கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராம், DV ஸ்ரீதரனின் பதில்கள்

கேட்ட கேள்விகளுக்கு, பதில் அனுப்பியிருக்காங்க, GoodNewsIndia.com, PointReturn.Orgஐச் சேர்ந்த கற்பகமும், ஸ்ரீராமும், DV ஸ்ரீதரனும்.

பொறுமையாக படிக்குமாறு கேட்டுக் கொள்கிறேன்.



1)பிரதிபலன் எதுவும் பெருசா எதிர்பாக்காம சொந்தச் செலவுல GoodNewsIndia வழியாக சேவைகள், இப்ப PointReturn.orgனு பண்ணிக்கிட்டு இருக்கீங்க.
GoodNewsIndia தளம் இப்போது இயங்காத நிலையில் உள்ளது. இயங்கிய நாட்களில், மகத்தான சேவை செய்து வந்தது. ஒரு நல்ல முயற்சியை முடங்க விட்டதில் சங்கடங்கள் இல்லையா? அதை மீண்டும் இயக்க, தன்னார்வலர்கள் மூலமாக முயன்று பார்க்க ஏதேனும் எண்னம் உண்டா?
Sridharan: gni has been suspended, not abandoned. when it does resume however, i would focus exclusively on good work related to caring for the earth.
i believe pR could not have arisen had i not gone looking for and
expecting to find 'good work' in abundance. and, discovering there was
too little, and their texture not very satisfying; a texture woven of
foreign funded ngos, philanthropic tokenism of indians and the mealy
mouthed 'corporate social responsibility'. i have written at length on
this here: http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/why-is-goodnewsindia-not-being-updated/

2) கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராமுக்கு:
நல்லா டீப்பா திங்க் பண்ணிதான், வசதி வாழ்வை ஓரம் கட்டிட்டு, இப்படி பொட்டல் காட்டுல சில பல வருஷங்களை கழிக்கலாம்னு முடிவு பண்ணிருப்பீங்க. "தேவையான" சொத்து சேத்துட்டோம்னு வந்த தைரியத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட முடிவா இது?
The main reason for the shift was disorientation towards life (corporate work, compensation, job satisfaction, exploitation of anything anyone if given a chance, insensitive pace of growth of the city, mad push to buy and consume unnecessary things to fuel useless growth in the name of GDP race with the rest of the world, total disregard for manual work, use and throw mentality, current generations forgetting the link between the food and the farm etc. - i could go on but think you get the drift). This disorientation originated from our sensitivity towards nature.
We have couple of friends who moved rural to do dryland agriculture. we got the opportunity to visit them to get a feel of life on the other side. This life made sense to us. So we would not classify our shift as 'giving up' comforts and that sounds like a self denial. But we feel that the life in the rural area is more comfortable for us than the city corporate life. We place more importance to clean air, peaceful quiet surroundings, meaningful work as factors of comfort rather than say going to a movie or watching TV. Therefore we have actually moved into a better lifestyle in our point of view. It may not have TV or AC or some other material things but we have everything we "need" for a satisfying life. We will build / accumulate material things at our own pace and requirements.

On the financial front, we do not have any liabilities. we have a rental income as our only input. that is adequate as we have defined. when we made the shifting decision, we removed the fear of financial insecurity just by the sheer belief that we have the skills and strength to survive a simple life with limited means.
the removal of this fear is what helps in making the shift, not trying to define 'adequate'.

3) கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராம், ஸ்ரீதருக்கு:
அஞ்சு ஆறு தன்னார்வலர்கள் சேந்து, உங்க சொந்த வாழ்வில் சில வருஷங்களை தியாகம் செய்து, 17 ஏக்கரில் மரம் வச்சு, குளம் வெட்டி, விவசாயம் பண்ணிச் சாப்பிட்டா, சமுதாயத்துக்கு என்ன பெரிய தாக்கம் வரும்னு எதிர்பாக்கறீங்க? அதை விட பெரிய தாக்கம், உங்க நேரத்தை, under privileged பசங்களுக்கு பாடம் சொல்லிக் கொடுத்தோ, மத்த சேவைகள் செஞ்சோ ஏற்படுத்த முடியாதா?
Sriram: my post on 'impact' should cover this question. the impact on the environment through our work is truly immeasurable :-)
i have worked in an education NGO in bombay for 6+ years and realise that giving them the 'education' as it is currently designed will only create more confused surveysans ;-)
Teaching underprivileged children our eduction will make them lose all their skills and make them dependent on mindless work in the city. They will lose control of their freedom and start servicing the rich. We want children to study in their mother tongue and learn some skill that is relevant and will help them stay in their homes and contribute in the rural area. We do not agree with moving to the city as true "development". If that is a happy development we will not have so many people who, inspite of working and earning well in the city , feel that they would also like to "get out" of it. So we will have to redefine who is privileged and who is underprivileged. It is not only determined through money. We will have to teach ourselves to feel confident and have self respect in our own language and culture and not feel inadequate if we did not know english. Please do read gram swaraj and nai talim concepts of Gandhiji. We believe in a different type of economy and different world order. we believe the world has to slow down in production and reproduction :-). we have too many machines to serve humans and humans now are losing the ability to work with their hands in a simple way and fulfill simple needs. Agriculture is the most central aspect to our life, existence and creativity and the more we distance ourselves the more we are likely to feel purposeless and empty in our lives.

