Teachers from Western Uttar Pradesh congregated for an Art Camp

Patna.6-10 January: The New Year saw the entire north India reeling under the intense cold waves, with the temperature fluctuating between 3-16 degrees Celsius. In the meantime, 25 Teachers from Pushp Niketan school Dhampur, Western U.P congregated at Tarumitra for a workshop on Art and Environment.

Teachers from Pushp Niketan assembled under the Kamroop Tree

The workshop consisted of creative experiments of a fusion of art and education. The group worked on the mediums of soil, deadwood, waste materials; each of the teachers expressing their thoughts into remarkable visuals and installations.

Teachers seeking inspiration from nature: Art from the Earth

Conceived by a widely discussed young artist Blaise Joseph the guiding team consisted of Ms Sugandha Upasani from Pune and Sheetal from Bangalore. Sugandha recalled, “The teachers were very co-operative, and participated with full involvement. They made songs, rhymes, stories. There were paintings and art installations! They enjoyed doing all these. I loved the Cosmic Walk organized by Ms Margaret through the Panchvati part of the Tarumitra Bio-reserve! It transported me to the world of mysteries. The story will always remain with me.”

The group gathered around a winter fire every day!

Pushp Niketan School ”Abode of flowers”  is located in a semi urban town of Dhampur in the Dhampur Sugar Mills campus in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh State in India. It is visualized to be a world class model for progressive education with child centric education philosophy, pedagogies and processes. Here, the school is established a non hierarchical, alternative school system promoting excellence in learning and sound values in a safe, supporting and stimulating environment. Volunteers from other countries have come to add their mite to the Internationality of the school atmosphere. Six years old, the School is ably coordinated by Rtd. Major Rajesh Ranjit and his charming danseuse wife Nisha.

Singing that crawled into late nights: alive with dafli and drum!

Among the teachers there was a whole pool of talents. Pushpendra Chauhan with his deep sonorous vocals, Vineet with his drum, Gautam with his artistic mastermind brought up so much of joy to the group. Rahul co-ordinated the event.

One of the participants recollected that the best part of the workshop was the daily gatherings around bonfires under the sunshade outside Uttarayan building at Tarumitra. The teachers shared their stories among themselves spiced with some good quality singing led by the teachers. One evening, a student of classical singing, Ms Sugandha created magic with a mellowed rendition of Raag Bihag.

Considered a super chef, Ms Margaret Molomoo delighted the gathering with her impromptu herbal soups right on the bonfires! She had a way of creating a scintillating fare with a wide array of medicinal herbs collected from the bio-reserve!

One of the resource persons, Ms Sugandha created magic with Raag Bihaag!

Green architect, Fr. Joe Parekattil S.J who was present for the entire camp commented positively on the creative contents of the workshop.

“We were forest dwellers for a week” said one of the teachers as she was leaving the camp,  ”my knapsack is bigger because I carry lot more great memories!”

 

Archbishop of Patna writes on Ecological concerns for Christmas 2010

Patna. Dec 25: Archbishop of Patna,India, William D’Souza S.J has been an ace activist on ecology since 1996 when he gifted Tarumitra with ten acres of prime land in the metropolis to build the first ever Bio-reserve. Last year when the Copenhagen summit was on,  the Archbishop wrote to all Churches and communities not to indulge in electric illumination for Christmas since “52 kilograms of coal produces one Unit of electricity.”

This year the Archbishop wrote a Pastoral letter to all the churches and communities of his archdiocese on the ecological concerns prior to the Christmas 2010. He urged all the people to stand up and take action especially on the conservation of electricity and water.
The letter is significant at a time the world leaders are finding it difficult to arrive at a consensus on the ecological front. “We need more Dharmagurus (spiritual heads) like the Archbishop to come and guide their flocks!” said the green architect, Joe Parekattil.

