We have started!
Mon, 12 Feb 2007
Of the 3 interconnected aspects of SHARAN; health, animals and nature, we have embarked with two of them; health and nature.
We have started work on a 6.5 acre piece of land at Bajwada, close to Nemawar, in Madhya Pradesh since April 2006. This farm is 2 1/2 hours from both Indore and Bhopal by road, and easily reachable from Mumbai by several overnight trains to Harda. Harda is just 25 kms from the farm. The farmland has been given by Dr Malpani of Mumbai and belongs to Malpani Trust. The property is extremely scenic being right on the river Narmada and we trust that this will add to the attraction of this place as a health retreat in the future.
Dipak Suchde, an eminent organic farmer and a disciple of the late Sri Dhabholkar has moved there. He plans to grow all the varieties of fruits vegetables and grains that we need for our own consumption and that of our visitors. He is also conducting organic farming workshops for farmers in the vicinity to teach them how they can convert their conventional farms to organic and have a reasonable monetary gain in the first year. Several large farms (over 100 acres) in the area are making losses through conventional farming. Some farmers have already converted a part of their acreage to organic, and there are more wanting to convert under his guidance.
Dipak Suchde is setting up a model farm to teach various techniques. He has also given several workshops and conferences all over India since we have started. Several farmers have also visited from other parts of India for his residential trainings.
We are still on the look out for a larger piece of land, either close to our farm in Bajwada, or near Mumbai. Mr Binod Saharia of Saharia resorts, Jaipur has suggested we work on his 50 acre property. At the moment we are considering all possibilities.
On the health front, Dr Nandita Shah has been giving a talk titled, “Our Health, Who’s Responsibility?” with the goal of empowering people to take responsibility for their own health and healing through understanding the logic of a healthy vegan diet. You can read more about this under ‘Health : Healthy eating’ in this website. These talks have been given in Mumbai, Pondicherry, Auroville, and abroad, and there has been a lot of positive feedback, however it was found that many were not clear how to implement it. So she gave 4 workshops last January and February and another 4 a scheduled for this January and February. The workshops are called ‘Peas vs Pills’ and include detailed theory, cooking demonstrations, 3 meals and lots of materials to help implement the changes.
On the animal front, we are just beginning, right now by helping other established animal welfare organizations with their work. We did a vegetarian campaign on Earthday 22/4/2006, where we explained to everyone the impact of raising animals for food on our environment, on our health, and of course on the animals. We asked all the restaurants in the Auroville area to keep their menus completely vegetarian for this event and we are happy to say that 19 of the 21 restaurants asked were happy to do so.
We gratefully acknowledge all those who have helped with our work. If what you see on this website moves you, please do come forward and contact us. If you would like to join us for any length of time and in any capacity, do let us know. We need lots of hands if this project is to be successful.
