and a year has passed...

it has been a year at pR.

in the universal reference frame, it barely registers as a relevant interval.
but humans do tend to place a lot of emphasis on this time period.
i have had a poor track record with birthdays and anniversaries and much of it stems from my general disinterest in time milestones. and so i record this anniversary with just a little head nod.

the year at pR has been wonderful.
it has cemented a few things in my mind and that clarity of purpose is a tremendous step ahead.

and a list of key observations:
1. the importance of understanding seasons - धीरे धीरे रे माना, धीरे सब कुछ होए, माली सींचे सौ गाड़ा, ऋतू आये फल होए - a beautiful doha of kabir
this doha is really about patience and we are once again reminded of this by bhaskarbhai save: "it is all in shraddha (श्रद्धा), saboori (सबूरी) and prayog (प्रयोग) (dedication, patience and experimentation)."

2. it is all in the soil - we take care of this most vital part of the earth's crust, and it takes care of us. once again i turn to bhaskarbhai save for a simple explanation.


3. rains - point 2 will be rendered irrelevant without the blessing of rains. 2010 has been a superb surplus, with almost rain every 2 weeks since june/july.
in combination with point 1, the importance of rains is embodied in many local customs, wisdom and traditions. and importantly, our success with rain fed agriculture will depend on how well we learn and assimilate these into our life.

4. the saddening loss of traditional skillsets - with the education's increased emphasis on 'desk-jobs', the futile move towards a 'knowledge economy' and the cruel labelling of traditional skills as 'unskilled' is enslaving us irreversibly to high mechanisation and technology. in short as gandhiji said, "we need production by masses and not mass production."

dv has a summary of 2010 and the plan for 2011 over here.