Archbishop William wrote, “In my 2009 Christmas message, published in the Archdiocesan Samachar, I had called your attention to this global concern. I had suggested to “spreading the message of saving our Earth and environment from pollution and carbon foot print by celebrating our Christmas with minimum amount of electrical illumination”. I congratulate all of you for positively responding to my suggestion within your capacity. At the same time, I wish to delve on the same subject in detail once again through this pastoral letter. This concern, my dear brothers and sisters, is very crucial, vital, urgent and alarmingly dangerous which needs our immediate attention.
The early Christian tradition reveals an eco-sensitive understanding of the mystery of Christ. St. Ireneus of Lyons said: “Christ recapitulates and summarizes all of creation.” Jesus was always a true Son of the Earth. He was the fulfillment of prophets like Isaiah who prayed “Let the earth be open to bud forth the savior (Isaiah: 45-8). St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Ireneus and St. Benedict are some of the striking examples from among the early Fathers of the Church, who vehemently acclaimed the unity of creation. They could interpret Christian life as one that is integrally related to the earth and the environment. “The earth forms not only the basic raw material for humankind, but also the substance of the incarnation of God’s Son.” (St. Hildegard of Bingen)

In the middle ages, we have St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), who had an integrated understanding of nature and God experience. He is known as the Saint of the Nature. He looks at the whole creation as one family. Every living creature is seen as his brother or sister. His eco-friendly life challenges the materialistic world of dominion and control which thus inspires us to live a life of friendship and harmony with nature. He insisted that his brothers leave a border around the community garden untouched so that wild grass and flowers could grow.
The erratic floods, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, irregular monsoons, etc. are indications that the rhythm of life in nature is seriously in danger.

Archbishop William meets people (file pic)

Sadly, majority of us humans seems to be still unaware and unconcerned about the impending ecological havocs. Climate change due to global warming has affected the atmosphere and life so much so that earth is almost becoming inhabitable. The erratic floods, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, irregular monsoons, etc. are indications that the rhythm of life in nature is seriously in danger. Water and air and pollution, increase in the use of non-bio-degradable wastes such as plastic, etc. are making the earth and atmosphere unsuitable for living beings. Deforestation, use of harmful pesticides and manures for farming is another area which affects our eco-system and endangers human life. The greedy interventions affect rhythm of nature and tilt the eco-balance.

Governor of Bihar Dr. A.R Kidwai laying the foundation of the Tarumitra bio-reserve in 1996: Archbishop William on the left

In short, we are stretching the nature beyond its regenerative capacity. We forget that the nature continues to react and we all head towards a collective suicide. One of the great scientists on ecology, Dr. Norman Myers observed that we have “just about 7,000 days left if we don’t change our way of living in this short span of time. We need to seriously look into the challenges this eco-crisis presents to us today.”
Therefore a concerted ecological action is crucial in our times. Our Patna Archdiocese has been in the forefront of pioneering apostolate. God has always bestowed on us innumerable blessings. Therefore with a sense of gratitude, all of us must strive to campaign for environment friendly living.
I suggest that we use water and electricity sparingly. We can save electricity by using candles and diyas instead of electric illumination for celebrations, Planting trees, use of eco-friendly gifts for our friends and families, using natural sherbets like lime juice, traveling as far as possible, by the public transport system, etc. are some of the means to reduce the crisis. We need to preserve and promote environment. We have to motivate, educate and organize farmers to take up organic farming. Let us learn from local tribal groups to live eco-friendly life. By organizing eco-friendly activities and motivational seminars for the people around us, young and old, women and children, we will be able to involve the whole community in our eco-friendly interventions.
As we prepare ourselves to celebrate the salvific event of Jesus at Christmas, we have a special responsibility towards these concerns. Today God is savingly active all over the world, whispering into the hearts of people to stand up and take action to protect His planet. The incarnation of God’s Son is done on His planet with the matter and mud becoming His body and blood’ May the Word who took a human form and lived on this Earth, and thus sanctified the environment lead each one of us to love and respect our Mother Earth and give us the blessings to be eco-friendly in our day to day life.”

The media gave the Archbishop a wide coverage to his green initiatives. Many communities like Holy Family Hospital, St. Xavier’s College, XTTI etc dimmed down their Christmas illumination to the bare minimum. The Church in Phulwarisharif lit their whole church with solar electricity!

