ROW Lecture Tour 2015

The new head of the Gandhi Trust had previously been Vice-Chancellor of three Universities and was very active in the promulgation of his duties, often commencing at 5am and finishing at 7 or 8pm.

We were able to accompany him on his inspection of one of the villages under the care of the Trust, and the village mayor in the discussion of the problems facing the village.

A part of this required an inspection of the village.

And its mixture of housing from the decaying ruins such as this.

To the more modern and recent structures, such as this.

In the midst of it all was an elderly crippled man living on the side of the road with this cart for shelter when it rained. I was informed that he chose to live there and was quite happy doing so, with the villagers supplying him with whatever food he needed.

ROW Lecture Tour 2015, Gandhi Trust

After leaving Kolkata I travelled to Bangalore and Mumbai we then travelled by overnight train to Sevagram and Wardha which is the centre for the Gandhi Trust, Ashram,  Hospital, and Leprosorium.
Here we spent the next five days in discussions with the Trust Chairman and directors, and visiting and viewing the various facilities there with the view of setting up a College course, based upon the teachings of Gandhi, in conjunction with a local University.

Here I am with the previous 92 year old Chairman of the Gandhi Trust who had recently retired.

This is the guesthouse in which we stayed. The end of the dry season for them with everything being quite parched and dry.

 

Here we see one of the interminably long long distance trains used by the local people on which we travelled. It is so rare for them to see a Western person travelling in this manner that you find yourself an item of curiosity. And in spite of their length and capacity, it is rare to find them less than full to overflowing. They are usually express trains only stopping at the major cities on the way. It is rare that fewer people board the train than left it at these stops. More often than not it is more.

These are the fees listed for treatments at the local hospital. To calculate what it would cost in AU 

dollars, one AU dollar is equal to .02 Rupees. And the prices listed are in Rupees. Of course the fees are relevant to the local wage.

This photo of Gandhi practising the spinning of cotton, which in conjunction with its weaving and dyeing, was one of the basic teachings of the Mahatama, as something all should learn in the process of becoming self-reliant. Gandhi even learnt to cut his own hair.

In a visit to the Ashram we see here a follower carrying out Gandhi's instruction to spin, during a meditation class. 

At the Gandhi Museum there is diplayed almost every imaginable form for the spinning of cotton, as well as information on the weaving and dyeing of  cotton and silk materials.

This is the original hospital at the Leprosarium.

My first port of call was India. The land of wall to wall people. And my first city was Kolkata(Calcutta).

Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/, formerly Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly river, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port as well as its sole major riverine port. As of 2011, the city had 4.5 million residents; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. As of 2008, its economic output as measured by gross domestic product ranked third among South Asian cities, behind Mumbai and Delhi.^[11] As a growing metropolitan city in a developing country, Kolkata confronts substantial urban pollution, traffic congestion, poverty, overpopulation, and other logistic and socioeconomic problems.

I have taken the above quotation from Wikipedia, to give you some idea of the extent of Kolkata, and yet it is considered a relatively small city.One of the unique features of Kolkata are the trams, for they are the only trams to be found in the whole of India. This photo was taken in the early morning which was the only time when you would see so few people.

The sacred cows of Inia are legendary and to be seen everywhere you go.

Milk is transported in the cans we used some fifty years ago, and is delivered by hand to those wishing to purchase it by decanting it by hand.

The traffic is the background for a cacophony of sound from the continual sound of horns. Nearly all commercial vehicles have a sign on the back of them,"Sound Horn". As there is a movement to reduce the noise, the new signs read,"Follow Traffic Laws". 

As for the traffic laws though, one wonders if such do exist, as it seems as though,"first in is best dressed". Yet in spite of this, what could well be described, as "controlled chaos", I did not see one accident.

My accommodation was in a lovely old Guest House called the Sunflower Guest House. This was a 150 year old building somewhat dilapidated on the outside, beautifully clean on the inside with an antique lift whose driver slept alongside it and was available 24hours a day.

