Comments for pointReturn

Comment on Why do I trust and admire Anna Hazare? by dv

dv — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:43:59 +0000

i have my views on guha as ‘a great writer’ and why he may have written as you say he did. i have not read it though as, of late, i have stopped reading him because of his predictable views.
in my article i have tried to view the anna campaign in a different light: i see it as a counter to the development economics of MMS, which condones environmental degradation, income inequality, wasteful consumption and indeed, corruption itself as collateral costs of growth. in anna’s village level development on the other hand, these costs have no place.

Comment on Why do I trust and admire Anna Hazare? by Venkat

Venkat — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:14:16 +0000

One question: why are so many folks so vitriolically anti-Hazare? I read an article the other day where one Ramachandra Guha (said to be a great writer) spent special effort in an article on the inefficacy of Manmohan Singh to attack Hazare. Why is there such a class of people who hate him so?

Comment on The road runs its course by gskishore

gskishore — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:22:51 +0000

Dear DV, I wondered how the road is doing now after nearly 4 years? Did you use any vetiver to maintain the road edges? Any plans for surfacing it?

Comment on Beginning to grow by v.r.janardhanam

v.r.janardhanam — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:25:19 +0000

Dear DV,

You continue to amaze me. You are in the same mold as Robinson Crusoe and the hero in the film “Cast Away”. It is a pity I am not able to make a trip to pR. Hope I do it in 2011. This is to wish you all the best in 2011 and may your family (of 40) find happiness in pR.God Bless you sarath

Comment on Out of ’10 and into ’11 by kedar_til

kedar_til — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:45:57 +0000

Dear DV,

Great work done in 2011…congratulations to the whole team. Best wishes for 2011 and ahead…

Did not go thru all updates so don’t know…you might have given a thought to silkworm and honeybee keeping..

Regards
Kedar

Comment on Out of ’10 and into ’11 by carolyn robbins

carolyn robbins — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:29:17 +0000

Ah, but DV perhaps Inari has visited your village. I believe Inari is similar or the same entity as the Buddhist guardian deity ‘Dakini’ who is often made reference to through statues at the Zen Temples. I remember often the meditations in The Green Gulch Zen Center, where I attended years ago, had the fox figures displayed at the entrances. The Inari or Dakini deity, has been drawn in the history books riding a fox. Farming families revere the fox, considered a kind of good luck animal. Inari Shrines marking sacred sites are quite common aren’t they? Often there are two foxes on either side of a red gate as protection from all evil? Your visit by the fox, certainly is a good sign that all will be well for you in the new year. Wouldn’t a pair of red gates be wonderful……or am I getting too artsy for you? I loved reading your article as always and wish you prosperity and abundance this new year.

Comment on Inside pointReturn by Preeti Singh

Preeti Singh — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:46:45 +0000

Hello All! I am quite fascinated by what you are trying to achieve. Ashwin Ramaswamy forwarded your link to an IIMB group – thats wehere I picked it up.

You might be interested in this reclamation through permaculture principles – also fascinating (near Hyderabad).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38rwc7-puc

Good luck and best wishes!!!

Comment on The Humanure Handbook by Debashis Ray

Debashis Ray — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 06:37:22 +0000

Well China was not the only place that had a traditional use for human excrement. In Goa many traditional country houses had a toilet with a large horizontal opening. The excrement would pass out to a pig sty, where domestic pigs would clean up the muck almost as soon as discharged. No septic tanks to maintain, no labor of composting, and free food for the pigs which could later be slaughtered for meat, thus completing the cycle. If one’s not apalled, and hygiene is not critical, this system of excrement disposal was hard to beat!
If you find this hard to believe, just do a google search on ‘pig toilet’ and see for yourself.

Comment on Yanmar VIO20 , a mini excavator by Cassiny

Cassiny — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:43:16 +0000

I agree with Stewart. It takes a village to raise a child and your little village definitely shows a society that welcomes new ideas regardless of age. Kudos to Annamalai and Chellamma. You should have made a youtube video featuring them and tagged it as a video response to the 8-year-old kid.

Comment on What moves pointReturn by sujatha

sujatha — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:11:26 +0000

hi sriram

-first of all,have you experienced what life is like, growing up in a village as a poor,landless,low caste villager?

while ‘our’ education is not perfect,i wonder if something is better than nothing. for the urban elite,village life is very romantic and ideal,but it is not so for the millions of poor,illiterate,low caste,landless villagers.while they may have skills,those skills,unfortunately are often not enough to even provide them with 3 square meals a day.what freedom do they now enjoy that will disappear after they get ‘our’ education? are they not servicing the rich now,working for the rich in village,at wages which hardly are enough to make both ends meet,not to mention the other types of exploitations like the ignominy of casteism? at least’our’ education ensures that you and i do not go to bed hungry,that our basic needs are met.

you yourself have ensured an alternate source of income ( thru you rent) and the much maligned education system has probably helped that and also you relatives whom you don’t have to support.you have your own land.you can use media to find information.how many poor people in india have this luxury?whether you accept it or not,it is this education which has given you the knowledge and confidence to survive in this world and this is always a back up for you in case there is a need. why is it that the poor have to carry the responsibility of maintaining traditions,skills etc etc etc?

like i said before,’our’ education is not perfect but atleast it can ensure that people do not starve.as for happiness,it is not that all the well- to- do in the city are unhappy and all in the village are happy.if the rich are unhappy,they have only themselves to blame for it.more spirituality and less materialism is what is needed.but for the poor,tortured by hunger,casteism,exploitation etc,they are helpless.just by talking about idealism is not of any help.it is the question of survival.abandoning them just because it is not ideal,is not the way to help the vulnerable.

an education,though not perfect, and blending in the city is one of the best ways to escape poverty and casteism- and i say this from a near personal experience.