sadhana forest

the time is 2:51  in reality there are not many hours in the day.   in fact there are many of them.    hours filled with new activities, forest activities, living in the forest and replanting the forest.   i was full of experiencing the experience of being in india, learning to walk confidently along the street with my rucksack, not paying any attention to to the curious indian eyes, the reason is perhaps is because i am so tall, some sweetlime juice sellers admitted to me, learning to always ask price of things before engaging in anything involving handing over money, otherwise risking getting really 'fleeced', in the words of my chennai couchsurfer.  sweetlime juice could be twenty five rupees at the station or it could be 40 rupees at a swankier shop in pondycherry.       pondycherry a swankier place generally and they know how to cater for tourists.   it is 3:03   i am borrowing stewart's laptop but don't want to end up hogging it stewart from california just walked past eating a banana.  maybe he wants to use his laptop again.  i will write a couple of words first.  i am at sadhana forest reforestation project   an ecovillage.  i thought it would be similar to the other wwoof placements i had so far known, but in fact it is like nothing i had known.  i say i was full of the experience of being in india, but now i have entered some international place in the forest.  there are about thirty long-term community members and at the moment about forty or so short term volunteers.  minimum stay is two weeks.  the first day i walked in everyone was at work at their morning chores, they gave me big smiles, said 'have you just arrived? what's your name?'  there is such an aura of peace and calm here in the way that people interact.  it is quite a remarkable project they have set up.   one meta aim is to reforest the poor straggly existing land consisting of voracious nonnative species, dry runnels of spiny earth on account of the cyclones which sweep through periodically and cause erosion.  to achieve this aim a lot of time is spent building little mounded walls of earth to stem the flow of water off the land.   after these efforts, they say that the water table has risen six metres.  another aim is simply to live in community, sensitively.  i have never lived in such a sensitive way with so many other people.  we are not on the grid we have some solar panels which provide for our scant electricity needs.  all toilets are severely eco, no toilet paper is even encouraged.  all the human waste falls into big tubs which when full are left for months to hibernate and then go back to nourish the growth of the newly planted treelings.  the big huts are immense, beautifully architechted, requiring nothing but some stone plinths at base, then many logs and palm fronds and straw for the roofing, with gaps to let in plenty of light and allow the air to flow.  everyone gathers there to eat meals in a circle, it takes time to serve everyone up, it takes three hours to prepare in the morning.  we are encouraged (it is a community Rule) not to smoke, or drink alcohol, or take any mind altering chemicals, including coffee and tea.  they say their goal is to increase consciousness not dilute it.  we eat no packaged processed food.  we eat strictly vegan, but nothing is lacking, everything prepared is very diverse and satisfying and moreish, plenty of fresh fruit - papaya and pineapple for breakfast and bananas can be eaten throughout the day.  we wake up in the morning to the singing voices of the early morning group who play the ukilaylee and sing german songs, then we all stand in a circle and sing morning thankful for the new day songs and give each other hugs (not everyone actually, some others are still getting up)  then we carry all the crow bars and adzes to the plantation zone and get digging, surrounding each newly planted tree with a circular ditch which will aid with water retention in times of flood.   it is an amazing, everyone has the afternoons free (apart from the few souls who are part of the cooking team)  or else there are workshops offered by anyone who likes.  it is 3:25 and i must soon dash to catch one entitled 'getting to know thy inner self' (or something) .   it is starting to rain people are saying.  it has always been hot and rather muggy - walking about in nothing but a lunee sort of weather, but today the rain is coming.  till today everybody has been flocking religiously to the mudpool after morning work, where you can swim in the cloudy brown water then smear your body with mud and ly out in the sun till it cakes and cracks then wash your hair with mud and leave it smooth and feeling silky after rinsing.    it is 3:30 and i am stopping writing and going to the workshop, ciao

maneesh at the mudpool

dimitar and raj's performance, wednesday night non-talent show