Lauhaar Shaastra - Forging Social Traditions on Himalayan Anvils
In February 2024, Gram Disha Trust decided to conduct an Internship program for Youth to rediscover the craft of Blacksmithery in the Himalyas. The location was Gram Bhawan at Village Baag, Pangna, Himachal Pradesh. A call was made to networks across India for those who are interested in such an Internship. One of the goals set in the Internship was the development of a Lauhaar Shaastra – A Treatise of the Himalyan Blacksmith. As there are no precedence to creating such a craft output, this was the first time such an endeavor was undertaken by Gram Disha Trust.
The internship was designed to be undertaken within a three month timeframe – the first month (May) was dedicated to create a semi-structure in discussion and consensus with the Interns. This was to be followed up with the 10 day residential the second month (Jun) and then developing the final Shaastra output in the third month (Jul). The residential event was held at the Gram Bhawan site location, where the Lauhaars also setup the Forge for the training.
The three month Internship program was deemed sufficient to develop the Shaastra. From the very beginning, the Interns were challenged with choice of information and the form of the eventual output. This also meant the tools of choice to develop the Shaastra output. It was clear from the beginning that, at the minimum, a PDF output is required for easy sharing. However the limits of static documentation were also clarified.
The resulting Shaastra is the collective effort of the team.
As part of the development process, it was decided, by consensus, to hold regular meetings every Saturday evening – to develop the structure of the documentation process. The Interns were offered background documents on Rural Craft in India along with video references to develop basic ideas. Each Intern was offered a choice to determine their areas of interest based on their skills and ideas. This resulted in a 10 chapter estimate to gather information and develop a wholesome understanding before, during and after the residential Internship on site.
During the residential Internship regular evening sessions were held to optimize the output and also estimate the time required for each chapter development. The work was shared by the Interns choosing the chapter based on their interest and another volunteering to review.
It took considerable effort to coordinate the chapter outputs with the Interns. However, all put together this English version of the Shaastra has turned out better than expected.
The eventual Shaastra output took almost 4 months to develop as against the 3 month estimate, mainly due to coordination challenges. While a few Interns did use Generative AI and Chat GPT as source reference, we are happy that the work is quite original. Deep edits of the document and residential participation experiences were repeatedly visited to ensure that the text of the Shaastra reflects the original thoughts and overall experiences of all involved. All the challenges were resolved through regular and continued Saturday meetings online. A special thanks to the Intern Gargi Rathore for persevering with the Indesign Visual Frame and completing it despite the challenge of multiple remote communication. Special thanks also to Intern Yajurdevsinh Gohil and Riya Pawar for the meaningful illustrations. Thanks is also in order to all Interns who completed this Internship, as well as those who chose to drop out. Completing this Internship by itself is an extraordinary measure. We do hope that the entire process resonates as a deep learning experience by future generations.
On the final day of the Internship Gram Disha Trust held a public event at Gram Bhawan at the village Baag. In this event farmers and blacksmiths from the region gathered to openly discuss the present challenges faced by the community. This event was also presided by noted farmer well known as “Millet Man of Himachal Pradesh” Padma Shri Nek Ram Sharma ji. In the event, Nek Ram ji shared anecdotes from the past time, when the village was a self sufficient entity. The relation of the blacksmith was personal and each village family used to consider them as Mama (mothers brother) – a member of the household. In every solemn occasion such as birth of a child or marriage, gifts and items of use were sent from various community member such as potter, weaver, utensil maker, blacksmith and so on.
Beyond the reminiscing and lamentations is also a deep desire that Rural India must solve its own problems, rather than relying on Urbanised minds to do so. These thoughts resonated with all present at the event, with a lasting impression in the minds of the Lauhaar community themselves. With time the craftsperson had started undervaluing the importance of their skill and knowledge. This event helped all to consider the crafts with pride and respect.
The event was well covered by the local media and the open statement generated by the Blacksmith community was eventually forwarded to the Government of Himachal Pradesh for consideration. The idea is not just to relegate the task of ameliorating the challenges of the community to the government alone, but to pose a question to the society at large. It is upto the entire system to either let these domains wither or sustain.
The Internship research also revealed a wealth of secondary data and reading material, which was previously unknown to us. These valuable correlations are also listed as further reading at the end of the Shaastra. Thanks to the ASHA-Kisanswaraj, group of volunteers who contributed to the discussions from across India and also shared valuable references. The aphorisms at the beginning of each Adhyaya, from various historical texts and poets, were discovered and suitably translated by Gupta-jee for each chapter, in addition to the various chapter inputs and proof edits.
Gram Disha Trust would like to extend special thanks to the farmers and residents of Gram Disha Jaivik Samooh at Village Baag, Sub Tehsil Pangna, for their hospitality. Special thanks are also in order to the farmers of the Karsog Natural Farmers Producer Company especially Somkrishan Gautam, Mohinder Kumar, Kala Devi, Nek Ram Sharma and Bhavna Kumari.
Just as the Blacksmith of the Himalayas, the Lauhaar Shaastra is also a living engagement. It is important to note that the Shaastra is an experiment in participant observation, inquiry and discovery, rather than a declarative piece. If anything, it is worthy of being modified in future, and offers itself as a starting point to anyone who wishes to do so. We hope that this sets up a critical mass, where others in India, may also use this as an open reference to develop such texts and scriptures. Just as our generation recieved this knowledge from the ancestors, we pass it down to the next generation.
Members of KNFPC, Interns, Master Lauhaar and Gram Disha Trust