2012
14‐18 DECEMBER
NAI TALIM @CHOWKUL
TO CREATE A CULTURALLY BASED KNOWLEDGE HUB FOR WORLD‐WIDE NATURAL LEARNERS, UNSCHOOLERS, & OTHER, AUTONOMOUSLY LEARNING, HOME BASED EDUCATION, VILLAGE FARMERS, AND ARTISIAN.……..
SYAMANTAK www.syamantak.org +91 9404164945
[email protected]
NAI TTALIM @ @ CHOU UKUL Nurture yyour learning SSpirit at the SSahyadri rang ges
It’s an Inntergeneratio onal Family learning Caamp. Humann knowledge is expandinng so fast thaat the sequencee of our disccoveries has become disoorderly. We have charteed the originns of the universe before classifying thee life forms that t exist onn our own plaanet. W Waalls” is a reall life educatiion system of o Syamantakk. Educationn here is baseed on “School Without hands onn practices and a innovatiions. Real life educatioon promotionn is one of the major thrust t areas of Syamantak,, and accorddingly, we are a planningg to organize this workshop in diffferent villages having h rich bio-diversitty and rural culture. Its objective iss not to enddorse tourism m for mere sigght seeing, junk j food and a thoughttless entertaainment. Wee would like to move from educationn systems to o the Learninng Society. The most exciting e learrning experieences at thiss Nai Talim workshop w wiill be the sense s of place program m based onn knowledgee of the viillage environm ment of the eco-sensitive e e villages. We W would likke to encourrage more paarents, studeents – all learneers to adopt this t organic learning proocess – A reaal life educattion.
( Nail Tallim @Choukkul at wwww.syamantakk.org
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SENSE E OF PLAC CE SHAR RING OPP PORTUNIITIES The villlage housee for your sstay will bee a lovely home away ffrom your home! Thee opportun nity to stayy in a comfo ortable villlage housse is an ideal wayy to experience wond derful coun ntryside and hospitality of Choukkul villagerrs in rural konkan. Meals M of local cuisinee will be prepared p s specially fo or you by each house owner. Yo ou may learn to prepare meals with your h host, the traaditional w way. Ofcourrse you will see some amazing sights s but the point is to sit down d mers, talk, share your skills, worrk with arttisans, farm barefo oot botaniist of Chaaukul village. Nai Talim T @Chau ukul may give you u stories that you will remem mber long after your photos haave faded. You may often o starrt new hobbies su uch as naature photoggraphy, orgganic vegettable gardeening, recycling and co omposting or sustainaable living.
Few of tthe proposed activitiees designed d with “Schoool Without Walls” stud dents and village aartisans are e as followss: Vermiccompostingg Making Papercretee bricks Solar de‐hyd drator Ho ome mediciines Tribal aart Bamboo art wo orking on sttrawberry ffarm, rice ffarm, vegettable farm Naturaal dying etcc Come, listen, and particip pate. And take t back k a sense of o belonging. On Deceember 17 aand 18 at C Choukul wee will hear from Kala Ratna award winner Shri. Ravindeer Sharma of Adilabad about th he fascinatting, complex web off interrelattions among the traditio onal culturres, and liffestyles, un nderstandin ng the mod dern econo omic crisis fro om the pe erspective of Hind Sw waraj and exploring alternative spaces for f a sustainaable world order. For the last 2 decaades, Shri. Ravinder Sharma haas been wo orking with artisans in n the Adilabad d district o of Andhra P Pradesh. Srri Ravindra Sharma fo ondly called d as "Guruji" is the founder of Kaala Ashram m which wo orks as a 'Living Musseum' provviding reso ource servicess to local folk arts & & crafts. SSharma ji is an Ren nowned Arrtist, Histo orian, Econom mist, a visiting lecturrer at IITss,IIITs, IIsc,, NIFT, NID.,has beeen runningg an Institutee "KALA ASSHRAM" fo ostering tow wards desiign development in arts a and crrafts. He was a scholarship studeent at the Baroda Scchool of Fiine Art. Ass the wind ds of change blew bewiilderingly sswift through towns llike Adilabad all the local tradittions and craafts vanished at an alarming rate. r Ravin ndra Sharm ma has spent all hiss life grapplin ng with the ese changes and whatt he should d do in thee face of th his attack o on all these th hings that h he loved. He has organized his eefforts arou und a Kala A Ashram thaat he founded d, that is de edicated to o preserving the traditional arts and crafts.. Guruji him mself is well vversed in fo ourteen different art fforms. He ttaught art at a local tribal schoo ol for 10 yearrs, teachingg the local Kolam bo oys to exp press their inner worrld through h art forms of paint and d sculpture.. Copy paste p belo ow mentio oned link http:// /www.nirm malcity.co om/adilab bad_kalaa ashram_art_museu um.html
You can also work with village young people to paint buildings and fences, gather and recycle plastic, plant medicinal trees, and work on numerous other village betterment projects. Work on the village farm, cow farm, and with village artisans. REGISTRATION & ACCOMODATION DETAILS The suggested fee for the workshop is Rs. 3,800 per participant. This amount will allow us to recover our expenses towards doing the workshop. Food served will be pure vegetarian organic food. Vegetables, rice are cultivated by Choukul villagers without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Participants shall stay in the beautiful village houses. Our intention is sharing feel of affection and caring among the participants and villagers. Syamantak’s educational program has no funding and need to be self‐sustaining. So do let us know if you'd be able to make a contribution over and above the suggested contribution. This shall also enable us to welcome others who may not be able to afford the workshop otherwise. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please register early as seats are limited.
