travel, farms, lack of blogging..

phew..it has been 30 days since i left home..went to Dindigul Gandhi Gram university for that big 3 day meet/workshop we had and where Tharcharbu Iyakkam was floated..That actually means lots of work and travel in the coming days but more on TI will come later in another post..
then went from there to Punjab - stayed in a beautiful organic farm where a 3 day training program was held (luxuries of community service in organic farming;-))and then a couple of more marketing meets in punjab followed by a couple of days at Haryana where an interesting debate between anti GM (ably handleded by kk) and GM scientist from JNU and another very gripping awareness program for medical doctors on GM! oh yeah, doctors see it as another technological development and not as safety or health issue, unfortunately..now after this many in that university have woken up!

then a grand meeting of the swadeshi Jagran manch called the swadeshi jutaan in Delhi! Thanks to Umendarji of Kheti virasat mission, punjab, I Was very happy to be in the midst of 100s of stalwarts and seriously socially conscious folks discussing variety of topics so passionately and intellectually! I happened to meet quite some interesting and phenomenal persons out there..even happened to steal some few minutes of Gurumurthyji! a good time..
Then went to Bombay, Pune observing some of the organic distribution groups and some organic farms around both cities..spent 2 days in vanvad..Vanvadi is a special place and ofcourse requires a separate post..

so reached home after 30 days yesterday and here iam getting ready for a 2 day juant to kumbakonam, tanjavur for some farmers meet..

so does that explain many of you questioning about my absence here in the blog or on mail or in various places including restore..will be back with more updates..
for now signing off with a bunch of reason for lack of posts and announcing the future slack too..but i am visiting so many interesting folks an projects but am not able to write about them in the same speed as I visit them..

Brooklyn John

Most of you regulars know me personally and how much (sense of) humour weighs a vital part..I enjoy anything toasted with humour- even sad stories;-)

One of the rare times when Iam found in splits and ROFLing..This man John and his wife Nimmy did that..the way they wud pull each other and bring out matter-of-factly incidents or info in their typical style had me & w in splits..we also saw lots of similarity..lotsa serious issues coming out as pulling each other..at some point when the conversation drifted to upkeep, orderliness etc (W & N were gaga about it!) N went on to say how things will be left all over and how she will have to place everything back in place 'always', etc..John wud let her finish and slowly look at me with a smile and say - now u know why it took ages for me to fetch that book for u? thats bcos it wasnt where i had kept but she had 'cleaned' that place and 'hid' the book inside some shelf:-)

This was one of the best meets for us in recent times..lots of info got exchanged..and its only about how there were many occasions during this tons of info exchange we ended up having lighter moments..

Firstly we visited Brooklyn John of Kodai (thanks to HOK karthik) to see their organic farm and see if we could source any stuff for restore..it ended up being beyond all that..not only about organic farm, their organic life style but about naturopathy, healthy ways and their forth coming naturopathy sanatorium in Kodai hills.

J & N turned organic some 30 years back..they were one of the first in Kodai..they also have the ‘disease’ of curing all ills of the society.so one wud see them in the lake cleaning committee, waste management efforts, Sewage treatment plan(t)s, organic produce sales..just about all honourable and noble deeds.

Till date they sell organic vegetables once a week in Kodai out of their house..infact their passion has led them turn their house in to half a farm.they grow so many varieties of lettuce and vegetables in their home garden itself..add to that their 100 acre farm in poondi- 40 kms from Kodai..This is where their naturopathy health centre will come up by sep end..it will be a 20 bed hospital which shall have fully organic food served for the patients! That itself is a big great step IMO..for in most naturopathy clinics and doctors that i see organic food is not rated as high..That shud be a big contradiction bcos - if the food (& habits around that) can be the cure, then it better be rid of the major ill- poison of chemicals. ok thats a digression for another day.

I should confess here that we ended up talking about all else other than organic farming and veggies for restore..They are a data bank..of naturopathy and most other issues I mentioned above..But since naturopathy (health and natural medication) being my recent attractions, so much was on that..I could not have thought of any one better than this couple inundating me with so much info..

Some excerpts:

-'Dis-ease' is just a discomfort and its just a symptom that our body is working..only business mind can make a case out of it by ‘treating’ it

-All diseases are treatable..only some patients are not!

-It takes 17 hours to digest food by our intestines..esp in the small intestine the food stays longer.

-So ideally any intended fast starts after 17 hours of last meal

-Supper can be the best food but to be taken around sun set..

-The regular hunger pangs we all feel are false hunger he says and that’s due to acidity!

-Alkaline food is the best way to bring about balance in our body

-Best alkaline juices are banana pith/stem, ash gourd, carrots. Almost anything that can be eaten raw is alkaline. (as a rule : Anything not processed)

-All processed foods(?) like chips, packaged long shelf life products, sugar are all heavily acidic. Causing most harms

-One who eats once a day is Yogi, twice is Bogi, thrice is Rogi and 4 times is Dhrohi!

-Allopathy is the alternate medicine..’allo’ is alternate..it came in and suddenly displaced our traditional as ‘alternative’!

