Delhi Office 206, 2 nd Floor, LSC Pocket D & E Market Sarita Vihar, New Delhi – 110076 Tel: 011 - 64784300 Fax: 011 - 26972743 email: [email protected]Bhubaneswar [email protected]Tel: 0674 259 6066 Chennai [email protected]Tel: 044 2498 4402 Hyderabad [email protected]Tel: 040 6717 3000 Patna [email protected]Tel: 088008 90712 Concept, design & production New Concept Information Systems Pvt. Ltd. Log on to http://www.newconceptinfo.com for our earlier calendars on different themes. CALENDAR 2015 From the innocuous marigold to the conch shell, from the deep sea to the bees, the birds and their complex abodes, to the intricacies of the human body, to the incredible geometry of the solar system, all things big and small in this universe reveal superlative design. Injecting the rhythm, the balance and harmony displayed in nature into the human environment remains the quest as well as the challenge of this millennium. With over 25 years of collective experience in transformational research and communication, we at New Concept are geared to meet this challenge head on! New Concept specialises in: > Rigorous quantitative, qualitative and evidence-based research; > Analytical documentation of processes and outcomes; > Supportive monitoring & evaluation, impact assessments; > Web-based monitoring systems, content management, resource centres, repositories; > Researching into knowledge, attitude and behaviours of communities; > Developing effective communication strategies for behaviour change; > Capacity building for grassroot, frontline, managerial functionaries and stakeholders; and > Producing artistic communication materials that mobilise communities.
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Delhi Office206, 2nd Floor, LSC Pocket D & E MarketSarita Vihar, New Delhi – 110076Tel: 011 - 64784300 Fax: 011 - 26972743email: [email protected]
Concept, design & productionNew Concept Information Systems Pvt. Ltd.
Log on to http://www.newconceptinfo.com for our earlier calendars on different themes.
C A L E N D A R
2015From the innocuous marigold to the conch shell, from the deep sea to the bees, the birds and their complex abodes, to the intricacies of the human body, to the incredible geometry of the solar system, all things big and small in this universe reveal superlative design.
Injecting the rhythm, the balance and harmony displayed in nature into the human environment remains the quest as well as the challenge of this millennium.
With over 25 years of collective experience in transformational research and communication, we at New Concept are geared to meet this challenge head on!New Concept specialises in: > Rigorous quantitative, qualitative and evidence-based research; > Analytical documentation of processes and outcomes;> Supportive monitoring & evaluation, impact assessments;> Web-based monitoring systems, content management, resource
centres, repositories;> Researching into knowledge, attitude and behaviours of
communities;> Developing effective communication strategies for behaviour
change;> Capacity building for grassroot, frontline, managerial
functionaries and stakeholders; and> Producing artistic communication materials that mobilise
communities.
An ode to millets
The modest grasses called millets, an agronomic group dominating our landscapes, evolved more than 60 million years ago. These hardy plants helped our nomadic ancestors settle down, ensuring civilisations take root and flourish. Grasses colonise and grow swiftly and produce abundant seeds – all desirable properties for crops. Of the 10,000 or so grasses, a group of small-seeded grasses – millets and cereals, now overwhelmingly sustain mankind. Millets, traditionally known to be storehouses of nutrition, have helped millions stave off hunger.
New Concept’s calendar this year, celebrates the hardy millets and presents different facets of our relationship with this unassuming grain. In India, millets are closely associated with birth, puberty, love, marriage and other human experiences. Kings, commoners, philosophers and poets from different parts of India held the grain in esteem, as did India’s ancient medical systems that used it as medicine too. India’s rural economy depended on grain banks and farmers knew good storage practices that are still relevant.
India, one of the largest producers of millets, has millions dependent on them for food and fodder. Yet our policy makers have neglected this, imperilling rural households. Our food security is reliant on a couple of water-guzzling crops such as wheat and rice. The introduction of hybrid and GMO cultivars would worsen the situation that is already alarming for our water-stressed world, facing the prospect of climate change. Millets that grow in arid zones under varied agro-climatic conditions and need little water, may save humanity yet again – but only if we get our act together, in time.
The design of this year’s calendar gets its inspiration from the “abstract stroke and splatter art method.”1 The vibrant patterns in each month’s visuals convey modernity, vigour, dynamism and grit, strengthening the narrative in the celebration of millets.
A grain as versatile as millets would merit a scholarly tome on its multi-faceted qualities. In this calendar, we present only a glimpse and hope that this would spark off an interest to delve further. Please visit www.newconceptinfo.com/millets to discover more.
