Silverfish spill the Golden word!

By Dr. R Sudarshan 95th Organic Farmers' Market, Sunday, 31 July 2022, 9 AM to 12 Noon W hen Loquat is in full bloom, its fragrance pervades the entire farm. The golden nugget-shaped fruits are delicious, nutritive, and healthy. Birds have already guided us to its immense value.  The market is 95 weeks old. And this season, among the many vegetables and fruits, a handful of Loquat would also be there. Sunday comes soon again. And the farmers assemble at 9 with their produce. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan P olish Paulina and Korean Il Nam walked into the farm yesterday after visiting the weekend market last Sunday. They wanted to see how and where the fruits they bought from the market grow. They wondered at the giant jack fruits, splitting custard apples, fledging fig trees, and a lot of tropical varieties. And tired by mid-day, they ate a meal on the fig leaf. * * * LAST OF THE JACKFRUIT HUNTERS By Dr. R Sudarshan Watch video: https://fb.watch/eETk05UK6J/ Someone from the Farmer's House community asked if we could get them some prime jackfruit today as they had guests. We were only scheduled to check the tree for Wednesday's market, but as this was a request, we didn't want the guests of the community not to taste the delicacy at the fag end of the fruit season. We asked the farmhands to go to the tree and check. They went, they climbed, they found, they conquered. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990.

By Dr. R Sudarshan T he Bihar hairy caterpillar made a mammoth mega city of its clan on the lentil leaves. Devouring skillfully only the chlorophyllous pulp, they are leaving behind a micro-network of leaf veins that will dry now and wither out like parched paper. While the caterpillars are busy on the lentil circuit, we harvest several other things including mushrooms for tomorrow's mini market. Yes, the 27th of July at 8 AM. Be there. We will be there. Organic Farmers' MIDWEEK MINI MARKET - 21, Wednesday, 27 July 2022, 8 AM to 10 AM * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, #  1A, 13th Cross,  Kalidasa Road,  VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan L ittle Naina spent hours at the farm yesterday and wasn't willing to leave. Born, raised, and living in Zurich, her vision of nature is manicured rolling hills, well-architectured trees, school assembly like uniform fruit orchards, or a grand discipline for every element - air, water, soil, or grass to fall in line to perfect sight. And an extreme form of mutual respect where you can't flush the toilet or take a shower at night for the fear of disturbing the sleep of others.  Unlike in Switzerland, several dozen types of fruits hung from the trees here. The shapes of leaves were astoundingly diverse. Worms crawled, birds constantly chirped, weeds grew wild and she didn't need permission to walk anywhere. Nothing was as manicured and speaking aloud did disturb the farmhands. She had been to the Sunday market where she had tried every fruit that she had never seen in life - custard apple, water apple, ivy gourd, jack fruit, blackberry, and many others. She...

By Dr. R Sudarshan L ike every page of a book, every sheet of stone bears a story. And every story has a creative honor and is not to be piled in indignity. There are places in our city where leftover stones from pavement work or civil contracts are simply thrown as an eyesore. They are decrepit corners where residents dump the garbage. Volunteers of Farmer's House and the staff have discussed with corporators and are removing at least some of the pile. And given a home in dignity, the stones can again take a flight of stairs. Stones like soil or water are an element of nature's original wealth. And some could at least be laid on a farm for people to walk on and wonder where they came from, who might have carved them and what their stories could be.  Come over to the farm. Sit on them and engage your mind. Read a book or write a story. No element of nature is as silent as a stone. But as they say, every stone might sure reveal a story. Through you. For any relevant query, messa...

By Dr. R Sudarshan D r. Charan led a team of volunteers at the farm on Saturday - Anusha, Poorna, Sanjana, Prasad, and Nandeesh. They cleaned the water hole, planted water bamboo, fixed lotuses, refilled it with water, and let some fishes inhabit the pond. They collected odd stones from the farm floor and gave a borderline slope with soil. With weeds growing soon in between the stones, that will form a pretty ramp for wildlife. Soon, the wild hogs, peacocks, birds, squirrels, rabbits, mongooses, wild dogs, and possibly snakes and leopards (a little far-fetched expectation, this) would drink from the wilderness water hole. Some of them may even fish in the untroubled waters. Volunteering at an organic farm is an expression of a sense of ownership. And that's a gesture, which builds transparency and trust with the community. Gratitude for a great job done. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990.

