The Psychology of Money (by Morgan Housel)

This book published recently at the starting phase of corona pandemic has the backdrop of historic happenings in the field of banking, investments, finance with anecdotes of facts & figures referred from USA.

Author is trying to explain the psyche of investor in stock market, which can neither be always influenced by facts & figures from history while investing nor on the basis of predictions looking at events in the history.

Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are & a lot to do with how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.

A genius who loses control of their emotions can be a financial disaster. The opposite is also true. Ordinary folks with no financial education can be wealthy, if they have a handful of behavioral skills that have nothing to do with formal measures of intelligence.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)

Before talking about this book, let me tell you how I stumble upon reading this book. Well, this is the favorite book of my sport Icon Rahul Dravid & hence must read for me :)

This book is a fictional story of a seagull named by name of book. Jonathan seagull happen to be different than all others in the flock of gulls. In contrast to others, gull Jonathan believed in flying for the expression of freedom & not just as a necessity in process of getting food for survival. He strongly wants to fly high to enjoy it expressing freedom & perfect it attaining higher speed through hours of practice. Other older gulls in flock & his parents try to persuade him from this strange desire of flying; saying it is just a waste of time & energy. But upon refusal of Jonathan to stop practising fly higher at speed, he is outcasted of the flock. Determined Jon decide to continue with his love of flying & reach another zone above cliffs, where he happen to meet other gulls like him, who help him learn all the craft of flying at higher altitude & speed.

THE GITA for children (Roopa Pai)

Bhagavad-Gita, one of the most important Indian scripture which forms the core of epic Mahabharata. Many of it's versions are available & various books are already published on it. But, this book is written by Roopa Pai especially keeping children in mind in simple to understand language. Even I decided to go for it by just looking in title "FOR CHILDREN", assuming it will be comparatively easy to understand. And yes, it is easy to understand the philosophy of karma & bhakti through this book.

The book starts with the background & scenarios that leads to the situation of war between Pandavas & Kauravas, involving almost whole of Indian kingdoms participating on either of the sides. With both the sides just ready for the war on battlefield at kurukshetra, Arjuna request his charioteer & friend Srikrishna to take him in the middle of the battlefield to have last close look at his elderly family members & gurus standing in front as opponents. And to his own dismay, Arjuna gets confused about; why he need to fight against his very own relatives & gurus and is it really worthy a win, which means the killing of them? And here starts the whole of question-answer-conversation between Arjuna & Srikrishna; which is known to all of us as Bhagavad-Gita or simply Gita.

GOD's own kitchen (Rashmi Bansal)

Among the series of books on the theme of entrepreneurship by Rashmi Bansal, this book is little offbeat falling in category of social entrepreneurship but through the framework of spirituality & hence GOD appears rightfully in it's title. This is the real storyline of how ISCKON built a network of kitchens serving mid-day meal to mostly underprivileged children in government schools across various states of India.

Originally the idea was conceived in the ISCKON temple of Bangalore. Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai used to visit the temple once in a while & meet monk Madhu Pandit, an IITian from Mumbai. During such visit, Mohan asked Panditji to propose some initiative; which he offered to fund with intention to give back to the society. The khichadi being served as prasadam at temple to all devotees instilled the idea of providing meal to underprivileged students from nearby government schools. Initially the meals were cooked in the same kitchen of temple & was served in 1990 for the first time. Eventually separate kitchen had to be set-up due to practical problems arised & this bangalore temple initiative formed the backbone of all other kitchens been set-up by ISCKON monks in various cities across various states of India over the period of next decade.

IKIGAI (Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles)

 Ikigai is Japanese concept, which translates as "the happiness of always being busy".

In quest to know the secret to a long & happy life, authors decided to visit the Okinawa island in Japan, where around 25 for every 1 Lakh residents are aged more than 100 years. And this statistics about longevity is far more than global average. In order to study the real reason behind this longevity, authors visited Ogimi, a village on the north end of island with a population of 3000 having highest life expectancy in the world. While interviewing these centenarians, authors started getting a deeper insight into their lifestyle. 

During conversations with centenarians, authors noticed that; among many other things like simple life in the outdoors, light & healthy diet, medicinal green tea, anti-oxidant limelike fruit shikuwasa, regular moderate exercise, forming strong social ties with neighbors & friends etc., there is one uncommon thing at the core of happiness of these centenarians. Every one has found their own IKIGAI - a reason to jump out of bed each morning & their daily routine is very well woven around it.

As per the inputs received through words of wisdom by the centenarians, authors have elaborated the importance of below facts; which plays an important role in longevity.

Think Everest (IPS Atul Karwal & IAS Anita Karwal)

As the name suggests, the thrilling & adventurous journey of Mount Everest expedition by IPS officer Atul Karwal is very well articulated in this book by himself & co-authored by his wife IAS officer Anita Karwal. He happens to be the first Indian civil services officer summiting Mount Everest successfully at the middle age of 44. His daily diary notes scribbled during 56 days expedition is the core of this book. This expedition travelogue is very well woven with connected events from personal & professional life, precedent & subsequent to daily activities of the expedition.

