4 months in India

Just a few days ago, I landed at Montreal airport. It was a long (30 hour) trip from 33 degrees in Pondicherry, India to minus 4 here. Now, I am emerging from the 10 1/2 hour time change and sorting through the pictures taken during my stay.

What did I do during my winter-long participation? I never really left the community surroundings because I was fulfilled with my activities there. Early on in December, I began to teach the children of the workers, who were living in their own village on the property. They all came from the Orissa province in the north and now enjoyed a life of relative security and comfort. Without the school, the children, aged 5 to 15, would be left on their own to roam and wait for their parents to return from work. The community yoga teacher, Raju, who spoke Hindi, was my partner in teaching English, mathematics and crafts. Every morning at 10, the children assembled for a short yoga class given by Raju, then they had a break to drink a glass of milk (from our own 2 cows!). Raju helped me to communicate with the children aged over 7 to begin learning new sounds and a new alphabet. We had so much fun together and I learned at least as much as my students. Their way of life was a mystery to me! We created some School Rules to help our life together function.
#1 Keep the schoolroom tidy
#2 Pay attention to the lessons
#3 Help each other
#4 Keep school materials and toys in the school
#5 Be happy!

During the rest of the day I was busy helping to create ornamental shade gardens in different areas of our property; there was much to learn about the needs of of tropical plants and trees.
My favorite tree must be the frangipani, because of the shape and the seductive scent of its flowers at night. Here you see the sample, planted in front of my house as a 20cm stump in December!












I was also baking cakes for our community restaurant and participating in retreats, practicing practically, being a member of a new humanity that loves, cares and shares. So the 4 months flew by without ever a thought to posting in this blog. Now I'm back and plan to report regularly about my gardening adventures and my new home in Hawkesbury, Ontario as of April 28th.

Oh, Canada!

My last 6 weeks in India were so wonderfully quiet and fulfilling that I did not think of reaching out to write a post. Especially the last 3 weeks, when the temperatures rose to 35 degrees C., my life had a pleasant routine: wake at 5, drink tea as the sun rises, walk around the gardens till breakfast and then organize the workers for planting and maintenance projects. After lunch and at 5 p.m. I gave English classes to the Indian staff. Evenings were spent together singing, watching a movie or playing UNO, my favorite card game. The jackfruit were ripening...what a joy to experience. Now the mango, papaya and banana trees are bearing their fruit as well. India, I miss you!

Now I am back since one week....it is quite an adjustment. So much space, so few people, so many clothes to wear! I'm shocked at how much "stuff" I have. Slowly everything will get a new home or go the way of all material things. I began with a huge fire on Easter Monday, where I burnt 30 years worth of personal diaries. Who cares anyway? Life is happening now.

I was tempted to go back to horse-back riding when I saw all my equipment stored away in the barn. Then I thought about it: 1 hour of riding lessons costs as much as one friend in India earns per month, in 200 hours of work building walls or painting window frames. No, I am beginning a new life of simplicity, needlessness and sharing.

This picture shows one of my favorite spring-time sights: a flock of Canada Geese taking off from a cornfield early in the morning. The sound and sight of them reaches back to my first days of life on this planet. The sun is rising over the Ottawa river beside my house. Thank you Nature, for this experience!

India!

After a detour to Switzerland to visit friends from my past life there and four days in Freiburg in Germany, I got on the plane in Frankfurt for Chennai. Now, here I am at my station for the next four months. It is hot and there is so much to do in the community where I am staying near Pondicherry. Internet is a bit shaky.... so here are some pictures before I'm cut off again.

Here you see the workers doing their best to get my house done. Next is the community garden and finally three women who work on the construction site.