snake hunter

Saedi's become a stalker. She prowls the Land like a cat in search of mice. Except instead of delicately hunting rodents, she's after much larger prey... She's after snakes.

She hasn't attacked any yet--thank God--but she's found almost every possible place they can hide. She wakes us up at night barking at the rat snake in the garden. It was she who found the snakes making love. And today she found the big one.

I followed her cries to see her inching towards a coiled up beast. Who knows how long he was, but his body was a good two inches diameter. And he had spots. I watched in awe as both Saedi and I could inch closer and closer without it moving... Was he dead? Sleeping?

Then it hit me: Does it matter?

This isn't a harmless rat snake. I don't know much about snakes, but this I knew. Cobra? He wasn't hissing and there was no obvious hood. So as I ushered the dogs away, I described the snake to Martanda--and later looked online--only to discover it was a "mature" Russell Viper, a poisonous and seductive snake. Eek.


Nice reminder that we are not the kings of this castle...

Biased Divine

Beats me how some things get fussed over and others snubbed. Perhaps it is a tendency in human nature to associate only with the ones in limelight and ignore everything else. Being proxy to the famous you get  sprinkled upon with some star dust. 
Yet,happiness is elsewhere somehow.

Aren't all sentient beings  equal in God's eyes? If one banyan tree by an accident of chance happens to grow roots in a patch of land which, according to some,  is 'holy land' ( God, one more!), that banyan tree is disproportionately hallowed.  What about others, says I? What about other banyans, for instance, which have grown within the same 'holy' compound of the great 'holy' land? Can they be cut and hacked randomly,  cement benches be built upon their roots. Why?

One obvious answer is this:- the Mother has not mentioned them anywhere in any of her many writings, nor any reference to them is sited  in her recorded conversations.

So what?

It is common sense that all trees are trees and they are significant, perhaps the most significant element that makes earth the living planet.

Tukarama, the 16 th c. saint from Maharashtra wrote such passionate poetry. One of them is," Vikshavalli amha soyari vanachari..." ( Forests (all vegetation) are our relatives...)

But then it is not uncommon among men that some relatives are dearer than others. One aunt gets more of our love and attention than others, because that aunt was mother's favorite? Does that mean that the Divine is not all that impartial after all? S/He has preferences?

Natural farmer - Krishna Mckenzie

  Back in 1997, i believe Muniandi, Kartik and i started this place called today Solitude.
  We did not last very long, we were young but lacked funds to follow up the work on the land which is very suitable for framing.
  Krishna came in the picture very gracefully! seriously.  He inspired and passionate of natural farming has created an amazing place in Auroville, South India.
  They eat of the land (99% grown on the land).  He plays the guitar and sings.
  Check him and his band at :)

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emergence.in%2Fnewsletter.html&h=efd95e6c251f0d08a45ffbcffeb66a39

  He is an inspiration to me.  Hard working, passionate for the land and is proving to us all the abundance, beauty Earth provides us!

Host and guest

Words are so much a part of convention. In life's great flux nomenclature falls like dying leaves from a tree. The tree itself remains standing with all those leaves scattered about its great girth. Season shifts, a tree grows one more ring-node on its trunk. Its age is thus marked. And so it goes on.
We who understand all the pluses of possession, of acquisition and proprietorship and ownership, should know at some deeper level that really there is no owning without threat. Ownership works so like a beast 'marking' a tree with secretion from its gland. We use lofty phrases to communicate; we spray our area with a different odour. It reeks of law.
Forest breaks no law. Summer follows winter and then rains and summer again. There is renewal - of zest, of the lust for life, even renewal of the necessary poise to take on the most devastating foe, the time. Man would say that time wins. The forest would smile and fall quiet.
These are words. They are a part of human convention. Nature is unconventional, and therefore fresh and full of surprises. Forest hosts everything and everybody without claiming to be the host. It is wide and deep and benevolent, so benevolent that it forgives you even after you have damaged it. It invites you deep into itself: you are its guest as long as you need to be so. The moment your need to be the guest is absolved you become the forest!
Yes, you become the forest.

- Charudatta

Shiny Love

Saedi is a great watchdog. She’s so great that she barks at everything… wandering cows, bags of coconut husk, the elephant statues we put in the garden… So great, in fact, that sometimes we tune her out.

Yesterday she was barking so long and enthusiastically that she lost her little (big) doggie bark. I came out when I realized how passionate she was about whatever object she chose to defend the house against this time. But as I followed her voice, I realized she had actually found something she really considered a threat.

