a continuation of City of Dawn…
After some inquiring, we found out that we had to take a right, so we took the right, roamed around the place for half an hour, and then came back to the starting point. An elderly gentleman was on his morning walk.
“Hi, would you happen to how I can get to Center Guest House?”
“Well, I am actually new here. There are some local people at the gate to our left. Maybe they can help you.”
So we went ahead in the wrong direction in the hope of finding the right one. There were people at that gate who could help us, and they did. We finally reached the Center Guest House, but only to realize that neither the guesthouse nor we had change. Within no time, we were back on the road.
I ran into the elderly gentleman once again at a nearby tea shop. I wanted to split my five hundred rupee note and he wanted, well, tea. After paying the auto driver, I had a chat with the gentleman.
Mr Suresh had arrived in Auroville a fortnight earlier. We talked a little about his life, a little about my life, a little about life in general and a little about after life. He was working for the Pitchandikulam community in Auroville.
Around two hundred years ago, the Auroville Plateau was thickly forested. The forest was subsequently cut down to protect people from the wildlife and to obtain timber. By 1973, Auroville had turned into a dry, desolate land with almost no vegetation. The indigenous vegetation of the region, the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest, was found only in very small patches in the area.
Pitchandikulam is a local community that was established in 1973 for preservation and restoration of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. They started the restoration process by using green manure to rebuild the soil. Live fences were created to protect the land from grazing. Tree planting was done to break the wind and to provide shade. Seeds from the remaining patches of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest were introduced to the soil, and nurseries were set up. A strong emphasis was placed on conservation of indigenous plant species with a particular focus on medicinal plants and the people who use them.
Environmental education and community outreach are a major focus of the work at Pitchandikulam. They work in twenty five villages throughout the Kaliveli Bio Region to empower them towards self sustenance and involve them in the process of eco restoration.
The seventy acre site is now a peaceful sanctuary of self-generating forest with a wide diversity of flora and fauna. More than eight hundred species of plants can be found in the sanctuary forest, grasslands and ethno-medicinal gardens at Pitchandikulam.
It became very hot and sunny. We greeted each other and were leaving the place, when he called out to me.
“Nihit”.
“Yes, Mr Suresh?”
“I am going to a very interesting community called Sadhana Forest in the evening. They will play a movie ‘Garbage Warrior’. You can join me if you are interested.”
I told him I will let him know, and thought about the offer as I walked back to the guest house. “I can either go to the beach or visit Sadhana Forest and watch a movie on garbage collection”, I thought to myself. The choice was fairly obvious.
stay tuned for more…
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[...] continuation of Two roads diverged in a wood… Courtesy: Low Carbon [...]