{"id":6403,"date":"2025-09-13T11:23:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commonground.askforvideo.com\/?p=6403"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T14:03:50","slug":"sam-poshit-living-rethinking-sustainability-through-the-lens-of-tribal-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commongroundinitiative.in\/hi\/cultural-and-ecological-worldviews\/sam-poshit-living-rethinking-sustainability-through-the-lens-of-tribal-wisdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam-Poshit Living: Rethinking Sustainability Through the Lens of Tribal Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sudarshan Iyengar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam-Poshit Living: Rethinking Sustainability Through the Lens of Tribal Wisdom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the dense forests of Dharampur in southern Gujarat, tribal communities have long nurtured a way of life deeply rooted in harmony with nature. For generations, their practices of sharing, conserving, and sustaining the commons have reflected an intrinsic understanding that human well-being is inseparable from ecological balance. Yet, these traditions \u2014 and the very resources they depend on \u2014 face increasing threats from market forces, state interventions, and the erosion of faith in their own systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of this challenge lies a clash between two worldviews: a modern, extraction-driven approach to development and an older, more holistic ethos \u2014 what I call sam-poshit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Sustainability to Sam-Poshit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mainstream discourse, sustainability often focuses on sustaining development \u2014 an attempt to prolong material progress and consumption. But traditional societies, whether tribal or pastoral, approach the relationship with nature very differently. For them, nature is not a resource; it is sacred. As we say, prakriti hi dev hai <\/em>\u2014 nature itself is divine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam-poshit, a term drawn from this cultural worldview, goes beyond sustainability. It means \u201cnurtured and nourished together\u201d \u2014 a system where humans and nature thrive side by side. It is based on reciprocity: taking only what is needed, leaving enough for others, and ensuring that the cycle of life continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, this ethos guided commons management. Resources were used with restraint, and the principle of dohan <\/em>\u2014 akin to milking a cow without depriving the calf \u2014 shaped everyday decisions. Today, these values offer powerful lessons as we confront climate change, biodiversity loss, and deepening social inequities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reclaiming Local Self-Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional India\u2019s strength lay in its village republics, or gram swaraj<\/em>. Even under monarchies, kings rarely interfered with local systems of management. Villages functioned as self-regulating ecosystems, where land, forests, and water were seen as collective wealth, not individual property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi described this model as \u201coceanic circles\u201d \u2014 starting from the individual, expanding outward to the family, neighbourhood, village, clusters of villages, and eventually connecting to the region and the nation. Governance flowed from the bottom up, ensuring inclusion and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet today, many of these traditions have eroded. Migration, market dependencies, and extractive state policies have disrupted this delicate balance, leaving communities unsure about their rights and disconnected from their commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognising Rights, Restoring Balance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strengthening commons begins with recognising the traditional rights of communities. Laws like the Forest Rights Act, 2006 were steps in this direction but often carry a problematic framing, as though the state is granting rights, rather than acknowledging historical ownership and stewardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For real transformation, we need a shift in perspective:<\/p>\n\n\n\n