Thursday January 01 New Years DayWednesday January 14 Makar SankrantiThursday January 15 PongalMonday January 26 Republic DayTuesday February 17 Maha ShivratriFriday March 06 HoliSaturday March 28 Ram NavamiThursday April 02 Mahavir JayantiFriday April 03 Good FridayTuesday April 14 Ambedkar JayantiFriday May 01 May DayMonday May 04 Buddha PurnimaSaturday July 18 Id-ul FitrSaturday August 15 Independence DayFriday August 28 OnamSaturday August 29 Raksha BandhanSaturday September 05 JanmashtamiThursday September 17 Ganesh ChaturthiThursday September 24 Id-ul ZuhaFriday October 02 Gandhi JayantiThursday October 22 DussehraSaturday October 24 MuharramWednesday November 11 DiwaliThursday November 12 Vishwakarma DayWednesday November 25 Guru Nanak BirthdayThursday December 24 Milad-un-NabiFriday December 25 Christmas
Public Holidays 2015
2016JANUARYSUN 31 3 10 17 24
MON 4 11 18 25
TUE 5 12 19 26
WED 6 13 20 27
THU 7 14 21 28
FRI 1 8 15 22 29
SAT 2 9 16 23 30
FEBRUARYSUN 7 14 21 28
MON 1 8 15 22 29
TUE 2 9 16 23
WED 3 10 17 24
THU 4 11 18 25
FRI 5 12 19 26
SAT 6 13 20 27
MARCHSUN 6 13 20 27
MON 7 14 21 28
TUE 1 8 15 22 29
WED 2 9 16 23 30
THU 3 10 17 24 31
FRI 4 11 18 25
SAT 5 12 19 26
APRILSUN 3 10 17 24
MON 4 11 18 25
TUE 5 12 19 26
WED 6 13 20 27
THU 7 14 21 28
FRI 1 8 15 22 29
SAT 2 9 16 23 30
MAYSUN 1 8 15 22 29
MON 2 9 16 23 30
TUE 3 10 17 24 31
WED 4 11 18 25
THU 5 12 19 26
FRI 6 13 20 27
SAT 7 14 21 28
JUNESUN 5 12 19 26
MON 6 13 20 27
TUE 7 14 21 28
WED 1 8 15 22 29
THU 2 9 16 23 30
FRI 3 10 17 24
SAT 4 11 18 25
JULYSUN 31 3 10 17 24
MON 4 11 18 25
TUE 5 12 19 26
WED 6 13 20 27
THU 7 14 21 28
FRI 1 8 15 22 29
SAT 2 9 16 23 30
AUGUSTSUN 7 14 21 28
MON 1 8 15 22 29
TUE 2 9 16 23 30
WED 3 10 17 24 31
THU 4 11 18 25
FRI 5 12 19 26
SAT 6 13 20 27
SEPTEMBERSUN 4 11 18 25
MON 5 12 19 26
TUE 6 13 20 27
WED 7 14 21 28
THU 1 8 15 22 29
FRI 2 9 16 23 30
SAT 3 10 17 24
OCTOBERSUN 30 2 9 16 23
MON 31 3 10 17 24
TUE 4 11 18 25
WED 5 12 19 26
THU 6 13 20 27
FRI 7 14 21 28
SAT 1 8 15 22 29
NOVEMBERSUN 6 13 20 27
MON 7 14 21 28
TUE 1 8 15 22 29
WED 2 9 16 23 30
THU 3 10 17 24
FRI 4 11 18 25
SAT 5 12 19 26
DECEMBERSUN 4 11 18 25
MON 5 12 19 26
TUE 6 13 20 27
WED 7 14 21 28
THU 1 8 15 22 29
FRI 2 9 16 23 30
SAT 3 10 17 24 31
January 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Makar Sankranti, is a widely known and celebrated harvest festival.
What is little known is that millets form an important ingredient in
the festivities.
In rural Maharashtra, for example, sharing with fellow country folk, green kernels of jowar 2 (hurda)
roasted over a bonfire, with jaggery or the spicy garlic-groundnut
chutney (thecha) as the perfect accompaniment, takes away that
mid-January nip in the air and lends warmth and wellness all around.
2 Sorghum
That millets add nutritive value to cereals is a long-established fact. Modern health research in the West is all agog with the curative properties of ragi, jowar, bajra 3 and other millets -- as wide-ranging as reducing blood sugar, cold, asthma and gastritic disorders and preventing cardio-vascular diseases.
Should we take this as a tribute to the Siddha 4 texts on the medicinal properties of millets, such as the Agasthiyar Gunapadam, believed to have been written 2,000 years back, or a reprimand for forgetting our ancient systems of medicine?
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
February 2015
3 ragi – finger millet, jowar – sorghum, bajra – pearl millet4 Ancient Indian system of medicine practiced by Siddhars
Though bogged down by the debate on food versus industrial use, the utility of
millets in a range of industries, cannot be ignored for long. They have great potential in producing bio-ethanol, besides serving
as raw material for grain polymers and industrial waste water treatment.
In the US, about 95% of the bio-ethanol is produced from maize starch and
research on jowar and other millets is on-going. Sorghum grain polymers are
being investigated for their potential in making bio-degradable, edible, bio-plastic
films and coatings. Can science resolve this dilemma by developing high-yield millet hybrids to satisfy both food and
industrial needs?
March 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
Millets have been an important ingredient in brewing alcohol for centuries. Along with grains, honey and other sources of starch and sugars, they were used to brew alcohol in the ancient world. From Egypt to Siberia, to the Andes and Asia, ancient communities have experimented with the intoxicating effect of this unpretentious “small-seeded grasses”.
