The Search for a New Place to Live in

The search for a new place to live in has begun and after going through a week of exploration, it appears that it may be a long one. We’d been to Palakkad and Wayanad in Kerala and Mysore in Karnataka. We started off trying to identify about one acre of land, at least 30-40 km from a town, reasonably good road connectivity, state electricity, water, decent rainfall and fertile soil. Instead of relying on a broker, we thought it better to meet people on similar path as us. There are quite a few in South India, who are making an attempt to live in an alternative fashion. Some live on the farm or at least spend few days in a month on the farm, some are doing natural farming on a large piece of land, some attempting childrens’ education outside the schooling system, some just living a simple life without getting into regular employment or business. Some of them are going alone, others trying to do it as a collective. There is concern for the environment, for food, for children, values. There is a realization that the pursuit for more convenience, money and fame is not enough. There is a genuine effort to do something. There is a need for co-travellers. There is so much warmth & affection in interactions. There is so much hope.

Palakkad had always appeared a lovely and peaceful place and we were excited. However, the climate was quite hot and humid even in the winter. The land prices left us shell shocked. I’m very reluctant to block much money in land. Also, Kerala hardly has open spaces between towns. The ‘development’ of commercial spaces, houses on outskirts, vehicular traffic is surprising and also depressing. The pace of expansion is alarming. Wayanad, once a hill station is as commercially ‘developed’ as a big city. While in Kerala, the inevitable thought is ‘where does one run to escape this ‘development and progress’! Wayanad is better than Palakkad with regard to climate, rain, water availability and soil fertility. But there is no escape from shops, crowd and vehicles. Besides, sunlight is scarce in areas due to the terrain and almost 6 months of rainy climate – not great for growing vegetables and also many other crops.

Mysore is very likable from many perspectives. Climate is pleasant, there are open spaces around the city, sunshine is abundant, lots of like-minded people, prices lower than Kerala. Rainfall is a bit lower than desired and ground water is not much.

Land price is something that I think about a lot. How much should one spend to acquire the ownership? Ownership entitles right to use, right to sell and right to mortgage. If I want only right to use, the option available for me is to lease the land. But there is an expiry to the lease. The land prices keep soaring as if the entire world is in a haste to settle in a village and do farming. But I know for a fact that we are amongst the miniscule minority, who has actually moved away from a city. Prices are driven by people who are hoarding up land with no intention whatsoever of actually living there. It is so unfair to people like us, to people in the villages, who want to farm on more land to earn a little more. The greed of a man knows no bounds…Gandhi had said it long ago, ‘The earth has enough to feed every man’s need, but not a single man’s greed.’

So, in a nutshell, the challenge is thus: We have to first find a region, which is not in the crazy ‘development’ radar and still has electricity and water apart from other conditions to make it livable. It also has to be out of radar for the land hoarders, who are setting their sights on the earth as if they’ll hold on to it after they’re dead and gone. God, is there someone listening?

Treasured days

My parents were here for a week and Rekha’s mother is now here with us. A week before that Chetan (my brother) was here for a couple of days along with his 4 yr old son. All the visits were far better, more enjoyable than what I would have expected. The way Adhrit (Chetan’s son) played with Siddharth and Shreya was a treat to watch. Papa’s appreciation of the house, the way he got involved with the work here and the visible enjoyment he seemed to experience here was so very nice. My mother-in-law’s comment that this is probably the first time since her marriage, that she’s really enjoying a visit was touching. All these experiences have really made all the effort and hard work worth it and much more. What no amount of talk and conscious effort could have achieved was automatically done without any intention to do so. They felt that life was good here, very good. The long chats I had with Chetan, without any of our egos coming in the way had something to do with what we’ve been able to do to this place. After many years, we were ‘communicating’.

A thought, which crossed my mind couple of days ago was ‘Why do people try to create intentional communities?’ ‘Why do we keep searching for like-minded people to bond with and even live with, when we’re unable to bond with and live with heart-connected people?’ Communities haven’t come into existence through conscious effort or a plan. They’ve just happened. In many cases, it is related families staying together, which turned into a community. Is it really possible for just like-minded people, i.e. people, who have identical thoughts on certain subject to really create a community, which is bond together? In a family, at least one aspect is given, with forms the base of living together – love & affection. In intentional communities, people hope to first have the minds aligned and later hearts connected. Quite an uphill task! 

More Interesting Times

During the last few weeks, we’ve tried to answer some very pertinent questions. It is pertinent to note these questions and the responses. I always like to take these questions head on.  

Q. Why are we taking ourselves through these struggles for essentials of life like electricity, water, cooking gas, vegetables, which we could take for granted in Mumbai? Or What was so wrong with the life we were leading for so many years that all of a sudden we decided to give up all the comforts, security, company and live a lonely life, working hard just to be able to survive? Or What is so wrong about accepting the system of the mainstream?

A. Our decision was aimed at making life better. Better may mean more convenient or yielding better results, but not necessarily so. In our case, better meant living what we feel ‘correct’. The struggles for essentials are incidental. One has no option but to accept both sides of the coin. We felt very strongly then and continue to feel so now that we have no compulsion to put up with the polluted air, the mediocrity at work place resulting from the single minded pursuit of ‘more’ profit, the indifference to the harm done to the natural endowments, the blind-folded race for more marks, the unquestioned subordination to the evaluation parameters of ‘success’ and many more facts, which we couldn’t do much about, staying in the system. Giving up comforts and company were not the objectives. We can and will continue to make life more convenient, secure and enjoyable without doing anything we feel is incorrect. We will accept with gratitude everything from the mainstream life, which we feel is ‘correct’.

Q. Now that we’re conscious of what we need not ‘put up with’, is it not possible to live the life we want in Mumbai or any other city?

A. Partly, though not completely. There will still be factors beyond our influence like air & water pollution, the company our children keep, the higher cost of living, and many more. We will continue to have very few or no company. We will also need to give up of a host of advantages of our current lifestyle offers.

Q. We’re not able to give our children all the education we’d planned and it is clear that on our own, we will not be able to. If they go to a regular school, the peer pressure and competitive environment does push them to do better. Even if there are many disadvantages of the education system there, at least it will get them to give it their best. Here we can shield them from the disadvantages, but they’re losing the interest to learn.

