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

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

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

Having struggled over two months to complete a 100 sqFt storage room built out of steel, bricks and cement, it was delightful relief to complete, in about a week, a 700 sqFt space using just half a bag of cement and 250 gms of steel wire. The other materials that went into creating the space -bamboo, coconut mats, coir ropes, reeds for thatch, and granite pillars - came from within 20 kM of the site. It’s a locally grown building. …read on

On July 31, 2006, the 17 acre main body of the pointReturn site was formally registered. It took until the December 21, 2006 to buy an additional 0.91 cents on which to lay an all weather access road. But that didn’t quite start off the project. I had to wait until April, 2007 for the fields to be harvested of a standing peanut crop, before the road could be laid. Still, there are significant achievements on view. How that happened is a story of disappointments that led to workarounds and it could be of some value to other beginners. Throughout this article, there are […more] markers that will lead you to detailed stories on the topic. …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

Every expedition requires a basecamp at which to stay close to the target; to plan and begin the climb. pointReturn site has lacked even a basic shed. Every tool and requirement has had to be brought in and taken away at the end of the day. The site is also devoid of human habitation for close to a kilometer all around, and so susceptible to petty thefts. A rudimentary space to lock away basic requirements was therefore decided as necessary. Otherwise there is little justification for a time and money guzzling mini fortress in bricks, cement and steel. …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