It is two months since the pointReturn land was bought and it is time to take stock of what is happening and what is not; what are the immediate plans and what are they dependent on.

Whether or not one likes it, capitalism has prevailed. In the 230 years since Adam Smith, capitalism has created sturdy institutions, converted many infidels, gone global and bound the world in a seemingly irreversible way. It’s a hard to beat the capitalist brotherhood. But the ‘capital’ in capitalism is money; it’s about investments, returns and … Continue reading Nature as a capitalist →

Without casting doubts on the technical viability of biofuels for use in internal combustion engines or their ability to counter global warming, a number of environmentalists have pointed out some possible adverse side-effects. What is pointReturn’s response?

The quickest way to fall in love with vetiver [ vetiveria zizanioides ] is to count the many ecologically gentle ways in which this simple, hardy, Cinderella grass can serve and better our lives.

One of the reasons a sloping land gets abandoned is soil erosion. To arrest this, contours of the land should be determined and rain water run-off impeded across the contour. A simple way to mark a contour line is by means of a home made A-Frame.

I hear many -often, young people- say, “I will buy a small piece of land and take to growing trees or growing crops or whatever”. The wish to get back to land is compelling and frequent. I succumbed to that once, 26 years ago and having seen a patch go green, have begun again with … Continue reading The arcana of buying land →

What form of prayer and worship will be admissible at pointReturn? These are such important aspects of a person’s life that their importance cannot be ignored. Here are some thoughts on the subject.

It’s not Microsoft knockoffs I am talking about. This is a speculation on how one might translate the Open Source concept to physical objects – in this case office space – OSO. As this is one of the activity ideas for pointReturn to explore, it will be laid out here with reference to implementing it … Continue reading Open Source Offices →

The search for a suitable land was into its sixth frenetic week when on June 17, Manoharan, a fisherman of my village Muttukkadu, said: “I have just the kind of property you have in mind. A friend has the details. Give me a day, for me to go visit it and confirm it meets your … Continue reading On first seeing Vellimalai →

Some of the basic search criteria for a suitable piece of land to locate pointReturn are easy to understand. For example, that it must be within 100 kM of Chennai city. Or that it must be affordably priced. Other criteria need some explanation.