By Dr. R Sudarshan F or many of our generation, 1984 was a great year of the turmoil surrounding the killing of a popular Prime Minister. But the mind also drifted then to place that event in the landscape of history to see it not as the most critical incident of the year, but as a crossroad of history, where the ordinary and the extraordinary happen in tandem.   Upamanyu narrates the assassination in a similar context to the passage of time. Brilliantly. He speaks of the extraordinary things like a high pedestal betrayal and a massacre of people alongside the pedestrian life that we all live - the excitement of wealth by a family, a boy seeking revenge on a sexual predator, a latrine cleaner longing for release, a lone man's companionship with sparrows and a whole lot of commonplace stories. All happen together on the stage of life but none are linked to the other. A masterful piece of writing. A perspective that stuns you with its time-neutral philosophy. And the very exact ...

By Dr. R Sudarshan 94th Organic Farmers' Market, Sunday, 24 July 2022, 9 AM to 12 Noon T he Malay Apple tree is fruiting for the first time at the farm and it has a way of announcing its arrival.  We don't know if it is calling out loud the foraging birds by the pink carpet on the soil, but surely it is striking to be different. Meanwhile, the market tomorrow is in its 94th week. Unbelievable that we will soon be 100! For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan F ive years ago when we had just begun planting and were still broadly clueless about the craft of farming, a leopard family had walked in search of water that had seeped from the just laid drip lines, punctured by rats on a summer night. That eventually inspired us to dig some depressions here and there at the farm to impound water, but it is just over a year ago that we made 3 permanent water holes, the biggest of which is this. That's our major link to the wilderness at the organic farm. Leopards may still be walking in but due to green ground cover, we hardly see the pug marks. Wild pigs do come in hordes to drink. The peacock families are regular. Lots of other birds, frogs, squirrels, rabbits, and mongooses aren't day-shy and we see them all the while. A rat snake has almost lived in the pond in recent weeks and it even molted on the shore. The drinking hole is getting a makeover this week. Some water lilies and lotuses will begin to grow in it soon. Wh...

By Dr. R Sudarshan T his season, rains look determined to grip the farm without respite, till there is an around life renewal. Every rat hole is flooded and the mice are all out in the open. Frogs appear to be musically croaking for an Emmy award. Peahens are laying eggs in the bush.  So, in the darkness of nights on the landscape, there is an unmistakable annual variety banquet for the serpents. They are now so suddenly fattened with food that they are casting away the shrinking shroud. At least 4 places on the farm, the snakes have shed their skin and wriggled out of their stressful past. This one in the picture is from the little one that was lurking into the camera the other day when we were waiting to watch the rainbow guppies. An organic farm is a theatre of life. And everyone is an equal actor. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990.

By Dr. R Sudarshan M ost modern science narratives begin from medieval Europe and install Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno and later, Newton, Darwin, and much later, Einstein et. al. as pathfinders that changed the world. But in this skewed vision of geographic supremacy of claims, we lose track of the fact that the world has always been a global village and talent is equally distributed across the planet. Copernicus relied on the mathematical techniques of Arabic and Persian texts. Newton's laws of motion derived from astronomical observations made in Africa. Darwin consulted a 16th-century Chinese encyclopedia. And Einstein was inspired by the works of SN Bose in quantum mechanics. James Poskett brings in a new perspective on the history of science. And he uncovers the way humanity collectively owns its path-breaking discoveries. New light on the horizon, reflected on our shelf. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, ...

