Uttarakhand – Day 21
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Mayetri Farm
Breakfast this morning was sandwiches, which we ate together in the cool garden. The university student had stayed the night and so joined us, but soon headed off to classes. He cycles to school, something like 10 kilometers each way. He was very quiet and I didn’t get to know him at all, but he looked like a person worth getting to know.
Harish was eager to show me his Mayetri Farm and all the things he was growing. The cottage and surrounding gardens are his design. His avocados are doing great and there are enough to sell. The cardamom, however, is not going so well. It buds, but no fruit. Perhaps it’s too cold. Not to be deterred, he uses the buds to mix with his green tea and it “sells like hotcakes!” Among the fruit trees are guava, grapefruit, lemon, and almond. He is also trying passion fruit, not common in this region, and since it is doing so nicely his neighbors started growing it too.
When he pointed out a tree, he said, “like Totoro,” referring to a popular Japanese animation. Rainwater is harvested and stored in an underground cistern holding 15,000 liters. It fills up quickly and he is encouraging the panchayet leaders to spread this idea. “What is happening in the body is what is happening in the environment,” he explained. “If our body is sick, it is because our environment is sick, and vice versa. This Mayetri farm shows what a healthy life and environment can be like.”
Before departing, Harish laid the table with precious goods from the garden – ground turmeric, sesame, his famous green tea mix, fresh fragrant chamomile. Some was for me, and some was instructed to take to people at ARI, which I did!
With the people
Our last item on the agenda was to meet with Dr. Vijay Kumar, who was Harish’s boss in the JICA project, and whom he has known and worked with for a very long time. We spoke of the cooperatives we met yesterday and how empowered the women have become. The thing that stuck with me most in this conversation was something Harish said. He said that other people in his field are surprised at how close he becomes with the communities he works with. From an ARI perspective, closeness is a necessity. Go and live with them, spend time together, eat together, and listen deeply, we say. But I guess the usual approach is to keep distance, to separate your world and their world. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me and may even have some merits. It’s just, I don’t see how you can truly help someone without knowing their hearts. I think Harish would agree.
A fair fare
After an awesome cumin onion salad and chicken tika wrap, Harish ordered an uber to take me to the airport. The fellow came within a few minutes and Harish sent him away. The price he asked for was higher than the price listed on the app. This didn’t sit well with Harish, so he ordered another uber who was there in minutes. This second guy was just awesome. With his zigging and zagging, hand constantly on the horn, we were there in no time. You know how nervous I am about getting to airports on time. He even passed an ambulance on the way, (siren off), on the back of which was written, “Don’t follow me” (we didn’t). When we arrived, he asked me for the agreed upon price. I handed him a little extra and a smile appeared on his face, so I gave a little more and that smile turned to full-fledged happiness. I know what you’re thinking, but it was just so nice not to be cheated.
My flight back to Bangaluru went perfectly smoothly, meaning, I have no good stories to tell. I checked into the Avora Tree Hotel, the same place I had stayed before and there ended my day.