Braga or Bosa, a precursor to beer, was made using millets in areas stretching from Poland and the Balkans to Siberia, while a “fossil beer” Kvass, made using flour in Eastern Europe, was used in ancient Egypt. Perhaps, it is the propensity of bygone cultures to indulge themselves that led them to persevere with an ‘uninteresting’ grass like the teosinte – the wild ancestor of today’s corn!
April 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
For today’s water-stressed world unprepared to face the effects of
climate change, millets offer a ray of hope. With their ability to grow under harsh conditions, resistance to pests,
potential to improve soil fertility, they are arguably the best alternative
to the world’s nutrition and fodder needs. For consumers, millets are a
storehouse of nutrients and are richer than rice or wheat.
Millets provide ample fodder, which can substitute the primarily grain-fed
model of the western meat industry. What better inducement to restore
the lost glory of these grains that sustained our ancestors during
humanity’s infancy?
May 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
31 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Agriculturists of yore followed systematic practices to store millets in clean, cool, dry, indigenous storage structures and containers.
Progressively larger clay and masonry storage structures such as the Moddapanai – a smaller fired-clay pot, Kulumai – an indoor storage structure, Kaambara or Kalangiyam – permanent indoor masonry structures, and Kudhir — a large granary, used by the Tamils of the Sangam Age 2,000 years back, are among the many testimonies to the importance that ancient communities proffered to grain storage. A concern yet to seep into today’s public grain storage planners!
June 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30
Proverbs and sayings of a particular culture reflect the values of that culture. Pithy
expressions on millets, in many tongues of India, reflect the pride of place they have in the socio-
cultural ethos of the country. According to a Kannada saying, “The rice eater is weightless like a
bird; one who eats jowar is strong like a wolf; one who eats ragi remains ‘nirogi ’ [free from
illness] throughout his life.”
Bahinabai Chaudhari, an unlettered but gifted Marathi poetess of the early 20th century,
compared life to the making of bhãkar, a hand-made, unleavened bread made from jowar or bajra.
A hot plate on the clay stove, Ah! Thus is this sansãr, 5
For first, one endures blisters on the hand, only then does one get the bhãkar.
July 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
5 Bonds of family and the world
August 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
30 31 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Millets were food fit for kings, commoners and soldiers alike. It will not be far-fetched to say that Chhatrapathi 6 Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire in the 17th century, owed his phenomenal rise to power to the sturdy and humble millets.
The swift and daring guerrilla-type raids of his fleet-footed cavalry, leveraging geographical terrain, surprise and focused attacks, terrified his more powerful enemies out of their wits. Their energy source: raw jowar 7 pods, gnawed at while hurtling forward in the saddle!
6 Monarch7 Sorghum
In many kuŗiňci 8 Tamil poems dealing with kalavu or secret love-affairs, millet fields
were favourite venues for lover’s trysts. From the time a maiden meets the young
man of her dreams while guarding the millet fields from foraging parrots to the
maturing of the courtship coinciding with the ripening of the millets, this modest
grass plays a facilitative role.
Their harvest even finances the wedding. Which is why Tamilians believe to this day
that “Tai piŗantãl vazhi piŗakkum” – when the harvest month begins, the path will
open (especially, for marriage!).
September 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
8 One of the five geographical landscapes associated with Sangam Age Tamil poems, depicting mountainous
regions and union of lovers
October 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
In maintaining nature’s balance, an ideal close to every Indian’s heart, millets come in handy. The forest groves (Oran) around Bishnoi villages of Rajasthan are oases where the antelope and blackbuck roam freely. Bishnois believe that earth’s bounty is to be shared with creatures of the wild, and provide wild animals with millets and water in times of drought.
The villagers of Kheechan in Jodhpur, on the fringes of the Thar desert feed jowar and jau 9 every day to the Demoiselle Cranes which migrate from Eurasia to winter here.
9 Sorghum and barley
Philosophers and poets from the millet-growing regions used the metaphor of millets
to impart vital lessons on living.
Kanakadasa, the 16th century poet, philosopher, musician and composer from
Karnataka’s Haveri district wrote the Ramadhanyacharitre, an unusual commentary
on class struggle expressed as an allegorical battle between the humble ragi 10, consumed
by common people and rice, eaten by the affluent. Both claim superiority, but the battle
is ultimately won by the resilient ragi, which symbolises a life of integrity, fortitude and
humility, as that of the commoners.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
November 2015
10 Finger millet
December 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
Traditionally, food and farming systems in India have been kind to millets, vital for the nutrition and food security of our country. Farmers shared seed varieties and knowledge, resulting in cultivars with characteristics useful in their eco-region. Their grain banks and practices protected native plant germplasm for posterity. Today, governmental policies, treaties, deforestation, farmland acquisition for industry, bio-piracy, and introduction of genetically engineered varieties threaten local plants, among them millets that have survived selection pressures over millennia.
Trans-national plant breeders have appropriated native seeds to produce hybrid and GMO cultivars that come with strings attached. Can we stop this impending ecological and societal disaster in time?
