BENGALURU: “I hate to say this but Malnad Mela has almost become a brand name,” says Sunita Rao, founder of Vanastree. The decade-old annual festival, created to bridge the gap between the rural and urban culture, will host its last mela this weekend.
“Bengaluru has been very supportive of the mela. And the value we had come to accomplish, not just on the open (heirloom), pollinated seeds but also on traditional foods have been met and many other groups have come up to do the same. We are a small group of women living in remote areas and would now like to direct our energy into areas and communities that need scaffolding,” says Sunita, telling us that the journey has reached its end.
“Each one of us have our own farms and families to look after. Ever though this is the last mela, I am sure the message will live on,” she adds. Let us not focus on the “last” Malnad Mela, but look at its lasting effect, says Sunita.
Vanastree was started by the women of Western Ghats in the Uttara Kannada district, in Sirsi, to save native seeds from the region. Malnad Mela was born from a tradition of exchanging and pickling seeds, seven years prior to bringing it to Bengaluru.
Mala Dhawan of Hundred Hands suggested that Vanastree bring the mela to Bengaluru to reach the problems faced by women farmers to the urban audience. The first Malnad Mela brought one woman from the region and this year there will be five.
The first mela in 2007 was held at Mala Dhawan’s garden on Ashley Road. Few years later, the event was held at Golden Bead Montessori School and this year too the venue remains the same.
True to its essence, this year’s Malnad Mela will have food counters and kitchens, activity stalls such as organic block printing, organic open pollinated seeds and seed work stations. The mela’s theme is traditional seeds and cuisine and transformation healing. Soils from the region will be on display to help understand how the soil faced drought and healed.
What is new this year is the film that will be screened in the mela stalls. The film titled Genetic Roulette will show the ills of GM foods. This year, the mela will share how youngsters from Chamarajanagar district have been hit by drought. “A lot of land is being abandoned for various reasons and it is important to figure out solutions because youngsters are abandoning farming,” says Sunita.
A family from Karadibetta, who left the city to engage in farming, will have a discussion with the crowd.
There is a camaraderie that is evident in this non-sponsored mela. None of the members coming from the area are staying at homestays or hotels, every individual will be staying with a family.