A. Largely correct. But because we’ve not been effective in this area yet does not make it a better option to go to a regular school. Anything external acting as a stimulus to learn or do better has a limited life-span. When the stimulus origins from within, the ability to learn, the pace of learning and the quality of learning is exponentially superior. We need to keep trying and improving what we can do. That spark from within can ignite any time. Besides, what they’re learning on their own, just by living a life of this sort of a life is invaluable.

Q. All this seems correct logically. But it doesn’t seem to be working out as we’d have liked to.

A. If we feel happy about our decisions, we’re enthusiastic and can take the most daunting challenges in our stride. If we don’t feel happy, logical arguments don’t help. But, escaping unhappiness here is not sure enough to lead us to happiness elsewhere. We cannot also lose sight of the many aspects of the new life, which we and the children are enjoying. We surely don’t want to give them up. What appears likely is that the difference of opinion with the founders and the unpleasantness is the cause of soreness. It may be time to explore other options, but without giving up on what gives us happiness here. We’ve worked hard for it. Let us choose happiness elsewhere rather than escaping unhappiness here. Till we find an option, let us enjoy the exploration. We will definitely enjoy looking back at these days. 

Interesting Times

One-sided games and uneventful movies are not interesting. We enjoy uncertainty while watching a movie or a match. We even find anxious moments of our own life exciting, but those of the past. We are presently facing some anxious times, which I’m sure we’ll find interesting to look back at.

Over the last one month, we’ve had some major differences of opinion with the founders of the community we’re staying in. We’re now at a point where the founders are no longer interested in the idea of creating a community. There were two founders. One of them has withdrawn and the other one works with an approach, which (in our opinion) is in complete contrast to the kind of community this was supposed to be. We are the only family living on the ground, adhering to all the principles, this community would have had. But we find ourselves unwelcome in a land, we don’t own. And, we’ve invested so much time, effort, money and hope turning a rocky hillock into a nice house!

Though we’re neither been hinted to vacate nor do we think we will be asked to, the mental framework has flipped completely. What appeared as interesting challenges earlier, now seem to appear as fights for basic living. Almost everyday in the last month or so, Rekha and I have spent lots of time reviewing our reasons for moving here. Inevitably there are moments of doubt about having plunged into this way of life, letting go off the obvious comforts and certainty of an elite urban lifestyle. What is evident to me is that my conviction in the decision is strengthening and Rekha’s conviction is weakening. When the mind wanders in the terrain of negativity, everything appears negative. The decisions of pulling children out of school and giving up a predictable corporate career also seem clouded by doubt. From two minds seemingly thinking alike, we now are two minds thinking unlike.

What both of us seem to agree with is that we should move to another place and that our movement should be to a new place, rather than away from this place. Let the positivity of another place pull us rather than getting pushed by the negativity of this place. The exploration has begun.

Interesting times indeed!

General Update

Some quick updates.

Our house had some critical components missing till recently – doors. We’ve got the doors fitted earlier this week. The episode regarding the doors was interesting. Like everything else, people gave a lot of suggestions as to what I could do about the doors. We were sure that we wanted the typical village doors made of good wood. That would have suited the stone walls and the mud flooring inside. A carpenter offered to make it about 3 months back, but his quote would have had me shell out almost 20k on doors and windows. City people have to be prepared to be overcharged in villages. But, I wasn’t prepared to spend that much. It continued to be on hold all this time. A house without doors had become a nuisance because dogs would enter the house at night and even during the day sometimes. Finally, our search ended in Sehore (the nearest town), and got the doors and windows made for less than 6k without any compromise on looks and quality. It makes us really happy and proud to see the house – built from the scratch – an experience that a city dweller never gets.

On the farming front also there is some progress. We’ve sown quite a few vegetables and some of them should be available for consumption in about 10 – 15 days. Radish, Carrots, Brinjal, Cabbage, Coriander, Tomatoes, Red leafy vegetable and Spinach are sown. Tomorrow, we plan to sow Potatoes and after a few days Cauliflower and Onions. We also sowed a bit of chana today. Over the next few days, we will also sow jowar, a few more vegetables and some more chana. We’ve almost decided not to sow wheat this time.

The rains seem to have ended for this year and the early morning temperature has started dropping. The cold is expected to be severe this year. We’re all looking forward to the winter experience. 

Moments of Doubt

Today, Rekha had a concern, which is worth a note. She said that she is almost ashamed to call our parents to visit us. The reasons are that our bathroom walls are still not done (the mason vanished leaving it unfinished and we’re yet busy doing some other higher priority work in the house), we don’t have vegetables everyday and many meals consist sprouts, dal, and the like, we don’t have beds to sleep on because we’re yet to find a carpenter, who will make it for us. She was afraid our parents and siblings may ridicule our move in light of the struggles for basics, especially because we had much more than these earlier.

Yesterday, we had a long talk about whether this struggle is worth it. Why should we not get back to a life, which is more convenient?

I like addressing these concerns. But I like discussing them with Rekha. With someone else, it begins with a rhetorical question i.e. the question is a statement – We must move back to a more convenient life. This struggle isn’t worth it. When I discuss this with Rekha, we take it as a question and seek an answer rather than defend a pre-determined answer.

Yesterday, we explored an alternative place, where we should move to, the pros and cons thereof. We agreed that Mumbai or any large city is certainly out of consideration. We discussed a smaller city like Dehradun in detail and an even smaller town as well in detail. How will it be for the kids, what will we do, what will be the impact of surrounding society, etc. We couldn’t find a place better than where we are. But the inference was more non-negative, not a positive one.

Today, when I took the question, I said that one has to look at the situation in the correct context. If we had shifted to USA and if we were to have all basics but were not materially better off than earlier, I would be ashamed. But here, though we don’t have the basic conveniences, I’m not ashamed, because that was not the purpose, nor was it expected. In fact, we have been able to survive comfortably despite the different setting, we have been able to get for ourselves a shelter, got into some routine for ourselves and our children, started with some farming activity and are moving towards some sort of settled life, that too in 8 months time, it is nothing short of an achievement. I am certainly proud of my wife, kids and myself for being able to take such a decision and live through it. If someone ridicules us, it will be his/her immaturity or lack of sensitivity.

As we discussed this further, we realized that the concern was not due to any of the basic conditions she was referring to. The reason was something else; I shall elaborate in another blog post.

I realize that these moments of self doubt either strengthen our conviction or weaken it depending upon how we respond to them. 

Not so nice a day!

It’s been raining for the last 3-4 days. These last days of a season are always tricky. You know that these are the last few days, but you don’t know how many more. We’re supposed to sow wheat when the temperature starts dropping. As of now, we’re just waiting for the rains to finally end.