I couldn’t see it at first. She was furiously growling at…the ground. But as I neared her position, I saw something shimmer in the setting sun. Something big. Something slimy. Something slithering. It was the largest damn rat snake I’ve ever seen. (Even at Croc Bank!)

Today I came home to that same furious bark and thought immediately it might be the Slithering Giant. I quietly grabbed my camera and followed her bark to what she had found.

My heart stopped. It was a snake—It wasn’t the big one, but it was sitting up…like a cobra ready to attack!

I screamed for her to get back. She listened. But it wasn’t a cobra… It wasn’t just one snake… It was: snake sex.


I filmed it anyways.



There’s actually something beautiful, captivating, and—dare I say it?—romantic about snakes mating. They’re so intertwined with each other and so focused on each other that they don’t even seem to notice the barking dog(s) and gawking human that may stand a foot or so from their love-making site. I was so touched I had to give them privacy…even if Saedi kept barking away.

"Work" at Lumiere

“This will sound silly,” I admitted to my friend and Hindi translator, who was relaying my words to Naveen, our new watchman. “Ask him to pretend that this forest is incredibly special, unique, precious. Pretend that this Land is so special he should protect it and its trees with his heart and soul. It may sound ridiculous, but we think it is that special, and we think everyone else who lives here should too.”

The negotiations were to get Naveen to start sleeping on the Land. We were so desperate to have a presence here in the winter that we grabbed him with little training or requests. Now that things are quieting down a bit again, we want to make sure he’s happy with the job. Because this work shouldn’t feel like work; we want him to live here and love it. (Is that so much to ask?) ;)

So what does the work entail anyways? Here’s the gist:

1. Protect the trees (chase cows, build little fences around saplings that are being eaten, prune parasites, prevent cutting, etc etc)


2. Create an environment in which Nature can flourish (fix holes in the fences to keep the cows out, water thirsty saplings throughout the forest, pick up any litter that blows onto the Land, protect and feed the nursery)


3. Guard the Land (greet any and all “visitors” so they know there’s a presence, walk the Land, watch for fires or other situations that indicate external intervention, keep an eye on fallen trees or other opportunities for people to come and take advantage of the Land)

And of course there’s the steward himself who handles all the real situations, manages all the work, knows every plant inside out, and helps each tree grow and live to its maximum potential. The rest of us are the support team, but we all do our part.

Hell, even the dogs take the work seriously—they 1.chase cows (maybe it’s just instincts and training)… they 2.pick up litter (ok, maybe it’s just to play with it)… and they 3. greet every visitor with--enthusiasm?--(even the guests we don't want to scare away)…

Just another funny day at the farm…

Is it full moon?

The animals are acting crazy.

First thing in the morning, a paradise fly-catcher (beautiful bird!) was playing in the fountain. Never have I seen this type of bird anywhere near the water… Why start now?

In the late afternoon when the cows came for their last drink, I was in the kitchen and heard a “thunk” followed by a splash. One of the calves had fallen into the fountain. Funny to see the big awkward animal amongst the sunflowers, scrambling to climb back over the wall!

And as I was cleaning the kitchen before making dinner, I noticed perched behind the trash cans a single, organic egg. One of the hens has decided to sneak in through the window and make the garbage her nest.

What is wrong with the creatures?

Broken bike? Not until it don't start at all...

Here at Lumière we make the best of things. Most of our pots don’t have handles, none of our plates match, our furniture is 90% hand-me-downs. But that’s how we like it.

Now that Palani is back with us for a few weeks, he too is playing the “as long as it functions it don’t need fixing” game. So when the motorcycle’s kick start fell off… well, the boys found a new way to start it:

Pet Chickens

We would never eat our chickens. They come greet us in the morning, they follow us on our daily walks, and they look longingly at us for food all the time. They are pets, not produce. (But we will happily eat their eggs…)

Our dear friend Monica takes chicken-loving to the next level. A lover of all things feathered, we call her the bird whisperer. Today she proved the name fits...

Yep, that’s Monica petting the chickens…

If only they’d be so friendly with their master…

…at least the dogs will eat from his hand?

dogsu

Here at Lumière we’re always finding creative ways to merge knowledge from multiple fields. It’s in the steward’s nature. Not only is Martanda a forester, but he is a student of massage and healing, and someday dreams of becoming a watsu practitioner. Maybe someday he can practice this water-art in the serenity of the Land. Maybe someday he’ll be able to merge Earth and Water.

But in the meantime, he finds other ways to merge both his occupations. Today it was Dogsu, or Tansu on Dogs.