My recent visit to a place by named Chikli, just about 50 kilometers from Belgaum turns out to be a life changing experience. A stone compounded area spreading into a couple of acres, completely built by humans with no machines or technology used whatsoever. And the compound took 6 months for around 2 dozen men to come into a shape. And the place is called GOKULDHAM – built, maintained and certainly expanding (without electricity or any modern gadget) by ISKCON. (I am not promoting this organization in any manner as I am not at all a part of it in any way).
I certainly feel I am lucky to have visited this place for the last 2 days along with my students (and they are definitely more lucky) to personally experience how human habitat can survive with the most basic amenities of life and still be happy and contented. Beautiful houses built with mud or guchha (manufactured in-house and lasts much much longer than the 66 grade cement) and with teak or sesame wood beautifying the windows and ceiling.
The biggest learning was certainly the acceptance of the things available around us today and possibly in the days to come. We are all in the race of creating things which are good, cheap and fast. But the school of thought over this place says, things which are actually needed by human’s and practically useful and sustainable can fulfill only and only any TWO of the following three criterias at any given point of time, And they are:
- Good
- Cheap and
- Fast
And any product which claims to fulfill all three are those which are short lived and would not essentially be required by us.
I was amazed and surprised to understand the value of things I use or wish to use in the context of what was being told to me. Though I am writing this piece of blog on my pad, but I also understand this pad does not fulfill the criteria I just talked about. Simply because, this is going to be obsolete in front of the new technologies which are going to crop up in few weeks or months. So the biggest question is what can possibly fulfill all the three criteria’s ?? And we are taken back to that age where none of the technologies exist and the things available then were the ones which stood strong to fulfill all the three criteria.
The things which carry the immense intrinsic value and holds for a long time are those which are available easily around us and are those which are gifted by our mother nature. And it is our inbound duty to understand this and give back to our nature by preserving it and enriching the value of it.
I am convinced of the material things having a short life span, but at the same time I am also happy to know the value of things which are essential and available at a much cheaper cost then gizmos and gadgets.
And every individual contributing his small part towards maintaining the sanctity of our Mother Nature, is all that is required and is definitely the need of the hour.