Farmers Retreat In Coimbatore

Dec 27, 2016 | permalink

It is always a joy to see Ragu and Nisha.  And especially so at their farm in Coimbatore.

For the one day that I was there, they held a "Farmers Retreat" -- which I'd say was the first-ever ServiceSpace retreat with farmers!  It was so awesome to see their community in action, and learn from their perspectives.  So many of them have done some really courageous work in bucking the societal trends, and innovating in the difficult field of farming.  All our food, for instance, was not only made from hyper-local fruits and vegetable, but even the bread was homemade -- in a homemade oven!  Yes, super-ultra-hyper local, or whatever you call this. :)  (On the right is Ramesh launching his new food project, by piloting his food on us!)

Although some of the farmers knew each other on a 1-on-1 basis, it was the first time that all of them were coming together in a many-to-many context.  And it was especially awesome to see all the kids join in during the 3-steps-and-a-bow conclusion.

Ragu also gave a thoughtful presentation on 'synergy', which is worthy of a deeper dive: 

Synergy is an emergent phenomenon in which a chain of a certain type is stronger than the sum of the strengths of all its links, including its weakest links. In the worlds of inanimate matter and every form of living beings - plants, microorganisms, insects and animals, when the right entities combine together under the right circumstances, synergy is automatic.  Except human beings.  In the case of human beings, synergy is not automatic but is present as a potential and a choice.  So the coming together of the right people does not automatically create synergy.  Synergy emerges among people when the synchrony among them crosses a certain threshold.  This crossing of threshold changes the state of being, like water becoming vapour after hundred degrees.  This is a result of explicitly, deliberately and consistently aligning ourselves.

It was great to see Aum growing up too.  He was bit on the skinny side this time, since he had just fasted for five days to recover from a sickness (he believes in natural healing!).  But that didn't stop him from showing me all these card tricks. :) On this trip, I discovered that Aum loves pens.  So I took out a pen that Swara had given me and gifted it to him -- and immediately, he says, "Can I give one to her too?"  He ran up to get one.  When I thanked him, he played it off: "I wasn't really being generous.  I just don't have space for so many pens!" :)