An invitation from Samanvaya has to be taken seriously, for Ram, his wife Rama and colleague Priya who run it are serious, commited people. The invitation was to a weekend retreat to discuss Gandhi’s view of Self-Rule, which he called Swaraj. Everyone has heard the word Swaraj and understands it differently. I too had my own understanding of it. What might have made Samanvaya convene a weekend retreat focused on it, in Gandhigram, near Madurai? I decided to attend, and returned with practical ideas to experiment with at pointReturn. …read on

I have chosen that buildings at the pointReturn site should adopt best practices from tradition and bring in modern aids only where they make environmental sense. Village homes used to be built of dug out soil and roofed by curved tiles made by the local potter. Country wood from fast growing trees were used for windows and doors. Steel and cement played little or no part. …read on