Happy Ugadi

Happy New Year/Happy Ugadi

Ugadi is the name of the Lunar New Year and is celebrated in India today. On Ugadi the first dish of the day contains a mixture of tastes ranging from bitter to sweet including jaggery, raw mango, neem buds, tamarind, salt and green chilli. This symbolizes that life is not a smooth journey and that all experiences, the bitter and the sweet, should be taken together as all experiences are meaningful. Legend also states that Lord Shiva's son encouraged people to decorate their houses in mango leaves to ensure a good crop and the decorated houses are seen throughout Southern India on this day. On the way to visiting the environmental venturer groups we passed swarms of people preparing for Ugadi and Anna and I were fortunate enough to be blessed by an elephant at a pooja.

A saddu (holy man) at the pooja

Anna is blessed by the elephant

So what has been happening at Echo 4?

Harriet Jones and Mat Haresnape have kindly provided their thoughts on arrival at Parasaratham the home of Echo 4

( Lto R Matt, Harriet J and Rony)

It’s strange, the quick, inquisitive transition from feeling completely lost, in a rural landscape you’re used to seeing in frames in quirky cafes, to feeling utterly enriched in a new appreciation for real life. Natural beauty and close friendships with what were once complete strangers.

From a rocky start, ridden in simultaneous, cultural confusion (in the hectic and bizarre Indian fashion we grow soon familiar with); we have arrived, in awe, at an oasis.

Our nights, we spend by the glowing campfire, playing charades, laughing and more than likely singing (somewhat similarly to castaway vagabonds). Our days, we spend washing, eating, learning, admiring, challenging, and comforting. The wide, bright eyes of the nearby village school children, in fascination by our crackers, headphones, sun cream, and tennis balls, is for sure an image I won’t forget.

How can two communities, in the same world be and live so different? And alongside this how can, 9 hours away, I have a chance of seeing a fox, and here an elephant? When you lie in your man made basha when the sun goes down, staring, thinking, dreaming at the beautiful and vast night sky, star filled, shooting, shimmering, and still, you realize how incredible life can be.

I won’t deny that the sip of ice cold sprite upon reaching a nearby apparent ‘holy’ village on our coming arrival to Parasaratham was beyond delightful, but out here, in the wilderness, you really start to realize that material things, thoughts and ideas in our everyday lives really aren’t as significant or perhaps dominant as we think they are. From a patch of bare land, to our ‘Echo 4’ home, from first shy glances at fresh faces, to genuine relationships, and ambiguous thoughts to complete confidence, you can truly appreciate life. I look forward to the coming 2 weeks and hope that the adventure and magic will persist, and my inner hippy will blossom more so. Bring on the solar panel fences and muddy well bucket showers!

By Harriet Jones


We hiked 9k today; the walk took us up a large hill/mountain that had some amazing views. The first thing that struck me as we arrived in the first village was a man sitting around. The guy was dressed in orange and was holding a long staff that made him look like someone out of an Aladdin film. He walked off and came back with a piece of paper explaining he was a spiritual leader of life. I decided to give him 5 rupees because I found him so interesting (or because of the way he was dressed) but he still let me have a picture taken with him. When we were at the second half of the walk we came to the brow of the hill and saw below an oasis of farmland. We had arrived!

By Mat Haresnape

Anna and I joined Echo 4 after their first week to see what had been happening. We were greeted with the news that the group were putting on a night of entertainment for us and that everyone would be dressing up. The paint came out and we were awarded head dresses made by the girls in the group and the first thing that struck me about Echo 4 was that there was so much laughter, singing and merriment that I was immediately happy and felt completely at home in the camp. 

It is a stereotype but whilst the girls made the headdresses, the boys made fire and the camp was ready to go! If I am honest I was extremely flattered by the welcome that Echo 4 laid on and Anna and I were treated to some round the camp fire entertainment. As ever charades didn't dissapoint and we were left with sore sides we all laughed so much. The group continued to wow us and next came a song prepared by the group. The singing, which I had already learned was a continuing theme within the group was followed again by much laughter, another on going theme for the group

.

With all this fun it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that there was no work going on here. Let me set that one straight. Day 2 at Echo 4 was one of the toughest days labour I have ever encountered. The group rise at 5.30 am. The first task of the day is to go to the well which is a good twenty minutes away and jerry cans are filled to the brim with water and heaved back to camp. This is the first work out of the day and is tough. Next comes the clearing of the ground from all foliage and removing all the large boulders. The idea behind this is that nothing on the ground can make contact with the solar powered fence as it will prevent the fence from working. With break bars, sweat, some steely determination and a lot of graft we uplifted the rocks from their resting places. We made some impressive progress and it was fully satisfying everytime we successfully removed a boulder that seemed at the start of the day impossible to move. They have completed almost 100 metres so far and I will keep you updated on the progress.

                                         
Life at Echo 4 is summed up well by this poem by Sam and Layla

Art Deco 4

Elephant nightwatch with Echo 4,

Castaway party with Make-up and more,

Up at dawn, trek to the well,

Fighting the brambles, making them quell.

Restful evenings, fun and games,

Crawl into bashers and dawn is insane.

Dogs, elephants, and wild boar,

           Fear and excitement with Echo 4