Sunderlal Bahuguna in Patna

Patna. 27 Dec: Veteran environmentalist and trailblazer of the famous Chipko movement, Sri Sunderlal Bahuguna visited Patna along with his wife today. He is in the town at the invitation of the revivalist movement Spicmacay (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth) at the Delhi Public School(DPS).

Sunderlal Bahuguna with his wife interacting with students at DPS Patna

Sri Sunder lal Bahuguna started the environmental movement in seventies when he got the support of the women of Garhwal to protest the felling of forests. The women moved in large numbers and hugged the trees (“chipko”) and stopped the clear-felling quite successfully for the first time in independent India.

File pic of Garhwal women hugging trees in 1970s

Spic Macay spear headed by Roshan Seth got some very rare artists like Birju Maharaj, Parveen Sultana, Margi Madhu etc to mentor students in the city. Students from many schools congregated the DPS premises for a five day period of close interactions and sharing.

Ever ingenious Principal of Patna DPS Mr. Vinod made sure that the students had an intimate time with these celebrated personalities.

Sunderlal Bahuguna 2010

It was very fortunate for us to get a chance to spend quality time with the legendary Sri Bahuguna. Many who remembered him from earlier times did mention that the man into his nineties still has not lost any of his gloss or lustre.

Sri Bahuguna interacted with the students in his simple manner, every now and then pausing to listen to their queries. His delightful wife sat next to him and prompted him whenever he missed any important nuances.
It may be mentioned that he became a very special role model for environmentalists when he stopped eating rice 20 years back saying that the country could not afford to cultivate the water-intensive rice varieties. Always a prophet, Sunderlalji continues to inspire the younger generation.

A dedicated Inter school got a chance to spend a memorable time with Sri Bahugunaji

A dedicated group (inter school) spent an extensive time with the veteran activist. DPS arranged the same group to spend next two days at the Tarumitra bio-reserve for  in depth study and follow up programmes. Margaret Molomoo, specialized in Japan on Organic farming  guided them i n their exposure. Molomoo said, “The group certainly has absorbed the vision of Sri Bahugunaji so well!”

 

Sacred Grove in Meghalaya

Shillong. 20 December: Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches. Sacred Groves are considered ecologically important hotspots of bio-diversity.

Meghalaya "Abode of Clouds" is home for many Sacred Groves

When Himachal Pradesh has over 5000 such Sacred Groves, the state of Meghalaya has just about 50 of them struggling to survive.

It is in this context, the Jesuits are floating the idea of converting their novitiate in Shillong, the capital of the state of Meghalaya into a Sacred Grove dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity. Shillong is situated at an average altitude of 4,908 feet (1,496 m) above sea level, with the highest point being Lum Shyllong at 6,447 feet (1,965 m). The city had a population of 260,520 according to the 2001 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the European settlers of Scotland. Hence, Shillong is also known as Scotland of the East.

Shillong is well connected by two national high ways. It takes three-four hours by road to reach the city from Guwahati.

Harvested Water reservoir inside the Jesuit property

The Jesuit campus, House of Arrupe has an area of 80 acres has a sheer drop of a thousand feet on one side and meandering meadows on the other side. The place has patches of pine and shola trees with a gurgling stream passing through to the water reservoir at the bottom part of the campus.

Sacred Grove in the making: Fr. Richard leading the team

Wild elephant grass and horse grass grow in between the patches of pine trees that filled up the hills. The proposed bio-reserve has the look of a prairie. Fr. Richard Jarain S.J, with a degree in Life Sciences, suggested the immediate possibility of planting indigenous trees in all the open patches of the land.

He along with his novices has turned some of the open spaces to plant rice, ginger, beans, and yams. The soil looked dark and fertile with a lot of sand and gravel to make it soft for plantations like ginger. The percolated water from the slopes comes down to form natural ponds.

“A few check dams could take care of the water needs of the sacred grove!” said Fr. Charles D’Souza, a veteran experienced in large plantations. The word “water” meant everything for the people of Meghalaya. The climate change has affected the state and the once wettest spot on the planet, Chirapunji, has dried up for months in the summer.

