Thanal’s Usha and Sridhar have reclaimed and distributed over 1054 varieties of traditional rice. They have travelled over various parts of Tamil Nadu spreading awareness about the cultivation of conventional rice varieties and have encouraged people to go along the ways of natural farming and so on. They have begun many nationwide practices to protect the traditional grains of our soil.
With Save Our Rice as a nationwide movement, they protested to save various grains of our land. This awareness spread across the whole of Asia and included many selfless groups like them as well. Thanal was the first to raise their voices in protest among various regions such as South India, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
This included various programs such as Grain festivals, Seed Banks and Farmer’s Market in cooperation with the government.
After the effects of endosulfan took over the Kasargode region of Kerala, they stood by the people of the region and handled the legal suits to ban the use of endosulfan in India for various years. With the first documentary film stating the effects of endosulfan, Thanal made the ban of endosulfan a worldwide significance.
Thanal is a Kerala-based foundation that focuses on the environment. It speaks about various problems of the environment as self-sustainable farming, zero waste, climatic changes, seed Banks etc..They fight against various threats to the environment through legal battles and protesting against them. They have begun and set up various practices all over parts of India to try and develop the lives of the people.
To fight against the immediate threats such as climatic changes that humanity faces, Thanal strives to cooperate with the government in setting up multiple schemes to improve the ecology as a whole. Thanal began a zero waste system at a place called Kovalam in the year 2003. This system is set to manage the waste as thoroughly as possible and protect the soil. The place also teaches and spreads awareness to people in managing their waste in a more eco-friendly way.
Nammalvar had a special place in his heart for both Usha and Sridhar for their selfless activities. He always talked about how their protest in protecting the grains was important to this world. They took part in the Cuckoo Paddy festival at Tiruvannamalai a few years back in presenting traditional grains to the people with Nammalvar. We believe, that hearing two souls of such grandeur will help us humans as a whole in working for the welfare of the environment and the people.
We would like to thank Arachalur Selvam Anna who made this wonderful opportunity possible. Regards and wishes to everyone.