Book starts with the most dangerous event of crampon loosening during descend bid after summit & his team members coming to rescue just in time during the accident; which could have been otherwise fatal. Likewise author takes reader back & forth making reading more curious & interesting instead of simply writing in chronological order.

Author covers his childhood life in the beautiful city of Chandigarh & memories of visiting mountains in nearby Shimla, Manali & other parts of Himachal & Uttarakhand during frequent family holidays. These visits inherited deep rooted love for mountains which got transformed into strong desire to visit Mount Everest. And eventually it became his life calling; which came into reality at the age of 44 on 22nd-May'2008.

krac a dawna - Journey to Sustainable living

Meet Vivek and Juli, a couple who started doing organic farming in Mysore in 1986 and have today built a unique example of sustainable living.

About 30 years ago, Juli and Vivek Cariappa, a young couple from Delhi, travelled to Birwal village of Heggadadevana Kote taluka in Mysore district of Karnataka. They bought a small piece of land there and started farming. Juli was 20 at the time and Vivek was 21. He had studied economics and she had a degree in sociology.

Both of them quit their jobs at a garment export company and decided to take the leap of faith – one that has now turned into a beautiful story of adventure, sustainability, green living, and lots of love.

They left Delhi in 1985 and went to a remote area located about 50 km south of Mysore.

The couple didn’t know much about agriculture at the time and they had to learn on the field itself. Today, they have a farm named Krac-A-Dawna, spread over an area of 40 acres. On it they grow pretty much everything they need to live – grains, oilseeds, eggs, food, fibre, spices, compost, cotton, paddy, millets, sugarcane, vegetables, etc. Their children were home-schooled and they are also interested in farming and animal husbandry. The family sits down for breakfast at 7am. Priorities for the day are discussed. The farm is nestled in beautiful surroundings and the family also hosts experimental tours for selected agriculture enthusiasts.

The couple has received the Krishi Pandit Award given by the Department of Agriculture to individuals for best farming practices.

“For me, it was about taking control of my life,” says Juli who was born in India and left for Rome at the age of seven when her father was transferred for a job. She returned to India when she was 17. “Farming was just something that made a lot of sense to me. I was always the kind of person who didn’t like the way things are always put into boxes rather than being integrated as a whole. I liked the idea of relating and bringing together different parts of life into one way of living. That was an important motivation for me. Additionally, as a child, I used to be quite sick. I had a lot of bronchial issues and used to take allopathic medicines. I was 14 when I decided that I had to heal my body and it was up to me. It was clear to me that I had to do this by being in contact with a piece of land and being able to make my own decisions.”

Juli and Vivek were studying in Delhi University and they met each other on a college bus. “I grew up in Delhi and realised early what urban life really is…When we met, I didn’t have the thought that I wanted to farm, per se. But I was happy doing something else other than living the urban life – 9 to 5. And I was also interested in taking control of my destiny. When she came up with the idea of farming, more than anything else, I was happy just being with her. For me, other things came much later. Right then I was happy to go where she would be. One of the biggest assets we have is that we are more like friends than husband and wife. We went there as two city kids and grew together,” says Vivek.

At the time, there were only three busses plying on that route and there they were – two people with a dream, starting from scratch. There was no phone or electricity where they lived for about two years and even their closest neighbours were 3 km away.

 

“First we had to unlearn everything we had learnt in school because that was completely irrelevant to what we wanted to do. We were just learning to survive in an environment that was completely different from the one we grew up in, to face ourselves and our shortcomings, and to grow enough food just for ourselves – that was a big task the first couple of years,” says Juli, adding that they were fortunate to receive a small loan from their parents to help sustain them since they didn’t have any savings.

Except for a few “luxury items” like tea, they don’t need much from the outside world. They also cook food using biogas. Three decades on, it’s not just the two of them in the wilderness. Juli and Vivek have two sons, a daughter, and a daughter-in-law.

As for sustainability and self-reliance, the couple has been trying marketing in many ways over the years. They used to run a small shop and café in Mysore city, supplied to organic shops all over southern India, started the first farmers’ market in Mysore, organised exhibitions, etc. “I think those experiences helped us develop the idea of what an ideal marketing situation would be for a farm like ours, where all our ethical considerations and the way we want to do business are retained,” says Juli. They are currently in business with one of the branches of Orange County Resorts, and Just Clean Cotton.

Ask them what a normal day in their lives looks like, and they burst out laughing. “Every day is a new and special day. There is no normal day. That’s one of the biggest differences between urban living and working on a farm. There are so many factors you have no control over. So you learn to approach each day in an open way,” says Juli.

Other than the customary things that need attention – like milking the cows, irrigation, cooking, sweeping, cleaning etc. – the rest depends on how the day moves forward. “And it also depends on the weather. That’s the boss we have above our heads and we have to keep the boss in context as well,” adds Vivek.

