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 1/4th 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.
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