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Soaking in the sights and sounds

Research on the use of genetically modified seeds by farmers led two American students to delve into the effect of globalisation on India. They tell SHILPA NAIR ANAND about their concerns and impressions

PHOTO: MAHESH HARILAL

INDIA CALLING American research students Brian Smith and Michelle Brittan.

"There is so much interest about the United States here. Wherever we went, people would come up to ask a great deal of questions about America, mostly as to why the United States is at war with Iraq. And we are like `we don't know either!'" says Michelle Brittan, a student from the United States. Michelle and her friend Brian Smith are in Kerala. So, you wonder, what is so special about a pair of American students in Kerala? Tourists or maybe Indophiles at best?

Michelle and Brian are undergraduate students of Sociology and Anthropology, respectively at Tacoma, Washington. Michelle's optional subject in college is India. "Many students opt for subjects related to India because there are some aspects about India that are in vogue. I have classmates who finish yoga sessions or a session of meditation, and head straight for a smoke or to eat a non-vegetarian meal. I opted for the subject because I want a well-rounded picture of India. The dark phases in Indian history like the Raj or the Emergency," says Michelle.

These impressions maybe part of the cliché that is India for most non-Indians. Her interest in India, led her advisor in college to suggest a visit to India, more precisely Kerala, because "my advisor is a Malaysian of Indian origin, of Malayali origin" and thanks to a scholarship the couple are in India. Brian shares Michelle's fascination for India and it is probably one of the things that brought them together. He learns the tabla, and how did he decide on the instrument?

"I just woke up one morning and I decided that the tabla it was going to be."

Touching down in India with very definite plans on what she wanted to base her paper on, her focus changed. Top on her agenda was the question of genetically modified seeds and how these were impacting Indian farmers. The realities and the issues on ground, she realised, were different. There were more complex issues involved. "Genetically modified seeds were not the issue, farmers were dying. The focus of my research shifted rapidly. What hit me was the way the farmers, hit by these problems, were responding to them. For instance, in a village near Kozhikode, called Kakkodi, a Gandhian K. V. Krishnan is trying to help the unemployed there and farmers, by teaching them alternatives (organic farming) to be self-sufficient - empowering them in the bargain," says Michelle.

Of the two weeks that Michelle and Bryan spent in Kerala, most of it was spent in Wayanad. They regret having chosen the wrong time for the trip, they were at the mercy of the heavy monsoon showers . With phone lines down, they had a tough time getting in touch with officials concerned. "The government officials that we could meet and speak with at the Krishi Bhavan were very forthcoming. There was a government team assessing the problem at Wayanad at the time of our visit, but we could not meet them and neither could we meet as many farmers as we would have liked to," says Michelle, who has to now work out how to approach her research paper. The pair is grateful to their tour operators, Kochi-based Dove Holidays for guiding them "in the right direction, otherwise we would have been lost. In fact everybody we came in touch with in India was very helpful."

Discovery of India

The volume of information dazes the young pair and the impressions that they have or have been forced to soak in. The two aspects of `modern' India that made an impact on them are the effects of globalisation, poverty - money or the lack of it and the complexities of poverty that is difficult for them to comprehend. "It is so difficult to comprehend what poverty means to us Americans and what poverty is here. What we have seen. People don't die of starvation and homelessness in the U.S., but here people can and maybe they do. It is very hard to comprehend for us," says Michelle, who is visibly bewildered at the dichotomy of what suffering means in different cultures. The shock of the poverty that they encountered is evident, as they recount a trip to Madurai. "We were in the town, it was night and there were people sleeping on the road side, and then there was this SUV kind of vehicle that zipped past. Either there is so much of wealth or hardly any." The power of the U.S. dollar too surprised them, "for 10 USD a homeless person can probably eat for a month."

The effect of globalisation is a subject that Brian wants to study. Interestingly, they realised that while in the U.S. they could work their way around not buying products made by American and European corporations, in India there was "no escaping these corporations." "At a restaurant the menu inevitably has soft drinks made by these corporations, it is hard to avoid purchasing these products. If it is mineral water, the story is the same," says Michelle. According to them, in the U.S. there is a choice of not consuming these products, but here ironically it is not possible. It is clear, even as Michelle and Brian prepare to leave, they have not been able digest all that they have imbibed about this land of ours, "the land of paradoxes" they say, "we need to get back and then make sense of all that we have seen."

Back home

Brian and Michelle are involved in a programme called `Food not Bombs,' which is based on the fact food is a necessity than bombs. They and their group of friends cook for the homeless and feed them. Once they get back to the U.S. and to their routines, they intend to take a year off and do some social work.

As part of their resolve to live "less harmful lives," these 22-year-old-activists (who are vegetarians) and their six friends intend to move in together, continue the cooking that they do for the needy, a library (where these friends intend to put all the books that they own) and composting.

Once they finish their bachelor's degree, both of them intend to do some voluntary work among the less privileged.

Would they come back to India?

Brian would like to come back so that he can learn more about the tabla, "because I share Michelle's concerns and interests, and this trip was hers, but I would like to return to learn more of the tabla," says Brian and Michelle too would like to return some time later. But then they want it to be a spiritual journey and they want to see more of India, because what they have seen is just the tip of the iceberg called India.

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