The Search Story (Part II)

Option 5 : Satara (Contd.)

One of my father’s cousin had been based in Satara for a few decades. His two sons stay there along with their mother, wives and children. Umesh bhaiyya (my elder cousin) was quite interested in our change in lifestyle and suggested to us that we explore the area around Satara. He took us around the area twice. I liked the area very much. Almost everything was picture perfect in terms of macro factors. The language familiarity was very comforting. Sahyadri Hills all around, ample sunlight, ample rain, dams between mountains making water available, fertile soil, very pleasant climate throughout the year, reasonably equipped with electricity and road access. Also, the area is far less urbanized than Pune (110 km north) or Kolhapur (100 km south). The reason as I understand is that the king of the area (supposed to be the 13^th generation in Shivaji’s lineage) was an active administrator and didn’t allow much ‘development’ and also offered protection to the area. Another factor, which I felt good about was that the area was home to Swami Ramdas, Shivaji’s spiritual guru and the followers of his teachings are very active around there. It’s kind of an ‘enlightened’ area. For me, it quickly became the area of first choice.

However, Rekha was not as excited about the area, for no reason at all. She couldn’t explain it to me. I got bugged with her stance. I had all the logical and illogical factors to be positively inclined and she had none, but she wasn’t inclined. I took her to see the place again another day. She liked the place, but I could not sense the excitement I was hoping to.

In any case, we did not have a concrete option of land we could consider buying. So, after spending 4 days in Satara, we  handed the baton to Umesh bhaiyya to spread the word and check if we get some options. As it were to happen, we have still not had any option our way (after almost 2 months).

Option 6 : Hulekal and around

On Jan 20^th, we began the last lap of our long drive plan: Satara to Hulekal. Majority of the road was an expressway. We covered the 350 odd km in 6 hours (incl breaks). Hulekal was planned to be the place to settle in, may be for a few months if required.  So we started with other important aspects of life like discipline with food, exercise and other habits. Vinish and Karuna helped us settle and gave us the comfort and space we required. Their landlady, whose house they’d hired was also very kind and her daughters were very friendly with Rekha and the kids. In every sense of the term, we started living with the families. We met a few of their friends, who soon became our friends as well. Our food and exercise regimen started to take shape steadily. We also went for a few outings around.

After a week or so, the moot question of land search raised its head again. We reviewed the option of buying land in or around Hulekal. It had many positives. Physical characteristics were well suited, but with regard to Hulekal, our positions reversed. Rekha was positively inclined and I wasn’t. I don’t have the ability to say, “I can’t explain why, but we cannot choose this place.” After all, there wasn’t any other option waiting for us! So both of us thought deeper and gave ourselves time to evaluate from a neutral standpoint i.e. positives were agreed, now we needed to take a hard look at the negatives as well.

This was a Kannada speaking area. There was no local person we could depend upon to help us build a rapport with the local community. But working with Hindi was possible there, given that there was a large Muslim population. But a village with communities so diverse ways of life also poses the risk of communal tension at some time. The risk is not sufficient to drop the option, but could not be completely ignored.

Hubli (a little over 100 km) was not a very likable city. Sirsi was only good enough to get essentials, not for the occasional recreation. Also, at some point, if we were required to use our professional competency, a good city within reasonable distance would be preferred.

The area received very heavy rainfall (300 inches or 3 times of Mumbai). This meant that at least 8 months are wet / humid, not very pleasant. As we thought more, this was perhaps the reason why this area was scarcely populated.

Land prices were not very low, possibly because it was suitable for Arecanut, coconut and banana plantations. Road access shot up prices further. Most of the land was mountainous, which meant higher expenses for development. Labour availability was not very easy given the scarce population.

Lastly, we did not have any proposal for buying land. Identifying land through brokers, doing the necessary due diligence to make sure we’re not being cheated appeared a daunting and time consuming task. Besides, even if we were to find one, we could not take a final decision before we see through one monsoon. The whole process will take quite some time –least one year. One year before we can get our cows, build our house and get on with life! We should explore an option in hand rather than wait for the ‘best’ option.

