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 extraction till the final jaggery production is not more than 3-4 hours. Whereas, in big production units, this time could be anywhere between 24 hours to 36 hours, which means, additional chemicals need to be added to avoid the oxidation of the liquid.

And time is critical in understanding our digestive system too. As the food stays in our intestine for x number of hours (depending on the food), it's important to keep track of what goes first and what follows. Experienced Health lovers prefer to eat uncooked food for the breakfast as it warms up the intestines in a natural way. However, there's no standard rule to follow as individual body constitution and metabolism differs based on gene, climate etc.

A note from a young spinner

Spinning was a meditative experience for me. It was a humbling experience to sit and spin from cotton to yarn. I had never done spinning before let alone seen a charaka in real life, so I was grateful for the opportunity to spin. Most of the time, I was operating subconsciously and I often felt the rotating and pulling motion flow through me like water. Before I knew it I had spun several rotations of yarn, and that was a strange yet wonderful experience. 

The rhythm of spinning is one that seeped into me over the two days and I hope to continue spinning in the days to come. It was quite a surreal experience to hold the final Ladi (Hank) in my hands. It was the product of my labour and I felt proud, happy, and rooted to have created it.
 
To top it all off, the conversations and discussions on society, sustainability, and self-sufficiency with Abhilash, Sachu, Bala and my fellow spinners really tied the workshop together and helped to place the action into the relevant present context. I am grateful for the chance to partake in this workshop and will definitely keep spinning in the days to come, and I hope to join the group again when I return to Mysuru.

- Drupad, Student of Sociology from TISS Guwahati

An illustrative note from our young artist:

Store Updates:

• Rangoli is perhaps the most indigenous art form of India. At the Store, everyday our team member Sunandamma draws rangoli that doesn't follow the convention. It purely follows the principles of beauty. The delicate curves and stunning patterns are created effortlessly by her deft hands. Sunandamma works as a night shift nurse and comes to help us clean up the premises in the mornings. Her work ethics and pride of work brings positivity to the environment around.....
  
  
  
  
  

• When the trees got cut and chopped by the Premises caretaker, we all felt bad. However, it gave us an opportunity to work on the soil. Raised beds are being formed to grow herbs and native vegetables. To join in the fun, please connect with the Mysore Kitchen Gardeners group -  90084 84880