Gurgling streams inside the Sacred Grove: Fr. Charles D'Souza SJ (left)

Somebody suggested the possibility of laying pipes for 4-5 kilometres to bring water from a nearby mountain top. The budget then would become rather forbidding.
Knowledgeable people agreed totally with the observation of Fr. Charles that the solution for the water lay right in the property with catchment ponds and check dams.

There are some small natural ponds in the property with fresh water and plenty of frogs. If only more water could be stored from the rainy season! Fr. Charles suggested the construction of some “amoeba ponds” spread around the natural rock formations on the lower part of the land this coming summer.

Natural pond: Adequate water is a concern all over Shillong

What bothered everybody were the forest fires in summer. Each year forest fires were started by people who believes that large amount of smoke would attract the rains! The fires usually chucked up all the tall grass lands along with the saplings which had naturally sprouted or planted during the torrential rains. There were fire-lines around the property but anybody could hurl a lit up torch across these fire- breaks into the grasslands.

Forest fires pose a big threat to the Groves

Jesuit Fathers Yan and Richard Jarain formed a gritty combination in following up their dreams. 22 novices here have formed a team to construct lanes and by lanes crisscrossing the pine forest. Fr. Richard already got in touch with the Forest department and the officials were eager to lend a helping hand to plant the indigenous trees in the campus. A Professor of Botany, Mr James from the local college spent some time to identify and name the trees.

The whole concept of a Bio-reserve is that it should support all life forms. Whether they are birds, jackals or medicinal herbs, Bio-reserve must become a critical moment in the regeneration of the rich bio-diversity of the planet. Fr. Richard felt that they needed to reach out to support the few surviving indigenous trees local to the Shillong hills.
The chief complaint against the afforestation efforts of the Department of Forests had been that they planted mono-cultures of trees. Pine trees were their favourites since they were hardy and non browsable as far as animals were concerned. One would remember what distinguished botanist late Fr (Dr) K.M Mathew S.J used to say, “A pine forest is as peaceful as a dead cemetery since no animals and birds frequented such forests!”

Magnificent view of the plains from the proposed Sacred Grove

When the winter sun rose in the morning there was fairy tale charm in the whole atmosphere. The place is ideal for a retreat centre too. One can spend hours gazing down the hills to the plains of Assam below.

The Jesuits Novices formed teams to execute their Seven point action plans in 2011.

 

1. Planting varieties and naming the trees: Donald (L) Regin and Joseph
2. Cleanliness Campaign at the picnic site outside the campus: DJ (L) Tobias, and Roy
3. Fight the forest Fires: Lawrence (L) Shisha and Remo
4. Collect dry wood: Iben (L) and Lucker
5. Save Water and Electricity: Jonah (L) and Agam
6. Expand the Organic garden: Felix (L) and Ronald
7. Stop the trapping of all animals and birds: Jonah (L)

Team Leaders for the Bioreserve with the Director Fr. Richard Jarain SJ

Daughters and Sons of the Earth

Lonvla, Pune. 11 November 2010: Nine veteran educationists hailing from Mumbai, Gujarat and Pune joined to affirm their identity as Son of the Earth at a retreat in the picturesque Bandravilla in Lonavla.

The Retreat consisted of spending quality time with the divine earth, communing in her wisdom that rebuilds the earth every moment. Following the insights of the scientist philosopher of the earth, Teilhard de Chardin, Cultural historian, Thomas Berry and Mathematician Brian Swimme, the men spent hours outdoors. They sat around impromptu bonfires and recollected the stories of their lives.

Sons of the Earth: Retreatants among the trees in Lonavla

Bruno D’Souza S.J from St. Xavier’s Mumbai co-ordinated the coming together. Fr. Robert Athickal S.J led them through nature walks and open air liturgies into the inter-connected celebration of living.

Patna 23 Nov: Six women from the hills of Darjeeling joined for an eight day Retreat at the Tarumitra Bio-reserve. Known as a Holiday time with God in Nature, Tarumitra retreats are organized for groups on their requests.

