Kissanpur – Discovering Real Togetherness

The best thing that is the result of being born on this earth is that we are all social animals if there is life it thrives and relishes being in the company of alikes   . Animals , birds , reptiles ,and even trees love the company of their own species . Its so pleasing to see animals frisking about and playing with their own kind .

Given below are a few lines from an article by Elisa Novick It tell's us about the social life of trees 

They communicate with and heal each other and give to us of themselves unceasingly,They are social beings, forming communities, sending warnings to each other, coordinating actions. Trees decide how to grow, which branches are necessary and where to place them, what size the leaves should be in different parts of the plant. And the older they are, the more wisdom they accumulate and can pass on through their genetic coding. 

The moment we are born we become a part of a social unit " our family " which i s the first unit of society  to which we will belong all throughout our lives and even in death . However digital and technically advanced we may become we will need people to carry us to the grave or to the funeral pyre. Just as we needed people to pull us out of  our mother' s womb . '

Our social life takes shape as we proceed from family to , neighborhood , to play group to school to college to work place to bigger horizons of exploration and ambitions But at every step we interact with humans and thrive with their love  and support . The best thing about belonging to any or all of these social set ups is that we become to belong to the members of these groups , an affinity is developed which gives us a feeling of security .  

Though a great admirer of technological advancement and specially the cell phone , its various apps and the internet , an internet addict my self  I spend most of my time , blogging , and chatting and my shopping is mostly done on line , but still I personally feel that real togetherness is when we meet our friends and relatives in person .Seeing each other in person is so much more fulfilling . Why otherwise would we all be using  "Skype"  only because we consider it a boon to be able to  see each other while talking long distance . 

Communication is an important aspect of human life  lot of things can be achieved by talking --we have all heard the expression ---lets solve this matter  across the table---that means its easy to communicate and explain oneself when facing each other , its easier to convey when eye to eye contact is possible than over the telephone ---why else would political powers hold summits and meetings . Similarly the need to touch and be touched is equally important a child would respond more to a hug or to a cuddle than to a plain smile . . Irrespective of whether we know it or not we all have a need for touch which could be the desire either to touch or to be touched. 

Studies that have been done on the subject have clearly demonstrated that those who know the value of touch and constantly engage in it are happier and healthier. .

Thus we see that coming in close personal contact and experiencing each others presence physically is so much more important than keeping in touch digitally . 

In  recent days  we have  been  seeing a spurt of old age homes, and poor homes coming up where people come  and lodge their old parents and relatives saying they don't  have either the time or  the money to look after them . But then little do  they realize that these same  elders  would and could be such better substitutes as compared to servants and creches  to look after their kids  once  the parents left for work.   Grandparents have their  personal  interest in the well being of their grandchildren . We not only look after their physical needs like giving them healthy food , bath and sleep as do servants and creches but we tend to see about their growth as a whole we love reading to them and I personally love taking my granddaughter for "nature rambles",  as we call them ,we have a bird house at home and we also plant trees and  watch their growth daily. Nature is a very good source of bringing people together because it has the ability to keep us tied up together we love to see and discuss birds nesting  and if they have laid eggs or not , how many chicks have come out , has the seed sprouted is the plant coming up well , we talk about the various stages of growth and learn a lot through these interactions --in fact it was in  one of these nature ramble activities that my grand daughter learnt that we should never pour water over freshly sowed seeds as they get drowned ..

Its sheer bliss going for walks with her , telling her about the various things we come across  and trying to pacify her curiosity It does give me a feeling of achievement and satisfaction when she shares  her knowledge at school and  also with other members  of the family .who have started coming together to discuss and add their two bits to these nature discourses Nearly every member of the family contributes to these discussions and is as curious as the two of us about the developments.Everyone seems to be coming together automatically no one has any problem donating a few minutes to come and peep at the fledgelings or to see the mango plant grow.

We are all looking forward to receiving our sample of tomato seeds from KISSAN   and the pots have been made ready too with supporting sticks and all .

This is Real togetherness isn't it ?

Given below are some picture of a goat at the roadside and a snail in our joggers  park where we go for our walks , the bird house at home and a mango seed planted in a pot .a picture of our" together visits " to the vegetable market and of course the not to be lagging  behind  digitally alert and mobile savvy Ananya

 http://www.kissanpur.com/.



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