India - Masala Adventures 003

December 2022 · 6 min read · Maharashtra

Indian Journey

part 3

Arrival with Go Air at Mumbai..

Random, Airport Mumbai

Indigo Green Camp

On the way to Pune. Surrounded by volcanic Rock formations and a hilly landscape viewing the Western Ghats. They inhabit various vegetation and fruits that solely grow there and nowhere else in the world.

Apart from the tempting coffee shops at the airport we we're waiting to hitch a ride with Raj, whose this good buddy of Gautam.

Where are we going? Who is Gautam?

Gautam is a close friend of mine who is basically something between a mycologist, an ecological designer and a landscape architect. He has a very specific set of skills and an academic background with hands on experience when it comes a holistic understanding of farming and plants, fungi, weeds, pests and beneficial insects. He doesn't just design architecture, but he is extremely knowledgable on bio-dynamics and knows how a habitat can reach equilibrium in it's cyclical interexchange, synergies and biological symbiosis. He is familiar with the challenges of irrigation and water tables in various parts of india.

I got him on a couple of jobs working on an eco-village in south India called Serenity. It's a project still in the making but surely inspired by similar contemporary ideas also sparked within DIY groups and other hive initiatives with a very similar Zeitgeist. #ecotrain

With Gautam all of this takes on a whole new meaning. With his initiatives at http://oikos.co.in he takes on exciting projects in India and faces the challenges that revolve around creating awareness for reusing, recycling and creating habitats for biodiversity and natural cycles that evolve independently once they get kick started. He's also capable of delivering econonically viable and cost effective solutions by managing projects on an executive level with architects and builders. All of this without compromising on quality and efficiency.

Time to spread the Green

I met Gautam in Mumbai back in 2007, while I was a part of an art show and did some live painting. We started a conversation about science and biology and talked about epigenetic research.

At the time, he spoke about his interest for mushrooms and how mycology was going to change the world. He also briefly mentioned his PhD thesis.

We both had a lot more in-common than just turntables and vinyl. Besides music and art, this wild jungle-baba/ barefoot walker and nature enthusiast always had a deep intellectual connection to me that came back in an instant even if we haven't met for years.

Daedalea covered in <a href="https://peakd.com/hive-166168/@yangyanje/mushroom-protocol-08">mushroom protocol 08</a>

With a background in resource management, food commodities and supply chains, I delved profoundly into the topics of organic farming, beneficial habitat planting, crop rotation and various certification bodies and their merits.

Each covering their respective fields of safety standards, alternative methods, social responsibility or emission saving strategies, they all have their monetary intentions as certification bodies and institutions. This isn't a bad thing, because they have changed the landscape of supply chains and set certain standards that create radical changes in our society towards the positive. Specially within the aspects of social responsibility and socio-economics we have yet to still see more than just CSR marketing stunts by major corporations with persuasive theatricals that are nothing else but empty promises that delivery shrimp results and profits often landing in the pockets of it's founders.

After all it's easy to make a few videos of some poor children in India and sell it to some guilty old folks who never left their country, living in the midst of a consumerist society. Asking them to donate to some local account for charity, while administrative hourly costs for labour could feed a child 50 days is an effortless task.

Easily written by someone who is well aware of the lobbyism surrounding the financial remittances, their regulations and the bodies that oversee such charity associations and foundations. Sentient of this fact, we shouldn't just dream of decentralised digital assets and blockchain changing this, but start using it for such purposes.

To tackle environmental challenges that will create financial sustainability should be on top of the list and replace CSR's first 'e' that stands for environmental sustainability by creating healthy habitats with biodiversity and dynamic equilibrium in crop cycles.

On the field, we can do much more. To support Gautam on his endeavours one can also book the indigo green camp, located off the highway to Pune, Maharastra on Aibnb. Hopefully soon on hiveBNB.

Here's your chance to support and experience a truly mindful project with positive intentions. The Indigo Green Camp.

Click on the link below and book the Indigo green camp on airbnb for a breathtaking experience and see India from a different perspective.

AirBNB for Indigo Green Camp

How we experienced it?

With a jungle near by, wild animals stunning landscapes, gardens and amazing gourmet mushrooms available as food supplies, the home comes equipped with basic necessities and can accommodate special requests if you are down for culinary experiments with local harvest from the indigo green camp farm.

Extraordinary black rice, okras and much more can be picked farm fresh.

Here we cooked a little meal with some shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

The place is ideal for long hikes while making sure you're armed with anti-mosquito spray for the sunsets. Various pools along the river have fish that will give you a pedicure and the water is clear, clean and super nice for some snorkelling adventures.

If you're an Indiana jones, you might stumble across some ancient buddhist caves around these mountains. A few caves some locals might know about and discover many sites that aren't a part of the archaeological survey of India yet.

Thanks for stopping by

Amitābha

Rane

Graffiti of vanishing Dong Chang 东厂 aka Rane

“Whoever dedicates his life to searching out particular connections of nature will spontaneously be confronted with the question how they harmoniously fit into the whole.” — Werner heisenberg