After 10 days of stay, both of us were almost certain that Hulekal or around is not an option. As we thought more, Mysore seemed to be the most appropriate option. I contacted them and got to understand that the group is meeting on Feb 2.

It was finalized then. Mysore seemed to be a very good option from all perspectives. We’ll need to learn Kanadda, but that should not be an issue. The price of the land also wouldn’t be high because they wanted to sell the land at a lower price to encourage people like us. I planned to spend a couple of days extra in Mysore to be able to find a house on rent. We would shift to Mysore and live in the city. It will give us the opportunity to experience living there while we buy land, build a house etc.

I went to Mysore (alone) and met up with all the group members and also spent a couple of days as planned. I couldn’t decide on the house on rent. I planned to return to Hulekal to come back with Rekha and the kids. Together we could search for a house on rent.

The Mysore Option : Round 2

Something amusing started happening in Mysore. The evening before I was to leave for Hulekal, I received a call from the member of the group I was to purchase the land from. They said that I need to hurry with the registration. I insisted that we would like to spend a couple of months in the city before we get into any registration formalities. They agreed, reluctantly though. I’m skipping other details here but I sensed that there was quite a lot of fear / lack of trust given that we were ‘outsiders’ to the group.

When I discussed this with Rekha, we created space for the possibility that this option may not work out. But it still made sense to park ourselves in Mysore for a few months. We could either build confidence amongst the same group of people or explore other options.

We went to Mysore with the kids and stayed with Berty. Berty was known to the group for a few years, but he had purchased land from them and so was in the same boat as us. But we felt a little unwelcome there. Something had transpired in two days. We were indirectly informed that the group had decided not to sell the land to us unless we agree to do the registration immediately. It was a very odd situation. We left quite abruptly after staying only for a day. We were stranded. The only option we’d been banking on was no longer there and we were back to square one. Moreover, we were dependent on Berty for developing any rapport with local community. But that seemed quite unlikely now.

We took an early morning train to return from Mysore. We’d almost reached Hasan (60-70 km) when Rekha asked if we could go to Gudalur. Rajinder (one of the land owners at Barkheda) had purchased a 2 acre land in Gudalur few years back. He had invited us to have a look and see if we’d like to purchase it from him. I told Rekha that we were headed in the opposite direction. If we want to go to Gudalur, we need to get off the train and go back to Mysore. We called Dr Sunil and checked if it is ok for us to visit him in Gudalur. The train had just reached Hasan; we quickly grabbed our luggage and de-boarded the train.

The Search Story (Part I)

We started with our search for a new place to live in the moment we came to a conclusion that we need to do so. Though there was no pressing reason to move out, there was no point in delaying the process. Co-incidentally, Shashi had decided to visit us for a few hours. On learning our intention to re-locate, he suggested that we might consider Mysore. He knew of a group of people, who’d tried and given up on a community building effort and would like to sell land to people, who’d like to live by similar principles. There was no direct train to Mysore. So, we decided to get started and planned to begin our search at Palakkad and travel north to Mysore.

Option 1: Palakkad

On Dec 9, 2013, we reached Palakkad. Last time we visited the place few years back, it looked like a culturally rich, slow paced town with the useful urban amenities. This time, we started with a feeling that we should be lucky to find a decent option here. We lived with Rekha’s relatives, who were curiously watching our moves and were very kind to us. Nandan, based in Palakkad was introduced to my blog by another friend. He came forward to guide us through Palakkad. He spent good 2 days with us and our first interaction with him seemed like we’d been friends for years.

Palakkad, we realized, was too urbanized for our liking, far too hot even in the winter month and market prices of land were much higher than what we were ok with. A group of friends had purchased a 21 acre plot with the idea of ‘living in harmony with nature’, but could not work on it beyond 2 years for various reasons. They could have agreed to sell a small part of the land to us at a discount (to the market price). But after the Barkheda experience, we learnt that a discount is an illusion. In exchange for the discount, we’d have to probably live their idea of ‘in harmony with nature’.

