Shivaji Kayanikar

At the young age of 22 when his coeval might be eager to set up a solid base for their future, Shivaji Kayanikar took a bold decision to devote his life to the betterment of the place he was born in and the people he lived with. What impelled him immediately to such a decision was his attending a meeting in Belgaum, the district his village came under. At the meeting organized by the Sarvodaya Movement of Vinobha Bhave and Jayaprakadh Narain and attended by people from different walks of life, a question was put to the attendees: How many among them would volunteer for service to their community and though to the nation? Quite a few hands were raised. A few professionals like doctors and engineers as well as non-professionals offered their services for a specific number of years. Shivaji was not one among them. “I was shy and also I wasn’t able to come to a decision immediately. Of course, I was quite struck by the mass enthusiasm.”

He went home and mulled over the question. And he found an answer. “What’s the point in serving people for, say, one or two years? It is either a life-time’s work or none at all. But, as callow youth who decided to drop out of college out of his own convictions about the educational system and not with an affluent back ground, he was in a dilemma. “Wouldn’t I be letting down my family, especially my mother? And what will I tell people around me about my decision? Will they not make fun of me?” He took his problem to a prominent Gandhian and freedom fighter of the place, Sri Shrirang Kamat. “He was a freedom fighter and a Gandhian and he told me to go ahead. And I found the necessary courage from the life of Sani Guruji whom I revere.”

This was in 1972. Now 35 years later and having crossed 57 summers, has he any regrets in treading a path, eschewing all the goals, including a family life? “Absolutely none. I’m quite happy the way I am.” Today, he is content that he has been able to do something for the people in his village and the neighbourhood. The many awards and citations he garnered for his sterling work pale in significance when one regards the greater honour he has achieved. “You see, I value the help and support I get from the people and the many youngsters who have taken to social service.”

Starting with Sarvodaya, though he has at various times associated with different movements and groups like Khadi Gramoday Sangh, Power-loom Workers Union, Jana Jagaran and others, he is now actively involved with an organization of Kurubas, a community largely of shepherds he belongs to, as its founder member. He has his reason for leap-froging from one group to another. “I always found that the organization have their own agenda that some of the time I cannot see eye-to-eye with. Oh! Please jump to the conclusion that I’m critical of them. Far from it. They serve the people in their own way and I do it my way.”

A perennial problem of Kattambhavi taluk, the birth place of Shivaji, was acute water scarcity. With indiscriminate felling of trees and destruction of vegetation and the consequent soil erosion had a devastating effect on the water bodies. People had to trudge miles together to get water for their daily needs. “I heard of Anna Hazare and his work in Rayalsiddhi in Maharashtra. I thought we also should follow his path in making our palce self-sufficient in water resources.” So, Shivaji and members of the NGO Jan Jagaran mobilized the people, with women taking the lead, in reviving the dried-up tanks and wells. (Very early in his chosen career he realized the importance of the role of women, who generally are relegated to an unvoiced status.) In their efforts they have been able to get financial help from Germany. This help came almost by accident. “A German couple was visiting our village. In the night when they were moving around they saw some light coming from a well. When they came to know that it was the pollution in the water that was producing some poisonous gas. They were shocked. ”They came forward to extend their help. They observed that water scarcity was so much that it had to be rationed and even availing themselves off this rationing was by turn.

To remedy the situation, two hundred people joined hands and worked for two months in reviving a dried-up lake. How to check further silting? The method adopted is that of contour trenching and planting of trees around the trenches. These helped and still help prevent soil erosion in the area to a great extent. The direct benefit of it is that a nearby well that has gone dry was recharged; agriculture and vegetable cultivation have become possible once again. Mango groves and cashew farms have come up. As agriculture revived and rudiments of organic farming are introduced, wormy culture is undertaken, especially by women.

“You know, birds and animals have long back left our region. With almost no trees and plants, what could they do other than migrate to pastures new? They have started coming back now.” Bees which have become a rarity for want of flowers are now abuzz and bee-keeping is adopted as a cottage industry.

The water bodies thus revived are maintained by the community.

Another significant achievement is the introduction of gobar gas plants and latrines in almost all households; preventing women from the drudgery of firewood gathering. In fact, the District can boast off as the first district in India to have the largest number of functioning gobar gas plants – upwards of 3,000. With latrines, the practice of open defecation is largely stopped and the sense of hygiene is improved.

Equally important to him has been education. “I may be a drop out; but that doesn’t mean that I’m against education. There is no point learning a lot of things that one cannot put to use in life, is there?” He is a great advocate of learning in the sense of imparting enough education to people that enables them to be discernible in their actions. When it was hard to come by dedicated teachers who would be regular at the learning centres he was instrumental in setting up, he doggedly persisted for ten years in improving the situation. Today, the centres have teachers who regularly attend the centres.

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