Gramya Manthan Story #5 Natural Rhythm and the Sacred
Gramya Manthan has been happening for 8 years in the same village cluster in Kanpur Dehat and we have been sitting in the shade of this banyan tree since then. Only this year, we began calling it Dadimaa Bargat (Grandmother Banyan). Gramya Manthan invites people to reflect on one’s days - how would it be to draw from a witness of 300 years, was a sense we tried to hold. Grandmother Banyan has seen several storms, monsoons, changes in her lifetime.
One of the work that has happened to us and through us is to reclaim the sacred in nature. Looking at nature not just as a material resource but as a spirit. And not just nature outside - what would it be to not just look at our own bodies as a material resource?
Another aspect to this has been experiencing a different rhythm of life than the rhythm most urbanites are used to - clock-time, weekday-weekend etc. Experiencing seasons, experiencing daylight and nightsky, experiencing birds chirping or trees shedding leaves.
We would start the day early at 5 am to experience that part of the day most young people avoid -the early mornings :p And several participants shared that they felt effortless to get up in the morning with sun rising and bird chirping. AmarJot Singh Sohal shared ‘In the birds’ voices I heard a different alarm, one that couldn’t be snoozed.’
To the nature, we go. To nurture ourselves.
One of the work that has happened to us and through us is to reclaim the sacred in nature. Looking at nature not just as a material resource but as a spirit. And not just nature outside - what would it be to not just look at our own bodies as a material resource?
Another aspect to this has been experiencing a different rhythm of life than the rhythm most urbanites are used to - clock-time, weekday-weekend etc. Experiencing seasons, experiencing daylight and nightsky, experiencing birds chirping or trees shedding leaves.
We would start the day early at 5 am to experience that part of the day most young people avoid -the early mornings :p And several participants shared that they felt effortless to get up in the morning with sun rising and bird chirping. AmarJot Singh Sohal shared ‘In the birds’ voices I heard a different alarm, one that couldn’t be snoozed.’
To the nature, we go. To nurture ourselves.
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