DV Sridharan: let's take a material impact already measurable because pR came into
being: we have created rain water harvesting bodies totaling
2.5million litres. in the 2 monsoon spells we have, one may assume
them to fill up 1.5 times. so we recharge about 4m.L into the earth
and draw far less than that for ourselves and our plants. the water
charged into the ground knows no proprietor and flows wherever it
would
speaking in non-numbers, beneficial impact on the earth due to steady
increase in soil formation, soil animal activity, soil hydration,
diversity of birds and trees are already considerable.
i personally assign a very low rank and very small space for humans in
the web of life. man's welfare, privileges are of little and
incidental consequence to me. i can conceive a happy planet without
man in it but not the earthworm.
finally, the type of man in dire need of attention is the privileged
and over-privileged ones whose consumptive ways are destroying the web
of life. he is the one in need of re-education not the so called
under-privileged, who has a tiny eco-footprint.

4) ஸ்ரீராமுக்கு:
ஒரு பதிவில், நம் நாட்டின் முக்கியத் தேவை, பலப் பல புதியவர்கள் விவசாயிகளாக மாறணும்னு சொலியிருந்தீங்க. வெறும் மாடு வச்சு உழுது organic முறை விவசாயம் எல்லாம் பண்ணினா மட்டும், நம்ம உணவுத் தேவைகள் பூர்த்தியாகுமா? இயற்கை உறம் புரியுது. ஆனா, இயந்திரங்கள் இல்லாமல் விவசாயம் பண்ணா, நம்ம உற்பத்தித் திறன் எப்படிப் பெருகும்?
we are not anti-technology. we trust gandhi's views on technology. it is possible to be productive to feed the world using simple technology and natural farming. the way you put it, this productivity is super-critical as a very few are growing for the rest. this is an imbalance which is why i said that more people should be in farming.

5) கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராம், ஸ்ரீதருக்கு:
பொதுநலவாதியாக என்ன பண்னனும்? "எவ்வளவு சம்பாதிச்சா நமக்கும் நம் சுற்றத்துக்கும் போதும்?" :)
Sriram: public spirited is a unreal concept. we all will be self-minded first and last. We are neither "podunalavadhi" nor "suyanalavathi" we are just "vadhis" if there is such a word. we want to live an life that is not very exploitative towards nature and that will necessarily be frugal and so we will consume fewer resources so that more is available for others as well. the key point is understanding our role with careful identification of our responsibilities and our rights.

6) ஸ்ரீதருக்கு:
PointReturnக்குப் பிறகு, ஏதாவது திட்டம் மனதளவில் இருக்கா? எதையாவது செய்யணும்னு நெனச்சு, நேரப் பற்றாக்குறையால், பண்ண முடியாம போச்சேன்னு நெனச்சதுண்டா?
i look forward to steady withdrawal and total detachment from pR and
hope to see it function as a promising, sustained, sustaining centre.
i hope it silently conveys all i tried to through my stories in gni,
as to what amounts to good work in life.
and contradicting myself, i hope to travel again and write.

7) கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராமுக்கு:
எனக்கெல்லாம் job satisfaction 365நாள் வேலைக்குப் போனா, அஞ்சு பத்து நாள், எப்பவாவது வரும். போங்கடா நீங்களும் உங்க வேலையும்னு தூக்கிப் போட்டுட்டு போயிடலாம்னு நிறைய நாள் தோணிருக்கு.
நீங்க வேலை செய்த நாட்களில் எப்படி? அங்க ஏற்பட்ட விரக்தியால், இப்படி வந்துட்டீங்களா? வேறு காரணங்கள்? :)
Sriram: Yes have partly answered in 2 above. we had "salary satisfaction" not job satisfaction. More than job dissatisfaction we had a problem with the very purpose of these corporates in the world. So we thought hard on why we are earning this salary and then realised that its more fun to live a content life the way we want it without working for some shareholders.

8) கற்பகத்துக்கு:
ராமர் இருக்கும் இடமே சீதைக்கு அயோத்தின்னு, ஸ்ரீராம் பின்னாடி, வேற வழியில்லாம, பல்லக் கடிச்சுக்கிட்டு வந்தீங்களா? In a scale of 1-to-100%, how committed are you for this cause? PointReturnக்கு அப்பால் வேறு என்ன செய்ய எண்ணம் உள்ளது? :)
Karpagam: I have also wanted to move away from the city. we had this common interest before we met and then we agreed on the move even before we got married. we moved to pointReturn 2 years after we married. So yes I am also committed independently to this life not because of sriram. But I may not have been able to do it had I not met sriram.

9) கற்பகம்,ஸ்ரீராம்,ஸ்ரீதருக்கு:
நம்ம ஊர் (தமிழ்நாடு, சென்னை,..) சமீப வருஷங்களில் நல்லா வளந்துக்கிட்டு இருக்கு. ஆனா, தனி மனுஷ ஒழுக்கம் சுத்தமா முன்னேறலை. தெருக்களில் குப்பை; சாலை விதி மீறல்; போராட்ட மனநிலை இல்லா சோதா வாழ்க்கை வாழ்தல் etc.. எங்க தட்டினா மாற்றம் வரும்? மனுஷங்க மத்தியில் மாற்றம் வர ஏதாவது செய்யும் திட்டமிருக்கா?
Sriram: mad rush towards growth and development has made everyone insensitive to their surroundings. this is true for western world too however their governments have a manageable number in terms of population which makes it possible for them to keep their cities clean. weather and rain in the temperates helps keep the dust low. However we do not see the filth that big a problem. Inequality is the bigger problem. so is deforestation, migration from rural to cities etc.
the collective of individual action is what we believe in. thattina maarathu, vazhnthu kaatinaal maatram varalaam.

DV Sridharan: on bringing about change in others:
as gandhi has conclusively said - [and which has alas become a cliche
for being bandied without internalising], "As human beings, our
greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is
the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.”
so how do i prevent littering? i stop littering. that's about all i need to do

10) கற்பகம்,ஸ்ரீராம்,ஸ்ரீதருக்கு:
மரம், செடி, கொடி, இணையம், புத்தகங்கள், இதை விட்டா வேறென்ன பொழுதுபோக்கு விஷயங்கள் பிடிக்கும்?
Sriram, Karpagam: we like music - carnatic and old tamil and hindi film songs, we also like movies - again not commercial but offbeat. We are big fans of Kamal hasan and his films so we are just normal people in our likes. Sriram likes sports.

DV Sridharan: on other passions:
i enjoy thinking up simple problem-solving devises and gear, exploring
design possibilities, keeping track of technology that would have
positive impact on earth.
i adore the internet as the greatest republic ever created

11) Was there a moment where they regretted / or questioned their decision after joining PointReturn?
NO

12) What was the incident or event which made you took this decision? Many of us have these thoughts but there must be some strong driving reason for it.
No one incident in particular.

13) Is there anything that you learned which can benefit a poor farmer. If so, are there any plans to educate them.
we are learning and have a long way to go. as an immediate observation we feel farmers should grow multi grain crops and vegetables also for home consumption rather than growing only a couple of crops like rice/groundnut for the market and then buy their daily needs from the market. They should think about consuming their produce.

பொறுமையாக படித்த அனைவருக்கும் மிக்க நன்றி. மேல் விளக்கங்கள் தேவைன்னா தயங்காம கேளுங்க. நன்றீஸ்!

கேள்விகளுக்கு பொறுமையாக பதில் அளித்த கற்பகம், ஸ்ரீராம், ஸ்ரீதரனுக்கும் நன்றிகள் பல.

சென்னைவாசிகள், இவர்கள் மூவரை தொடர்பு கொண்டு, PointReturnக்கு தங்களால் இயன்ற நேரத்தை ஒதுக்க முயற்சிக்கலாம்.