-Fever is the best treatment..even Hippocrates said “ give me fever and I will treat anything”

-Rubbing, wet packs, fasting etc are easy ways of removing toxins..

-Wet pack is the basic treatment in naturopathy

-Wet pack in a sprain or pain area will become warm in 5 minutes..which means blood circulation and which means ‘action’.

-Blood is the main doctor in our body..it removes toxins continuously..

-When u put a wet cloth on the face/temple of a fever patient after a while this white cloth becomes black..a prof of removal of toxins..

Actually I insist again that none better than them could have given me this insight bcos they even put their 1st son (when he was very young) thru their naturopathy lea(r)nings 2.5 decades back! They survived torrid 7 days when their kid was suffering from very high fever and the whole family including allopathy doctors in the family being anxious and putting pressure on them..They just left nature (ok, read fever) to take care and his body to fight naturally..It did and he came out strong..so did they! Their 2nd son was not given any vaccine nor any allopathy treatment and needless to say he was more fitter.

Needless to mention here that They are young strong men now!

That was one fantastic conversation and knowledge share..I shall go to their naturopathy clinic once its ready and post more here..meanwhile restore shall also benefit i would hope.

new GM booklet in Tamizh!

see here:http://safefoodalliance.blogspot.com/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
This is a tamil version of the "Iam no Lab Rat" GM booklet in English!
Recently we had a 3 day workshop in the Gandhigram universtity, where the farming, origin of organic farming, policies and politics behind farming, the economics and skewed markets, the harsh realities, the livelihood aspects, sustainable farming, different schools of thoughts and the various idea(l)s to take it forward were discussed..many interested volunteers (young and old) had come and it was an intense 3 days where every one felt energised and were charged to contribute for this cause..
It was a a great time in a nice serene campus and Tharcharbu Iyakkam (translates as Self Reliance Movement)was born out there. we hope lots of activities will fill our calendars and this will go on to create the atmosphere of sustainable agriculture and right to safe food that we all dream and advocate.

Remember this name- Tharcharbu Iyakkam : it is gonna create waves and ofcourse bring about a great change in the way we see agriculture today and also bring in more people back to the land and agriculture.

Tharcharbu Iyakkam valarga!!

House of Kodai

One of the most fortunate things that has dawned on me after this ‘retirement’ and wedded to agri causes (the organic or sustainable ones) is that we get invited to so many fantastic organic farms..in beautiful locales..incredible achievements, phenomenal people, out of the world farming techniques beckon us..
I said above that we get invited..pl include ‘getting invited’ also as a category..on hearing of good fabulous farms me and W do get ourselves invited and launch ourselves there..

One such farm is the House of Kodai..one heard of Karthik long back with his ingenious ‘Basket of Kodai’ idea..then we at restore get some plums, bananas and other stuff from HOK..later we hear that that the inimitable F is also there..F is known for her extraordinary baking & cooking skills incidentally..so more reasons to go.. meanwhile K & F send restore some pickles and jams in some matchless packing..(am sure its F’s hand)

So more reason to visit..but plans don’t lead to visits, u know..i have been promising K since last year that we will land up there in the next opportunity..KSY, other tours, some advocacy issues, other GM fights, restore tasks all play up in this perennial postponement..
And suddenly in August mid we steal a couple of days and go to Kodai..and so stay over in HOK..oh? did I say Kodai? No its only when we went there we found that it was Switzerland..or prolly a cut paste..
It was very swiss like locale and their practices and style all were very unique and added to my swiss memoirs..
It’s a beautiful piece of land overlooking a ‘north face’ like ‘grindelwald’ type hill range..
A stream running on its edge of their land, recent rains having made this whole place more than a green heaven..
Add to that K & F’s hospitality..one of the best in recent past..
K also ventured in to telecom a bit..out of sheer selfish need to get himself a broadband (for net access) he brings in some wireless equipments and weaves his magic- in the midst of no-where, (since it was surrounded by hills alla round there was no solution earlier..) he gets broadband..This solution especially working with the local youth attracted so many eyes and even the normally immovable BSNL was moved! They have now asked him to use his ‘technology’ to offer to any one who asks for in Kodai and may be scale up to other places..
So this place also is beyond farming..since it is telecom that attracts me more..I really wish it does go places, for all his perspiration!
Add to that K’s popularity all over the Kodai hills..
So we could just go around visiting many more farms and lotsa interesting org farmers..
A memorable trip..inimitable folks..one of the best farms I visited in the recent past..NO! Iam not going to get in to their organic farm, produce, techniques etc..
If I were to build a house in an eventual farm that I will settle, I will copy this house- kitchen, bedroom, balcony overlooking the hill, swiss-like wooden benches and the bath!
Actually I can write one long piece only on that bathroom..i can see F’s stamp on it..This is the best bathroom I have ever used..mind u, I have traveled really wide..across the globe and easily more than 100 organic farms across India and to say this I must be more than convinced..The best bathroom ever..may be I might even opt to just stay there in that bath next time..since Iam still traveling fotos incl those of bathrooms shall be posted only later..but their blog and site has some fotos i guess..
Till then keep checking here..
Please don’t ask me for their address, phone number etc..Iam not going to give that..if u ‘qualify’ u shall get to go there..