I settled on cob as a material of construction after eliminating other options one by one. When i considered cost, embodied energy, ease of use, comfort for occupants, aesthetic potential and sense of fulfillment I found cob was hard to beat. And now having grown familiar with it, I will stay with it for long, … Continue reading Exploring cob →

A windmill pumps water when the wind blows and that is not always when you need the water. At some point or the other you will have to make a decision about creating extra storage for the pumped water. Here are some notes from my experience that might offer you a lower cost option.

There is now solar powered electricity at pointReturn and I thought it would be useful to set out how I think about power and energy and what was the process by which I finally selected what I did.

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 →