Taking Nandan’s suggestion, we decided to explore Wayanad. It was supposed to be endowed with more fertile soil, better climate and lower prices.

Option 2 : Wayanad

We took a train to Calicut and then a bus to Mananthvady (in Wayanad district). During the drive itself, we were amazed at the level of ‘development’ in Kerala. There are no open areas in between towns here! Wayanad, which is supposed to be a hill station, is as commercially developed as a large town. Nandan had referred us to Roy in Wayanad. Roy was so helpful and courteous. He showed us around the place, we visited the land he’d purchased a year back and spent good time discussing a numerous issues of common interest. We could not bring ourselves to choose Wayanad as our place of stay given the level and the reach of commercialization; also the land prices high (though lower than Palakkad).

This visit closed Kerala as an option given the development in the state. But the visit was worth it because of new friends made in Nandan, Roy and a couple of more people of common interest.

Option 3 : Mysore

Wayanad to Mysore was a nice, brief bus journey through a forest. We reached there at about 8 in the evening. Mysore is a pleasant city as compared to others. There are areas, especially a little away from the hub, which are spaced out, where one can breathe. We were hosted by Guru and family, quite warmly, though they were less conversant in Hindi and English. The following day, we visited the land they’d (the group) purchased 17-18 years back and were now planning to sell.

We quite liked to land the moment we stepped on it. Along with Guru and his wife, Berty had also come with us. Berty had purchased 2 acres land from the group recently. Another 2 acres was purchased by a friend of his – Sanjeev. Both of them had plans of agro-forestry in the area.

We would have liked to discuss the details, but Guru did not seem inclined to reveal much about the plans of the group, the price, etc. He said that the group will have to take a decision together and he will let us know later. We’d liked the option. However, there were two distinct areas of concern. One was that the rainfall was a little less than what we’d have liked. Secondly, this was a failed community effort. Two couples had stayed on the land for 5 years before they’d decided to move elsewhere. 5 years is a long time! The relationship with at least one couple was quite strained and this was the couple, which was being blamed for the failed effort. This made us a little uncomfortable. But we felt that we should give ourselves the time to understand the dynamics better. After all, we didn’t have many options.

Since there was nothing conclusive being taken up, we decided to return from Mysore. But before we left, some friends of Guru showed tremendous interest in meeting us and showing us a farm, which they’d developed. This was a 4 acre farm, where they’d built two eco-houses, couple of tree houses, a nice and big farm of vegetables and fruits. Quite a beautiful place! We were amazed that 6 families could stick together for such a long time and develop something. The saddest part, however, was that not a single family was staying there. They were struggling to find a care taker for the farm. We felt, they might have tried to lure us to live there, but we were clear that we would not stay in a place, which we don’t own. Besides, water was a problem there. Bore wells in that area had also dried up.

On Dec 15, we left from Mysore to Mumbai. The kids had been waiting for us for 8 days.

Mumbai – the base by default

Back in Mumbai, we were still without any concrete option. We had planned to return to Barkheda on Dec 19, tickets were booked. We spent the three days with family. No call from Mysore during these days, which meant the option of Mysore was still not open.

We had not been positive about staying in my native place in Vidarbha. But with no option in hand, we felt it incorrect that we should reject this option without exploring it. Afterall, the place offered a sense of security. There might be a possibility of interference from relatives, but we felt quite adept at managing this risk. More importantly, Rekha was quite inclined that we should explore this option. So, on Dec 19, instead of returning to Barkheda, I booked a ticket for Amravati. I’d travel there, while Rekha and kids stayed in Mumbai.

Option 4: Vidarbha

The family of my father’s sister had been a farmer’s family for a few generations and owned land. I decided to begin my search from there. I spent two days with a cousin, with whom I hadn’t conversed for even 5 minutes in so many years. It felt nice. We saw the land options there.