Rekha was not too well yesterday and I missed my exercise, since I had to fill-in for her. Not a great start to the day. Then the news came in that all the four cows along with the four calves were missing since last night. Three of them were milking cows and we didn’t have milk at all. Leaving the cows and their calves free is quite a blunder on the part of the guy who was talking care of them. Siddharth and Shreya spend almost 1-2 hours everyday with the cows and are quite happy doing that. Their sudden absence was unsettling them as well. Rekha also was quite sad and so was I. I suspected foul play. May be this guy deliberately let the cows as well as calves loose or worst still, flicked them himself. I had a bit of a tough talk and without making any allegation I indicated that if the cows are not to be found, we’ll have to report the matter to the police. In the afternoon, I again had an sterner talk and told him loud and clear that the cows were lost from under his nose and he better make sure they’re back by evening. When the cows didn’t appear for another one hour, I started getting surer that this is a mischief.

This was slipping point and I started slipping into gloom. All our ‘not so good’ experiences started coming to fore. So much so that I started seriously thinking that if we need to leave from here, where could we go? The main concern was that we’re unable to find people we can trust. A typical villager looks at us as the monied urbanite and an opportunity to exploit. Also, they don’t understand at all why we’re here and what are we doing. All they can see is that we’re staying with 2 small children in a remote place. When the negative spiral begins, it just goes on and on. I discussed with Rekha and we realized that we actually have NOWHERE to go. We’d hate to get back into a city. We’re sure that buying land in a village and starting afresh is something we’ve realized we’ll never do. Living like this with anyone else may not suit us or them. We came to the conclusion that we have nowhere to go. Nowhere whatsoever.

By evening I was prepared to tell the cowherd to pay-up for the lost cows. Just then, someone located the cows. Siddharth was so happy, so was Shreya. The gloomy thoughts took a back-seat.

The new day (today) had a better start. Sun had appeared. We also decided to go to Bhopal, watch a movie, get some basic info on solar energy. Though the movie was an absolute disaster, the mood is much better than yesterday.

I think it is very important to make a note of some gloomy days as well. These days teach us a lot, make us capable of fighting it out.

Some photos

A Nice Day

The day had a faaantastic begin. I enjoyed my Yoga asanas like never before. Every time I have a good performance with asanas, I learn something new - about the asana, about my own body. I realised that this inward journey is what I desperately seek and enjoy most. Funny life. One day I feel lonely and the next I enjoy the loneliness thoroughly!

Finally, our house is likely to have doors and windows soon - if all goes well, within 3 days. With that, we should be able to spend the nights also there. We're encountering the fiercest mosquitoes - they bite, rather sting through the clothing! 

Today, I completed the first patch of clearing in the farm. About 2.5 gunthas (approx 2500 sq ft). Around the house, we've prepared some ground for sowing and have also sown some vegetables. The farm is still let on its own since June 24, except this patch. We've got into the discipline of preparing about 15-18 liters of Amrutjal everyday. Amritjal is a mixure of cow dung, cow urine and jaggery fermented for 3 days. It increases the bacterial count and expedites the decomposition of organic matter in the soil. We'll try hard to ensure we have enough vegetables in winter from our farm. Also, hopefully grow wheat and chana for the year. The next 2 weeks will be a bit of hard work on the farm.

Today we completed the first section of the panchatantra. I found Panchatantra, which is supposed to be translated from the Sanskrit texts of Visnu Sharma. The stories are divided in 5 sections, each section has a frame story and there are various stories within. There are lots of verses in every story. It’s our routine for the last 15 days or so that I read it out aloud for half and hour before bed time (mostly 8.30 – 9.00 pm). Siddharth enjoys them. it makes him think as well as us. The preamble says that Visnu Sharma had taken to educate 3 stupid sons of a king. He’d promised the king that in 6 months time he will teach them ‘how to think’ and not ‘what to think’. We’ve finished reading one section and it’s been a very good experience. I hope to find the Sanskrit text and be able to read it out some day. One realisation after reading this Panchatantra is that the single stories available in various books are almost meaningless reading. 

It was a nice day. Looking forward to tomorrow!

What would we like to be ruled by

When Siddharth was very small, we used to have a very stereo-type schedule. Come what may, lights would be off at 7.30 pm and he would be asleep. We noted that he used to anticipate the activities in his schedule even at the age of 4 months. He used to be cranky if anything in his schedule was moved around. Similar was the experience with Shreya, though we were a little less particular. But we learnt something. Routine is natural. It helps to know what lies ahead in the day and it helps tremendously if it is the same everyday. It is magical how small activities done everyday turn out to be life changers.

Both of us are convinced that a daily routine is most important in our new life. Rekha has a knack of following a schedule & discipline. I just have to surrender my right to alter the routine. In the last 3 weeks, we’re happy that we’re able to follow a routine. Variety may be the spice of life, but spice does not have importance in our lives (and also food). Kids intuitively like a routine. Not just our kids.

In our daily routine, we’ve frozen some things. Breakfast everyday is ‘kanji’. Kanji is a mixture of 4-5 grains, soaked, roasted and ground. The mix powder is prepared in advance for a month or so. Everyday it is cooked with water and milk, jaggery added and done. Kids love the taste. Kids practice their English and Maths for about an hour everyday, I do my asanas for an hour before breakfast, rekha washes clothes around that time, lunch at 12.30, fixed amount of farm work, bath at 5 pm, raw & fresh cow milk for kids in the evening, one-pot dinner (poha, upma, khichdi and the like), aloud reading of Panchatantra story for Siddharth, kids & Rekha sleep at 9. I engage in a little more manual work in the farm, while Rekha manages the house and food more than me. I am convinced that the more we reduce variety in food, clothes, work, the more we enjoy and learn. We have to improve on many aspects, but it’s well begun.

Normal Life (2)

Amjad Khan, playing Gabbar Singh in Sholay tells the villagers of Ramgarh that Gabbar Singh is a tyrant. If there is any person, who can save them from the wrath of Gabbar Singh, it is only Gabbar himself. In return, he is entitled to take some grains and other stuff, and it’s absolutely fair. He uses fear in the hearts of people for his personal gain and to justify his existence, probably even to himself.

Without exception, the audience agrees that this is an unfair means to earn. Gabbar is an undisputed villain. If the person, who creates the problem, also creates the solution, it is not fair, but if these tasks are performed by different people, then is it fair business?

