Siddarth is the fourth person to commit to the pointReturn mission. He came on board earlier this month and has moved swiftly to share our work and responsibilities. He comes about eight months after Karpagam and Sriram; that isn’t a surprise because they have been friends for over a decade.

Like Sriram, Siddarth too is an IIT alumnus and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He is 39. He worked for 9 years with a software firm, rose to be a Vice-President, travelled the world and made money. But he says he had a finite goal even as he began his career. He decided on this, he says because of a great human being, Dr Dilip Veeraraghavan who mentored him in IIT. “Dr Dilip was a professor of humanities; he truly humanised many future technocrats. I learnt how limited material success was without larger concerns, spirituality and a respect for traditions as a teacher. By ‘tradition’ he meant a very broad set – traditional agriculture, for instance.” That influenced Siddarth to resolve he would make enough money to live the simple life and then quit to live it.

He did just that. In 2005, he joined two other IITians [-some of them seem to be right-programmed in that august institution!] to care for a patch of land in Karnataka. In 2007 he moved on to buy two acres of his own to practice agriculture. I met him briefly around that time, when I myself was starting the pointReturn adventure. Once Karpagam and Sriram moved in at pointReturn, his own interest quickened. And so he is here. “I realised the ride is more enjoyable and productive when you are in kindred company,” he says.

I am of course delighted to have three committed young people to work with. All three enjoy the rough and dirty physical work [-not common in 'educated' Indians], share a commitment to the environment,have the easy smile and friendly ways.

They arouse a curiosity in me. Why would such young people leave lucrative careers? In 2005, when I was still publishing GoodNewsIndiaI met the great Dharampal in Wardha. He lay dying but suffered to receive me. When I mentioned I went around gathering good news, he growled: “What good news have you found?”. It was clear he was a disillusioned man, quite broken by the path India had taken.

Quite unprepared, I found myself saying, “Well, young people today have the potential for bringing about change”. He was nearly angry and wanted to know why I said that.

“You see they begin in highly paid jobs and lead highly stressed lives. When quite young most of them brown out and look for something less stressful to do. They put away enough money and gain freedom from ‘jobbing’. I believe they will make the corrections for India.” He stared at me for a while and turned away, unimpressed.

He may have rightly distrusted my optimism. Many do make the big money but most go on to create comfort zones to insulate themselves from the India beyond their front doors. But there are a few who commit to living the life of their deep convictions.

I know at least three; they are at pointReturn.

What has been happening at pointReturn? What is daily life like? What have been the changes in the last three years?

What is the progress on the four self-sufficiencies of the mission- water, food, energy and cash?

Is the dream still intact? Who is keeping it alive? How are we going to realise them in full?

A new long story answers all your questions: Click here to read ]]> http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/home/2010/07/inside-pointreturn/feed/ 4 http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/home/2010/02/evolution-of-sanitation-at-pointreturn/ http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/home/2010/02/evolution-of-sanitation-at-pointreturn/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:30:19 +0000 pointR http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/home/?p=419 Read]]> “sustainable design mandates that ‘nothing goes to waste’ including ‘waste’… lets get to the evolution of the toilet design at pR. Read more here

I can see working residents grow their own food, document their production and experiences, run courses for those that would return from the cities, care for their own inner lives and administer the whole project as a committee of ten. They get to keep a modest share of all the produce as reward for their labours, with which to pay for their personal needs beyond shelter and food. In the ten years leading to that status, I see my work as making the 17 acres realise surpluses of water, energy, food and cash. It’s a grand vision I know; for even stating it, I have been receiving compliments. But I am frequently overcome with bouts of panic and fright at the journey I have undertaken. A man of 68 must be permitted these scares. Because a man of that age knows well that no vision descends from dreamy mists to hard ground just because it is grand.

Nor, because one can spray money all over, trying to grow the vision. In the last three years, I have experienced despair even as I stood clutching a wad of notes. A dried up pond, a lack of colleagues or a lack of knowledge is not remedied by money. You need access to people with passion, knowledge, commitment and capacity for hard physical work. Rarely do you get qualities these in paid staff, as serial corporate training programmes testify.