Daughters and Sons of the Earth at Tarumitra: FC Sisters and CFC Brothers

Consisting of a PowerPoint presentation of a specific theme every day morning the Sisters spent their time under the trees, around the ponds or basking in the glades, communing with God in Nature.
The group was fascinated by the giant Wood spiders at the Bio-reserve. These orb-making Spiders were originally introduced into the bio-reserve five years back from Hazaribagh. Some of the campers brought them inside bottles and left them among the trees. Over the years they have multiplied.

 

Wood spiders thriving at the Bio-reserve: originally introduced from Hazaribagh

Natualist in Hazaribagh, Bob Billings SJ used to say that every spider gobbles a large number of mosquitos every day. Marina Thapa and Josbin Lepcha, two of the retreatants noticed that the ubiquitous Seven Sisters (birds) flit through the webs eating the giant spiders. Therefore Tarumitra volunteers started placing bowls of rice for the birds to eat and in the process hope that the birds would spare the Spiders!

 

Campaigns in the Gorkhaland!

Kurseong, Darjeeling 15 November: Tarumitra students from St. Joseph’s Kurseong in large numbers joined a campaign on Waste Management in the city. Keeping up their sustained fight against plastics, today’s march was to high light the plight of the waste disposal programmes in the city.
Students visited the hospital wards
The ever active Principal Sr. Winifred along with the Tarumitra Co-ordinator Mrs. Sudeshna Pradhan encouraged the students to go out of their secure campus. This time they rallied along to the Government run Sub-divisional Hospital to see for themselves the state of affairs.
D.K Pradhan, the Director  of the hospital met the students and answered their queries. They asked him to dispose of the hazardous medical waste properly. The students also moved around the wards and requested the patients and their visitors not to throw garbage here and there.

The students also trudged to the local market and met with many shopkeepers and pleaded with them not to sell items in plastics. They made a survey of the garbage heaps in the market. When the students accosted  some large shops they told the girls to back off!

Tarumitra asked the shopkeepers not to use plastics

The students were on the contrary were impressed by many people whom they met in the market. A number of them stopped to talk to them and encourage the girls.
Fish markets were another story for students!
Sudeshna Pradhan said that the Tarumitra students have pledged to keep up the campaign in the coming days.

Farmers Stir against GM Food in India

Patna. Nov 22: Large number of students and activists turned up to welcome a group of 40 ordinary farmers who started Kisan Swaraj Yatra “ Rally for Farmer’s Independence” from Gandhiji’s Ashram in Gujarat on Oct 2.

Traveling through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Praddesh, Orissa, Bengal and Jharkhand, they arrived in the city last night. The rally aimed at spreading awareness on the growing inflow of genetically modified (GM)food into the country along with deadly pesticides from abroad. It may be mentioned that GM seeds have a total ban in the European Union.

After a well attended meeting at the Science Centre, Tarumitra students joined them on a rally to Gandhi Maidan and then a trip to Tarumitra Bio-reserve nine kilometres away in Digha.

Trudging thousands of kilometers, the Farmers' Rally arrive at Tarumitra Bio-reserve

Over 400 students assembled at the Bio-reserve to welcome the group. Students standing both sides of the road, clapped and cheered the rally of farmers as they arrived in the Tarumitra forest. The farmers briefed the students on their extensive negative experience of Terminator Genes and GM crops in the country. One farmer specially told that his peer-group of farmers of Gujarat plant GM cotton lavishly while it was banned in the whole country!

After a short introduction to Tarumitra, the students invited them for an “Eco-lunch” specially prepared at Tarumitra. Patna. Ms Margaret who is trained in Japan in organic farming, prepared the eco-lunch, spoke to the farmers that the lunch consisted of home grown rice-gruel blended with a wide variety of herbs from the forest. Special chutneys and salads added colour and spice to the meal.

All commended on the sense of accord and good will that permeated the atmosphere.
The local organizer from Patna, Pankaj Bhushan said that he was very touched by the interest taken up by the younger generation in agricultural troubles.

Present also were Maria Winiger and J.K Setty from Caritas Switzerland, Rajesh Kumar, Chiranjeev, D. N Prasad, Arunava Datta and Fr. Robert Athickal

Students listened to the farmers inside the eco-friendly hall of the Bioreserve!

Students from different schools and colleges joined to cheer off the rally to the capital city, Delhi