Let’s look at our lives. Dark skin was never a problem, till the makers of Fair & Lovely highlighted it. Nutrition and taste of milk was never an issue till the ads of Bournvita, Complan and the like brought it to our notice. It is acceptable that one creates a need and then offers a solution, in fact it is held as a matter of pride, a testimony of intelligence. People who do it are highly paid and respected! There are thousands of genuine ways to serve the customer, but a respected business is not the one, which serves the costumer the best. It is the one, which earns a handsome profit by intelligently fooling the customer. In some sense, which I can’t explain in words, this way of earning one’s livelihood is not normal. It does not adhere to any norm. 

Life with Norms

Amitabh Bachchan, in the movie Sarkar says, “Every person views me from his perspective, and forms an opinion about me. I do whatever my I feel right. It may then be against the law, the gods or the society.”

Is this character leading a life with norms? Yes. The point to be noted is not that he does whatever he feels right, but that he doeswhatever he feels right. It is not about the whim, but about the courage to take action, about the commitment to his sense of right.

I don’t think I can ever make a list of norms, which I live by, but I’m proud of living with norms. Words have limitations and thus aren’t able to capture the essence of these norms. Most people, however, understand them intuitively, without the use of words. 

Life's Good!

Finally, the long wait comes to an end! I’ve been waiting to write.

The long vacation (a little over 2 months) came to an end about 3 weeks back. All of us, more so the children were desperate to return to Barkheda. We ended up spending more than a month in Mumbai. With nothing to do, no one to meet, it turned out a bit more than we’d have liked. I bought  a battery for my laptop, something I badly wanted. But I’d left back the laptop in Barkheda. On returning, we found that rats had turned our room into their home and had laid their teeth on almost everything they could, including my laptop adapter. I managed to buy a new one just a couple of days back and was thus out of action on blog and mails for almost 3 weeks.

I spent the first full week cleaning up, while Rekha took care that we were fed and taken care of. Rats are a menace – far more than what I’d imagined. The stink was such that the kids and I developed allergic cold in one day! That experience, among others I’ve mentioned in a blog earlier, should serve as a statutory warning to those, who think they’d like to move from a city to a village. Our farm and the house had become a jungle. Tall grass had grown everywhere starting from the wall of the house. There were thousands of insects, reptiles and some jungle animal (possible a jackal), who had delivered a few babies under a tree in the farm. It was a full eco-system and I felt guilty of encroachment. All trees I’d planted, before I left had grown well except one (jackfruit). Banana, papaya, drumstick, jamun, chickoo, custard apple, mulberry, guava, all had grown. The bottleguard, which had grown, but did not fruit through the entire summer, had crept all over the fence and gave us a 2 kg plus desi bottleguard. It was very tasty. The pleasure of eating self-grown vegetable was phenomenal.

After cleaning our room (in common area), I spent almost the next week making our house habitable. Fortunately, there was no damage inside the house due to rains. We’ve been staying in our house for almost a week and we love it. Rekha is at peak excitement. Kids seem to be in their own world throughout the day and don’t feel the need to go anywhere or miss any company. Currently, we stay only during the day. Hopefully from tomorrow, we’ll spend the nights also there. We’ve decided to take it very easy with regard to the work in the house and the farm. We have to prepare the beds for sowing a few vegetables around the house and cut the grass in the fields and use them for mulching. No stress, though, neither physical nor mental.

Rekha and I are very happy about having been quite disciplined during the last 2-3 weeks. Waking up at regular time, exercises for Siddharth, Rekha and I, all meals, one hour of academic activity for the kids, work in the house and farm.

The vacation was a good break. We enjoyed parts of it and did not enjoy a few parts, but what we’re sure of now is that we feel at home in Barkheda and don’t long to visit a city too often. The kids are so involved with the cows and dogs that they almost hate going out.

Life is good.

Visiting Mumbai

I wasn’t too excited about coming to Mumbai for the stay experience. However, I was looking forward to meeting a few people. I’d already had an overdose of city stay. Mumbai stay was going to be longish. We couldn’t return to Barkheda till rain subsides. I spent long time in discussions at home with papa for the first 2-3 days. Meeting people is a tricky issue. I am changed person. I’m aware that not all people I knew look forward to meeting me. I too don’t find it relevant to meet many of them. Thus I end up evaluating almost every meeting afresh. I had a list of ‘to meet’, but when I gave it a second thought, the list shrunk. I had nothing to buy, didn’t want to eat out. I had no option but to stay indoors most of the time. I decided that I will not visit my ex-office. The prospect of meeting people there wasn’t exciting at all. I could have caught up with college friends. Two weeks ago, I was told that a meet will get planned. The excitement to meet up is just not there, perhaps mutually.

I don’t know if this phenomenon is something to be sad about, but it appears to me that I don’t belong to this world at all. I don’t understand their world, though I was very much there less than a year back! We used to discuss economy, stock markets, property markets, schools, work, increasing mediocrity and many issues. Nothing, absolutely nothing seems relevant and interesting. There is almost nothing I can talk about with people. I can talk about my new life and people listen. But I don’t see the point in talking about it. They’re not seeking it. I’m not preaching it. Talking seems such a waste of time!!!

I just wanted to meet Master (under whom Rekha and I’ve learnt Martial Arts and Yoga) and Dixit Sir (my prof in MBA college, who I’d look up to and who’d probably be happy to meet me after so many years).

A week in Hyderabad

The prospect of meeting Anu and Srinivas and living with them for a few days was exciting, but not very  exciting. There was almost nothing about their life that we were yet to know or vice versa, thanks to the long telephonic calls at regular frequency. In a way, the telecom growth has dampened the excitement in personal meetings. I later figured out that the lower excitement was also due to my prejudices that Anu is too judgemental and that it is difficult to converse because I can never identify with her fears. I found my prejudices misplaced.  The highlight of the stay was the equation between Siddharth and Aditya (Anu’s son, 1 month elder). Kids surprisingly didn’t fight much, despite differences. I wonder if the dose of mannerisms is at work or if they genuinely believe in talking rather than quarrelling.

I didn’t have much to do there. They stay in what can be said as a satellite town and there is generally no reason to go to Hyderabad. We had no intention of sightseeing. We spent most of the time indoors. Rekha and Anu spent some time in domestic chores and un-packing (they’re relocated less than a month back). I got an opportunity to update my blogs on Anu’s laptop, spend time with kids and help the ladies as and when desired.

