Comments for point Return

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 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.

Comment on What moves pointReturn by dv

dv — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 05:05:08 +0000

hi sujatha,
sriram has replied to your query as follows:

“we said - “teaching children OUR education…”
this ‘our’ is to signify the current education system prevalent in the country which makes our children literate/educated/city-centric/rote capable/rich servicing etc., but destroys their freedom and so on.

so unless, we are able to conduct education in a completely revised manner (for eg., like defined in gandhiji’s nai talim), we do not have the interest to impart education.

using the double negative to interpret this statement (or any other) is going to give you the wrong perspective.”

Comment on What moves pointReturn by sujatha

sujatha — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:36:20 +0000

you say: ‘teaching under privileged children will make them lose control of their freedom and start servicing the rich.’ do you mean to say that uneducated/illiterate underprivileged children/people are living enviable lives now? and, have full freedom and are being serviced BY the rich?

Comment on Beginning to grow by kedar_til

kedar_til — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:26:15 +0000

Dear DV,

I am a regular reader of your site. Thanks so much for sharing info with us. This is all very inspiring.

While discussing your work amoung friends, one of them summerised…you will be building various banks…Water bank (beneath the earth(!)), food bank (will require it if start producing surplus and for yearly crops), seed bank (to avoid junk and BT seeds), plants blank (like you did for Pongamia), energy bank (solar, wind, pongamia oil, biogas), a bank of rich fertile soil all over the land ….and a defined cycle to replenish stocks in those banks…..!!

One query - Have you given any thought on installing a biogas plant? Like the one developed by ARTI, Pune which is very efficient. This site also gives D-I-Y instructions. (I should not give the site address as you have already given a very good artical about Dr. Karve’s work on GoodnewsIndia!)

http://www.arti-india.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:arti-biogas-plant-a-compact-digester-for-producing-biogas-from-food-waste&catid=15:rural-energy-technologies&Itemid=52

Best wishes for your mission and may this project become a guiding start for many to come up in future.

Regards,
- Kedar

Comment on Falling in love with swales by kedar_til

kedar_til — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:21:52 +0000

Hello DV,

Can not see the slideshow. Getting message that “This video is private”. How can I see it?

- Kedar

Comment on Falling in love with swales by chandrakant

chandrakant — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:02:10 +0000

Dear DV
Wishing you and the team at point return a happy and pleasant new year. On reading, how can one not fall in love with swales? If Only a marginal farmer( if I may use that word)be educated in the virtues of swale, that would be more effective than policy makers groping around committees to implement. Thanx a lot for en lighting. chandrakant

Comment on Adventures with the Rocket Stove by varaahan

varaahan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:54:48 +0000

Sure I would like to get one such rocket stove.
I am in Chennai.

varaahan@rediffmail.com