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Spinning empowers!

Leaf 1 - Full moon 13 July 2022   T he mango season is almost over and good butter fruits have started coming in. The Dasheri mangoes from Raje gowda farm that came in last week are worth mentioning for its flavour and sweetness. Topics covered in this fortnight includes - Ms. Sunitha & Vanastree, our friend Ms. Sahana and her parenting efforts, Charaka spinning at the Store and the new farmer who joined our list of empaneled farmers. Sunday group spinning @ Prakriti The group spinning activity on Sunday 3rd July at the Store surprisingly attracted lots of children. Thanks to Sachu (for manufacturing and selling box charakas) and Santosh Koulagi (from Janapada Seva Trust, Melkote who introduced us to the world of spinning), charaka spinners are on the rise in Mysore region. Those who strive for extracting their basic needs (Food, Shelter & Clothing) from Mother Nature without harming her, find this Charaka spinning empowering and fulfilling. A press note was also rel...
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A visit to Angarike Maala

  As part of the Prakriti community outreach program, a few of us visited 'Angarika maala', a 7 acre living lab & Learning Centre at Nagavalli village near Chamarajnagar on 10th Nov 2024. A minibus was organized for the 20+ participants for this trip and lunch was prepared and served by the Punarchith team at the farm. While the flora and fauna biodiversity at Angarika maala was around 50+ and 20+ species respectively in 2015, it has exponentially rose today with the land having more than 20 varities of just the grass species itself. One wonders at Nature's ability to bring diversity into the given environment whereas human mind tend to destroy diversity both ecologically and socially due to its egoistic nature. 'Diversity brings Beauty and Robustness to Life' is perhaps the fundamental principle that we need to learn from Nature. And for the sake of the future generations, such living labs and visits are needed.....
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Why is July called the cosmic midnight?

  * Leaf 17 - Full Moon - 03 July 2023*   The full moon in July is called Guru Poornima for a reason.  The Earth is farthest from the Sun (or at its Aphelion) about 2 weeks after the June Solstice (and it is at the closest - Perihelion, about 2 weeks after the December Solstice)  While the Solstices and Equinoxes are due to the Earth's tilt, the Aphelion and Perihelion are due to the elliptical path of Earth's orbit around the Sun and Sun's off-centered location. Yes, Sun is not at the center of our elliptical path. It's appx. 5 million kilometers off. [ To put this figure in perspective, compare it with the size of Earth - 12,742 km diameter ] So, when the Sun's the farthest (termed as the cosmic midnight in cosmological terms -  https://www.aeoncentre.com/the-earth-calendar-cosmic-midnight/?mc_cid=66dbbe7e97&mc_eid=68c4db92b9 ),  our Moon brings the Light from the cosmic depths for us (Guru is symbolized as Light, aka Knowledge) to uplift ou...
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Trade for Equality

* Leaf 16 - Full Moon - 04 June 2023*   After a long break, this fortnightly broadcasting is back, in a monthly mode now - on Full moon days! It shall remain as a medium of dialogue on all topics that are relevant to our Freedom & Happiness. In this episode, we'll talk about a WTO, La Via Campesina & some Store updates as well. WTO vs La Via Campesina The WTO came into existence in 1995. But it was just a renamed version of the GATT, which was in existence since 1948, that was defining the International Trade rules. The main improvisation from GATT to WTO was to integrate Agriculture into the logic of generalized Free Trade. La Via Campesina (LVC) is a world peasant movement, that was created against the logic of globalization and commodification of Agriculture, involving, small / family / women farmers around the world. Last month, WTO sent a request to LVC for joining in the new 'Civil Society Council' that it is proposing to initiate and integrate within its stru...
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Smelling the color of Adike Chogaru

* Leaf 15 - Full Moon - 5 Feb 2023*         Dear friends, Full moon days are a good time to think deeply about your dreams and wishes in Life. They say the enhanced energy levels during this period would help you reach the destination faster and easier. One prescribed dream for Humanity is a fully evolved Democracy and which is a better day to remember Democracy than January 26th? January 26th symbolizes Democracy more than the August 15th for us because while 15th August is the day Independence was given to us its on 26th January when we took it upon ourselves.  Our Constitution is an expression of our Culture and Dreams. In recent times, there's been concern that the Constitution is being hijacked by this or that institutions. In reality, Constitution is not just a document, but a reflection of our lifestyle and attitudes in daily lives. If this message can be understood and spread amongst us, there's nothing much to worry about as our collective v...
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Democracy, naturally

* Leaf 14 - New Moon - 21 Jan 2023*         Dear friends, Sankranthi is a time to remember our connection with Nature and express Gratitude for all that Sun & his/her Family has given to us. Sankranthi celebration - Rangoli by Sunandamma & Dhakshayini What 2023 holds for us is anybody's guess. Few days back, the UN Chief said 'WORLD IS IN A SORRY STATE' to a group of businessmen at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And a few days earlier, Our Prime minister too uttered similar sounding words extending it further saying it'd be difficult to predict how long this state of instability will last. When all those at the top utter similar words, there should be some semblance of truth to it. So, the best way to plan for 2023 is to just hang around, eat good organic food, spend time with people around you and find simple ways to interact with the environment around to make it a better place. Cycles of Nature Evolution of Thought in Time Eons ago, wh...
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What you eat first and what follows is important

* Leaf 13 - Full Moon - 06 Jan 2023*         Dear friends, The new year has born in the Gregorian Calendar. Let the year 2023 make us all stronger in our resolve, clearer in our thoughts and dearer in our behavior. Cycles of Nature Time is a measure of our movement in space. The relevance of Days, months & years should be acknowledged. Do you know why a Hindu calendar has a 60 year cycle? This cycle of 60 samvatsara is based on the relative positions of Jupiter and Saturn in the sky. The orbital periods of Jupiter and Saturn are approximately 12 and 30 solar years respectively. The least common multiple of these two orbital periods is ~60 solar years - that is what the historians believe. Till we find a better reason, let's stick to this. But then, Time loses its relevance if it's not felt in our day-to-day existence. The other day our Jaggery maker pointed out that his jaggery is so alive and aromatic because the time taken from the sugarcane juice e...
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Why your Chilli & Papaya isn't tasting that good lately?

* Leaf 12 - New Moon - 23 Dec 2022*         Dear friends, It's time to sharpen our focus on Life's essentials - the taste and smell of Native vegetables & fruits, the great works of Leaf compost, the blissful state of spinning and more...  The last village tour to Sunkathonnur alemaney was fun and educational. Read on for more..... Shakthidhama School children exploring Prakriti Food     Have you used Leaf compost for your Garden? Adding compost to the soil increases its water holding capacity, maintains its temperature and facilitates the soil bacterial processes which improves the availability of mineral salts to the plants. When newly fallen leaves are added directly to the soil without composting it first, the microbes that decompose the leaves compete with the growing plants for soil nitrogen - leading to nitrogen shortage. The organic matter is a ...
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