Visiting Aditya’s school reinforced our views of what has happened of schools and strengthened the conviction in our decision to pull our kids out of an urban school. In a discussion, Anu shared that she was not happy with the school, but she wasn’t able to identify an alternative as yet. She felt that the methodology followed by the school in London was better. When I listened to the methodology, I found it to be too structured and would only end up creating a stereo-type even in a creative area like a language. Anu seemed to agree with this point of view as well, but agreement to conviction and conviction to action is a long long journey!!!

Rekha decided to stay back in Hyderabad for a week more and I moved to Mumbai .

Chennai visit

After the 5-day visit to Auroville, we moved back to Chennai to be amongst a few relatives of Rekha. We were to spend 3 full days before we move to Hyderabad, where Anu (Rekha’s sister) now stays. From Hyderabad, we were to proceed to Amchi Mumbai. I was looking forward, apprehensively and curiously, to spending the next month in the world of my past life.

We were hosted by Rekha’s Chitti (Mausi) in Chennai. It’s truly touching to feel the love and affection, unaffected by passage of years (rather decades).

At an anniversary celebration of one of the cousins, we had the opportunity to meet with 6 of Rekha’s cousins – all younger by 3 – 10 yrs. The cons of an urban lifestyle are so apparent, but there is no action to fight them. Inaction is either due to ignorance, indifference, denial of the consequences or simple hopelessness in their own ability to fight. When I meet them, this strikes me immediately. Any talk about it seems meaningless, but there is still the concern. This concern for all the friends, cousins, siblings in my generation or those younger is weighing heavily in my heart, but I also know that no amount of talk can induce any action. I can only hope that our actions will play some part in inducing some action – some day!

3 days in Chennai breezed quite swiftly and we were ready to say bye. The experience of getting to the railway station revealed something interesting. Chennai Central is almost 30 km from where we were. A taxi would have charged over Rs. 800. We had a large suitcase, two airbags and some more bulky luggage. With 2 children and this luggage, it was quite natural that call for a taxi. But 800 bucks is some money and if I were not to be able to afford it, what would I have done? Fortunately for me, Rekha shares such thinking. We decided to take a local train. An auto rikshaw to the nearest station cost us Rs. 80 and the train tickets cost Rs. 25. From the local train station (Park), we had to walk to Chennai Central for about 10 min. We did it and reached our train at least 30 min earlier than what a taxi would have taken. It required reasonable physical strength to be able to carry the luggage, needless to say that it was inconvenient. Since we (not just me) had the required physical strength and more importantly the temperament, we could afford to take this decision and execute it without a frown (on the contrary we were very happy about it). Urban life is undoubtedly draining this physical strength and temperament at a very fast pace. What’s more, it is supplementing with decent income. But where is this leading us? What will it make of our children? In a sense, those who cannot afford it seem to be better placed.

Stay at Auroville, Puducherry

From Coimbatore, we went for a 2 hour visit to Palakkad. Rekha’s Attey (father’s sister). A few months back, she suffered a paralytic attack and survived despite the doctors having lost hope. I like spending some time with people, who have experienced death from close quarters. I feel they evolve exponentially. 

We met Rekha’s cousins and the daughter of one of the cousin. It was fun sharing what we were upto. Deepa (the daughter of one cousin) was genuinely interested in what we were doing, though she is yet to begin her career as a CA in the mainstream. It was so much fun watching Siddharth and Shreya share some photographs with Attey.

At the end of it, we felt that the visit was a bit too short.

I had an inkling to visit Auroville and understand the life and people there. As an idea, it appeared great that there is a large set of people living at the same place, who are off-mainstream and have broadly similar idea of living. Also the fact that it was a 4 decade plus old initiative, I was sure that it would have gone through a decent learning curve and evolved. 

We stayed at New Creation Guest House on the outskirts of Auroville. The owner was quite an interesting person. He was a French, married to a Tamilian and was an Aurovillian for over 40 years. We got to understand that he runs a school for the children of villagers around and runs the guest house to partly finance this activity. When we got to know this, the tariff of 1000 per day did not appear much. The facility was decent. We had access to the kitchen and had could cook our food if we felt like. We ended up cooking quite a few times and it was a relief not to eat out much. 

During the first two days, we felt that there is a lot to look around and even do. We were prepared to extend our stay to a few weeks, should we find something to do there and a more economical option to stay.  Basis the description available, we found it interesting to visit Sadhana Forest, Buddha Farm, Solar Kitchen and Centre for Scientific Research (CSR). We would have liked to meet someone who has done eco-friendly construction. Social life within Auroville and the character construct of a typical Aurovillian was also something that I was keen to understand.

We stayed there for 5 days and were broadly done with our objectives. For a 40 year old effort, Auroville doesn’t seem to have evolved much other than the physical infrastructure. It was meant to be a habitat for 50,000 people and barely 2000 stay in it currently. Though it is meant for those who have ‘evolved in their consciousness’, the joining eligibility & process still seems to suggest that it is an ‘alternate life for the elite’. Most people there intellectually believe in simplicity, eco-friendly, etc, their actions seem to be aimed at re-creating a city. Consequently, the society is heavily dependent on money from the main-stream. To me this appears to be the primary obstacle in the creation of a sustainable habitat. The time we were there was a ‘lean season’ and we found that the founders of Buddha Farm and Sadhana Forest were travelling. There was not much assistance available at CSR as well. It appeared that for the citizens of the alternate life, this life was not mainstream!

Some foreigners visiting the place were enchanted because they saw perfect strangers smiling and friendly. They found the food very tasty and the place quite safe.

There is an acute shortage of places to stay for new Aurovillians, who cannot construct their own houses. I think it would be appropriate if I can construct a few low-cost houses to ease the bottleneck, provided a piece of land is allotted.

While I can’t be sure, I get a feeling that most Aurovillians have a strong ‘black and white view’. They seem to assume a moral high-ground vis-à-vis mainstreamers. In my view, evolution enables a person to be more ‘tolerant to diversity’. Wherever I sense an absence of tolerance, I start questioning evolution.

Overall, I am impressed with the physical infrastructure that the place has to offer. Auroville seems to require support, not so much of money, but more of innovation. Lot of learning can yet happen by learning from the native oldies to create a lifestyle, which is comfortable, yet not heavily dependent on money from mainstream. To me there appears to be a shortage syndrome largely prevalent in their minds and at the same time, I can see and sense the abundance in reality.  Aurovillains and aspirants may need to shed their city paradigms and start afresh.

