Turning the Pot, Tilling the Land: Dignity of Labour in Our Times By Kancha Ilaiah. Illustrations: Durgabai Vyam. http://www.navayana.org/index.htm#
Who discovered the first detergent soap in India? Who created scripts as they crafted pots? Who selected and standardised most of the food items we eat today? How did cotton come to be spun into cloth? Who originated the science of making leather out of animal skin? In this book, Kancha Ilaiah throws light on the science, art and skill of adivasis, cattle-rearers, leatherworkers, potters, farmers, weavers, dhobis and barbers. The book documents the contributions to the betterment of human life by castes and communities despised as lowly and backward. Recently, students opposed to reservation in educational institutions expressed protest by polishing shoes, sweeping the roads and selling vegetables. Why such resentment against labour? Could these students make shoes or till the land? Could they make a pot? This book with stunning illustrations by Durgabai Vyam is the first ever attempt to inculcate a sense of dignity of labour among Indias children. The book is available at http://www.navayana.org/
