Irreparable loss!

Sujatha! A name that would arouse so many fond memories and emotion for all followers of tamil literature. What a style and what a way he had to cover any incident, event in his inimitable style..all his short stories, novels, sci fics, scripts for movies or just about anything are remarkable..
I feel so bad and sad about his death..I know, even if it had happened after a couple of decades I wud have felt the same..but this loss is something unfathomable for me..many of my friends know, I never stop when ever we talk about sujatha and his writing..no wonder that I got so many calls consoling me..am one of those ardent fans who will miss him as long as am alive..
But I know for a fact that he will be ‘alive’ for long with his writing..what with so many of this age writers and even bloggers who in some way or the other have his ‘saayal’..
Its in our memories vividly how he described his first bye pass operation or his latest medical stints, even that Renal thingy at apollo few years back..and what an irony that he was there @ apollo this time too..
After all this is one of the 2 irreplaceable Tamilian losses in my opinion and here we are unable to cope with this loss already!

What’s for your breakfast?

Its quite true that most of us do not consider the carbon footprints* of our deeds including our food intake. Thx to jaishankar, Here is a famous article of Chad Heeter –
My Saudi Arabian Breakfast!
Pl do go thru positively and have a check on yours:-)

*- Pl check here to know what it is and here too..
if u want to know more about your personal foot print calculate here

Qwik Round up

The event publicised in prev post went on well, overwhelming response, putting doubts in our mind as to ‘did we over do’ and get more crowd than we cud manage..in a way, problem of plenty is always sweet;-) as the Swiss Rail CEO once said famously!
The way forward is to now have the shop space and take the ideals n concept of restore as far and wide as possible..so here we move on, with loads of optimism, host of volunteers, tons of good wishe(r)s..those of u interested in whats happening there can check here (http://restore.org.in/) where we wud update regularly..
Elsewhere in cricket, money is pouring in the IPL arena and nobody knows what they are up to..but what caught my eyes was Dhoni not meeting with his obligation with Mysore sandal..Shame shame! For all the money he commands today, prolly he regrets having signed a contract for a pittance (i.e 80 lakhs) in his early days and so is ducking from that..so what happens to the integrity, honesty and sheer fulfilling obligation? Shame on him..atleast hope the ad world learns and play cautious with these money mavericks called cricketers..as I type this I hear they have auctioned Ishant (a novice few matches wonder) for close to 1 million$..
madness! when will they learn?? Esp betting on a young pace bolwer in India is like betting on me to operate your appendix..hmm…
Few weeks back we had to paint my sisters house and so thought its better to outsource it to the paint companies (most of them have a home solutions wing and promise to do the whole – shifting, covering all imp items and painting followed by cleaning as a contract. So we thought that was a good idea nd so signed up with asian paints..oh mi god..what a shoddy work they did and how much of our time they swallowed and what follow ups we had to do...all the talk of professionalism and going thru a corporate was all that - bovine excreta! So folks, if u have to, just hire a few local painters, buy them the stuff and explain them clearly upfront and chances are u wud have got a good job done..this professionalism, contract, neat job etc is all still a long way away here..

To my busy retired life, am as busy as ever with more things to do..apart from activities for restore, visits to various organic farms is still on, involving in interesting projects like SWM for CMC (remember?)and others on behalf of Exnora, help spread organic products awareness etc are all on..
water bodies?? No, the politrix is beating my optimism there..more on that later..

you are invited!

If u happen to be at madras and are reading this, you are invited to the Millets mela at chennai on feb 16th, saturday..

This shall be the launch of Restore - a non-profit organisation to promote organic produce and other enviro friendly activities..many of you can do lots more for restore in various forms in the coming days, for now u can attend this launch cum dinner..
did i hear u ask what is millet? see here.. those are nutricious and very local but unfortunately alienated and hence lack of healthy food in our diet and so the high incidence of diabetes, BP etc..so lets revive old healthy ways and lead good healthy lives among other things..

