Ootta from Namma Thotta -2

 Ootta from Namma Thotta ( food from our garden) 

It has been a slow and steady progress , what with these incessant  and unseasonal rains attracting the pests, rotting out the seedlings and making sowing and harvesting so unpredictable. 

A big shout out to all those small farmers whose livelihood oscillates and depends upon mother nature's mood swings. Mother nature seems to be showing menopausal symptoms....

But ye shall not complain about the incessant rains... we need to soak in as much water as we can, because the summer is going to be scorching without all those trees that were sacrificed for the namma metro. And to keep us urban monsters fed and hydrated is getting to be a tedious tasks year on year. 

   

The harvest has been slow and steady. 

The conventional vegetable plot has been yielding some harvest although it has now massively slowed down. 

The circle gardens are a new experiment on the adjacent plot.  This is my home work after attending Krishna Mackenzie's Permaculture workshop at Auroville in April . 

Permaculture - shortened term to denote permanent agirculture aims to keep the human effort and intervention minimal and let nature take its course. 

Out there we do not till the land and do not plant 'Hybrid' variety of seeds that do not regenrate. 

Anything that is planted would either thrive, survive or die. If this does survive, and manges to thrive then the next generation of the seeds would automatically propogate and effortlessly yield in the next season. 

That is how agriculture was supposed to be. 

But our need for high and predictable  yields, good and consistent looking fruits and vegetables and pest resistant varieities, we let 'Hybrid' varieties rule our lives.  

Hybrid varieites are great. Althought when you consume them you would rarely know that the seeds in them are all infertile. That is why even if you throw a tomato or a pumpkin out into the soil they do not germinate. 

That is when you can tell between the 'Native' variety and the 'Hybrid' varieties. 

99% of the food we eat are all 'Hybird' varieties.  

Thr world is fast losing the diversity the varieties of fruits and vegetables that we get to consume. 

Here is  small effort towards seed sovereignity and to give space for the native variety of food crops. 

For now my fingers are crossed. Let us watch the permanculture vs conventional plots as they metamorphise through the seasons. 

Here are the six circle gardens as part of the permaculture. 

     

Being gender neutral

 Being gender neutral ... 

I always associated the term  Batter to 'idli' and 'dosa'.

The other day I was watching an interview where Sachin would constantly repeat the term 'Batter'. 

I put it down to bad english although this was not the Sachin from the 1990's but a very mature, well heeled, sightly middle aged but the usual baby faced Sachin talking about how he and Rahul Dravid foxed bowler Chris Cairns with some of their shrewd and rather funny antics while Rahul was at the crease and Sachin at the other end at a match in Mohali.   

Interesting piece of story telling that one.  And a must watch. 

That is when I learnt Batter is the new gender netural term since the gentlemen's game has now caught on with the ladies as well. Although with the ladies' version the fanfare and bankrolling is nowhere near to what the gentlemen's version of IPL commands. 

Talking of gender neutral terminology, here is one one such place - the play arena 9 badminton place in whitefield  that clearly struggled between  

'to be gender neutral' or 'not to be gender neutral'.

But they managed to get to the point.  

      You cannot be always be gender neutral ... 

Ootta from Namma Thotta - new beginnings

Ootta from Namma Thotta ( food from our garden)

July 2022 

It was a lovely morning and the Road to Khajisonenahalli was lit up with the bright morning sun as I drove back from the farm .

On that early morning drive from Bangalore to Chennai, I looked forward to rejunevante the vegetable patch that eluded me through the 2-3  COVID filled years in Chennai. 

Harish was kind enough to take care of the plot while I would still be serving my notice period and then return to Bangalore.  

Everything seemed perfect for the new beginnings. 

On the  way back on the NH47 Alexa aided the driving mood and blared Subramania Bharati's  'Kaani Nilam vendum' perhaps more than 100 times by several different musicians until the city traffic hit us out a put a stop to the mood.  

That was indeed a memorable drive filled with the promises of the new beginning. 

Here is the blogpost by Raja Thatha from where I have picked up the lyrics and its English translation.

http://translationsofsomesongsofcarnticmusic.blogspot.com/2011/10/kani-nilam-vendum-parashakthi.html

Kani nilam Vendum, Parashakthi

Kani nilam Vendum, Parashakthi

By
Mahakavi subramanya Bharathiyar

Translated by
P.R.Ramachander

Ragam Ragamalika
Thalam Aadhi/Thisra

1.Kani nilam vendum –Parashakthi, Kani nilam vendum-angu,
Thoonil azhagiyathai –nan madangal thuyya nirathinathai –antha,
Kani nilathidaye –Or maligai katti thara vendum-angu,
Keniyarigile thennai maram keethu milaneerum,

2.Pathu pannirandu thennamaram pakkathile venum –nalla,
Muthu chuddar pole –nilavoli munbu vara venum –angu,
Kathum kuyil osai –chathe vandhu kaadhir pada vendum-enthan,
Chitham magizhnthidave – nanarya ila thendral vara venum

3.Pattu kalanthidave –ange oru pathini pen venum-yengal,
Kootu kaliyinile -kavithaigal kondu thara venum-Andha,
Kattu veliyinile –Amma, ninthan kavalura venum –enthan,
Pattu thirathale –ivvayathai palithida venum.

English translation

1.I need a small piece of land , Oh divine mother ,A small piece of land, and there,
In the midst of that small piece of land you should build me a house with,
Four pretty pillars and several floors and there near the small pond,
Cocunut tree leafs should shine in small plants.

2.Near ten or twelve coconut trees , moon light should come
Like a shining pearl and there the soft song of the nightingales,
Should come and fall in my ears to make mind happy,
Good light breeze should blow to make me further happy.

3.To mix music there , there should be a virtuous wife there,
and in our play together , you should bring and give poems,
And in that forest expanse, Oh mother you should provide guard,
And by the great knowledge of music , you should look after this world.

 For all his progressive outlook about 'Pudumai Penn' which  one must say Bharathi  was way ahead of his time,  the 21st century feminists would not quite agree with his request for 'paththini penn vendum'.  

Never mind, I guess we are all shaped by the social norms of our times and thatpoor  man lived and died, povery stricken and unappreciated in a different century. We have to give it to him, he was far ahead of his times and was navigating a far denser patriarchal set-up a 100 years ago. 

While singing along,  I compromised by substituting gender neutral lyrics instead of 'Paththini penn vendum' and sang along loudly and happily while cruising the NH47.  

Once cannot help but be little intrigued and humbled by that last line of the song, that says 'Amma nindru kavalura vendum'. 

Reflecting back I guess we all need thanks the guards that helped us survive the past and need to be guarded and blessed in the future to be 'looked after in this world' . 

Here's to new beginnings with the blessings and hope of being looked after by the forces of nature ... seen, unseen,  foreseen and unforeseen.