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( Nail Talim @Choukul at www.syamantak.org
ABOUT THE VILLAGE OF CHAUKUL The community of Chowkul, in the western ghats of the state of Maharashtra, has just over 460 Chaukul provides a households. The majority of the population is unique vantage point composed of ethnic Marathas. Their first language is from which to observe Malvani, but almost everyone in the community knows Marathi and little bit of Hindi. Traditionally, and learn about culture they cultivate rice, finger millets, ground nut, onion, change as it happens. garlic, chilly, potatoes, harbara, tur etc. Recently they have also started cultivating strawberries. December is the peak season for all these crops. Participation will have ample to observe and learn about this ancient form of agriculture and horticulture. In recent years the community had to look for other work in order to be a part of the national/gobal cash economy. Most of the village men are ex‐army servicemen. Chaukul provides a unique vantage point from which to observe and learn about culture change as it happens.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CHAUKOL VILLAGE: 1. It is located in Amboli in the Western Ghats (known as Sahyadri ranges in Sanskrit) which is a mega biodiversity region, with varied flora, fauna and landscapes. It is also known as Chirapunji of Maharashtra. Chokul is surrounded by thick forests and tree canopied hills. 2. It’s in the vicinity of Hanmant gad and Pargad with rich flora and fauna.
3. TThe river Ghataprabhaa which is a tributaryy of the Krrishna Riveer has its o origin so ource in th he main hill range of Sahyadri n near Chowkkul village. It originatees at an altitude of 884 metters and flo ows eastwaard for a distance of 283 kilomeeters b before its co onfluence w with the Krrishna Riveer (one of the longest rivers of In ndia, w which is ab bout 1300 km in len ngth). The entire valley of thee Ghatapraabha in ncluding th hat of Tamraparni, co onsists of hilly h terrain n having laarge patchees of fo orest growth at higheer levels & ccultivated lland at low wer levels. 4. There are 3 T main ancient templees In Chaukkul viz., Shrri Devi Sateeri Temple, Shri D Devi Bhavaii Temple and a Shri Deev Khamad da. Sateri and a Bhavai Devi's Tem mple are located d in middlee of Chaukul villagee. While Dev D khamada’s temp ple is lo ocated in a hill. 5. Chowkul’s are unbelievably beautiful. Its colourful flower plateau C ecosystem e environmen ntal ideal makes Khaamdev maandir pathaar (valley of flowerss) an id dyllic self‐contained w world.
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( Nail Talimm @Chouukul at wwww.syamantak.org
LEARN MORE ABOUT WESTERN GHAT BIO‐DIVERSITY:
The Western Ghats is a mega biodiversity region, with varied flora, fauna and landscapes. The distribution and magnitude of the biodiversity that exists today is a product of over 3.5 billion years of evolution, involving speciation, migration, extinction and more recently, human influence. This is emphasized on the diversity of plant life as an essential underpinning of most of the tropical ecosystem. The Western Ghats (known as Sahyadri ranges in Sanskrit) has to its credit a wide range of species diversity, 4500 plant species out of which 35 percent are endemic. Levels of endemism in this area are high – nearly 2000 species of higher plants, 84 species of fishes, 87 species of amphibians, 89 species of reptiles, 15 species of birds and 12 species of mammals are endemic to the Western Ghats (Daniel, 1997). The earth is home to a rich and diverse kind of living organisms, whose genetic diversity and relationships with one another and with their physical environment constitute biodiversity. Biodiversity or biological diversity generally refers to the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. Thus, biodiversity is the totality of genetic, species, ecosystem and habitat diversity in a region that has evolved through millions of years of evolutionary history. The origin of life is a consequence of pre‐biotic evolution of organic material to cellular forms. The present complexity that life has developed by successive evolutionary optimization took 3.5 to 4.0 billion years (earliest fossil record of life on earth is 3.6 billion years ago). An estimated 1.7 million species have been described to date, and conservative estimates suggest that around 12.5 million species must be existing on earth. This rich diversity is facing various threats for its very survival. Even before we fully describe the species richness, we are losing many species, due to the alarming rate of extinction. It is hard to develop a measure of extinction rates of the entire flora and fauna due to the scant knowledge of the species pool before the impact. Even though, speciation and extinction processes (as many as 12 mass extinctions have taken place so far naturally) are part of the evolutionary process, extinction is overtaking speciation. Humankind has to realise that what is lost is lost forever, and cannot be brought back. Human development should be without interfering with natural ecosystems that exist, rather should be in harmony with nature, conserving it for the future generations. India has a unique combination of living species, habitats and ecosystems, which together makes it a diversity rich country in the world. The Western Ghats covers of six states namely Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu. It has a wide range of vegetation and topographical features. Biogeographically, the hill chain of the Western Ghats constitutes the Malabar province of the Oriental realm, running parallel to the west coast of India from 8° N to 21° N latitudes, 73° E to 77° E longitudes for around 1600 km. Rising up from a relatively narrow strip of coast at its western border, the hills reach up to a height of 2800 m before they merge to the east with the Deccan plateau at an altitude of 500‐600 m. The average width of this mountain range is about 100 km.
