Translated into eight languages and Brales available in Anupum MishraA revolution in water conservation in villages has quietly provoked a pond at a time.What do you call a book, which was first published on the cover without the author’s name on the cover, which has no copyright and encourages the reader to use it for free in any form, motivates the common people to spend money from their own pockets and translate it, it can be read in at least nine languages, including Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, and along with the same Breedy, along with two radio The warriors and, nevertheless, are largely unknown to the educated public.Anupam Mishra’s’ Aaj Khare Hain Pond (the ponds are still relevant) were not launched in a farmhouse or nominated for the major literary awards. But the book has become a movement. Spread over a frugal 119 pages, it explains how ponds and lakes were fundamental for life and livelihood across the country, and how their construction, protection, and regeneration was inherent in community fabrics – directed by science and deep philosophical values.Published by Gandhi Shanti Foundation in Hindi for the first time in 1993, the book keeps searching for fresh readers in new languages and forms. Kailash Pandey of Delhi Blind School says, this year, it has been made online accessible in a disabled-friendly e-recitation.Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient Rajendra Singh says that at a time when the headlines shift rapidly from drought to flood, the book is as relevant as usual. Says Singh says, “Changes in weather patterns are a result of climate change and global warming. The book shows how to adapt the current crisis and reduce them,” Singh is called Singh, whose NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh also shaped Mishra’s early ideas.
Anupam Mishra
Chase indigenous knowledgeAaj Bhi… In the 1980s, Mishra was born as a seeker and surveyor from the interiors of India. Mishra spoke less, and heard. A Gandhian, a Gandhian by confidence in action and an environmentalist, discovered the tradition of water savings techniques in dry Rajasthan. He could not go to those areas, Mishra demanded the help of friends and fellow passengers, named each of them in the book. Social activist and old -time ally Rakesh Dewan says, “The book exploited indigenous water knowledge scattered across the country.”At the turn of the 20th century, there were 11 million ponds in India, stated in the book. Mishra referred to the 1907 gazetteer to show that there were 5,000 ponds in the Rajkumar state of Rewa in North-East Madhya Pradesh. The Madras Presidency was home to 53,000 ponds in the early 20th century. Who would believe that in the early 20th century, Delhi had 350 ponds, as the 1930 map. Diwan says that during the British Raj, the officers posted in Jabalpur were advised not to bring fans as the ponds there ensured cold weather.The book also described the craft of the construction of the ponds and dedicated a chapter to their unnamed creators. Mishra shows how, for centuries, communities such as ODHS, Gonds and Ramnamis built ponds. Such acts are often cut into caste spectrum. The building pond was also part of the financial system. “Those who build ponds in the kingdom of Gond Rajas got tax breakdown. This tradition was strong in Sambalpur region,” they write.The excavation pond was one of the punishments received by the caste panchayats of Bundelkhand. The ponds allowed every sign of life.Deep impactMany people found the book intoxicated. Some finished it at once and saw it again. Bhopal -based journalist Shabbir Qadri says, “People were mesmerized, who translated the book into Urdu and distributed it for free in Madras and Panchayats.Mishra, who died in 2016, will create a personal relationship with his readers. “I coincide with around 3,000-odd readers. This idea is to create awareness and create a movement through the book. You cannot do that without having long relations with them,” he told the reporter in 2004.One such reader was Surendra Bansal, who was a freelance graphic designer in Malkotla, Punjab. He learned about the book ‘Janasata’ in a newspaper with a piece of journalist Prabhas Joshi. “I read that article four times and wrote to Anupam-J,” he says. “I did not know, so I have just written, Anupam Mishra, Delhi”. Miraculously, the letter reached its destination. Mishra sent him two of his books in his signature style with a hand -written note.Bansal read the book and then, translated it into Gurmukhi. He published it by selling his prized cacti collection for Rs 11,000. “When Anupam-G came to know about it, he first scolded me. He then cried, “Remember Bansal, who now works for the PR department of the Haryana Government. He has published five versions of the book in Gurmukhi. And he has not closed. Bansal regularly scans Punjabi magazines and send free copies of the book to those who feel that they may be interested in water conservation. “I also distribute it to young clubs and village libraries,” they say. Bansal has given 6,200 copies so far.The book has also been used for community leaders for groom. Aaj Bhi… was introduced as part of the curriculum in Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Vishwavidiya of Chitrakut. Retired Civil Servant B Rajagopal Naidu says, “It was taught to graduate students at 313 centers in a leadership course.” The book was also part of the Hindi course for graduates at the University of Mumbai between 2017 and 2019.
Why does it still matterRajendra Singh, known as ‘Waterman of India’, says that even today… has a profound impact in MP and Rajasthan. Naidu, during whose tenure, was marked by a host of the water management initiative as the DM of Sagar in the MP during 2002-04, says the book helped people to raise awareness about raising and check dams and small drinking water ponds.He also recalls how the cleaning of the huge Lakh Banjara lake of the ocean got stuck due to lack of one money. Help came in an unusual way. Film lyricist and Congress politician Vitalbhai Patel, who hit Bobby’s famous song, ‘Jhut Bole Kava Kate’ in 1973, used to go to different wards of the city every morning, ask people to donate again for rhythm. The raised amount helped restore a huge part of the lake.Such examples are ignorant. Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh, who built at least 7,500 ponds, says that dozens of initiatives were taken in Jodhpur and Bermer districts. He said, “A sarpanch of Nakhoda village of Bikner called me after reading the book to make a book to make a book.”Chhatra Singh, a master of desert water conservation in Jaisalmer district, restored about 500 ponds, baris and Wales. A berry is a shallow well that harvested rain water.“After reading the book, I felt that my ancestors are talking to me. It was written in a way, which takes the inspired action,” Chhatra says, who was also influenced by Mishra’s book, ‘Rajat Boonan of Rajasthan (Silver Drops of Rajasthan)’. He explains about Mishra’s approach: “If you have any doubt about the construction of the ponds, the unique will organize a meeting. He knew the answer, but the answer will allow us to emerge from us.”Lapodia village in eastern Rajasthan is a famous conservation success story. Its chief Laxman Singh also read Aj too… and encouraged fellow villagers to do so. Impressed by his message to revive traditional methods, he applied a textbook of rainwater harvesting and water management techniques, which to convert a Sun-dry area into a village of three Ficund ponds-with Sagar, Phool Sagar and Anna Sagar, with a 300 bigha meados.Laxman Singh says that Mishra visited Lapodia twice every year for 30 years. “He was our guide and guru. Pehle woh human tair kartare hai, fara dharti (first, he read people, then land),” Laxman told this reporter in 2016. When the Braille version of the book came around 2009, Mishra visited the Deli Blind School, motivated students to do porridge.Academic Annie Montut, who has translated ‘Rajat Boondin of Rajasthan’ into French, writes how a French jail prisoners can also be related to Mishra’s lecture on water conservation. Some recalled their childhood in Morocco. He said, “I was surprised by the response, he was not. Anupam-G told me that he had learned a lot from illiterate,” he wrote Mishra’s wife Manjushree in Hindi for an upcoming book in tribute to her husband.It is almost a clinch that a book can change your world. Mishra’s slim volume definitely confirms that saying. With the lack of global water, now an imminent reality, the importance of the book has increased in recent years. Today Aaj Bhi… is for water conservationists what is the slave to the capital Marxists. A gem of Bharata, Mishra never got Padma Shri. But his book continues in a silent revolution, in a pond at a time.
