It has been some months since I wrote at length. One reason is I have been in a new and busy rhythm -as I shall soon elaborate. Also, I have been making shorter posts elsewhere and twittering. And, there is another blog that narrates the events at pointReturn more frequently.

Let me make this a tour of many topics that are worth reporting on. And because it’s a rather long-winded tour, I must be considerate and offer quick jumps. Click on any of these or read on.

• Phase shift: A slight and perceptible change has occurred
• The work rhythm: What is the work routine and life at pointReturn?
• Growing food: Experience with growing vegetables and grains
• Water, now: Status of water availability following rain water harvesting
• The road ahead: Where do I see it go and what are we doing about it?

“A swale is a water harvesting trench, dug usually on a contour line.” That’s the technical definition- it tells you as much as a definition of the horse as a four legged animal does about that splendid beast. Between the time I read of swales in Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Designer’s Manual in 2006 and actually decided to embrace them as the central feature of pointReturn, it was a good three years. It was even a whole year after I did the Permaculture Design
Course. …read on

A windmill pumps water when the wind blows and that is not always when you need the water. At some point or the other you will have to make a decision about creating extra storage for the pumped water. Here are some notes from my experience that might offer you a lower cost option. …read on

Having spent over an year in developing water security, fences against grazing cattle, road access to the site, a room to stowaway tools and a basic shelter for overnight stops, the time has come at last to begin planting. Ahead of answering ‘what’ to plant, I cooked up a strategy in answer to ‘how’ to plant. Some basic rules emerged. …

The North East Monsoon for the year has just ended. It has been an year of good rainfall- the best in ten years, say the villagers. The monsoon for me, was not just about water though; it delivered information for watershed design, it was a primer on rural economics, a reminder of opportunities being lost and an indication of the road to take for prosperity.

Chennai city and its environs -where the pointReturn site is- receive two spells of rain in an year. The South West Monsoon during July-August is the lesser one and it’s failure or weakness is not taken too seriously. The North East Monsoon between October and December is the crucial one. It determines the economy of the land. When it’s plentiful, farm produce is abundant, drinking water supply to the city is assured, money in rural households leads to greater sales of manufactured goods and politicians take note of peace and cheer and plan their moves. In addition to these two monsoons there is the odd storm or two that surprises the coast in some years, constituting either a bonus or an emergency.

Culturally too, the NE Monsoon plays an important role. It cools the weather down and lifts spirits everywhere. Beginning December, for 6 weeks Chennai has what is popularly known as ‘the Season’. Hundreds of fine-arts events take place at over fifty venues across the city. Music, dance, plays, poetry, art shows, street festivals, religious discourses are all enfolded by the Season. Christmas, Bakr Id and Pongal festivals also occur during this period. January 15 marks the start of the wedding season too and much shopping precedes it. Altogether, the monsoon is a key determinant of the wealth, mood and spirit of people. Visitors from abroad find this a congenial time to visit Chennai and several hundreds do.

Chennai’s record of rainfall shows it’s quite a blessed place. The official annual rainfall figure for Chennai is 1,300 mm, which puts it in the middle third of cities. But it is not an assured place. In some years the rainfall is well below that number and in the odd wild year, well above it. Historically, people had learnt that their water security lay in creating abundant storage capacity. It was happily a time when one of the ways a man could brag his wealth was to endow a well, a pond or a temple tank lest he should incur the silent contempt of people. So they were competitive brags as the rich usually are. The equivalent of packing one’s garage with high-end cars or celebrating family weddings as nauseous public spectacles alone was not enough then, to be called truly wealthy.

Parts of the pointReturn site are rocky. The land slopes away from a small hillock. Years of erosion have not only depleted the top soil but also exposed many rock formations. I decided on the logical course of clearing these to make way for trees and use the rocks as a building material. And that began a learning adventure. …read on

If not another piece of developmental work occurs from today at pointReturn, it will still be on its way to regenerate itself for, as I write, a 6′ deep pond spread over half an acre has been dug and it stands filled to the brim by the rains that seemed to have impatiently waited for its completion. …read on

Living with a windmill requires adjustments that our electricity-centred lives don’t quite prepare us for. You can’t switch a windmill on or off - the wind does that. Since you can’t predict when that might happen, you need to store the water as you get it. And if you store it at a reasonable elevation, you can later use gravity to direct the water to where you want. …read on

A pond once dug, is forever- provided it’s given reasonable care. It will live eternally, filling and emptying, and enriching the neighbourhood. If you are looking for a purpose in life, dig a rainwater catchment hole -small or large - and watch water staying in when it next rains. No surprise then, that a popular form of individual munificence in old India, was to endow a well or a pond or a lake. A good sized pond however, requires some planning before you begin to dig. …read on

The new windmill has been trying its best to be of service. There were a few anxious days when a part had to be replaced, the piping and pump to be changed and ways of managing it, to be understood. It pumps water now, but with some notable caveats. After digesting the unpleasant messages it delivered, I have learnt to see the pointReturn challenge very differently. Not only is the task greater, but solutions are more involved. The new windmill has already proved itself a wise and eloquent teacher. …read on