This post is about how I decided to get into permaculture on a homestead near the hills of Kodaikanal, located in South India.
As 2016 came to a close, I'd finished my work at the Sharanalaya School and didn't have anything else to keep me occupied. I had a few options to consider and was at a sort of crossroads in my life. I was still considering an environmental design master's degree but also noticed that I had spent the entire year doing my own brand of eco design to keep me afloat. The master's degree would get me added recognition, but was it really necessary?
My clients never asked for my qualifications as my work spoke for itself. There are also cheaper and better ways to acquire first hand knowledge on environmental design techniques, so is it truly sustainable to move to a different country and pay whopping tuition fees for the privilege to learn? I was also inspired by this quote from Sylvia Plath.
Image from pixabay.
Good ol' Sylive tends to border on the macabre. Personally I don't feel like you have to be limited to one fig. There are people who juggle multiple figs, with the smarter ones canning or pickling them for later. I agree with her that it is pointless to sit and wonder at the direction life could take without any concrete action. As we get older, life becomes more about the things we don't do than the things we do. In this analogy, I reached out and picked up the fig of a self sufficient life using permaculture to sustain myself, returning to my roots and living off the land. There are a few factors that led to this decision.
It was extremely fortuitous that my parents decided to invest in an acre of land in the hills around five years prior. Up till this point, the land was not being used for anything. It's unfortunate that a large barrier into permaculture is owning land in the first place. I already had the base on which to develop my dreams. As I'd mentioned, going to college abroad requires a large sum of money, and I felt that instead of spending it on a couple years of tuition we could instead spend it on developing this land that would last several lifetimes. I discussed this with my parents and I'm lucky to have them aboard this crazy train of thought, being the solid support holding me afloat and enabling me to take this journey.
I'm also a firm believer in not stopping the world I don't want, but instead creating the one I do. The environmental design course I was considering aims on tackling problems on a large scale. I applaud the people who dedicate their lives on that mission, but felt it wasn't personally for me. My upbringing and the fact that we had a small piece of land felt like the cosmos was aligning itself in providing the means to an end. It's perhaps a bit selfish to work on my dream, but I feel that a lot of small differences will eventually lead to a big one. Volunteering on farms previously made me realize that this path is not only possible, but extremely lucrative. I also hope to some day be the catalyst in starting more people on this journey, just as others have been for me. The first few months of 2017 were spent visiting our land and preparing for the long journey ahead.
The Land
Our land is located around 20 kilometers away from Kodaikanal near a village called Poombarai that literally translates to the valley of flowers. It's beautiful slice of heaven nestled in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu.
We don't have a lot of horizontal space on our piece of land, with most of it being vertical in the form of around 10-12 terraces.
There is currently no access by road, and getting to our land involves a bit of a hike to reach it. The walks are rather meditative and are often accompanied by four legged friends as guides.
The first few months of 2017 were spent frequently visiting the land to plan out its development. We started off with not much more than a slope on a hill and had to plan out everything from scratch, starting with fencing it off and levelling out our terraces. I also thought I was alone in the middle of nowhere, but discovered that I have neighbours who run a backpacker's lodge called Hike 'N' Heal nearby. They get a lot of visitors and our little corner is not as deserted as I thought it was!
Time lapse from Hike 'N' Heal.
It took me awhile to find them as initially I used to take the long route to our land. One day, I took a chance on an alternative route and discovered a thriving community I had no idea about previously.
I'm more convinced than ever that I chose the right road to follow. I'd rather wake up to this view everyday than live in skyscraper and own fancy cars. All I need is the sun and the rain. This was the beginning of our permaculture journey. Stay tuned to find out how exactly we went about developing our land as total novices through our adventures in the hills.