As for her advice to others who want to move towards a more healthy form of living like them, Juli says, “Approach the earth with humility and accept that you don’t know much but nature is there to teach you. If you open your mind, it’s endless what you can learn. And it is important for society to understand that the farmer is not illiterate, even if he/she does not know how to read and write. The people who grow your food have immense wisdom and knowledge, and you need to respect and honour that.” Over the years, she has studied and learned all about homeopathy – it is useful both at home and also for the animals. They have dogs, cats, sheep, cows, goats, and chickens.

As for Vivek, his advice to the present generation is just “to slow down, take it easy, and enjoy life because life is all about learning, a few successes and lots of failure.”

“People often ask us: wasn’t it difficult? I say no. This is what we wanted to do and wanted to be. It was positive. It taught us. So live today. Live everyday to the fullest! Live dangerously. Learn more. Don’t be afraid of failure,” concludes Vivek.

Source: TheBetterIndia

Terra Greens Organic

Biotechnology engineer transformed her mother's passion for farming into a flourishing organic farming business - Terra Greens Organic

IMAGE: Likitha Bhanu grew up watching and learning from her mother's passion for farming.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Terra Greens Organic

Likitha Bhanu, 27, a biotechnology engineer from the Vellore Institute of Technology, doesn't come from a family of farmers or entrepreneurs.

Her father and her grandfather were civil servants. Both happened to her -- no pun intended -- quite organically.

What began with a particularly good bounty of mangoes from her mother's trees one summer has today grown into Terra Greens Organic, a company that supports 4,000 farmers from all over India.

Likitha shares what drove a then 22 year old to agriculture and how she turned a season's bounty into a flourishing organic farming business that is engaging thousands of farmers and thousands of acres of land spread across many states.

It began in the tea gardens of Assam

As her father, a civil servant, was posted in Assam when Likhita was young, she grew up in the lush green surroundings of the north-eastern state made fertile by the river Brahmaputra.

Her childhood was spent running around in the tea gardens and fishing on the banks of the river -- something no child experiences in a metro city.

But living in Assam had one disadvantage for the family from Andhra. The kind of vegetables they were used to were not available in the north-eastern part of India.

Likitha's mother Padmaja, an early advocate of home grown vegetables, made up for the lack by channeling her love for growing.

"As my mother was an advocate of organic farming," Likitha remembers, "you can say I grew up watching my mother attending to all the plants she had planted.

"She was very particular that we grew up with a taste for our traditional Telugu food. It is not that as a child, I just ate the vegetables picked from my mother's garden. We used to pluck vegetables, take care of them and my mother used to see that we learnt about each one of them."

"As a child, I used to be fascinated by how cabbages and cauliflowers became what they are finally."

When the family moved from Assam to Hyderabad, Padmaja decided to plant a bigger farm. This one was spread across 2 acres.

She not only grew fruits, vegetables, and flowers, but also kept cows and hens.

"It was so self-sufficient," Lithika says, "that even the flowers she used for puja came from her farm. We had organic milk, organic vegetables, organic fruits and even organic eggs and chicken at home. She wanted a self-sufficient eco system around her so that we didn't have to buy anything from the market."

"The produce from the farm was distributed among other family and friends," she says, pointing out that Padmaja never had any plan of growing this into a business.

"Organic farming was her passion and I grew up seeing her do all this passionately."

Soon the 2 acres grew to 40 acres -- the additional land came from Padmaja's father-in-law, who was constructing villas on 125 acres of land.

The produce from the 40 acres Padmaja cultivated catered to the guests at the villas. And Padmaja continued to gave away the vegetables and fruits for free.

IMAGE: What makes Terra Greens work, Likitha, right, believes is the farmer-entrepreneur combination

-- while she likes to be an entrepreneur, Padmaja, left, still calls herself a farmer.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Terra Greens Organic

Enter Likitha

In 2010, Likitha was back home after earning her biotechnology engineering degree. And it was she who decided to convert her mother's passion into a business.

"It was 2012 and I had taken a break and was at home," Likitha recalls. "We had a bounty crop of 5 tons of mangoes then. Even after distributing to all our family and friends, there was plenty remaining."

"After a shopping visit at a branch of Nature's Basket, we asked the store manager whether he would take some mangoes from us. We didn't want such good mangoes to go waste. In those days, no stores here had organic mangoes."

Once they got the orders, they went to the wholesale market, bought pouches, a weighing machine, and packed the mangoes.

For the name, they drew inspiration from Likitha's grandfather's real estate firm, Terrafirma. They borrowed his logo and Terra Greens Organic was born.

"The truth was," Likitha says, "we had no idea whether we would start a business at that time. The immediate plan was to supply the mangoes with a label, and since my grandfather had the firm Terrafirma, we just made Terra Greens Organic a part of it."

The mangoes became such a huge hit that they were inundated with phone calls demanding more such fruits.

They also made around Rs 350,000, motivating Likitha to wrote a business plan with her mother.

