Prestigious government award for Deepika Kundaji

“It came as a total surprise,” says Deepika. “On March 3rd I got a call from the Ministry of Women and Child Development that I had been selected for this award and that I had to be in Delhi on March 7th, a day before the ceremony. I was in Bangalore at the time, taking care of my brother who has met with a serious accident and is hospitalized, and my mother, who is bed-ridden; and in the middle of all that I got this call.

“So I took the plane and went to the hotel in Delhi they had booked for me. Someone from the Ministry welcomed us and informed us about the programme. At dinnertime, all the awardees had an opportunity to interact and come to know each other and their work.

“I was deeply impressed by them – a typist who became women’s world billiards champion; a woman who ended up raising 1,500 orphans after her husband evicted her from her home when she was pregnant; a bomb blast survivor who lost both hands but is now a motivational speaker for disability rights in the UN; a bakery run by sex traffic survivors; the first woman temple mural artist; a wildlife biologist working to protect an endangered stork called hargilla; and many more.

“The next day a bus took us all to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is an incredibly impressive building. We were ushered in through the front entrance. The ceremony took place in the Durbar Hall, the same Hall where independent India’s first Government was sworn in on August 15th, 1947. We received instructions as to what was expected from us, but were left free to do a namaste, or an adab – the muslim way of greeting, or to offer a handshake.

“When my turn came, I did a namaste, then walked up to the President who congratulated me and gave me the award. I was on the point of walking away when he reminded me to turn and look at the camera – I was grinning like anything, I had forgotten that part of the ceremony! The ceremony was moving and memorable, to say the least.

“It was followed by a brief interaction with the President at the Ashok Hall, known for its magnificent wall paintings. We interacted with previous years Nari Shakti awards over tea at the Banquet Hall. I had the opportunity to speak with the Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Gandhi, who is a great supporter of organic farming.

“The next day we had an informal meeting with the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, at his residence. He offered us a high tea and talked to us about how effective ordinary people have been in nation building.”

The why of the award

Deepika was given this award for her 24 years of work in the fields of biodiversity and seed conservation, for reviving traditional vegetable varieties and for her role in regenerating eight acres of severely eroded land at Pebble Garden in Auroville. Three other women were also rewarded for their work in the field of organic farming and seed preservation. For the organic agriculture revival movement this is very encouraging. It is very rare that contributions in this field receive such high recognition.

Deepika’s work is not confined to Pebble Garden. She has been traveling a lot, especially in the last five years. Seed conservation, she explains, isn’t just about growing a variety year after year in the same place, but also involves reviving it by spreading seeds and awareness. “Every traditional variety is unique and my work is to motivate farmer communities to conserve valuable varieties that are on the brink of extinction. For that, I need to personally interact with farmers.” Deepika gives workshops for farmers on seed saving techniques.

She is an active member of seed conservation networks. Her partner Bernard was one of the founders of the first organic seed revival movement, together with Vandana Shiva and Claude Alvares. Gradually, the next generation of grassroots seed savers formed the Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch (The India Seed Sovereignty Alliance). Deepika has been attending almost all national seed savers’ gatherings held all over India. “At first I used to be the only one carrying vegetable seeds, often up to 40 different varieties. Other seed savers came with paddy and millets and pulses. At almost every seed fair my stall was mobbed. There was such a demand!

That didn’t go unnoticed, and at every following mela, several other farmers too came with lots of vegetable seeds next to their paddy and pulses. The movement spreads !” At a national organic farmers convention in Chandinagar in 2015, Deepika’s book Reviving Vegetable Diversity – a seed saver’s guide was released by Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister of Women and Child Development.

Deepika reflects how amazing it is that she has received this award given the small scale of her work. “Pebble Garden is a two-person job; we do not employ any workers, I cling to doing all the work myself because it is personally important for me to be in touch with plants and the soil. That has its limitations in spreading the work widely to society at large. So it is reassuring that despite the limited scale, my work has been noticed and honoured. Over the centuries, simple peasant women have selected the best crops and seeds each time, and the value of those seeds is immense: losing these seeds is losing hundreds, if not thousands, of years of work. That is the importance of conserving seeds, now endangered by the introduction of modern varieties by the seed and agro-chemical industry. It is heartening that the Government of India recognises the work of ordinary people in preserving India’s natural heritage.”

Does she have plans for the future? “Right now my focus is my family and I have very little time to do my work. When I am more free, I will start rewriting my book – I have been asked to expand it even though it is now in its second print with 3,000 copies having been sold – and translations in Bengali, Hindi and Oriya have been published. I also hope to create a website for Pebble Garden to publish all the experience we have in small videos and downloadable texts. There is a huge need.”

Deepika can be contacted at pebblegardenforest@gmail.com