By Dr. R Sudarshan T here are half a dozen Pomello plants at the farm, that is 3 to 4 years old. The green, yellow and red skin varieties have been brought from far and planted.  Of all of them, the Devanahalli variety is the first to bear fruit. And it chose this week to appear between the leaves. Tomorrow, the 20th of July at 8 AM, the midweek mini market enters its 20th week. That's for displaying some produce for quick picking. Organic Farmers' MIDWEEK MINI MARKET - 20, Wednesday, 20 July 2022, 8 AM to 10 AM * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, #  1A, 13th Cross,  Kalidasa Road,  VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan THE LEGENDARY TEMPLE DISH - PULIYOGARE (puliyodharai/pulihora/tamarind rice) Venue: Farmer's House, Date: Friday, 22 July 2022, Time: 5.30 PM Guest chefs:  Lalitha assisted by her husband Rajagopalan T he earliest record of Puliyogare is from the 3rd century BC royal households. Across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the greater region of southern influence, it has been a temple dish, a comfort food, a traveler's companion, and a delicacy that has sustained millions of people and billions in business. There may be half a dozen commercial methods of preparing it but there is just one clean traditional way of making it, which Lalitha, from the temple town of Tirupathi has mastered. She has spent a lifetime teaching and is passionate about vegetarian cooking of traditional delicacies.  Lalitha will teach how to make PULIYOGARE Gojju and mix it with rice. You can then discover how to eat it, yourselves. Register with Chef Akshay at 96631 10...

By Dr. R Sudarshan P hilosophy is just a journey of the mind.  When you travel and see how landscapes open up, watch how people live and why systems came to be, unique philosophic thoughts emerge and give you perspectives you never had before.  Eric Weiner did this better than us. He traveled to Athens, Wyoming, Delhi, Paris, Beijing, and scores of other places and explored the ideas that emerged from those grounds through the minds of Rousseau, Nietzsche, Confucius, Socrates, and a whole lot of thinkers that dotted human history. A unique book. A combination of time, space, and thought. Just arrived on the shelf. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan 93rd Organic Farmers' Market, Sunday, 17 July 2022,  9 AM to 12 Noon A t least half a dozen bird nests have appeared between the leaves of different trees this week at the farm. And a peahen laid a single egg in the bush. This sense of their ownership of the farm is an acknowledgment that we might have done everything right in keeping the place natural. We only assist. But nature asserts. Market tomorrow. At 9 AM as always. Everything is rain washed - clean and green. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan R ains are nature's investment for the future. The soil is soaked, aquifer recharged, ponds filled, rivers flown and the root meristem is given a hope to dig deep to hold a giant tree upon its tender tissue.  Padma Farm is exploiting this power of nature to the fullest and is continuing to plant passion in every inch of its soil. What goes today into the ground are Persimmon, Australian finger lime, Emerald grape, Kumquat, crimson red long fruiting Mulberry, and Red Thai jackfruit.  We don't know what survives or if we survive to see the fruits. Farming is a journey into nature, just a long walk to an unknown horizon, without a bargain on returns. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990.

By Dr. R Sudarshan A dry coconut shell, cast away carelessly in a corner of our seed nursery on the terrace is now a fresh green field of germination. Unintended, yet unavoidable in the free flow of life. It needs very little natural effort to grow clean greens, compared to the logistics you need to kill them with chemicals.  Tomorrow at 8 AM, the 19th-midweek mini market will assemble, even if it rains big. Organic Farmers' MIDWEEK MINI MARKET - 19, Wednesday, 13 July 2022, 8 AM to 10 AM * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, #  1A, 13th Cross,  Kalidasa Road,  VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan EATING CLEAN: COMMUNITY DIALOGUE - 1;  Featured Speaker - Sindhu Ramachandra;  Friday, 15 July 2022 at 5:30 PM E ating clean is a lifestyle fundamental, easily ignored and abused in the fast lane of tongue temptations. And the long convoluted tube that we call 'gut' is often turned into a gutter that is forced to process what it is not meant for - synthetic food, herbicides, pesticides, and life-threatening substances. Sindhu is a biochemist with work experience from IISc. She pursues data science and AI in the context of biochemistry. An ardent believer in organic farming, she cares for clean foods. And she knows how unclean foods can turn your life upside down. Community Dialogues at the Farmer's House are an engagement with reason to restore the dignity of life. Come, listen, interact and benefit. Attendance is FREE. Register with Gagan at 97421 62956. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross,...

