It was close to noon and a rather bright day. We were sitting and talking and the swAmi was sitting next to the door. After a few minutes he shut the door. Later, after the meeting he says, 'I am offended by this door. See how much glare gets in. In V the houses are built with very short doors and a big veranda. That way when you want to be cool you stay inside and rest of the day you sit in the veranda.'
Then he took it upon himself to give ideas on what medicinal plants we could grow. We were walking around in the commune lands and he shows one usilai tree and says, 'You can collect the leaves and make a powder and sell to villagers.' I said, 'Yeah right. Everyone in the village uses Clinic Plus. If you spend a couple of crores advertising your medicinal/ayurvedic/herbal shampoo then one in ten will buy it.' He says, 'Yes, I also use Clinic.' Then he gave a bunch of different seeds - some of one kind of Punarnava that has white flowers. 'This is a superior variety. I have seen what grows here. That is inferior. The roots of a three year old Punarnava can be processed into a medicine that is a kalpam.' I was duly impressed. 'I gave these seeds to so many people. But nobody cares to grow it. If you tell ayurveda companies you have white Punarnava, they will come running after you.' 'I gave them to an ayurveda doctor and he said I have twenty acres of land and I can cultivate it. Then after a while he says that the land has been leased out to someone so lets do it on some other five acres of land. Then I ask him about it again and he says even that has been used for something so I will put it in the bunds. I told him it wont work on the bunds but still he went ahead and planted the seeds. The first showers some would have germinated some washed off by the force (the seeds are very small and light) and those that germinated would have died in the heat after rains.'
After these preliminaries, he got to how I should grow them. 'Get a bamboo basket, line it with plastic, make some holes in it and put a mix of cow dung manure - not the goat dung you have - and tank silt - what you have is just sand, that is no good. And water it with a liter bottle with fine holes made with a hot pin.' 'Why do you need a basket? Can't you just do it on the ground?' 'No you can hang the basket somewhere and protect it from the koli.' Kolis fly, I thought to myself. 'And if it rains heavily you can bring it to some shelter.' 'Rain, here? In Pudukottai? Before
it germinates??' But he went ahead and had the vaidyar buy a couple of baskets.
They are still lying under my bed.
Then some advice on what should be grown on the land. 'This is the problem with all the alternative folks. They believe everything should be left to nature. You should not do that - that will confuse the mind. Keep one organized area where everything is orderly.'
Then he took it upon himself to give ideas on what medicinal plants we could grow. We were walking around in the commune lands and he shows one usilai tree and says, 'You can collect the leaves and make a powder and sell to villagers.' I said, 'Yeah right. Everyone in the village uses Clinic Plus. If you spend a couple of crores advertising your medicinal/ayurvedic/herbal shampoo then one in ten will buy it.' He says, 'Yes, I also use Clinic.' Then he gave a bunch of different seeds - some of one kind of Punarnava that has white flowers. 'This is a superior variety. I have seen what grows here. That is inferior. The roots of a three year old Punarnava can be processed into a medicine that is a kalpam.' I was duly impressed. 'I gave these seeds to so many people. But nobody cares to grow it. If you tell ayurveda companies you have white Punarnava, they will come running after you.' 'I gave them to an ayurveda doctor and he said I have twenty acres of land and I can cultivate it. Then after a while he says that the land has been leased out to someone so lets do it on some other five acres of land. Then I ask him about it again and he says even that has been used for something so I will put it in the bunds. I told him it wont work on the bunds but still he went ahead and planted the seeds. The first showers some would have germinated some washed off by the force (the seeds are very small and light) and those that germinated would have died in the heat after rains.'
After these preliminaries, he got to how I should grow them. 'Get a bamboo basket, line it with plastic, make some holes in it and put a mix of cow dung manure - not the goat dung you have - and tank silt - what you have is just sand, that is no good. And water it with a liter bottle with fine holes made with a hot pin.' 'Why do you need a basket? Can't you just do it on the ground?' 'No you can hang the basket somewhere and protect it from the koli.' Kolis fly, I thought to myself. 'And if it rains heavily you can bring it to some shelter.' 'Rain, here? In Pudukottai? Before
it germinates??' But he went ahead and had the vaidyar buy a couple of baskets.
They are still lying under my bed.
Then some advice on what should be grown on the land. 'This is the problem with all the alternative folks. They believe everything should be left to nature. You should not do that - that will confuse the mind. Keep one organized area where everything is orderly.'
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