I visited other places as well. I was visiting there after years. It was a multi-purpose visit. The land options I saw there were quite good, purely from the farming perspective. But the area is very fast developing. Land prices are shooting up, agricultural land is being converted to residential land at a brisk pace. Urbanisation was accepted as the undisputed route to progress.

The interactions there renewed my relationship with my own relatives – my individual relationship, without being the son of so and so. I spent close to a week there. The two options of land, which I had seen were not too great. Some relatives said that they will look out for options and get back. Market price of land was higher than what I’d have liked to and there weren’t any options to choose from.

On the whole I returned with mixed feelings. Not very excited, but open if something comes up.

Back in Mumbai

Nothing much to do, we found ourselves back in Mumbai. We didn’t like staying there much. Kids were watching TV for most part of the day, the schedule for the day had almost gone for a toss, eating habits disturbed and no one to meet up with. We wanted to go back to Barkheda, kids wanted to even more than us. But tickets were not available before Jan 9, 2014. Shashi, during his visit to Barkheda, had told us a little about Vinish, who stays in a village near Hubli and that we must meet him. We thought that instead of dragging along here, let us visit him…who knows what turn awaits us!

Hulekal (Hubli)

On Jan 1, we reached Hulekal, a village about 3 hours south of Hubli. Vinish and Karuna welcomed us very warmly and almost instantaneously, the families got along quite well. Their 4 yr old son was happy to play with Siddharth and Shreya. We stayed there for 2 days. They’ve rented a separate house to be able to host guests and friends, who visit them.

It was a nice, short and sweet visit. Vinish mentioned that they’ve been staying in Hulekal for 3 years and are now quite happy to stay there. They would also like to stay on land and are planning to begin the land search soon. Hulekal is a nice place. Sparcely populated, basic facilities available, it rains very heavily, dug wells are common and land should not be very expensive. Sirsi, a town 13 km away could provide us with the necessary occasional shopping.

Solapur & Pandharpur : Jan 4,5,6

Instead of taking a direct train from Hubli to Mumbai, we decided to break the journey at Solapur, my childhood town I hadn’t visited since 1994. It was a long overdue visit and the journey break made it possible for us to travel second class and save the cost and inconvenience of AC travel.

Barkheda

On Jan 10, we reached Barkheda as planned. Uncertain and confused about what to do next! This Barkheda visit was more for nostalgic value and also because we were longing to stay on our own. But within 2 days, we felt that it makes no sense base ourselves in Barkheda. We were not interested in exploring MP. South India seemed a better option. Travelling to and fro from Barkheda will be both very expensive and inconvenient. We could not do any farming given our uncertain stay.

Instead of making Mumbai our base, we thought it better to make Hulekal the base. There was a separate house to stay in temporarily, it would be closer to the places we’d like to explore and it will be possible for Rekha to stay with kids for a few days if I need to travel. Most importantly, we could get back to some disciplined lifestyle. We could also explore land options in and around Hulekal. We didn’t know how long this phase will last. We would also require our own household stuff to live separately, also the car. So, we packed enough household goods in the car, so that we can live comfortably for a few months and on Jan 13, began our 1300+ km long drive from Barkheda to Hulekal.

The long drive plan

I’d driven 750 km from Mumbai to Barkheda a year back, which was the longest stretch. This time it was much more. We started off after breakfast. The plan was to halt at Indore (200 km) on day 1, Nasik (600+) on day 2, Satara (950+) on day 3 and Hulekal (1300+) on day 4. We had relatives at all the locations. The halt would make it possible for us to catch up with them afresh.

Option 5 : Satara

The drive went as planned till the end of day 3. We reached Satara on the evening of Jan 15. I had it in mind that the area near Mahableshwar was quite nice and we should explore this area if possible. My cousin in Satara was in sync with this notion. He said that this part of the state was the best place for people like us. Climatically very pleasant, adequate rainfall, good soil, endowed with scenic beauty, not much urbanization and reasonable land prices. We decided to extend our stay there and check out options there.

Why do we want to move out of Barkheda (Sreejan)?