By Dr. R Sudarshan R umi is more of a phenomenon in civilization than a person or poet. Born in Afghanistan, died in Turkey, wrote in Persian, left an indelible influence on Tajiks, Greeks, Pashtuns, and Indians, and became known as perhaps the world's most well-known poet. His poetry transcends cultures, beliefs, devotion, love, and the indomitable passion for life. The Ultimate Rumi Collection has 3 of his best books -   Essential Rumi, Bridge of the Soul, and The Book of Love. The Bridge of the Soul excavates the interiors of silence. The Book of Love says 'there are lovers content with longing' and amazes you no end. Essential Rumi says 'My body is a large city. Much grieving in one sector but I live in another part'. That creates an image of yourself, contradicting yourself in the mirror.  Now on the shelf - Rumi, an uncontrollable river of life in time. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, ...

By Dr. R Sudarshan 92nd Organic Farmers' Market, Sunday, 10 July 2022,  9 AM to 12 Noon O ne of the last fruits to appear at the farm this year is the Malay Apple. The plant has a grandstanding like a Christmas tree and its leaves are large, thick, and luster green. Within that conical canopy, the red nuggets of Malay Apple fruits spring out in bunches from the branches. Our first. Yes. And we know that it is only the beginning of another crimson red storm at the farm. Market this week on Sunday will have the last tide of summer fruits. But the vegetable flood has no season at all - it just flows in every week, about which, it is needless to speak. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan T his time of the year is when we plant new saplings and stretch the list of species on the farm.  We already have over 50 types of fruiting plants. The land is limited. But the ambition is endless. This week, we planted dwarf pomegranate, Australian red lemon, tropical apple, golden custard apple, green mulberry, and dwarf blueberry. From distant Japan came pink and red Miyazaki mango saplings. A good friend brought black Persimmon from Munnar.  Kiwi is coming soon. Then the Californian emerald red grape. We are looking for the golden yellow Thai papaya. And olives from Jordan or Cyprus or Spain? Why not! We shall keep drooling over the delicious floral banquet of the soil. Before it stops raining in September, a dozen new species must be sown.  Well, maybe. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Padma Farms (Gaddige Road), Farmer's House, 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan I t rained all night. The massive monsoon clouds devoured all the moonlight. Winds howled and as a prelude, some banana plants fell. That was a perfect time for the dragon fruit flower to make an entry. It did, for the first time at the farm, in a dramatic dark setting. That's a giant, as long as half of a human arm. It only blooms for a few hours in the night for one day in a year. Monoecious and will self-pollinate, hopefully. In 30 days, it might turn into fire-spewing red.  Dragons are legendary. We wait. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Padma Farms (Gaddige Road), Farmer's House, 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan T he strip of space that transits between the sea and the land is a stage of extraordinary drama. The tide sweeps a variety of lives here, where a starfish may eject its gut to eat, a snail may have teeth on its tongue, a shell may see an unauthorized home encroachment and a crab may call you by its antennae, only to disappear in wet mud when you approach.  At our feet and before our eyes, and just some half a mile from our homes, the events could be unbelievably different. Sejal Mehta scans the 7600 km of India's marine coast and explains to us the blue wonders. That's the wave breaking on our shelf today. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan T he sunbirds or spider catchers drop the seed on a branch. Drinking the moisture from the air, the seed germinates. It then sends out the roots that slither over the bark, dig through into the stem, and travel like a catheter in the innards of the host to steal the sap of minerals. Loranthus needs no soil. It just doesn't step on the ground at all. Its job is just like dropping a pipe into your stomach to suck out all the food that you store. In Africa, it sucks out Cocoa. In Europe, it drains Chestnut. It may have its own decorative or medicinal uses. And it is a parasite par excellence. In Padma Farms, Loranthus thrives on mango trees. Indistinguishable in form of the host but deep devouring. Only when the beautiful pink flowers blossom, do you know who is living off your mango trees and hoarding all the sunlight. By the time you find out, the host and parasite are inseparably intertwined and married.  Who thrives and who shrivels is a game of nature. But sure...

