On the edge – Shyam Sunder Paliwal #3

Every second that passes in a forest of India – the one right on the edge of Piplantri – the story of Shyam Sunder Paliwal grows. Of course, it is invisible to the West: flakes of bark and blooming vegetation. But it does not grow spontaneously; on the contrary it thrives under a fixed and loving gaze.

 

 

Women working at the edges.

If we think about the social position of women from poor countries around the world (but also those from small clusters of houses – villages – within developed nations), we could actually frame them physically. In a real pose. In a real place: that is, in a doorway, on a balcony, under a cool porch. Busy, these so-called poor women, with diverse jobs. But so often on the doorstep.

Now women are at work at the edge of Piplantri, the village which is essentially the community’s vast home. They grow aloe vera passionately, as if for themselves. Each loving gesture to extract the gel is like a song.

 

 

The Piplantri trees can be seen from the West.

 

 

For Shyam Sunder Paliwal, Eco-feminism is another label. And his heroism is demonstrated by the award he received from the Indian government. But more than through global new reports, Piplantri shows itself to us in the foliage of its low trees, which in truth can be seen growing even from here.