Gurukula: a Small Corner of Paradise

After Karnataka, Kerala.  Rain forest Kerala.

Gurukula
Forest at Gurukula

Gurukula: a sanctuary returned to Nature.

Simple food cooked and shared together.

Kitchen at Gurukula
Rolling chapattis for supper

Indigenous crops: bananas, rubber, coffee, tea.

Coffee
Collecting cup on a rubber plant
Bananas in the pantry

Sunset, sunrise over the Western Ghats.

Gurukula is a special place.  For the last forty years it’s been a sanctuary for the rain forest which has suffered massive deforestation in the Western Ghats, causing almost irreparable damage to the habitat of thousand of plants and animals, and to our own ecosystem.  I urge you to follow this link to read all about it.

Our few days in Gurukula were special too.  We wandered freely in the lush grounds, and when nature called, we found a quiet corner- toilets were deliberately under-provided so we all took a part in fertilising the soil.  Meals were taken communally: we all shared the cooking, the washing up, the tidying.

We explored the rain forest, an almost meditative experience with the sounds of water, forest creatures – macaques in the trees, rufous eagles above the canopy.  What wasn’t meditative was the strangler fig. It grows up its host tree, those climbing tendrils thickening into sturdy sinuous branches, which strangle and kills the tree beneath which gave it life, becoming an extraordinary hollow tracery.

We explored the surrounding communities.  During the 1940s, communist Kerala obliged landowners to sell their land cheaply, so all citizens were entitled to buy at a price they could afford.  At first this worked well.  Families worked the land in a diverse way, growing a variety of crops for their own use and selling the rest.  These days – or when we were there anyway – there is a monoculture, with families taking whatever subsidy is on offer to grow the latest crop – till the price plummets.  Tea, coffee, rubber, bitter gourds, bananas have all had their moments of glory before a crash.  Families no longer grow the rich variety that kept them so well-nourished.  90% literacy means people are leaving the land to get work in the cities – call centres and so on.  It doesn’t sound a success story.

The highlight of every day was sunset.  We climbed a vertical and rather scary ladder on the water tower near the house, and then…. simply sat.  We watched enchanted as the sun set over the Western Ghats. As the moon rose, the sky darkened and the stars emerged.  Silence fell.  And then, distantly, we heard two mullahs from two different distant mosques chanting their call to prayer – admittedly amplified by megaphones.  This, together with a cascade of shooting stars, provided one of the most magical experiences of my life.

Young vanilla pods
Potting shed at Gurukula
Sandy plans his climb of the strangler fig
Umbrellas waiting for the monsoon
Bamboo plants
Latex sheets drying outside a cottage
A farmer demonstrates his Communist allegiance
Swimming water snake.

Six Word Saturday: a series of six words before I gave in and wrote …. rather more.

Click on any image to view full size.

 

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

30 thoughts on “Gurukula: a Small Corner of Paradise”

  1. With so much to say and show, no wonder you wrote more than six words! I loved all the pictures and your accompanying text, what an unforgettable experience.

    Like

  2. My 6 words always used to be like this, Margaret (till I reformed 🙂 ) What wonderful memories, and an experience not shared by many. You make me nostalgic for a place I’ve never been. 🙂 How goes life?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Reformed? I always enjoy your words, six or otherwise. Just off to London to emulate you. Granny time. Without my camera, which has, very expensively indeed, to have a new lens…. Hope Granny time, and England, is going well for you.

      Like

      1. Sitting in our small lounge watching the builders do precarious things at a great height, very noisily. No Saturday off for them 😦 It’s been great, Margaret, though a tad wearying at times. 🙂 Time off to get into mischief this weekend. Enjoy your family!

        Like

  5. Six words wouldn’t have done it at all! The part that got to me was the evenings in the water tower. It’s so nearly impossible to experience that kind of quiet and darkness in our modern world.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Beautiful, beautiful photos and a timely tale of an area of rainforest just as Brazil has upped its deforestation of the Amazon. I read over the weekend that Germany plans to stop supporting forest and biodiversity projects in the Brazilian Amazon as a result of the programme of clearances.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Very interesting Margaret and a unique experience. The cascade of shooting stars must have been incredibly magical and unforgettable. What an amazing thing to witness especially in what is already a magical place.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. That sunset experience gave me shivers – what memories! Paradise indeed, and yet modern pressures intrude. It is seemingly impossible to find anywhere untouched by the hand of ‘progress’.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.