Sreejan was an idea of an intentional community. The common intention simply put can be ‘living in harmony with nature’. There was sufficient land, money and expertise to begin with. With our coming in about a year back, the community started off. We were welcomed, appreciated and encouraged since we were the only family willing to live in.

As time passed, we realized that a person with an only an idea (of living in harmony with nature) is vastly different from a person who is actually living the idea. The person with only ideas has a number of ideas and theories & models to implement the ideas. Ideas about sustainability, organic farming, non-exploitation, zero carbon footprint, eco-friendly construction, food miles and so on and so forth. He gets very excited with any news on these subjects, newer ways of communicating the same concepts, new people (whom he calls like-minded) and he wastes no time in sharing the excitement over e-mail, in workshops and in discussions. He almost always has a lot to discuss and share. In almost all cases, he has plans to live the ideas after 4-5 years or he has reasons why he cannot live them now. For eg. Wife does not agree or he has to wait till he’s fulfilled his responsibility towards his children, or he has started to move in the direction, but a sudden shift may be unadvisable, etc.  This person is a true believer in the idea, but also believes that it is very difficult to execute the idea.

Essentially, there were three persons (of whom one was a couple) apart from the two of us, who were invested in Sreejan. It would be incorrect to call them (founders of Sreejan) people with only ideas. They had taken action, but their action was aimed at someone else living their ideas. Since we were the only resident of the community, we realized that we were looked upon to live their ideas.

It was a triangular relationship. In our relationship with the couple, we sensed that they might have thought that we’re morally obligated to live their ideas, since they had taken the action of making the basic infrastructure available. Also, they were owners of the land. I’d opted not to buy land because there was over 100 acre land available and no one to live in it. Adding my one acre would not have made any material difference to the community and money would have only got wasted. Instead, I donated Rs. one lac to the society. Despite this, I could sense that the relationship was tilted. We were probably seen as beneficiaries, thereby making us morally obligated to reciprocate. Though it wasn’t explicitly stated, we could sense this in a few interactions. We warded off the expectations, which may have annoyed them. Not because we were not interested in the activities, but because we could sense a complete dissonance in the ideas and the actions. People managing common resources of Sreejan were expected to be personal servants, serving them water and tea, cooking food for them, house-keeping their rooms. Most people had to bear with their ill-temper. They were very kind to us and helped us in a big way getting settled. But we found it difficult to subordinate our living to their ideas & expectations.

The other relationship involved a better understanding of our idea of living at Barkheda. But the shelf life of the ideas was too short. This resulted in a complete dissonance between theory and practice. When we first interacted with him, he said that decision making or governance model in Sreejan will be based on the level of consciousness of people rather than a democracy, consensus or strength of voice/logic. We were told that it was agreed that the level of consciousness of a person, who lives on the land is higher than one not living on the land. Quite a remarkable theory! But, during one interaction, we found ourselves begging against a decision, which would threaten access to life essentials like water and electricity. We were the only family living on the land and the decision taken was not in our favour. It is amusing to notice how easily people walk against their own talk. Castles of ideas can be built to dizzying heights.

Another instance of a castle of idea: With some fantastic display of commitment, some land-owners agreed to contribute their land to Sreejan. It was agreed that this understanding does not need to be made legally binding since it involves unnecessary cost. The word of the owners should be sufficient. But, it did not take any thought for some of them to withdraw part of the contribution and later to dissolve Sreejan, withdraw all land contribution and leave the lone resident family stranded.

“Being brave does not mean that you go looking for trouble.” I was reminded of this dialogue from the movie Lion King. We realized that we were on shaky ground and we need to accept the fact that land ownership is critical. Buying land in Barkheda seems quite inappropriate in the wake of the circumstances and considering the availability of life essentials.

The Search for a New Place to live in (2)

It has been and is continuing to be quite an experience searching for a new place. The parameters for the decision are as under. Many of these are additions during the course of the search.