The business plan was to bring farmers on board, and also be focussed on the staples business and not in the greens because of the logistical and shelf-life constraints for the latter.

The experts they hired advised them to start in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Likitha explains their process: "We chose Maharashtra because organic farming is quite advanced in the state. Rajasthan is known for its organic wheat production. Paddy from Kurnool is famous all over the country. More than that, the farmers (in those states) are also aware of organic farming."

"We made a list of 90 products that are often used in Indian kitchen. We wanted to procure our produce from the areas where they are produced because we wanted out products to be of the highest quality."

Brand Terra Greens Organic

In 2013, the mother-daughter duo launched Terra Greens Organic officially with Rs 6 crores (Rs 60 million) raised through bank loans.

Five hundred small and big farmers from Maharashtra and Rajasthan participated in the venture spread across a cumulative 700 to 800 acres of land.

"The contract with the farmers was such that we assured them a buy back guarantee offering the market price. We also got them the certification and the farmers gave us the first buyer and the best buyer advantage," Likitha says.

They got the first organic crop from their farms in 2015.

"You need patience to convert farms that had used chemical fertilisers to organic farms," Likitha explains.

"We had to wait for three years to have our own products. Till then, we procured organic products from various traders."

While buying from traders and selling, instead of getting produce from their owns farms, kept the profit margin low in those years, the budding entrepreneurs used those years to build the brand and distribution network.

It helped that awareness about organic food also grew simultaneously.

"Today, people like to eat healthy, uncontaminated food and they are ready to pay a little more for that," Likitha says. "They don't want to compromise on health and nutrition."

And, according to her, the only reason why organic products are costlier is because the demand-supply equation is lopsided.

"The supply of genuine organic products is quite scarce in India. That is the main reason why we want to convert as many farmers as possible to organic farming. Only when we have more produce, the prices will come down. Also, certification for organic products adds to the cost."

As the business grows, Likitha and Padmaja are also beginning to feel more like businesswomen.

"Though both of us were the founders of Terra Greens Organic, it is only recently that we started describing ourselves as the founders," Likitha says with a laugh.

"It feels funny. We had no plans to be entrepreneurs. Mangoes from our farm made us entrepreneurs. We are accidental entrepreneurs. I would say, entrepreneurship chose us!"

"Even today, what we do as entrepreneurs is solve a problem and supply what is needed. That is why we were able to succeed as entrepreneurs."

IMAGE: On site with Terra Greens Organic.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Terra Greens Organic.

4,000 farmers and counting...

Terra Greens started its association with farmers by training them in organic farming and also making them understand the how it benefits the soil, the crops and the people.

As the expert, Padmaja was the one who trained the team that trained the farmers.

"All the farmers were open to the idea of organic farming and in some states where the government itself was popularising organic farming, like Maharashtra, it was quite easy," Likitha says.

The problem the farmers faced was the market.

"They didn't know where to sell their products. Though the government encourages organic farming, they don't help them reach the market. If the farmers have to sell the organic produce at the normal market, it is not a lucrative proposition for them. So, what they found attractive about us was, we gave them a buy-back guarantee."

Likitha believes today, the farmers have understood the advantages of joining Terra Greens and moving to organic farming.

"Their land got better because of organic farming and they get better price without any break, They are happy that they do not have to go to the market in search of a buyer as they have us as the dedicated buyer," she says.

"Naturally," she adds, "we feel their lives are also changing for the better. We form farmer groups and farmer meets where they can exchange views and problems and our team helps them solve the problems."

Today, Terra Greens has 4,000 farmers from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telengana working for them and the products are distributed through distributors in 600 major stores in India.

With a turnover of Rs 15 crores (Rs 150 million) this year, Likitha plans to expand to 10,000 farmers by the end of this year, which will include farmers from Madhya Pradesh, who cultivate the sharbati variety of wheat, more millets from Tamil Nadu and more ragi and millets from Karnataka.

The farmer and the entrepreneur

Likitha acknowledges that the journey has not always been smooth sailing.

"The biggest challenge from the business point of view was to get the supply chain smooth," she says. "I was just 22 when I became an entrepreneur and my mother and I learnt everything from scratch and by trial-and-error -- how to manage people, how to negotiate, how to run the company. But we did learn a lot in these three years."

The other big challenge, according to Likitha, was "getting into a very male-dominated, family-run agriculture business. Trade of food grains is an old business and it is majorly run by families and male members. And there I was -- a woman with no business background."

"Those in the trade refused to treat me seriously in the beginning. But it did not deter me; rather it amused me. Soon they realised that we meant business!"

What makes Terra Greens work, Likitha believes is the farmer-entrepreneur combination -- while she likes to be an entrepreneur, Padmaja still calls herself a farmer.

"Everybody has to realise that in India, we have 1.5 billion mouths to be fed and only farmers can do that," Likitha says.

"We tell our consumers to respect our products as they are the result of somebody else's hard work. They shine in our packets because somebody worked hard in the fields."