3 Days with Ragu, Nisha & Aum

It was sheer coincidence (or call it Grand Design), that I met Ragunath and Nisha, a couple who returned to India after spending 9 years in the US of A. For the last 4.5 years, they’re living on their 2.5 acre farm approx 20 km off Coimbatore. I bumped into them a few weeks after we’d decided to quit urban life and move to a village. That time we were exploring if it is ok not to send our children to school. Ragu & Nisha said that they too don’t send Aum (their 6 yr old son) to school. We met once again in Mumbai and we’d decided then that we will visit their farm one day. The day happened to be June 27, 2013.

Ragu and Nisha are living a life closest to what we’d like to live. They have a beautiful farm and a thoughtfully built house. We were welcomed into their house as though we’ve known each other for years and we settled almost immediately. I told Ragu that I did not have a specific agenda or any question to ask. I just wanted to live with them for a few days - and that is what we did. We cooked, worked in their farm, played and went for an outing. We had a few long conversations. It was a lovely time spent. 

Both of them are quite social and they have a very wide network of people who keep meeting, visiting and communicating with them regularly. They learnt Naturopathy and host these courses at their farm quite frequently. I am amazed at their ability to host people. Their genuine love is visible in every act.

Ragu and Nisha live what can be termed as an alternate life. They grow some food, barter some of what they grow for what they need instead of buying with money, home-educate their child, do their own work (not employed a maid servant), they don’t have a TV, car, refrigerator and most modern gadgets. They are attempting to be vegans (not eat any animal produce including milk and milk derivatives). What is striking that the absence of any of the so called ‘fun’ activities in a typical urban life does not come in the way of being truly happy. Ragu is connected with a lot of people who think alike and is also part of an initiative called ‘Service Space’. He has successfully made an influence on many of his immediate family (parents, siblings, etc) with Naturopathy. 

One of the natural consequences of my moving out of the mainstream was that my circle of friends shrunk significantly, almost completely. It is not an unpleasant consequence at all because the other side I get friends in Ragu and Nisha. The trade-off still works in my favour. 

Taking a Vacation!!!

By June, we’d spent over 4 months in the new life at Barkheda. The house construction was largely done except the doors and windows. We felt that rainy days will pose challenges and we weren’t fully prepared. So we decided to take a vacation! Vacation from a vacation like life!!!

The plan was to meet people rather than visit places. For the last 2 weeks or so, while we’re into the vacation, I’ve been meeting people, understanding them from a new context, learning to view from their perspective. I found that it makes sense to keep aside all the sense of good and bad, right and wrong, moral and amoral. That way, the learning is enhanced and judgements are avoided. I’m finding it quite difficult, but hopefully should get it right with practice.

There is also an unanswered question about ‘work’. Is it ok to live just to satisfy the basic requirements of the family, assuming that our savings can satisfy the limited monetary requirements we have? I hope to find a few answers in this regard during this vacation. If I don’t want to work for money, should I work at all? If yes, what work and what for?

Milestone # 1

4 months completed today into the new life and today we managed to get the chulha going in our newest home. This means that we now have walls of the house, the roof, the flooring done and the chulha installed. We cooked a little sweet and shared it with people present. The entire construction so far has been done using none of the commonly known ecologically harmful material like cement, furnace burnt bricks, iron rods, etc. We now have walls made of stone, joining is done with mud, inner walls have been done with sun-burnt bricks and roof is done using locally available wood (luckily for us it happens to be teak) and roof tiles. Wood is also used in the door & window frames. The doors and windows are yet to be made. We’ll use the same wood for them as well. We intend to spend the day in the new house starting tomorrow and if plans fructify, we’ll also sleep there itself. 

Reflections of my Past Life

We can divide the population as Urban Elite, Urban Commoners, Rural Elites and Rural Commoners. Broadly, let’s say urban elite comprises of urban residents, who earn 10 lac & above p.a. or occupy position of power in bureaucracy, defence services, academia and the like. This is where I belong and am on my way out. Rural residents with income with Rs. 4 lac and above or similar position are Rural Elite. The remaining population is termed commoners. Broadly speaking, the urban elite is an aspirational class for the rest classes.

It is interesting to study and analyse this class and characteristics. Though there is a significant heterogeneity, I’ll try to enumerate characteristics which are prevalent in majority cases. On each parameter, I’ll present my view in contrast to the commonly held view. It may make enjoyable reading if the reader chooses not to take it personally (also it is not meant to be targeted to any specific person).

Education

Commonly Held View: Education is one of the important distinction of urban elite. Education makes them self reliant, capable of decision making for self and on behalf of other classes, capable of facing uncertainty and adversary, innovative, civic and broadly better human beings.

My View: This class gives very high importance to ‘certification of IQ’. Academic and Professional Degrees, diplomas, doctorates, passing out from an institute of repute are yardsticks of the certification. By and large, ‘certification’ is more important than enhancement in actual IQ. This certification of IQ is considered synonymous with ‘education’. Physical quotient (strength, stamina, immunity, ruggedness, etc), Emotional quotient (softer elements like courage, compassion, perseverance, mental strength, etc) and spiritual quotient are subordinated to IQ to such an extent that almost no effort is made to develop these. What is termed as education is the very reason this class is neither self reliant, nor capable of balanced decision making, nor capable of facing uncertainty, nor innovative, nor civic and can hardly be termed as ‘better’ human beings.

Society

Commonly Held View: Specialized expertise is developed, thereby ensuring that the most optimum solutions are made available to all. People with varied skill sets stay together, which results in harmonious living. Given the diversity and interdependence, there is mutual respect and fair trade.

My View: The flip side of specialized expertise is non-expertise in most other (including essential) skills. This has resulted in greed in the field of expertise and fear in other areas. Greed and fear result in distrust and lack of concern for fellow beings, which in turn result in a host of ills of the modern society. Inability to perform most of the essential functions has made majority in urban elite class utterly dependent on the commoners (farmers, maids, drivers, baby sitters, mechanics and a host of other functions). A society as defined by most urban elites will keep other classes out under some pretex or another. Thus, being benefitted at the cost of other classes is considered quite ok, though one wouldn’t like to view it that way. 

Fair Trade

Commonly Held View: The invention of money and the price determination basis demand and supply have been the biggest landmarks of the civilization. It makes possible the determination of the value of every service, thus ensuring a fair trade.

