Longer stick

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I’m slowly learning mango farming. Well reaping the product at least.

We’ve had streams of friends and neighbours on PYO – pick your own and donated kilos of the beauts.

We’ve moved on from the hook on a stick, to the giant butterfly net (not) and used two types of blades to get to a tool standard that works for the reachable ones

I’ve created an extra long pole (metal curtain rod and bamboo) to help reach to the top of the tree and its outer perimeters. The ‘unreachable’ ones are a challenge. The first extension broke, the next couldn’t quite reach

We’re not complaining. Well the old woman that cleans is… as I’ve not achieved the usual standard (I’m certain that’s not true)

Next stage is for someone to climb the tree. Two requests (farmers and experienced friends) haven’t worked out but maybe the grandson might step in.

BUT

We have collected hundreds of mangoes (this is one productive tree) and I’ve ordered a professional telescopic pole.

Delicious breakfast, family from round the back came for Mangoes (but they’re getting harder to reach) and Luca tucking in.

We’re sharing caring types —- some to our human friends, others to fruit bats, squirrels and insects, some have lost patience with me and dived to smash their mango brains on the ground.

yoga

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Over dinner and generally amongst our guests the upsurge and role of yoga in our lives is often discussed.

Mysore is one of the major centres of Yoga in India.

One of the concerns I have is how about the I and we. (its one of my pre-occupations which is fundamental to the human condition) it turns out that this bothers a lot of the yoga teachers that come here to train, too. Its reflected in the quote below.

“In the New York Times, American writer Judith Warner noted a disturbing social trend. Just as the women of the mid-70s took flight into consciousness-raising groups, the workforce, divorce and casual sex, their daughters are also taking flight, but that flight is inwards. “They’re fleeing to yoga,” she writes in the Times, “imitating flight in the downward-gazing contortion called the crow position. They’re striving, through exquisite new adventures in internal fine-tuning, to feel more deeply, live more meaningfully, better inhabit each and every moment of each and every day.”

check the whole article here

Now don’t misunderstand me. I feel that yoga is an integral part of life here and its great that it has becomes popular around the world. But its only half the story in more ways than one. Many in the west who follow yoga recognise that the inward focus  (on I) is only the beginning of the process and that in time as it develops within the person it blossoms into ‘we’ .  it follows the Gandhian dictum ‘be the change you want to see’ so i feel that the inward focus is only the beginning of the process. The problem is, in my humble view, that that is where is stays for many people. the shift from the I to the w just doesn’t seem to happen.

…

Continuing the theme….

What’s the difference between illness and wellness?

I and We, innit.

Behold beauty in so many ways.

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The latest wonderful creation has arrived from Aadirika aka —Mostly beautiful Maya— (check Instagram) has now created three fab memory portraits of MAnjula

Our first
Second

All to be found at Manjula’s Mysore.

Out third

Thank you Aadirika, for your intimate understanding of what MAnjula meant to me and representing our wonderful life here in Mysore.

Who can you spot in this latest portrait?

…

Manjula (obviously), Lucie our first dog of the family of over 15 years, Kaveri, walking Luca — our latest addition and in the tree. —- Billet-Doux my sweet (love) letter sent by Manjula, a few years ago. Plus the dragonfly and old man with his head in the clouds.

…

Did you find them ?

Permission to sit

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The elitism and prejudice knew no bounds.

The “Kursi Nashin” (chair-sitter) certificate was a discriminatory 19th-century British Indian permit allowing select Indians the privilege of sitting on a chair in the presence of British officials.

These official certificates maintained rigid, racialized, and social hierarchies, forcing most Indians to stand or sit on the floor, thus treating them as inferior.

Key Details of the Kursi Nashin System:

Definition: Kursi Nashin translates to “chair sitter”.

Purpose: It was an instrument of imperial control and social status granted by the British to favoured individuals, such as landholders, respectable citizens, or those who served the government, to distinguish them from the common populace.

Operation: Those not holding this certificate were generally prohibited from using chairs in British offices, reinforcing social subordination.

Time Period: While rooted in earlier colonial dynamics, the practice became formalized and widely used during the 19th century, particularly after the 1857 revolt, and remained active through the early 1900s.

Regional Variation: It was not issued everywhere in the country but was common in regions like the Delhi District.

These certificates were typically signed and stamped with official insignia, making them a tangible piece of “submissive” colonial history

Thanks for the insights from Mahesh of the speak history group in Mysore.

What do you get …

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when you add all this together?

A cycle ride from the new house, to one of my fave places.

I’m at …

“Paschimavahini, located near Srirangapatna in Karnataka, is a sacred stretch of the Kaveri River where the water flows westward. It is a major pilgrimage site, particularly for the Hindu ritual of Asthi Visarjan (immersion of ashes) to help departed souls attain moksha, as well as a popular spot for holy dips. “

(with Help from my AI buddy)

…

One of the places featured on my Srirangapatnam cycle tour. It just took one hour.

Now I’m with my great friend Satish in the village of Ganjam on the island.

This meeting together with one with Florian

two night ago has helped me make another ….

BIG decision.

This is turning over a new leaf … more active, less overthinking, focus on what matters, sorting out my residency in Mysore.

more later ..