Slow Food: the traditional Oriya way

Long before labels were conceived to communicate a movement, food in Orissa was slow. When livelihoods depend on agriculture its only natural that people are tuned in to the cycle of nature. The consumption of food is directly linked to seasonal crops and the cycle of harvest.

Furthermore the preparation of foods from the staple crop is slow. The lack of automated mechanisms means production is in the hands of the community. What has evolved is something of a small-scale cottage industry.

Let’s take rice as an example. In Orissa there are over 100 varieties of rice grain. From this we see multiple forms of rice preparation; boiled, puffed, pressed, ground, roasted and fermented, all done at a village level under the organization of local cooperatives.

This short film demonstartes how one such preparation sustains an entire village. Grass Routes has always advocated locally produced food. All our camping trips and many of our village visits support village-led cottage industries. Not only does it sustain local communities but it keeps tradition alive and tastes good too!

‘Ukhuda’ a delicious rice and jaggary preparation akin to Rice Bubbles made in Orissa.

Puri's Vanishing Beach

Soil erosion at Puri beach has been a concern of Grass Routes since its conception and we adamantly oppose the rampant construction along Puri’s shoreline in direct contravention if Coastal Zone regulations.

Puri can boast the highest number of hotel rooms for any single destination in India. Most of the time the rooms are vacant, reaching their capacity only on specific festival occasions. The most successful area for hoteliers is on the beachfront close to the Lord Jagannath temple (don’t forget it’s a pilgrimage afterall).

Thousands of hotels have reclaimed sand dunes in recent years. Huge multi stored towers built to within an inch of the allotted property lot are stacked up along the shoreline. Waves come within 300 metres from the hotel reception desk bisected only by a newly constructed road.

All this is completely illegal. The Coastal Zone regulations of India's Central Government clearly state no construction is allowed within 500 metres of the shore. The road providing access to more hotels should never have been built and is already crumbling; the fragile sand barrier unable to hold all the tar and metal.

Construction materials for these hotels inevitably require sand to mix with concrete (construction material of choice). The sand is illegally dredged from the town’s sweet water zone; an area where no construction is permitted (deconstruction reigns supreme). The town’s water supply depends entirely on this water, which for the first time is showing acute signs of running out. Boaring further into the earth is not a viable option as below this level the water is saline.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what is undeniably an environmental disaster. India is slowly waking up and this program recently screened on NDTV indicates greater concern and awareness. I just hope its not too late. If the state Government do not step in to enforce regulations soon, there may be nothing left to save.

Indigenous communities struggle against mining magnate

Another poignant portrayal of the Dongria Kondh's struggle against mining of their sacred homeland.

A dynamic indigneous community nestled in the south western hills of Orissa continue to protest against corporate interests in the mountain they revere as God and have called home for centuries.

Machines have moved in and time is running out.

You can help save a precious mountain rich in biodiversity. Add your voice to this dynamic indigenous community. Send a letter here.

Find out more about Survival International's campaign here.

Travels in Troubled Nations

I’ve just returned from a journey that extended overland from Delhi to Lahore and up the Karakoram Highway to the ancient Silk Route outpost of Kashgar in China. We proceeded by train to Lhasa and worked our way south via Mt Everest to Kathmandu. I don’t wish to analyse or over simplify the social & political situation of either country here, rather put forward my own humble impressions.

Crossing the Wagah border into Pakistan the warmth and genuine hospitality is immediately palpable. It is easy to be lulled into a sense of security, nonetheless we decide to forego Swat in favour of more time in the Hunza Valley. On our way up from Lahore we bump into a television crew filming a travel segment and a newly outfitted army convey stoically making their way to the battlefield.

Braving the 45 degree steep hairpins & pencil thin roads of the Karakoram, we inch past landslides & vicarious road construction into China. The day we reach Kashgar we hear of heavy altercations in the Swat Valley resulting in thousands of refugees. Our journey in Pakistan abounds in fond personal memories, but persistent headlines remind us of the increasingly fragile security situation in the face of the Taliban.

But China doesn’t have any security issues. That it wants to talk about.

Swept along by Tibetan pilgrims we circumambulate the Jorkhang Temple located at the core of Lhasa and at the very heart of Tibetan culture. The security personal appointed by the government to protect the temple march in groups of six in the opposite direction, counter to local customs. Security cameras bare down on the public square and rooftops are dotted with armed guards. Monestary complexes echo ghost towns as monks sit in jail awaiting liberation.

My heart swells to think of the open friendliness of the common men and women in Pakistan, despite terrorism being a very real part of the everyday. In start contrast I was affronted by communism and capitalism in China. We met friendly people but never came close to the heart of matters in China. The landscape in Tibet is simply stunning and like nothing else on this earth, however the dullness in the eyes of its people will overshadow and haunt me.

In the end its clear what matter most to me when I travel; the people make the place. I’ll hold onto moments of spontaneous happiness shared with strangers along the road and cherish open approaches to difference. Travelling is afterall a privileged opportunity to draw strength from our incredible diversity.