My View: The invention of money and the price determination basis demand and supply are the biggest frauds of the civilization. Since majority of the population is that of commoners, price determination basis demand and supply ensured that all services offered by commoners are priced at a fraction of those offered by elites, irrespective of the value of the goods or services. Monetising goods and services facilitated hoarding (fueling greed) of goods and services in the form of money. Once hoarded, fractions of the money can be thrown at the commoners for their services, the price of which is already set low since the supply is large. Calling this fair trade can only be termed as audacious. 

Testing Experiences

We’ve completed 2 months in the new life at Barkheda. The euphoria, the tempo, the enthusiasm continues and has strengthened. I realized that I’ve most experiences I’ve recounted here are pleasant. Today I’ll share a few experiences, which are as important (if not more) as the nice ones.

Before we’d completed even 10 days, we were returning to Barkheda from our first outing and on the way, we’d decided to halt at a new acquaintance in Uljhawan (a village 6 km away). We spent a good time there and by the time we started, it was past sun-set. The road is a tar road for 3 km and then a 3 kmkachha road. When we were 1km away from Barkheda, I suddenly saw huge stones on the road. It was pitch dark and I was on a single lane kachha road. The head lights of my car could only throw light on the straight road and there was no way I could see what is on either sides of the road. Kids started getting a little tense. As luck would have it, power in both the phones was drained. I couldn’t even call anyone for help. Where do we go to spend the night? I scanned through my options. One, drive 40 km to Bhopal and stay back at Rajesh Gupta’s. Two, look out for a decent hotel…nearest city was Sehore, but it was unlikely it would have a decent hotel. Three, go back to the new acquaintance in Uljhawan and spend the night there. Almost always, I tend to choose the least expensive option, unless there is a real problem in the option. There wasn’t much problem in this case. Now, I needed to get the car turn in the opposite direction. I drove into the field nearby, thankfully did not get into any pit or on a stone or thorns, reversed and headed back to Uljhawan. A flurry of thoughts suddenly emerged…what if I’m stuck like this with a puncture or some other car problem! What if there is nowhere else to go! I must have my phone on. We reached Uljahawan and felt relieved.

We later realized that it was not the end of our eventful day. Current wasn’t there and it was pitch dark there too. Uljhawan is a very dirty village and the way to their house has lots of clayey mud with lots of water, making it quite difficult to avoid stepping into a puddle and getting into 6 inch deep wet clayey mud. I lifted Shreya and crossed after parking the car. We reached the Mohanlal’s (the new acquaintance) house only to find him gone out. His wife and daughters welcomed us back. We were sitting in the dark and the old man (Mohanlal’s father) started asking many questions and quite a few times wondering aloud if we were in our senses to take a decision to shift to village life from a city. After some time the host arrived…back after his daily drink, sloshed. He behaved as sober as he could and was very kind. I was the only one yet to have dinner and had it with him, wondering whether we should really stay back there. Very courteously, we asked for a place where we could sleep – all 4 of us together. The hosts were very nice and kind to us (despite the alchohol). We went into the room and locked ourselves inside. Then we waited for the night to pass. It was enough adventure for a day.

Cooking on a chulha is a very good experience. But cooking on chulha everyday, all meals is a very different experience. Even if you have to make tea heat a little water, you need to light the chulha – makes you think if the tea is really required. Two months, cooking all meals on the chulha is really a praise-worthy effort, primarily by Rekha.

One day last month, there was quite heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorm. It started to rain around 6 pm.  Strong breeze, nearly a storm had arrived. All the Sreejan Kartas are supposed to live on their farms, than stay in the common rooms. They were not shifting since the last 4-5 months, despite repeated reminders. Finally with some close monitoring, we managed to push them out of the common area, into their farms. That stormy night, we were the only people in commons. To make matters worse, it started raining heavily. We have tin roof here. The hailstorms and rain drops were making such a loud noise that a person standing next could barely hear. We had to cook for the night, despite the storm and while we were struggling with the chulha, lights went off. It was a perfect scene for a horror movie. We kept ourselves together till Bhura came and repaired the light. It’s worthwhile imagining the scene.

These experiences apart, Shreya has had a bout of viral fever twice. Once the temperature had risen to 103^OF and there were no doctors in the vicinity.

Village life is not purely romantic. It has many uncertainties. We’ve had our share, but far from dampening our resolve to continue, it has strengthened us. We need to keep our nerves at all times.  Panic, almost always, weakens individuals as well as their determination to go on.

Celebrating Holi

Had a nice Holi yesterday. We’d gone to a village called Paanghri. Two school teachers, who teach in the school here belong to Paanghri. This is the third time we decided to visit this village. People here are quite nice. Kids also like it since they have friends (4 kids study in the school here). Unlike many other villages, Paanghri has managed to retain a lot of good characteristics of an old Indian village. While in Dehradun, we’d learnt that Holi is a major festival in North India. The festivities go on for 5 days. In Paanghri, the burning of Holika happens on the same day as Holi (unlike in Mumbai, where it is burnt on the previous night) before 10 am. The whole village gathers cow dung cakes in a huge pile and then set it afire. The play with colours begins after the fire cools and the pooja has been done. Children don’t care for this ritual and begin playing since morning. Two groups – one of adult men and another of adult women go from house to house singing and dancing with a few musical instruments and playing colours with every family. They also collect festival tip from every household. If there has been a special event, the tip is higher. Over the years it so happens that the group of men who go around are drunk and the money thus collected is spent to drink more. We watched the entire drama, but did not participate in it. Later, along with the children, we played with colours for almost 2 hours. It was Fun.

Holi has also applied some brakes on the house construction. The mason was on an unannounced leave today and so were the labours. 

Sustainable Living, Sreejan, etc

Let’s have a quick update on facts first. Later I intend to write something more than that.

We’ve completed a little over 2 ft of the wall. The progress is a little slow. We were supposed to have 2 masons, but the second one is yet to be found. Also, stone construction is much slower than regular brick & cement mortar. Adversary fuels innovation. After watching the mason work, I’ve decided to take up the role of the second mason. I intend starting work in the new role tomorrow or day after, but the thought has created so much excitement!

Got the stiches removed today. The hand should be fully operational in a couple of days.

The weather is becoming hotter during the day. We need to be careful with kids in the hot sun…Shreya has already had another bout of cold & cough accompanied by fever. There have been wild swings in the temperature during the last week – had one night of very heavy rains and hailstorm.

Now the something else.

