I begin each day knowing fully well that I have no idea what the future holds for us. And with the passing of each day it seems even more imperative to live in the now. My mornings are normally spent in the north east corner of my house looking out at the patch of green to our east side. I am blessed that in a city as crowded as Mumbai, I have a green patch to look at. The fluttering trees and the gracefully gliding eagles keep me mesmerised. It has been like this for some years now. This little time with myself is my gift to myself. And the days I am lucky there is this gently soothing breeze that invigorates all my senses. Every time that happens, I am in my zen space and I am easily able to reflect about the day gone by and the day ahead.
Overall this has been a very eventful and challenging year. Many plans were made. Some even actioned to an extent. Then the pandemic hit and all our plans were put in cold storage for a while. For many of us it was an opportunity to reflect and reset. And many chose to action earlier dreams and thoughts that were parked away due to what were considered as impossible choices. Not so impossible any more.
Considering the times we are in we made a collective decision to have the theme for this month as REFLECTION. I am sharing here many of my experiences, reflections and actions over these last few months.
In February this year one of our plans did work out. My wife and I were at the CEO Conclave organised by the Initiatives of Change for Business in Panchgani, Maharashtra. There they laid a lot of emphasis on what they called “Quiet Time”. That clearly resonated with me and since then this quiet time for myself has taken on even more significance. It gives me the time to quieten the continuous chatter in my mind. To view life with some stillness. To be able to reflect without being disturbed.
Subsequently I became actively involved with the Initiatives of Change for Business as the Co-Convenor for the Mumbai Chapter. And it is truly gratifying to be able to contribute to their movement. Their singular focus is to promote ethical practises at all levels of business. All are welcome to join this movement. Let me point out that there is no cost to joining. You simply just start participating. I must say, that it took me some time to adapt to that concept.
As part of our ongoing efforts for the ICB, earlier this week we had Mr Suresh Vazirani, CMD, Transasia-Erba Group, speak to a bunch of us about healthcare companies staying ethical and yet competitive especially during these times. My key takeaway from this very insightful engagement with a doyen of the healthcare industry was – the intent to do the right thing. If all of us can focus on this intent then humanity can surely pull itself out of its current mess.
Another highlight of these past few weeks has been me getting a better understanding of soil regeneration and its power to sequester carbon. Something that is urgent and imperative. My nephew pointed me in the direction of a documentary entitled “Kiss The Ground”. Narrated by Woody Harrelson in his inimitable style, it was an eye opener for me.
I am bowled over by the conviction and dedication with which Ray Archuleta continues to carry the torch and spread the message about soil regeneration and soil health. Of course mankind needs many more Ray Archuletas. Now, I am inspired to truly work for that cause as a singular focus for the rest of my life.
I have already been working with a few people to create food forests based on permaculture principles, and now am committed to do more. We are working with Bremley Lyngdoh of Worldview Impact Foundation and have set ourselves a target to plant 50000 trees as soon as we possibly can near his hometown of Shillong. To support this cause you can download a recipe card from Gouri’s Goodies. For each recipe card that is downloaded Bremley and his team shall plant one tree. So please go ahead, click here and support this urgent cause. Read more about Bremley and his journey this month as we shall be publishing an interview with him.
We are also working with Rajshri Deshpande of Nabhangan Foundation to create a permaculture food forest at a school in the Pandhari Village. All the produce from this plantation will be for the students at the school. Rajshri has been doing some amazing work for village upliftment. You can read about her journey later this month too.
Finally we are also trying our hand at contract farming with Dhirendra Raje, a young and very enterprising farmer near Baramati. We kick off a pilot project with him this month in about 3 acres and hope to light the way for others to join in our experiment. This will not only help soil regeneration but will also provide some fabulous organic produce grown for us.
Also this month there are some insights into the world of teas through our chat with Nandini Mehta, founder of Dancing Leaf Teas. You will particularly enjoy reading about that.
Let me now share one positive impact of social media. I happened to come across the story of Japleen Kaur. In her mid-twenties, she up-chucked city life and moved to the hills near Dharamshala. Taken in by her story, I reached out to her through Instagram and now she will be sharing her experiences through a weekly article for us. Social media is not all terrible you see. As they say there are no coincidences, we were meant to connect. There is a universal energy at play that we are unable to understand.
I would also like to thank the many guest writers who have graciously accepted my invites and written from their hearts.
There is a lot to reflect on for all of us at this time. So many life altering directions to explore. To look within and re-focus on our purpose. We pray that as we navigate our way through our thoughts and our hearts we can find new directions, get more energised and work towards creating a truly inclusive and happy world for all beings.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa.
Best wishes for the month,
Mohit Gupta.