"Agriculture," she adds, "is in distress today, and the stress that has to be given to farm labour and agriculture is not given. Still farmers are willing to take it up if somebody is there to give them a helping hand."

"That is why we are proud of being associated with so many farmers.

"We want to make sure that their hard work gets appreciated and they get what they deserve. I feel responsible for them. I want to see to it that every farmer associated with us gets the best price and the best market."

Source: Rediff.com  » Getahead »

Terra farma story of creating an organic farm

It's back to basics, says Rina Kamath, who is painstakingly and patiently cultivating her farm the organic way. It's frightening to think how much pesticides we consume through the vegetables and fruits we buy in the market, she says.

Source: UpperCrust

A weekend visit to a friend's farm, a casual mention of land nearby for sale and before you could say "sons of the soil", there we were, proud owners of a patch of barren, windswept land off the Mumbai-Pune highway. Hugged by a lake and cupped by hilly ranges, this idyllic tract of land had never been cultivated. It was perfect setting for our dream family project: an organic farm.

As a family, we were not quite kisan material. Prem, my husband, is a mechanical engineer turned corporate management executive turned HR consultant. I am a journalist turned lawyer turned social sector service provider. Our younger son, Raoul, left home for undergrad studies abroad and is now with a financial services firm in Chicago. It was only our elder son, Neel, who returned home with a master's degree from Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Management, who had some relevant credentials.

What drew us die-hard city dwellers to organic farming? Reports of decreasing crop yields, rampant deforestation, floods, climate change, irradiated foods (to extend their shelf life), hybrid seeds, genetically modified (GM) crops and farmer suicides had been appearing with dismaying frequency. The link between synthetic chemical fertilisers and toxic pesticides on the one hand and soil degradation, groundwater contamination and the rising incidence of certain diseases on the other, had been established. We began to question the quality of what we were eating - produce bought in good faith from the local markets. We were happy that dry organic provisions and some organically produced oils were available, but what about vegetables, fruits and herbs?

So we decided to set up an organic farm. We called it Terra Farma - the earth farm. This would be our tiny personal contribution to the undeclared war against the worrying trends in agriculture in contemporary India.

Till the mid-1960s, India as a nation followed traditional and natural practices of agriculture. We were organic by default. But food production fell far short of the demand. The government was compelled to import food, spending vast amounts of precious foreign exchange. It set up a public distribution system. It rationed food supplies. Still, it failed to combat the famines and starvation that affected millions.

The well-intentioned Green Revolution was launched in India in the latter half of the 1960s. It introduced synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and hybrid seeds to generate higher yields. The crops that responded best were the staples - rice, wheat, millet and maize. From a famine-stricken nation, India achieved a food surplus and even became a food exporter. The Green Revolution was a celebrated success - for about 20 years.

Then, something strange happened. The yields began to plateau, then decrease. Alarmed, farmers pumped in greater quantities of chemical fertilizers. Succeeding generations of pests had developed a resistance to pesticides, requiring stronger concentrations with increased levels of toxicity. Farmers were becoming debt-ridden, spending increasing amounts on fertilizers and pesticides for diminishing returns. When it became clear that the mounting cost of these synthetic additives was making farming economically unviable, the government, prodded by the powerful chemical fertilizer lobby, diverted its scarce revenues to underwrite the rising costs in the form of fertilizer subsidies.

What went wrong? The very chemicals that had artificially plumped up the yields had, in the long term, slowly and inexorably ravaged the land and adulterated the groundwater. Pesticides began to enter the bodies of farmers. Though DDT was banned in India as an agricultural pesticide in 1989, there was simply no way to get rid of the permanent residue in the soil and water. Till today, mothers in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh breastfeed their infants with milk containing sometimes as much as 40 times the safe levels of DDT as recommended by the World Health Organisation. Medical studies linked the rise of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, fibromyalgia, lupus and other blood disorders and even polio to the ingestion of chemicals absorbed by the crops.

Meanwhile, flood irrigation had resulted in salinisation, a process by which soil salts rise to the surface, rendering soil infertile. The most basic requirement for sustainable agriculture - healthy, living soil - had been systematically destroyed. And the ground water into which the chemicals had leached had become irrevocably polluted.

So ours was a simple agenda. We would grow vegetables, fruits and herbs as purely, as organically as nature intended. No synthetic chemical fertilizers, no poisonous pesticides. How tough could that be? Innocent of the challenges ahead of us, we built our farmhouse and appointed a savvy local villager, Vithal Kedari, and an experienced farmhand, Michael Pothan, as our farm managers. We hired an organic farming consultant. We installed a hybrid wind and solar energy system, fitted solar water heaters on the farmhouse terrace, laid drip irrigation pipes and dug compost pits. We explored the market for suitable buyers for our produce and initially found 24 Letter Mantra, an organic food chain with outlets in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. We gratefully received additional knowhow from its parent company's (Sresta) technical expert. We are now hoping to retail in Mumbai and are in the process of exploring options. We sponged up all the literature on organic farming we could lay our hands on.