In the last three years, even I as laboured alone or with contractors and paid staff, I had an eye cocked on the horizon to see if anyone was headed this way- with their whole life packed and carried on their backs, so to speak. There has always been a steady stream of well-wishers and enthusiasts. Tens of emails have expressed admiration, sought to visit, solicited advise or help or declared they would sculpt their own dreams some day. Volunteers from Chennai have been enthusiastic though their numbers failed to grow nor did a committed core emerge.

In ‘sustainability’ discussions we seldom factor in people who sustain things. All enterprises fail when people are not attracted to co-own the dream. How do you find them? You don’t. You must so go about realising your dream that they find you.

Recently they had a month long Permaculture Design Course conducted by John Button [Right extreme, in the green shirt, in the picture]. pointReturn’s new friend Ringo thoughtfully suggested that the class have a day long outing to pointReturn to see a Permaculture design under implementation.

On Nov 19, 2009 a group of 30 people arrived in a bus. Ringo who has dug a text book swale, was there too. John took the class around and explained the rationale behind each feature at pointReturn. Students planted the swale with some trees. I got Aviram to plant the first.

Then they sat in the pavilion to hear Aviram expand on his dreams and plans.[Picture].Loyal freinds of pointReturn, Sumathy, Usha, Ananth, Hari and a newcomer, Anand had driven over to cook a one pot vegan meal for the visitors. This was served on banana leaves and much enjoyed.

For me personally, the highlight was to hear Aviram say, “DV, I seldom leave Sadhana and nearly didn’t want to come today. But an instinct urged me and I am so glad I am here. This place has good spirit and I am glad to be here”

Sadhana Forest

Exactly a month to the day, since my mini excavator arrived, Ringo rode in on his beefy Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike. Given that he looks like a jazz musician, you would have thought the long yellow box he was carrying housed a trombone; but no, it contained laser surveying levels. Bike’s panniers were stuffed with a backpack, cameras, projector, working boots and a large machete. “To clear the thickets,” he said.

I soon discovered Ringo packed between his ears and in his heart, a great passion for earthworks, rain water harvesting and permaculture. He had been a bikie in Australia -he has tattoos all over to prove that- and says permaculture changed him overnight. Now, what other magic permaculture has wrought, I would like to know. He turned Buddhist as well.

Paul Kean’s nickname Ringo, is appropriate. I counted four rings on his face including one on his nose. “I had more when I was a bikie,” he informed. As a permaculturist he has worked in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. Somehow, India had beckoned him and he thought he could travel the country on his bike and work as a permaculture consultant

Our initial contact had been by email. Within an hour of his arrival on Aug 30, 2009, I was to marvel at the coincidences on offer. I had bought the excavator and for a month had been gamely digging swales, the while teaching myself to operate the machine. I had already dug a 200′ long swale. And Ringo, it turned out had been an industrial grade earthmover operator for 25 years!

I had painstakingly picked out the contour line for my first swale using an A-Frame. It’s accurate but a lot of work. I had grimly resolved I’d discover the contours in the remaining 12 acres over time as I went. I had contacted a topo surveying company, to getthe job done quickly, but they were both expensive and more specialised in real estate developer work. Here was Ringo with his laser levels, telling me he can do the whole mapping in two days.

pointReturn was being directed me, a permaculture novice, albeit an enthusiastic one. Ringo breathes it and has worked his hands in the soil for several years. He was brimming with ideas and suggestion for me, thirteen to the dozen.

Were I man of religion I might have attributed it all to divine guidance; not being one, I am driven to wonder how I might explain all this! Anyway, Ringo got busy within hours of our first meeting and began surveying the land. The sun was harsh and the A-Team assisting him was worn weary but Ringo stomped on. Alignments of five more swales were picked and marked.

After a break of two weeks, Ringo was back. He began digging the first of the five swales. It was an object lesson in hard work, mastery of the machine and feel for the landscape. I am still proud of the first swale I had dug on my own. After all, I am a self-taught man with an experience of just a month. But no shame at all in admitting Ringo’s is skill of another order altogether. See the picture below of the swale he dug.

Ringo is meant for a large scale project than the 18 acres that pointReturn is. Whoever hires him will be rewarded handsomely. But I hope they hire him after he is done with pointReturn.

You can mail Ringo at this address: ringoplantfreak@gmail.com His website is alas not updated often but here’s the nice story of how he decided to come to India. While at his site do also check out the interesting permaculture links and videos he has listed in the sidebar