1.       Physical Characteristics of the land / region

Availability of state electricity, an identified source of water for farm use and dug well for drinking & cooking, reasonable road access, good soil fertility, equable climate, 700-2000mm annual rainfall, between half a km to 2km distance from the nearest habitation are some critical requirements.

2.       Local Community

Our priorities, our thinking, our socio-economic background is different from a typical rural community as well as a typical urban or metro community. The gap is so much that we belong to neither. There are however quite a few areas of common interest with both communities. What is needed is that we respect their diversity and earn the respect for ours. This requires that we talk their language and also listen to them. We’ll need to judge this aspect subjectively and assess our comfort level with the local community.

3.       Suitability for Learning and upbringing of children

Our children need the company of other children at least till 10 years of age. The place should have an opportunity for them to learn some art / skill in a dedicated manner (music, dance, martial arts and the like).

4.       Proximity to a ‘good’ city

The nearest city should be within an hour or two. The requirement has been added recently. The option to receive and to provide professional service and the need for urban company are the reasons for this requirement.

5.       Financial Considerations

We’ve yet not tampered with any of our capital assets and I don’t yet see the reason to do so. Purchase of land is an expense (not an investment) for me. Lower the better.

We’ve so far explored rural areas near Palakkad, Wayanad, Mysore, Hubli, Satara and Amravati. We have identified land options only at Mysore and Amravati. We don’t have any connections in the other areas to search for land. Also, they don’t score high on the parameters for selection. As of now, Mysore scores reasonably high on all parameters, though there are some disadvantages. I realized that in decision making, one can take decisions only after taking it for granted that the best option is unavailable and one has to choose the second best. The big flip side in searching for the best option is that time keeps running. 

What are we really upto?

Time and again, questions keep popping up (from within and outside) as to what are we really up to? Are we running away from city, development, people? Are we trying to prove something? Who are our ideals?

These are not very easy questions to answer and we need to keep answering them and refining our answers, more for ourselves than for others. I’m making a beginning below.

We’d like to lead a simple life. Simplicity, however, does not mean that we consume bland food, wear whites or travel third class. Simplicity does not mean compromising. Simplicity is to live without complicating life. Simplicity can be achieved and enhanced by straightforward thinking, by being conscious of the complex and vicious circles we tend to get entangled in trying to allay fears, satisfy greed, increase conveniences or feed egos.

We’ll refrain from exploiting natural resources, including human beings. Eco-friendly house, low carbon foot-print, pleasant interpersonal relationships are important, but there is no hardline fundamentalism to maintain them. Using or consuming natural resources is imperative, but we need to be conscious of not getting into the arena of exploitation.

Having fun is very important for us. There is however, a thin line between enjoyment and (sensory) pleasure and we’d like to be conscious of this line.

We’d like to move towards self sufficiency of food. It appears to be a longish journey and I’m not bent upon being completely self-sufficient in food. What I’m particular about is that we should reach a stage, where we don’t need to buy food against money. We should be able to barter excess food, which we can grow (given our ability and suitability of geography) for other items, which we can’t or would not like to.

Trading is necessary and so are norms in trading. Interdependence is inevitable and also desirable. Being dependent upon the skills and gifts of others makes me humble and grateful. This humility causes me to provide my skills to others with a sense of service. It also makes me grateful as a service provider as well. It helps me see how I can improve my service. Trading is thus a cyclical process of receiving with gratefulness and serving with humility.

Unfortunately, has become a part of our being as a race to compare our skills & gifts. The value of the skill is arrived at on the basis of scarcity of the skill / gift. A manual farm labour is valued far less than a doctor because doctors are scarce. Value is also arrived at on the basis of how badly the service is required. Consequently, a pyramid structure is created in a society. The most scarce service providers whose services are in high demand are at the top, viewed as more valuable than the rest.  This is probably the root cause of exploitation. We’d like to be conscious about this as we live interdependently. This is very much relevant for interdependence within family members.

We may end up making our life seem inconvenient. We may also end up getting inferior results than what we’d have if we were to continue with our earlier life. But we refuse to be judged or be compared with someone who isn’t living the life we are.

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!