kabaad se jugaad 2008 - a perspective on zero waste

i miss sunny the most. sunny, ardently, deeply, passionately in love with cooking all kinds of alternative foods. without oil, without milk. all veg. i miss the hours spent by the chula cooking and sharing stories. in that created space, i saw this curly-haired young person mingle, yet maintain his solitary reaper position. a ready smile, a question, an addendum to somebody else's joke... all that yet deeply engrossed in his mixing of cabbage, kaju paste and cucumber.

miss the humor, the responsiblity, absolute committment and faith in his work.

miss the sudden, mysterious and surprising gifts from my anjaan pari. miss the hundreds of hugs that i got from all those young people in the space, women, elders...miss the one-ness of men and women co-existing in a shared space, as equals, with equal responsibilites. miss the dust, grime, heat, sweat, and mess of a space shared by 50 odd people.

on day two, i was a thoroughly disappointed person. wanted to go back home. there was so much of work pending. and the jugaadi team's insistence on having no structured sessions only added to the feeling of loose ends, of being messed up. initially only a handful shared responsibilites, while the others would sleep the day off. the food tasted atrocious. sachi looked and felt bored, karan had his eyebrows raised about the food. pranay, was skeptical about the hall stacked with beds, having to share a common space with 40 odd men. i certainly did not come here for learning rope-making. i looked around for people to discuss with. found bipasha. reena. the young people seemed to be noisy. deeply engrossed in loud jokes and banter. too many flies around, dust on everything, even food.

the kitchen appealed to me. the chores too. since seemingly, there was nothing else to do. i couldnt bring myself to sit still...all mattresses were taken. i settled for a blanket. my back ached. my eyes smarted from the smoke, the craving for tea and a snack ate out my patience, and the sight of only fruits for breakfast killed all hope... the only thing that kept me going till end of day two were the cheerful guys - vishaal and sunny. they had some really infectious optimism. and then, the opportunity to share time and space with sachi.

i wanted to go back home!

... but what about the kids? sachi especially... i decided to contribute towards making the gathering a memorable experience for my kids. together with sachi, we decided to begin our own set of activities, and that kick-started our interest in the entire process.

10 year olds, pranay and karan were thrilled. pranay - running from pillar to post - seeking and trying out new ideas. learning, learning all the while. making friends, imbibing values, questioning, placing views... i knew this is the best decision that i have taken with pranay...

karan, enjoying. yet a bit reticent about the food. mostly dealing with the cultural shock of seeing men and women in open friendships, girls in shorts playing kabbadi, men cooking, girls playing guitar, wearing short clothes, foreigners, hugs...

sachi - quiet, bored most of the times, yet persistent with his decision to complete the experience. he never thought of going back like i did. guitar, music sessions, the river, a morning walk with his akka, chatting about buying a riverside farmland, being the choolah-man, and giving that disdainful look at little suchita... and yet being the most gentle big brother that the other three kids ever had.

and for all the big scare about forming new relationships, i did form new. and so many of them!

with my kids, with the young people...

with bipasha it was words, with bharat it was simply the flute - we hardly said anything and yet, we got connected. vishal, my pari, provided the much needed surprises in my life, ...and suchita is my daughter too.

yes, i did take a lot of waste. and i created new with them - something that will sustain, is beautiful and gives new life.

presto, i have become a jugaadi!