Making a living

One of the thoughts that occupy me is how can one make a living in an eco-friendly and sustainable way. I wont go over-board and over-idealistic, consider me a middle-of-the-road guy. I am not anti- progress or anti-industrialization, however I keep thinking...there must be a way...

Several years ago while teaching a course in Armenia I found a student wearing a necklace made of dried coconuts! Don't take it lightly, the necklace belonged to her grandmother and was 40 YEARS OLD!! I remember when we were young we were fascinated by the "Kunni" seed കുന്നി കുരു (Arbus Precatorius).

The Kunni Kuru is often collected along with Manjadi Kuru ( മഞ്ചാടി കുരു ) Adenanthera pavonina
. We used to make necklaces out of them. This led me to wonder about using other seeds... and guess what I found? A website dedicated to Botanical Jewellery. Now all I have to do is to find buyers.

Btw, did you know that the Kunni Kuru was used to measure Gold and there were even gold coins based on the weight of a Kunni Kuru? But watch out, they are poisonous!

Adenanthera pavonina മഞ്ചാടി കുരു

The House

From house by the river

I have a friend who once told me about the architecture of middle class houses in Kerala. They usually consist of a core house and extensions that have been built as the family needs grow. Hence a house is like an archeological dig, a mix of different styles and architecture. Different extension ( ചയി പ്പ് ) built at different periods. The materials are not the most expensive. For example, expensive houses have Teak Wood (തെക്ക്‌) and Rose Wood ( വീട്ടി ). The middle class houses uses either Anjili ( ആഞ്ഞിലി ) or Jackfruit Wood (പ്ലാവ് ). Even the finish of the house is more pragmatic than aesthetic.

The HBR is a classic along the lines described above, hence its a mix of old and new architecture. The core of the house is 68 years old and other sections have been added on by subsequent generations. The wood work you see in the centre is a wooden room used for grain storage in Kerala called the Ara. To the left of it is a kitchen, that still has a tiled roof. On the right side (not visible) is a longish room with a "Sheet" roof. The last room on the right side is a modern room with tiled flooring and a concrete roof. Restoration work aims to preserve its status as a middle class house and to preserve the traditions it represents.

More about Fauna

1. Teak Wood (Tecona Grandis)
2. Rose Wood apparently refers to a number of trees with a rich dark woods , but indian rosewood is (Dalbergia Sisoo )
3. Anjili, a version of the Jack Fruit Tree (Artocarpus Hirsutus)
4. Jackfruit Tree is a Relative of the Anjili ( Artocarpus heterophyllus )