It is now 20 years since Richard ‘Dick’ Grimshaw and John Greenfield sighted vetiver grass gripping slopes of farmers’ hillside fields in Gundlupet, Karnataka. They had the vision to see it as a many faceted aid for farmers all over the world. It is a measure of their zeal that today vetiver has a growing … Continue reading Vetiver : an interlude →

For just over a month now, hardly anything has happened at pointReturn – except, most gratifyingly, the 300 odd plants in the ground have continued their growth and the windmill has continued to water them. With that comfort, I spent the time of inaction to observe a few oddities.

Last month saw small progresses on many fronts at pointReturn. The pond environs were cleaned up, a trench to trap rainwater was dug, vetiver was planted along the trench’s edge, a kitchen was planned and begun and about 300 saplings were set in place. Of the plants, a good number were Pongamia Pinnata, India’s forgotten … Continue reading Was it the week that oil peaked? →

Having spent over an year in developing water security, fences against grazing cattle, road access to the site, a room to stowaway tools and a basic shelter for overnight stops, the time has come at last to begin planting. Ahead of answering ‘what’ to plant, I cooked up a strategy in answer to ‘how’ to … Continue reading A planting plan →

The North East Monsoon for the year has just ended. It has been an year of good rainfall- the best in ten years, say the villagers. The monsoon for me, was not just about water though; it delivered information for watershed design, it was a primer on rural economics, a reminder of opportunities being lost … Continue reading State of the rains, 2007 →

Parts of the pointReturn site are rocky. The land slopes away from a small hillock. Years of erosion have not only depleted the top soil but also exposed many rock formations. I decided on the logical course of clearing these to make way for trees and use the rocks as a building material. And that … Continue reading Rock harvest →

An invitation from Samanvaya has to be taken seriously, for Ram, his wife Rama and colleague Priya who run it are serious, commited people. The invitation was to a weekend retreat to discuss Gandhi’s view of Self-Rule, which he called Swaraj. Everyone has heard the word Swaraj and understands it differently. I too had my … Continue reading Gandhigram : An interlude →

If not another piece of developmental work occurs from today at pointReturn, it will still be on its way to regenerate itself for, as I write, a 6′ deep pond spread over half an acre has been dug and it stands filled to the brim by the rains that seemed to have impatiently waited for … Continue reading A pond is born →

Having struggled over two months to complete a 100 sqFt storage room built out of steel, bricks and cement, it was delightful relief to complete, in about a week, a 700 sqFt space using just half a bag of cement and 250 gms of steel wire. The other materials that went into creating the space … Continue reading Building with local materials →

On July 31, 2006, the 17 acre main body of the pointReturn site was formally registered. It took until the December 21, 2006 to buy an additional 0.91 cents on which to lay an all weather access road. But that didn’t quite start off the project. I had to wait until April, 2007 for the … Continue reading One year on →