DOWN TRAINS COMING TO SAWANTWADI ROAD STATION Train Train name Origin Dep Destination Arrival M T W T F S S Dadar 23:55 Sawantwadi 10:55 11003 Mumbai Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Road Sawantwadi 12202
Garib Rath Lokmanya tilak Kochuveli S Mandovi Express Kokan Kanya exp Patna- Goa Express PuneErnakulam SF Express Gandhidham Nagercoil Weekly Express H.NizamuddinTrivandrum Central Rajdhani Express
Lokmanyatilak Tilak Terminus
12:50
Sawantwadi Road
22:22
N N N
N N Y N
Mumbai Cst
06:55
16:26
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
Mumbai Cst
23:05
09:56
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
Kalyan Jn
21:00
05:19
N N N
N N N Y
Pune Jn
18:45
Sawantwadi Road Sawantwadi Road Sawantwadi Road Sawantwadi Road
05:52
N N Y
N N N Y
Gandhidham
05:20
Sawantwadi Road
07:56
N N N
N Y N N
H.Nizamuddin
11:00
Sawantwadi Road
12:52
N Y Y
N N N Y
DIVA SWV PASS
DIVA / Panvel
06:20/ 07:00
Sawantwadi Road
17:10
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
16345
Netravati Express
11:40
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
Jan shatabdi
13:58
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
16333
VRL TVC EXPRESS
VERAVAL
03:00
07:34
N N Y
N N N N
16311
BKN KCVL EXPRES
BIKANER JN
20:25
07:34
N Y N
N N N N
12619
MATSYAGAN DHA EX
15:20
00:54
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
12618
MNGLA LKSDP EXP
LOKMANYAT ILAK Terminus H NIZAMUDDIN
17:44
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
16337
OKHA ERS EXPRES
Hapa
05:25
Kudal (Does not halt at sawantwadi) Kudal (Does not halt at sawantwadi) Kudal (Does not halt at sawantwadi) Kudal (Does not halt at sawantwadi) Kudal (Does not halt at sawantwadi) KANKAVALI (Does not halt at sawantwadi & Kudal) KANKAVALI (Does not halt at sawantwadi & Kudal)
21:56
12051
Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak terminus Mumbai – Dadar
06:52
Y
N N
N N Y N
12133
MANGALORE EXP
MUMBAI CST
22:15
KANKAVALI (Does not halt at sawantwadi & Kudal)
06:10
Y
Y Y
Y Y Y Y
10103 10111 12201 22150
16335
12432
50105
05:10
09:20
Nearest railway station to Amboli Nos Preference 1 SAWANTWADI ROAD
Stn code swv
Kms 30
2
KUDAL
kudl
52
3
KANKAVLI
kkw
83
4
Belgaum
bgm
69
4
PERNEM
Pern
67
5
THIVIM
Thvm
80
6
KARMALI
Krmi
105
7
MADGAON JUNCTION
Mao
126
Mode Local buses and 6 seaters available from Sawantwadi bus stand from Kudal bus stand ‐ Sawantwadi bus stand from Kankavli bus stand‐ Sawantwadi bus stand Bus From Belgaum bus stand – Amboli Local train to Sawantwadi or bus via Mapusa bus stand Local train to Sawantwadi or bus via Mapusa bus stand Local train to Sawantwadi or bus via Panaji bus stand Local train to Sawantwadi or bus via Panaji bus stand
Airports near Amboli Dabolim Airport, Goa (GOI) Sambre Airport, Belgaum (IXG) Lohegaon Airport, Pune (PNQ) Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai (BOM)
Goa to Amboli
114 km
Pune to Amboli
346 km
Mumbai to Amboli
496 km
Bangalore to Amboli
578 km
Hyderabad to Amboli
623 km
Type Domestic Domestic Domestic International
Aerial Distance 58 km 89 km 298 km 370 km
To Register Click On
( Nail Talim @Choukul at www.syamantak.org
Feel free to contact us at
[email protected] OR Call us Sachin : +91 94041‐64945 Meenal: +91 9420973484 www.syamantak.org