Philosopy
In a course of time when the realms of society’s history and culture are forgotten in the wave of time, a reminiscent situation arises in the minds of people, where weird and disillusioned imagination arises in the name of heritage conservation.
Only when we understand nature in its entirety, we begin to understand the society in its true sense. And when we understand nature and society holistically, the fancy imaginations fade away. The vision of a civil society and its future avenues get pragmatically visible withering out its clouded visions.
Towards the hillocks, monuments, inscriptions, rock beds, rock paintings and more, happens the green walk reunions helps to kindle new perceptions on our culture and history.
The artesian basin of a whole landscape is embedded beneath a hillock which is cut to become small pavement stones of the modern civilization we live in and they disintegrate into dust in the cities we walk by. Such was the disaster designed and planned for the Yanaimalai hillock. Standing against this brutality thousands of villagers joined together to protect the hillock , an informal group of people from the city joined hands together that led to the birth of Green Walk.
It is then that Green Walk started attracting hundreds of people walking together towards these hillocks. We got to see the rock paintings, had the opportunity of enjoying the historical aroma of these remaining hillocks.
Daily wager’s, farmers, officers, research scholars, academicians, experts, teachers and so on, were the constituents of Green Walk, coming from various contours of the society. Crossing the barriers of language, caste, religion and joining hands to create awareness about nature and history in the society is the odyssey of Green Walk.
People
On 18th Sep 2010 when a few friends from Madurai walked up to the Jaina caves at Yanaimalai Othakadai, none of us ever dreamt that we would be making it to the 50th walk. These 50 walks have been possible as a response of the spontaneity shown by enthusiasts in Madurai.
The participation of families in large numbers indicated that the people of Madurai are interested in learning the history and are ready to make a tough journey in understanding nature in entirety. Women, men, children came in large numbers; Even Octogenarian’s joined the walks. It was a challenge before the organizers to plan at large. Ensuring transport to all, arranging food packets and water, printing pamphlets, getting membership forms ready and so on went the to be done list. But more hidden vital tasks were on the ground. Our team dispersed a week before to make friends with the village folks, check whether we had a proper pathway connecting the foot hills, Sometimes we needed to cut down Seemai karuvelam' (prosopis juliflora) branches to ensure a safe route. There was a steady increase in the enthusiastic crowd and in turn youngster’s voluntarily come in and took on shoulders the burdens of organizing the walk. This socially motivated budding team took this walk into an ascending mode. The hospitality of green walk became a buzz word in circles.
The treasured lecture’s and question-answer sessions delivered by Archaeologists and Historians turned the Jaina caves into a thought provoking class rooms. It was as if lectures had started in these Jaina caves after a gap of some centuries. This class rooms with diverse learner’s were very friendly in nature, people mixed up with each other had their own interactions.
People started to express themselves The village folks start admiring about the heritage value of their own villages, children filled their classrooms with their trekking experiences, office lunch session dining talks were filled with experiences of their detour, research scholars and students got inclined towards archeology and history.
Enthusiasts from all over Tamilnadu and adjoining states made to the walks, Many Non Resident Indians planned their holidays in India in such a way that they could make it atleast to a couple of walks during their brief stay. It would be right to say that Green Walk rode on this enthusiastic wave. We just made small maneuvers. This wave made us understand that people are ready for newer idea’s and changes, this was the lesson we kept learning in every walk. Our coordinators team did class photography and started penning down their rich experiences on their own blogs. The news that Green Walk wanted to send in all directions was now on orbit.
Tree Fest, Rock Fest and Water Fest were instrumental in sowing and creating a climate of hope and change. The support and warmth from individuals to business houses helped us to make the festivals successful.