I’ve done a brief introduction of Sreejan earlier. I’d like to elaborate a little. 

Sustainable living is a very popular subject these days and there are hundreds of groups and thousands of individuals across the world, who are attempting to live in a sustainable manner. There is enough and more material available on the net on the subject. Essentially it is a lifestyle, which addresses thesomething wrong that many of us feel in the current lifestyle. Sreejan is another such attempt by a group of individuals to build a community. Since building is clearly beyond human means and capability, the objective of Sreejan states that it is to allow the emergence of such a community. Now, there are hundreds of questions, which one may ask and when a group of people start a discussion on this subject, they can go on and on. But discussions and ideas don’t move the cart an inch. I’ve realized that almost everyone intuitively understands what is wrong with the regular urban lifestyle. Its ill-effect on health, values, environment, culture, economy, natural resources, education etc are intuitively known to most people. (Since rural populace essentially tries to ape their urban counterpart, there too, that something is wrong in rural areas as well.) So, in my opinion, discussions, discourses, courses, sermons, debates or conferences on this subject done in order to increase awareness are meaningless. Action and only action can lead to a change.

Lets come back to Sreejan. Rajesh Gupta and Rajinder Raina, who have initiated action at Barkheda believe that an individual (read family) can live, learn and earn livelihood (3 Ls) at a single place. Prof. Shripad Dabholkar, an eminent personality on the subject has developed a method to do this on 10 gunthas (approx. 10,000 sq ft, or 1/4^th of an acre) of land. There are a few more people, who back the effort of Rajesh and Rajinder by contributing land, money and ideas. However, most of them are unable to be physical present here. Rajesh, his wife Monika and Rajinder regularly visit. Monika has been spearheading the school effort since 9 months. However, the three of them are unable to stay here for various reasons. Now, the question is who will execute the model of 3Ls? To do that, they have roped in 3 people (late 20s and early 30s), who belong to nearby villages, to put the theory to practice. While, they are to be entrepreneurs in future, currently, they are being paid a reasonable salary, given place to stay and food to eat. They are required to stay here and farm on one acre without the use of chemicals and follow the processes of natural farming. If they do so, as per estimates, they will be able to earn over 1 lac per year by selling the produce. The three gentlemen do not understand the something wrong. Generating 1 lac from 1 acre is what interests them (they’re called Sreejan Kartas). In order to facilitate them, capital investment has been done in a tractor, farming tools, pipes & sprinklers, solar panels for light, a huge lake around the land and a bore-well.

Experience over the last year has shown that there are multiple gaps in execution, as a result of which, the sale of produce has been miniscule. Reasons are not difficult to imagine. Firstly, the 3 Kartas did not come in with the conviction in sustainable lifestyle. So, they find it difficult to comprehend why they are working harder, whereas their friends and relatives work on much larger areas of land with lesser effort. Secondly, they have a secure income and so many assets at their disposal with virtually no supervision. Thirdly, almost nothing is at stake apart from the precious prime time of their career. But the opportunity cost isn’t much. Given the above, there isn’t a sense of ownership amongst them. As it is, when a poor, young villager works with educated, rich, experienced city dwellers who can articulate their ideas with a lot of conviction and who are paying salary, the relationship that develops is that of a master & slave. Reality is such a big threat to good intentions becoming a reality.

What the founders of Sreejan are working on is truly ambitious and extremely challenging. Ambitions can lead to anxiety, cause fear of failure and when the ambition is that of a social good, it requires what is termed as ‘collective consciousness’. The newest members of Sreejan (we) are conscious (regarding the need for a sustainable lifestyle), but not interested in influencing anyone else. That’s another reality posing a threat to the ambition. Every month, the founders assemble here to review the status. In the initial 2 months, my feedback to them was that at least one of the founders must stay here and demonstrate the integration of the 3 Ls. 5, 50 or 500 people together cannot create a community by staying outside it.

I have also volunteered to manage the finances of the society for the next year. I’m now working on preparing the budget for the next year. I’m quite sure that my way of questioning costs will dampen the enthusiasm for social good, but it is to be so, so be it.

I think, this background will help put in context the experiences I intend sharing on this blog. 

The House Building Phase 1

This has been an even longer absence from the blog than the last one. Ironically, it comes after deciding against an absence more than 3 days. Lots of improvement in lot many areas still desired!

It’s tough to decide where to start from. Let me begin by reporting some facts:

Bhairu Singh (the mason, who had agreed to build our house) did not turn up on the decided day and did not respond to calls as well. Though he made a good first impression, ultimately did not live up to it. After some effort, I did find another stone mason. Another old man, Hari Narayan, by his own admission the only stone mason in nearby villages. He came to check the site on March 1, 2013, agreed to commence work on March 6, 2013, took an advance of Rs. 1000 and did turn up on the agreed date. He made us perform a pooja for commencement of work and has been religiously following his work routine since then. I agreed to pay him an extra daily wage and serve lunch and tea. He comes on a cycle everyday from a village 5 km away and on a pathetic road. We’ve completed laying the foundation and after a 2 day break to let the lime mortar dry, ready to commence with the walls tomorrow. It’s been some hectic work during the last week or so. Got 3 trollies of stones from a village 4 km away, 2 trollies of black mud to join the stones with, some more stones for making the lofts and kitchen shelves from Sehore (nearest city), hurt myself on the wrist while procuring stones, thus retired hurt as far as physical labour is concerned. So far, decent progress with the house construction. All going as planned, the house should be complete by end of the month.

The incident of getting hurt was quite interesting. I slipped while picking up a stone and a sharp edge made a cut in my wrist. The stone vendor immediately plucked a few leaves of a particular tree and rubbed them on the wound. It instantly arrested the bleeding as well as the pain. I got back to work. But when I showed the wound to Rekha, both of us realized that this will need to be stitched. It seemed most apt to go to Bhopal and we started off. I drove quite comfortably. The pain started only after the effect of the anesthesia wore off, primarily due to the way the doctor cleaned the wound. When I went to pick up another trolley of stones a day later, the vendor was all praise for the leaf he’d rubbed against my wound and casually added that people go to doctors because they have lots of money. It hurt more than on the wrist! Lots that I learned from the incident.

Every month, the promoters of Sreejan are scheduled to have a monthly meeting. The meeting on March 2 and 3 was my 3^rd meeting and this was another interesting event. I’ll write a separate post on this subject.

It is quite late in the night and I will have to continue tomorrow…