Pl note that u need to call one of us collect or reserve a pass for dinner, though one can walk for the event, but for dinner its better we have the head count..

(see invite below:)

reStore
health • livelihoods • nature

We are delighted to invite you to the

Launch of reStore

with a Celebration of Traditional Foods

at Shastri Nagar Welfare Association Hall (Tel: 2446 0822)
18/11 5th Cross St., Shastri Nagar Adyar, Chennai 600 020

On Saturday, February 16th 2008, 5.30 to 8.00pm

Please contact reStore for your dinner passes
http://restore.org.in/
Tel: 94441 66779

reStore (http://restore.org.in ) is a new community organization of people interested in activities that promote healthy living, sustainable livelihoods and conservation of nature. reStore is to be inaugurated on Saturday February 16th 2008 at a function in Adyar. The launch event, for which the public is invited, will feature puppet theater, a multimedia presentation and dinner featuring healthy and tasty traditional foods. The dinner will be cooked by volunteers from organic ingredients sourced from local farmers. Organic grains, recipe booklets and information about sustainable lifestyles will be made available, as well as lively interactions with farmers and health practitioners on the benefits of millets (siru-daanyangal).

reStore works to restore wellness of the general public, livelihoods and ecological balance. With this in view, the organization is creating a network of retail outlets that promote sustainable products including organic food, books, household items made from eco-friendly material, handspun and natural-dyed organic textiles, gardening inputs and health products. Products will preferentially be sourced from local organic farmers, self-help groups, organizations promoting livelihoods of marginalized people, and traditional artisans and weavers.

reStore plans to engage with people via a variety of activities such workshops, farm visits, film screenings and organic gardening sessions. These activities are aimed at increasing awareness of issues and connecting consumers with the producers of their food and other articles of daily living.

reStore welcomes everyone interested in regenerating their own health and that of the earth to participate in its launch event which will be held between 5.30 and 8.00 PM on February 16th at Shastri Nagar Welfare Association Hall, 18/11 Fifth Cross, Shastri Nagar, Adyar. For free dinner passes please contact reStore at Tel: 94441 66779 or 98844 09566.

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Directions to venue: From MG Road (which leads from Adyar Bus Depot to Velankanni church) turn on-to 1st Main Rd, Shastri Nagar (road opposite Subiksha). Second left on to 5th Cross Street. The hall is towards the end of the street, on your right.
Nearest bus stop: Adyar Bus Depot, on any bus going towards Thiruvanmiyur or Besant Nagar (1, 47A, 29C etc).

Tree Natesan

Or should it have been water Natesan? or organic Natesan?? or pioneer Natesan???

This is another of the interesting persons I met in recent past. Just on the outskirts of Madras near redhills (Karanodai) is a heaven created single handedly by Mr.Natesan! He was a successful engineer business man, with flourishing business in cutting tool and other mechanical areas suddenly flirted towards nature and organic farming..so whats new? Only that this happened in early 80s! Now he stands tall as a pioneer and a man of wholesome wisdom with plethora of anecdotes and experience to share.

In those days when water conservation was never understood (soil wasn’t even considered any ways) he shud have been a visionary to concentrate on these aspects and his farm house is a living proof of what he has created. His unique and single handed efforts in increasing the water table with the dozens of checkdams to arrest surface run off of rain water and digging of pits to store rain water is amazing. The bio diversity he has created hence from a barren land and the ingenious ways by which the pits and water holes help irrigate his coconut groves and his much sought after nursery is a big success story. But that doesn’t really say all the pains he underwent when this long journey started. Today he is a much sought after speaker at various forums and is being invited by various govts (recent being Tanzania) and is rightfully the owner of a proud environmental research centre.
The bio diversity, the number of birds that visit his farm or how bamboo caught up there or his unique mulching techniques and soil conservation methods or natural/organic agri methods will not be covered here..One needs to go there to his farm to have a first feel of all that.
What a man..what a trend to set and what a way to stand tall.. such men are hopes and am privileged to visit, watch and share time with such hopes..am delighted, really!