Varun.S

The Rocky Sofa

In nature we seek solace, we want to embrace our truest self unfiltered, unconditioned. Because nature does not differentiate or distinguish between a man and a woman, an animal or human. It just is, compassionate towards everyone the same way. No one is above no one below, everything right from the rock to the river, mountains to the seas, are the same. They may look different but all the same.
Much of the inspiration that we see in our lives has come from nature, the spirals, the curves, symmetry, asymmetry, binary, non binary etc.
All you need is to perceive it to see it unfiltered and raw without any intellectual bias.
Similarly every human in his/her/their own way expresses themselves in unique ways and that is being true self not identifying or shaped by any ideas or ideologies.

Making of Cob

Pictures
1.Bottle showing Soil, Silt & Clay to understand the composition of earth.
2. Sorting the earth - removing stones/pebbles that may affect the quality of earth and can also hurt your feet.
3. Cob wall - Made of waste glass bottles and cob stacked over one another which has been converted into a platform.
4. Section of the cafeteria wall - Bamboo as horizontal layer running perpendicular to locally sourced wooden/timber poles stacked with cob on both the sides and plastered with lime & sand mix.
5. The Cafe with the roof that's converted into a living roof & Ankit from .mag
6. The Cob Oven.
7. Converting the section of the land into the kids pool using rocks available on site. .cado checking structural integrity of the rocks.
8. Untying the frame ._azhagumuthu
9. Mixing of earth with adding lemongrass (available in the region) and water in proportion.
The proportion of the mix of earth and straw and water may depend on the condition of the locally available soil and may change. Easy test - take the mix in hand and hold it, the mix should not come apart and should hold in place.

I never really climbed the mountain, what was really happening during the whole process was more. Every step, every breath was just a reflection of the internal process, the discomfort a reflection of my own mind and realities that are there to confront and heal.
I can tell you how beautiful the valleys and the views are and how clean and thin the air is and the purity and coldness of the water. But, I would like to tell you something more real that there are things that bother, there are things that you are brought face to face with often the desires/thoughts you want to ignore and get past.
Every step hence that was taken was a confrontation of the self.
It was never about climbing and getting to the top and how fast I can climb. It was more about knowing when to slow down, when to rest, when to say no and knowing the limitations that bind us all and take care of the body and the mind irrespective how situations are and know that healing can take time.
It was an understanding that the responsibility of oneself is their own and the surroundings may be different for everyone and everyone can have their own experience of things in life.
It was getting to know that things may not be conquered but can be ascended and descended step by step, some may run along the way, some may get injured, some may feel breathlessness and some may just joyfully walk through it all.
Not every body and mind is the same and still every one is a reflection of their own understanding of life.