By Dr. R Sudarshan Y es, it is a book for 3 to 5-year-olds. And it is not about a dinosaur, a lion, a shark, or a caterpillar that only crawls. It's about the bees that are central to our survival. There are 20,000 types of bees and honey bees alone make up 100 million in numbers. Over 75% of all the flowers on earth and 35% of all the food crops we eat are pollinated by them. The complete food security of the world hinges on their needle sting and dainty wing. But 40% of them have already perished by pesticides pushing us to eat poisoned produce. It is a double whammy of self-betrayal for us to kill the bees and poison ourselves. Catch the kids young. Give them a pretty picture book to ponder. Build an early feel of the framework of their survival. That's the buzz on our baby bookshelf. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan I n a small clearance of our food forest organic farm, we are erecting a trellis. Surrounded by trees for a windbreak, the trellis will stand its ground firmly in storms. And in a week, we will plant grape vines at the base. In a couple of years, grapes green, red and black will hang down through the metal chequers. Well, dreams are what we all live for. Tomorrow at 8 AM, the 18th week of the midweek mini will open amidst rains. That's for your Wednesday supplements. Organic Farmers' MIDWEEK MINI MARKET - 18, Wednesday, 6 July 2022, 8 AM to 10 AM * * * A PLACE OF SALE IS A WAY OF LIFE By Dr. R Sudarshan W e clean the yard overnight since the market assembles quite early in the morning. But if it rains in the night or a storm blows at dawn, the market yard will have turned untidy by the morning, whereas the housekeeping staff won't be there till 10. But on Wednesdays in the midweek mini market, we are sure of a kind little soul that lends support of any ki...

By Dr. R Sudarshan T he autism spectrum is a damn real human dimension. Extreme emotions, anxiety, expressions, free-flowing assertions, but such intelligent and creative minds at times that all in all they are amazingly unique humans that need understanding, empathy, and emotional support rather than control and ridicule. And about 2 percent of the world could be autistic. This is a hugely popular book that opens for you a deep appreciation of autism, layer by layer. And helps find the most optimum ways of dealing with it to bring these unique humans into what we call mainstream life. On the shelf, a rare narrative. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan F armer's House on Kalidasa Road integrates organic farm activities, an organic outlet, weekly farmers' market, an organic cafe called Kutz Bowl, and a famous bookstore called Silverfish Books. We have regular work of printing labels, designing campaign material, bookmarks, stationery, packaging material, gift wraps, paper bags, cloth carry bags, and other merchandise. We wish that some upcoming designer groups or individuals provide timely and supportive services to businesses. If you fit the bill, please message on 810 511 2990 and arrange a time to meet to discuss. Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan 91st Organic Farmers' Market, Sunday, 3 July 2022,  9 AM to 12 Noon N atural succession in an organic farm is unpredictable, yet delightful. We have had tomatoes, berries, gourds, and pods that we didn't plant. There are growing trees of Sandalwood, Melia, and even Jack fruit that we didn't intend. With the onset of the monsoon, there is this gorgeous flower that has come up everywhere. We didn't plant and so we won't uproot. We didn't visualize and so we won't lose the vision. Market in the morning. Avocadoes too are raining. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Farmer's House, Silverfish Books, Kutz Bowl and the Farmer's Market, # 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

By Dr. R Sudarshan I n a conflicting mind mess, a cosmetic surgeon that corrects flaws in beauty is in the love of imperfections. An actor is unable to get rid of his crush on his female chauffeur. A salesman is unable to move beyond the memory of rejected love. These are men who are alone in their world, living under the weight of emotions that cannot always be expressed and addressed.  Well, it is Haruki Murakami book. What else can be a better introduction than his name? On the shelf now. For any relevant query, message 81051 12990. * * * Silverfish Books, Farmer's House, # 1A - 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.