“Hello Satya

A big thanks and hugs for forwarding such emails..

And trust me, after reaching Prakriya campus all the five whom I invited or who were in my group were asking how did I come to know about this workshop? Why because it was like bliss to all of them who somehow felt for a moment that they were not in Bangalore but have reached an abode of peace and freshness…

“Prakruthi” campus incredibly ” the Green” campus invited us in with lot of energy and positive spirits.

Though the registration was supposed to start at 8.45 am we had to wait for 15 -20 mts for the entire group of volunteers to gather.

The session was opened by Smt. Sita Anandasivan who is the director of Bhoomi group who provoked thoughts about natures cycle emphasizing the philosophy as what comes in should  go back to the nature otherwise the whole cycle will break and which is the most likely cause disconnections in this universe. And her body language and speech did create a huge impact on the crowd listening to her and she concluded her speech once again highlighting the fact that it’s we humans who create the ” waste ” and dump on the mother earth unlike any other living being on this earth..Saying thing she handed over to Mr. Rajesh Thakkar who was going to lead the workshop on ” Mud based construction and Sustainable living” ..The presentation went for an hour ; but unlike the other presentations we dint feel bored and it was quite informative and we came to know about many things about mud based constructions and the real know-how and benefits of such constructions when we are struck inside /or confine ourselves in the concrete jungles!!

To boost up the energy of the workshop participants who were guided towards the site , they served us hot Ragi malt drinks and fresh bananas. After having this we headed towards the site..

Ah..Real bliss while we started the tour inside the Prakriya campus with the background music of nature=> birds singing and greenery around…

At the site we could see the hard work of the team who exerted themselves on Saturday where in they completed the foundation work. We were a group of seven – myself ,my husband, my best friend ,her husband and their 4 year old daughter, my husband cousin bro and his wife…we ran to the site with all energy and enthusiasm ..started to accommodate ourselves in whatever way we could help the Bhoomi team in those few hours…The male members took spades and started digging the mud and then helped themselves in filling the plastic sheets ( cement covers) with the mud which they have dug. Any residue of organic substance like roots,leves,earthworms etc had to be removed so that the mud which is been filled is free of any organic matter which are susceptible for degradation in the future.

Meanwhile we could see few pits in the site which were filled with clay and water and the kid in our group and other kids started running and jumping in those pits and we could the real joy in their eyes …while blending with nature..The real fun probably which no other sophisticated and expensive toy could give them..These kids were seen highly active in climbing those piles of mud which were dump in the site and were seen playing with the mud and trekking those piles which were apparently muddy hills for them :)….

Rajesh mentioned during his presentation that we are supposed to take 10 mts after 45 minutes of work..but I think hardly anyone took break during the first hour of task and then slowly when it was about to cross 2 hours we could seen people taking small breaks to refuel themselves with the seasoned butter milk which was provided in the site. Out team enjoyed thoroughly and in between we also found time for clicking and capturing the fun and hard work moments being close to mother earth….

It was then close to 1 ‘0 clock and our team disposed for lunch which was provided in the first floor of the school building where we had assembled in the morning…Healthy diet consisting of mixed vegetable rice with Raita and freshly cut salad with a sweet payasam helped us in regaining out energy which was burned in the early hours of work…

After the lunch ,we took a small tour around the campus to capture those lovely moments with the greenery around and also we walked through the organic garden which was opposite to our construction site. I could see fresh coriander leaves smiling in the garden , baby brinjals,tomato shrubs waiving their leaves with smiling tomato flowers, long beans and cluster beans hanging down with few dew drops on them ,young sugar cane plants, mustard plants with their pleasant yellow flowers, other green vegetables including Gongura…..ah..I can’t explain my joy esp. being a plant lower….also there was a Guava garden opposite to the organic farm….

however when I saw the workshop being resumed after the lunch break , I was forced to shift my focus from expediting the organic farm and join my team in filling up those new set of cement covers which were brought in. I and my husband’s cousin’s wife did lot of hard work in filling few cement covers and then we thought we will shift our hands to the compression task; where in we are supposed to compress the filled in cement bags standing on top of them using a manual compressor. Like nursery kids we started uttering  1 2 3.. and lifted that heaving compressor rod and then bashed it down with pressure to compress and flatten the mug bags or the Earth bags..It was cool …

All 6 of us had a great time together …working really hard and having fun together..And in the mean while the nature which was highly supportive in the morning might have thought of creating some mischief and started pouring out like anything…

We tried to hide ourselves beneath those dense trees assuming that the rains will come down in some time ;but even after half an hour it was still the same or was getting stronger..It was then one volunteer told us that hot steamy tea will be served now and everyone started running towards the main building to gather for tea.

In those rains we stood in the verandah where hot ginger tea and pakkodas were served…Having a hot cup of tea with garam garam Onion pakkodas…ah…what else will make u feel so better than this ???

After the tea gathering it was announced that due to the rain the workshop has been concluded and once they erect the walls with these earth bags a new workshop will again be called for mud plastering and all of us were excited hearing about the next opportunity for being a part of this construction and ecosystem once again!

All of us felt very nice having spent the day at Prakriya campus as the workshop was planned,organised and managed in a most professional way and the organizers , the entire bhoomi team members and volunteers were so well behaved and the respect for each other was seen throughout ….

Most of volunteers were the active members of Bhoomi team and I feel our team was the only new team in that group. But the entire group was so nice to us that we felt so comfortable and dint feel like we were  meeting them or indulging with them for the first time.

We enjoyed the day like anything and also took Bhoomi membership so that we can really do something different and good..Which will really make us feel proud and better …rather getting lost in our busy and complicated lives !!

I could not have had a better day!

Big thanks to Satya for sending me the invite for this workshop …

Best Regards

Neenu”

Bhoomi Network for Sustainable Living

C/o Prakriya School

# 70, Chikkanayakanahalli

Off Doddakaneli,

Sarjapur Road,

Bangalore – 560035

Email: bhoomi.programmes@gmail.com