POR FIN!!! (Finally...)

... I have made it to an internet cafe to tell you more about my time on Bija Vidyapeeth ("School of the Seed")!!!

I arrived here one month ago directly after the Bhoomi festival in order to take part in the course "Bhoomi and the Gift of Food - Building Earth Democracy and Food Justice" in which also the Japanese group from Shumei International and a group from Kenya took part. Apart from that there were participants from all over the world which enabled me to have an amazing exchange with like-minded people!

"Bija Vidyapeeth" is far more than a "farm" - it is the world-wide known organic farming education centre of Navdanya which includes a seed bank with more than 500 rice varieties (and many other plants) and attracts interns and volunteers from various countries.


As much as I can learn here, I sometimes quite have to struggle with the typically Indian "lack of organisation"... It is hardly possible to rely on any "announcements" and whatever you want to do you have to organize by yourself. At the same time, this is quite a good practice for me in focussing on what I really want to do, making things work self-reliantly and not getting mad if things don't work out the way I had imagined.


There's of course heaps of stories to tell, but since I already needed three hours to upload the pictures and the internet cafe owners are starting to wonder if I want to settle down here ;) , I'll leave it to the pictures (and their captions) to tell their stories (sorry that I'm jumping a lot between the farm and the city or other trips - I just left the pictures in their chronological order).


Enjoy and many hugs to all of you!!!



These sensitive soil samples... ;)
(Entrance to the soil laboratory)



The soapnut tree which provides our "washing powder"
Luckily I've already got pratice in hand-washing my clothes ;)

Ever wondered where your spices come from?

This is mango ginger which actually really smells like mango!!

One of our farm dogs enjoying the sunshine

The farm kitchen - making use of biogas

Helping with the lunch preparations

... which includes turmeric cutting

... which leads to colourful fingers ;)

Discussion in the gazebo with Vinod Bhatt from Navdanya and Debbie Barker from the Center for Food Safety in Washington about GMO crops

Alan Imai from Shumei International presenting his organisation, which also applies the principles found by Masuro Emoto

The Japanese group had brought some sweets for us made from their natural farming products

... while the Kenyan group impressed us with traditional dances

The Kenyan group thanking Maya Goburdhun from Navdanya for the invitation to India

Rice thrashing workout :)

Cecilia from Sweden (teaching at Gothenburg university) and me

Me with Lindsay from the UK (now living in the US)

Idyllic view for us, everyday work for the local farmers...

My home since one month... the accomodation buildings of the farm

Workshop on compost making

Not only homeoepathy had found its way from Germany to India, but also biodynamic farming!
(Austria, to be presice ;) ) This is "Jiwaamut" (dynamic compost) preparation

Another kind of compost made from mulch

Experiments with vermicompost

Me and organic orange grower Alessandro from Sicily who is looking unusually serious in this picture ;)

Me and "trustworthy" Negi :) - I have rarely met such a hard-working and knowledgeable person who is at the same time able to understand and answer the tons of questions of a bunch of westerners and additionally even cares about their emotional well-being - three cheers for this Navdanya staff member!!!

Me and Tamao from Shumei International

Group picture on the last day of the course - to find me just search for the palest person ;)

Part of the wall in the farm office

The farm attracts a lot of beautiful butterflies

Main road and guide post to the farm (about 10 minutes walking distance through a mango orchard)

Traditional lorry :)

Dayana (from Brisbane), Lindsay and me in a vikram (a kind of rickshaw for several people) in Dehradun

Wedding procession on the road

... with children dressed up as gods

I think this centre had to be closed due to over-pollution ;)

Indian cooks are also acrobats here :)

Me and Anna (from Czech Republic) in front of giant bamboo plants

This street cow wanted to make friends with me :)

The Navdanya staff even provides evening entertainment :)

... which it enjoys themselves

Subh prabhat - a new morning on the farm

Sunrise view from the gazebo

Some flowers look more beautiful from behind than from the front!

Our herbal garden...

... and what I love making from it

The library - I could spend all day there alone!

Only part of the bookshelves inside...

Our visit to the "organic market" in Dehradun turned out to be a tea party in a colonial-style private home :)

The World Peace Stupa in the Tibetan colony of Dehradun of the "Mindrolling Monastery" - not an English, but a Tibetan word :)

Peanut discrimination...

... and other strange prohibitions

My bed in the first room I'd stayed in (now I'm staying in a dorm)

Chapati making in the kitchen

Decorative sprout salad

Dehradun is a dangerous place for a Johnny Head-in-the-Air like me!

Wearing a traditional Garwhali Dress

I preferred to give a wide berth to this shop ;)

Weddings are very popular in India :)

View into the valley from Mussoorie, a hill station near Dehradun in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan ranges at an altitude of nearly 2000 metres which was founded by the British as a holiday resort who enjoyed the cool temperatures

The impressive architecture of the Forest Research Institute of Dehradun

One of many langur monkeys by the road

Taking baths in the holy waters of Ganga in Haridwar, an important pilgrimage city in Nothern India where the water is still far cleaner than in Varanasi

In the background a "sadhu", an ascetic nomadic monk

Beautiful "marigold ships" ready to set sail on the Ganga

Another view of the Ganga in Haridwar

Powder in different colours can be bought at every corner

Lord Shiva statue by the Ganga

Back at the farm - the farm workers are planting on the fields

... while we are helping Jerome to take different measurements of different rice varieties
(he is writing his thesis about this at his university in Belgium)

Counting grains as meditation :)

The organic food on the farm comes directly from the fields

... and is best enjoyed with lively conversations

Wherever I go in the world, I love making friends with cats :)

I love the pattern of my blanket

One of the last okras on the fields

Only a section of the different rice varieties grown here!

Have you ever seen a cow with such beautiful eyes?

Slightly blurred since taken from the bus - one of many street barbers

Looks more like a prisoner transport than a school bus to me ;)

Mini "seed exhibition" in our dining hall

Jerome with a bird with a broken wing he took care of

Our "outdoor bathroom" :)

Group picture before Alessandro's departure - ci manchi!!

My side job as a vikram driver ;)

Our birthday cake bought from an Indian sweet shop...

... for Alexia (from France) who turned 30 that day

Energetic brick transport :)

South-Indian dish "Dosa" (in a restaurant in Dehradun), a rice pancake with different fillings

Motorbike lovers won't go short in Dehradun!

One man can transport a lot of things and people!

Dorm-mate Sara (from Sydney) and me with Himalayan face masks :)

Farm decoration for Diwali, the most important festival in Hinduism

Bitter gourd tree? ;)

Sunset on the fields

Diwali is approaching... it is also known as the festival of lights

Our Diwali dinner buffet

... which we enjoyed accordingly dressed :)
(Jerome, Louise and Gaetan from France)

Simon (from Quebec) and Theo (from New York)

Himani (who has become our thankworthy Hindi translator!) and me

Our Diwali bonfire

That's how I like my morning yoga!

Who finds the irony in this picture? :)

Cute street puppy in Dehradun

An epiphyte? No, a tree growing on a roof!
(seen in Dehradun)

(Close shot of the roots)