We had some notion about the basic principles of organic farming and sustainable agriculture, but we soon discovered how clueless we were about the nitty gritty - seasonal crops, local conditions, climate deviations, planting cycles, soil quality, composting techniques, indigenous plants ... it was a long list. Spoilt by the 24/7 supply of power in Mumbai, we were unprepared for the nine-hour power cuts that rendered our pumps impotent during daylight hours on all days, although Thursday was supposed to be the official weekly load-shedding day. We thought that since we would be generating employment for the villagers, there would be no problem in getting farm workers, only to realize that their own ploughing, planting and harvesting seasons coincided -- obviously - with ours. So when we needed them the most, they were simply not available. Plus, our hybrid wind and solar energy system, while lighting up our farmhouse, failed to power our pumps. The learning curve could not have been steeper. With nothing to lose but our dwindling funds, we dug our heels into our precious patch of living soil and decided that come what may, we would soldier on. The concerns were simply too urgent to abandon.

The mantra for organic farmers, which is both philosophical and practical, can be summed up thus: to source and use in an optimum, non-wasteful manner locally available natural resources employing sustainable farming methods. As we learnt, there are several key elements that constitute organic farming. Among them:

Living soil: The most vital requirement for an organic farm is soil teeming with microbial activity, fungi and other tiny creepy crawlies. Nurturing these micro-organisms and protecting their environment is essential for healthy, living soil.

Soil enrichment: This is a fundamental duty of an organic farmer. There are several different natural methods, such as green manuring, composting and vermicomposting:

Green manuring: This means treating the soil with green (plant) manure before the actual planting. At Terra Farma, we use a plant locally called dhaincha. It turns our plots into lush green carpets in about 45 days, after which we cut the plants and turn them into the ploughed soil. Green manure helps to fix nitrogen - an essential nutrient - in the soil by converting atmospheric nitrogen into a biologically effective form.

Composting: Ah - this wondrous process! Green or fresh waste (newly discarded plants, food waste, cut grass); brown or dry waste (hay, wood shavings, sawdust, dried leaves) and cowdung, chickenshit and/or fishmeal (preferences vary) are churned together in compost pits. After a few weeks of watering to maintain a moist environment, and occasional turning for oxygenation, this somewhat appalling mess is magically transformed into a rich, aromatic, chocolate-hued crumble bursting with all the goodies that make the earth go "Yum!" All the friendly fungi, the exploding population of good bacteria and a host of other little critters such as microbes and tiny insects frolic in well-tended compost, having systematically broken down all the components into a uniformly textured substance containing all the required major and micro plant nutrients. Compost blended into soil also improves drainage, acts as a binding agent and encourages moisture retention.

Vermicomposting: Earthworms should take a bow. They are the stars of a show that has run for millions of years in the soil of our earth. These small, hard-working wrigglers have a voracious appetite for all manner of organic waste, which they process with stunning efficiency through their sleek, slim, supple little forms. The result emerges at the other end as nutrient-rich organic manure. Deep-burrowing worms, while processing waste, tunnel through the soil, effectively aerating it even as their secretions bind it. Bend down within an inch of a vermicompost pile, and instead of the expected stink of rotting waste, you get the seductive aroma of rain-kissed earth. Experienced organic farmers think nothing of plunging their hands into a vermicompost pit and proudly displaying a shifting clutch of intertwined worms. (We can't say we've reached that stage yet.)

Plant diversity: Walk into any natural forest. You will see plant diversity in all its green glory - several species of trees, bushes, creepers, vines, foliage, moss, lichen, undergrowth - all forming a perfectly balanced ecosystem. Modern conventional farmers, apart from defiling the soil and groundwater, defy nature further by their practice of mono-cropping. You've seen those scenes in Hindi movies, where the hero serenades the heroine while scampering through an entire field of sunflowers, or where the bad guy chases the good uy through an endless field of sugarcane. Organic farmers practise multi-cropping - planting a mix of seasonal crops simultaneously in a given plot. This has two positive spinoffs. One, since the roots of each plant type are of varying lengths, the plants can source sufficient nutrition from the different layers of soil. Two, most pests are plant-specific. If a plot has a single crop, a pest attack could rapidly destroy the entire crop. In mixed cropping, only the crop specific to that pest would be under attack. The rest of the crops would be spared.

Crop rotation: Organic farmers also believe in crop rotation. This means planting a different subsequent crop in the same plot. If the first crop is short-rooted, the subsequent crop should be medium- or long-rooted so that the soil nutrients are absorbed from different layers in successive seasons, giving each layer, in turn, a chance to regenerate. Crop rotation also confounds pests which, having developed a "path" to a particular crop, find that with the change of season their menu too has changed.

