THE PROMISE OF JUNE

Back in 2019, when we first iterated through the major offerings of a collective, I remember thinking of a day at the collective when it is fully implemented. “Wake up to the birds” was the first line that I had put down. 3 years later, it was deja vu of sorts, when I woke up at around 6:30 in the morning to the soothing whistling of a Malabar Whistling Thrush. Although I had heard this little one many times before, the experience of the call acting like an alarm, was just something else.

As our dream translates to reality, I cannot express my excitement in words. June in that sense is always an inflection point. The hot months of May give way to the dark clouds and downpours as the sun baked soil quickly absorbs its fill and gives out that beautiful scent of the first rains. June is when our theory gets translated to reality and projects see fruition as our planting begins.

This year, the monsoon seems delayed by about 2 weeks. However we have received some strong pre-monsoon showers that have encouraged us to start some preliminary seed bombing. Come the first showers, and we get started with our swales in Hyderabad and diversification in Coorg. This monsoon we are also trying to do some interesting measurements on our stream, the Kembuva Poley to see if hydro power can be a reality for us.

As we move towards design finalisations for the houses in Poomaale, and plot choices in Hyderabad, what really gives us a kick about June is that this is the month that simply transforms landscape from a brown-scape to a green-scape. This helps us to imagine the final form and shape and helps even our members imagine what they have signed up for. It also reminds us of the long road ahead and the need to stick to the road that we have embarked upon.

“When monsoon storm pass over my home,
Then there’s no time for me to roam;
I plough the fields, plant rice with cheer,
But still remain a mountaineer.”

Excerpt from the Coorg Ballad.