Johnny showing everyone his beautiful model of composting our daily dumps. I feel inspired by his choice on a daily basis to continue to use only a compost toilet at his home and invite his guests to join in reducing the impact of their daily dump for the time they visit him. The effort is amazing as he has been using this for the past thirty years. I feel this is a form of activism and of clean politics. Now more than ever is the time to shift,to rethink old practices. The question is whether they are ethical,efficient and sustainable.
The compost toilet offers a way of returning back to the soil what is born of the soil,this way we complete the cycle of life.
You can find more information on this subject and how big cities are transforming on the website below.
http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

swinging

the joy of swinging, from here to there, from present to past, from disconnect to connectivity, from uncertainty to certainty, from barren to fertile

From johney place

stark

the landscape of my self feels this torn and rough, scraped at by others, washed away of the sacred soil within, the monsoons will be here again, the water will flow again and the grass will grow.

From gaia

a clay oven

the sterling engine woodfired oven

From johney place

the gifted way

having lived and experieinced community living  during a year of volunteering in auroville,the life decisions that were enriched by this experience have been living inside me, since.

they stretch from a choice not to go back to employed accountancy work, to working with soil and practising city farming in punjab, and composting all kitchen peels,to experiments with healing through food,

and working more and more with own hands, learning new crafts, or simply a need to be self-sustainable. the belief in gift economy, introduction to which i soaked in the community of verite ( when olivier initiated the online alternative currency , auros' ), has only grown manifold , as living the experiment of gift/learning exchange within the safe horizons of a community like auroville whilst at one hand planted a seed somewhere inside, the water to this seed came in the form of the many interactions with the wider community outside auroville, friends , families of friends, and sometimes complete strangers. 

i recently made this connection, with the gift of food, and have recorded these reflections in a blog : www.parshada.tumblr.com so, whilst travelling, with shammi, and learning, there is a need to meet the wave in the other, though learning exchanges, and with the aspiration to host :

a one day workshop on "cooking in awareness"

a one day workshop with combination of salve/balm making and hand made jewellery out of seeds and waste 

a handfull....

From gaia

that way...?

From gaia

BT Brinjal-"To protest or Not to Protest"

It seems that BT Brinjal is well on its way to setting anchor on Indian Shores.
BT is a short for Genetically Modified or Engineered seed by BIO-Technology giant "Monsanto" which is resistant to the Boll Guard Spray used against Boll-Worms.
The Hindu report (14-01-2010) on the Kolkata public consultation on Bt Brinjal.  One paragraph indirectly mentions 30 metres as the prescribed Isolation Distance to prevent contamination between Bt brinjal and traditional varieties. 
Deepika Kundaji, an expert on seed production for small-scale gardeners and farmers,working in her own organic farm; Aurobrindavan; Auroville, Tamil Nadu was very vocal in her views against such propaganda,spread with the sole aim to get clearance of BT Brinjal production in INDIA without running proper tests to check the safety of the same.She further added,"Bees are a major cross pollinator of Brinjal. I have first hand experience and evidence of this.Most bee species have a foraging range of 0 to 3 km. and possibly even further in times of shortage.If BT Brinjal is grown anywhere within this range(up to 3km,possibly even more) The risk of contamination of traditional varieties is very high.It is not even a risk,it is SURE TO Happen."

The same was re-iterated by Dr.Pushpa Mittra Bhargava(Ex-director National Knowledge Commission and Head of the Committe formed to oversee the original committee formed by the Govt. to decipher the safety of Genetically engineered Brinjal & other crops in India ).Dr.Bhargava went on to cite a report where the minimum impact of cross pollination & winds causing Contamination of Traditional Varieties at 100 Miles radius,at a Seminar in Chandigarh's Institue of Development & Communication,Sector 38,"BT Brinjal- Prospects & Concerns".

"If Bt brinjal is introduced, it is the end of all traditional brinjal varieties.  And the loss of traditional varieties is the end of traditional farming.  If Bt brinjal is not scrapped along with all other GM crops, it means that the government, PER SE, WANTS TO DESTROY whatever little is left of traditional farming." Deepika Kundaji 
Now what remains to be seen is whether the government,of the people,from the people and for the people,turns "against" the people or retains its founding vows.