Local sourcing: Think local, act local. Organic farmers source locally produced seeds and saplings to grow crops that are indigenous to the region. This not only enhances the chances of a successful crop, but also minimizes environmental footprints. In fact, instead of sourcing seeds externally, seed propagation should be a standard activity in an organic farm as many seed varieties that are available commercially are treated with poison to deter pests and have to be thoroughly washed before use. Disposal of the water in which the seeds are washed adds to the nuisance factor. Organic farmers should, ideally, also raise cattle that can graze on their pastures to produce nutrient-rich organic dung and urine. The dung goes into the compost pit. The urine is diluted and used as a natural pesticide. And the cattle can be used to pull the plough.

Natural pest control: Outwitting pesky pests is pretty much a full-time, ongoing challenge on any farm. Organic farmers can opt for a mix of natural methods. Neem cake can be crumbled into the soil at the time of planting. Some pests flee from bio-pesticides made from garlic, turmeric, tobacco, ginger, a dilution of neem oil or chilly. Basil or tulsi, planted typically by householders in Maharashtra to ensure a happy marriage, multi-tasks as a pest deterrent. Another smart tactical method is the planting of trap crops - plants that divert pests away from the main crops. The trick is to figure out which trap crop attracts which pest. So while marigolds are pretty much broad-spectrum traps (and look gorgeous when they bloom), castor, for example, is plant-specific, diverting pests from such crops as groundnut. If the crop is not over-infested, handpicking pests such as caterpillars (this is clearly not for the faint-hearted) off the plant, or using light traps for moths and other insect species are other options. Some organic farmers have experimented with pheromone traps. Pheromones are organic compounds secreted by female insects to attract the males. The randy males are lured into the trap, ruining their chances of a date with the female insects. This, naturally, leads to reproductive failure.

Water conservation: Organic farmers believe in economical and non-wasteful use of resources.

Drip irrigation: We have the Israeli father and son team Simcha and Yeshayahu Blass to thank for the modern drip irrigation method that has become all the rage in both conventional and organic farmlands across India. Drip irrigation is preferred to the spinning sprinkler and flooding methods (unless specifically required), which lead to water loss through evaporation and run-offs. As mentioned, flooding also salinises the soil. For the drip method, slim black pipes with holes at intervals snake down rows of crops, with emitters pulsing controlled quantities of water (or water mixed with fertilizer) directly at the plant base, or through tubes down to the plant roots.

Mulching: This further discourages water evaporation. Mulch is a bunch of matter such as hay and other organic material, which is used to cap the plant base as it receives the drips of water from the irrigation pipes. Mulch also creates a warm and cosy shaded environment, highly conducive to growth while preventing soil erosion by the wind.

Rainwater harvesting: At Terra Farma, two government guys showed up one day with a form in Marathi for us to sign. "What's this?" I asked our farm manager, suspicious of any government presence on private land. (The SEZ controversy was raging at the time.) "It's to give them permission to enter our land to build check dams for rainwater harvesting." It sounded too good to be true (I even had the document checked out by a Marathi lawyer colleague) but to our surprise and delight, we were indeed the beneficiaries of the Maharashtra government's assistance to farmers to capture and store rainwater. A check dam is one of several methods. The collected water seeps into the surrounding land, raising the groundwater level.

No heavy machinery: Mechanization and the use of heavy machinery such as tractors are frowned upon by organic farmers. The weight compacts the underlying layers of soil even as the heavy metal front end loaders, disc ploughs, blades and other attachments tear up the top soil in excess of planting requirements, sometimes even gouging out worms in the process. The loosened soil is then subject to wind and rain erosion. Sustainable farming propagates minimal tillage, so that there is least disturbance to the soil's ecosystem. Controlled tillage also allows crop residues to "lock" the topsoil against erosion. So it's back to the good old bullock and the lighter traditional plough.

Certification: Let's say you've been to a retail outlet that says its food produce is "farm fresh", "nature fresh" or "natural". Does this mean the produce is chemical-free? No! The only guarantee for genuine organic produce is a mark that proclaims it is "certified organic". Organic farmers who apply for certification from any of the registered certifying agencies - such as IndoCert, the Natural Organic Certification Association (NOCA), EcoCert or OneCert to mention a few - are subjected to onsite inspection by the certifying authority. Every aspect of farming operations - farming methods, the materials and substances used, even documentation and records - is examined. The inspection covers the sources for the seeds and saplings, the ingredients in the manure, the substances used for fertilisation and pest control, the soil and water quality, plant tissue diagnosis, the process of ripening - the works. Certification fees are unfortunately heavy and several small organic farmers sometimes form an association for group certification to minimize the cost.

Thanks to Terra Farma, we now lead a schizophrenic existence. We are working professionals in the city for five days of each week, and farmers out under the blazing sun or in the blessed driving rain along with our farm managers and workers for the remaining two. The farm is capital intensive, even with government subsidies, and the recurring monthly costs for salaries, daily wages, materials and maintenance often makes our hair stand on end. Prem likens Terra Farma to a black hole that swallows up all our funds. And then, when there is no electricity to run our pumps, or we suffer severe labour shortage, or when we lose a season's entire crop because of water shortage and delayed monsoons, I won't pretend that we are not daunted.

