medicine they give or surgery they make, the body has to accept and act. What medicine can do is to assist and accelerate the self-healing mechanism of the body.

In India, we have ‘swadeshi medicine’. Apart from the tribal and traditional medicine, we have three fully developed systems of medicine which the Government of India calls ISM (India Systems of Medicine) and now named as AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Sidha Homeopathy) adding Homeopathy; a system of German origin to ISM.

We can be proud of ISM with its basic concepts ‘love for nature and plants; respect to life...’ etc. These swadeshi systems kept the principle “treatment according to the need of the patient; payment according to the ability of the patient”. I don’t want to criticise the commercial hospitals. Their commitment and attitudes are reflected in their approach and even in their advertisements. One such I saw was “Enjoy life, we are first in liver transplant”!

Human beings have been suffering from illness and accidents from their very existence on earth. These have been treated by healers, not for minting money, but to make sick person whole. Even now there are bonesetters, wound healers,

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snake bite managing vishaharies. Some traditions are still kept in different families. But often these people have no recognition by the medical community, but some drug companies stealthily try to grab and possess the information in the shade of intellectual property right. Tribal medicine and traditional medicines are swadeshi. But what is needed is not to condemn but to keep it out of possible superstitions and strengthen it and support it.

It would be appropriate to share information about some organisations working in this area. One such is Wayanad Vanamoolika Samrakshana Sangham in Kerala. It is a registered charitable organisation established in 1991 with the mission of making people ‘sustainable partners’ of the nature and its resources. This Sangham consists of socially committed individuals and enterprising women, who learn, cultivate and propagate medicinal plants. They are engaged in manufacturing and marketing of herbal medicines and also instrumental in dissemination of information on medicinal plants through its publications. For details visit the site: www.vanmoolika.com

Jeeva Daru (tree of life) in Karnataka also works on similar lines. It is an organisation dedicated for the health care of the villagers rehabilitated from the Kabini Reservior project. This organisation has enabled the village women to handle their health problems with herbal medicine which they grow. They are also instrumental in planting thousands of trees in this area. The Jeeva Daru is operating from H.D. Kote, Mysore. For details contact: jeevadaru@yahoo.com

The work of Gramaniketan in Kerala in this line is worth mentioning. It is a network of self-help groups with the

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objective of empowerment of women. It follows Gandhian ideals in its rural development activities. This group is working from Pala, Kodumpady,in Kottayam district from the year 1999. The beneficiaries include 2 lakhs women from the neighbouring seven districts. They make food supplements, soaps without detergents and other products. Using the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda, medicines are prepared in the kitchen of members. Its products are sold through selling centres. For details contact:gramniketh@yahoo.com

Clothing

Gandhi dressed like his classmates in college or when he was in England. Subsequently he took the loin cloth. In 1930, Winston Churchill sarcastically called Gandhi ‘half-naked Fakir’. But Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference in his dhoti and shawl.

Gandhi did not advocate that all should dress like him. But his words and deed proclaimed that people should wear swadeshi cloths to promote and protect local industry and artisanship and also local agriculture and production. He condemned extravagancies and show. I think this message we can take and learn from him. The lady who is wearing saree is swadeshi in her attire; but if she insists on foreign and super-costly gold-thread embroidered saree, she may be swadeshi in origin; but not in her dress any way. So, when we speak of swadeshi, the ideal and the spirit are more important than the material.

Education

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Our children need education. On the one side, we have thousands of English medium posh schools. On the other side, many children go without schooling and we have a lot of illiterate people. And as things stand now, illiteracy may cross to next century.

India had a tradition of Gurukula where the disciple learns from the Master; not only literacy and subject; but also ideas and values. Of course, things change according to times. But can we imagine the situation where the parents cannot communicate with children and vice-versa? English has become universal language and let us learn it. But can we sacrifice our swadeshi mother tongue and national language Hindi for the videshi language for fashion?

Conclusion

The word swadeshi, as we have seen, is not a personal aspiration of an individual; but the totality of a national aspiration for sustainable development of people and nation; as explicitly exemplified by Gandhi through his life and mission. Unfortunately, we now live in a time where these sustainable humane development visions remain mainly in words are super-imposed by our political rulers. They are succumbing to the influences of the global powers. But we are a people capable of determining our destinies. The question is whether we want to be swadeshi or videshi. If we want swadeshi and aspire for sustainable development, then we will have to strive for ensuring an agro-productive system based on food security of the rural communities. This means re-inventing and reinstating the traditional pro-poor and pro-nature agriculture

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system to make a breakthrough in food, livelihood and ecological security of the resource-poor communities.

Some points to ponder:Do I like simplicity?

Am I satisfied with fulfilling my needs? Or, do I go for greed?Do I like swadeshi ways of life-style, food, shelter, manners and relationships?

Do I respect the great men who lived in our land and gave us good irrespective of their language, caste and creed?

Do I prefer to use things made in our country by our own people to those that come from outside?

Am I proud of my own country and being an Indian?