But when we sink our teeth into an amazingly sweet and pulpy papaya, or bite into a tender stalk of lightly cooked bhindi, or nibble at the elegantly long and crunchy cluster beans (perhaps gently tossed in ginger and garlic), we rejoice in the taste, quality and purity of the organic treasures from our farm. It is enough to make us determined to defeat the odds. Yes, we still have much to learn. But we dream of Terra Farma becoming one of the drivers of a growing movement that will make organic farming a mainstream form of sustainable agriculture in our country. We want to be counted among the proud providers of nutritious, unadulterated and safe food on the tables of India.

Medicine free life - Serene Eco village

Dr. Pravin Chordia believes that living a life closer to nature is the logical solution to all our modern-day woes.

Drive down 45 kilometres southwest from the city of Pune and you will see a beautiful man-made forest in the Sahyadri range. But when Dr. Pravin Chordia bought this property in the year 2000, it was still barren land. The natural forest had been destroyed, despite Sahyadri being a region that receives heavy rainfall. Dr. Chordia decided that this would be the place where he would reclaim his life by getting close to nature.

Dr. Chordia was a general surgeon who ran his own hospital in Pune. But a flourishing career of 22 years still left him feeling disturbed. The illnesses that he saw on a daily basis, the increasing dependency on medicines, and the mad rush of a city that was becoming increasingly polluted – all these made him conscious that something was not right with the way we live. “I felt we are getting alienated from nature, which is catastrophic. We cannot sustain our lives if we continue to throng our cities and shun nature. This feeling was reinforced when my son was diagnosed with asthma. I decided to change things,” he says.

Slowly, Dr. Chordia began realigning himself and his family with nature. They bought 110 acres of land in Velhe Taluka, Dhanep, in the Sahyadri range. They started reforesting this land and planted at least 2.5 lakh trees.

Today, at least 50,000 trees, of more than 1000 species, are alive and thriving in the land as a thick forest. They have successfully reforested 45 acres of the 110 acre land and the tree planting continues religiously.They named this place Serene Eco Village, for its beauty and serenity.These activities support over 40 families in the region.Living in middle of the forest, learning some organic farming, eating food grown on an organic farm, trekking, and just being close to nature – that’s the agenda for most of the tourists who visit Serene Eco Village!

Some saplings were lost to grazing while some growing trees were destroyed in forest fires. But they relentlessly planted more saplings and still continue to do so.

Dr. Chordia was more than thrilled to have chosen to go the mountain range and plant trees. He now felt more confident of his thought process of going back to the nature. “As a natural progression, I decided to give up my allopathic practice and shut down my hospital. Going back to nature also means giving up the illogical ways of modern medicine. I told my wife I did not want to end my life on an ICU bed but wanted to live a healthy life,” says Dr. Chordia. With this resolve, he decided to experiment with sustainable living by creating an eco-village in their land in the Sahyadri range. They built mud houses out of compressed mud bricks. The family started to grow fresh fruits and vegetables organically here. They also started working together with the local farmers and helped them switch to organic methods of farming. They composted the waste on the farm and generated biogas. Since this was an experiment, they did not hesitate to try out new things. They used the opportunity to learn and experiment with various ways of generating energy. They installed solar panels and looked for other natural ways of energy generation like photovoltaic, gobar gas and solar cooker. They did rainwater harvesting and built ponds on the land. A negligible amount of power is used from the grid and every drop of water is recycled in this eco-village.

The family’s relationship with the place and its people also grew in the meantime. While they encouraged the farmers to take up organic farming, they also made sure that there was a market for the produce. They started procuring the organic produce from farmers and selling it in Pune. They started an agarbathi manufacturing unit, oil pressing unit and medicinal herbs unit to employ the local people.  There is also a school that functions in the traditional gurukul style on the premises.

Until recently, Serene Eco Village was only a family experiment. But a couple of years ago, they opened up the Serene Eco Village experience to visitors as an agro-touristic spot.

Dr. Chordia and his family shuttle between Pune and Serene Eco Village. The mountains, the good food from the farm and the natural living have gifted the family a completely different living experience, including that of an impeccably healthy life. The family has not taken any medicines for the past 15 years! Dr. Chordia’s son does not suffer from asthma anymore. Dr. Chordia, who stopped his allopathic practice, is now a proponent of medicine-free living. He runs a free clinic in Pune that guides people on how to live a healthy lifestyle without being dependent on drugs.

At Serene Eco Village, Dr. Chordia hosts people from across the country who want to explore a natural and healthy way of living. He has helped over 2000 individuals live medicine-free lives. He believes that good exercise, healthy living and being close to nature are the best solutions to all the complexities that urban living is imposing on us.

You can write to Serene Eco Village at medicinefreelife@gmail.com or call at 9850778898.

Source: TheBetterIndia