And here it is in all its glory. Surprisingly enough it was very quiet and efficient.

Parking in India  is not a problem - that is if you can find somewhere to park. There are no traffic inspectors or parking meters.

Just about everything you want occurs on the street. You feel thirsty and here is the man juicing sugar cane. 

Perhaps a shave, or a haircut.

Buy some food

Have your shoes repaired.

Maybe you wish to have a letter typed?

If you need water, you may pump water.

Even wash yourself and your clothes.

Kolkata is the only city in which I have seen the rickshaw still in use. 

My favourite form of transport is the tuk tuk which is to be found everywhere. The original one's were powered by a two stroke motor. These are being replaced by fourstroke motors in both petrol and diesel as they are considered less polluting, with many now going for LPG.

The first method to replace the rickshaw was the trishaw which is the least polluting form of transport.

And of course they have what we would consider as the normal taxi.

ROW Lecture Tour 2015

It is now two years since my last posting. Last year I was unable to make my usual ROW Lecture Tour, and trust that the lack of postings have not left too many disappointed readers. I do hear the frequent question as to "why were you unable to make your tour?" My response has been to the effect that my farm requires continual, on-going, maintenance. And  if this is not carried out, by the time of my return, it would be so over-grown that it would almost be like starting all over again.

To enable this to not occur it has always been my practice to arrange for some-one to live-in and care-take the property  during this period. Last year, due to no-one's fault, my well laid plans went astray, and at the last minute my prospective carer was unable to come.

Nevertheless all is in hand this year and I am looking forward to being able once again to visit with all those kind people who have put in much effort in arranging my lectures, and to whom I am truly grateful. To be able to share the simple truths of Nature Cure and Natural Hygiene, that as Dr Ryke Hamer says, "Nature does not make mistakes - only we make mistakes"is indeed a great priviledge.

Here is my Itinerary for this year.

March 25-30 Kolkota, contact V Mansata 9133 2229 6551

March 30- April 10, Kochi & Delhi contact K Viswambharan 91 94440 54379

April 10- 13,  Croatia,contact M Pontoni  040 393 293

April 13 - 16 Slovenia, contact J Eitner 00386 41 466 055

April 16 - 21 Latvia, contact G Bilande guna.bilande@gmail.com

April 21- 28 York(UK) contact S Jowatt 07796 795 333

April 28- May 3 London contact A Johnson 07946 722 777

May 3- 7 Toronto(Canada) No contact.

May 7- 11 Cleveland(OH) contact J McDonald 1 440 458 5351

May 11- 14 Nashville(TN) contact B Helms 1 229 220 1308

May 14- 17 Atlanta contact N Sauer 1 770 579 1222

May 17- 20 Hot Springs(AK) contact J Hopper hoppers71909@yahoo.com

May 20-24 Houston(TX) contact A Nelson 1 281 363 9775

May 27 Dep: Los Angeles.

May 29 Arr: Brisbane, contact C Boulter 0417 602 448

May 341 Arr: Cairns.

Row Lecture Tour 2013 Atlanta - Hot Springs - Houston - Austin - San Antonio

After my sojourn in Toronto, I moved down into the US and to Toledo and a couple of venues with my friend Bob Avery. At this time my camera became completely forgotten in the rush and bustle, so must apologise for the lack of photos to share with every-one of this period.

From Toledo, I flew down to Atlanta in Georgia, and a pot-luck attended by around fifty people. And although I have had the pleasure of addressing this group on previous occasions, there always are many new faces attending. As attendance is limited by space, I am informed, there are many unable to attend.

These are some of the attendees, and yes, the majority of those attending the lectures are women. From this group I received two new invitations to speak, one being in Mexico, and the other Roumania.

Here I am with my good friend Dr Goldberg, his wife Binca, his intern David and fiancee Jessica. Dr Goldberg is a Professor at Life University, as well as having recently opened his own facility near Georgia.

From Georgia, I/we, that is my friend Nancy, drove from Houston to Georgia, stopping on the way at Hot Springs, in Arkansas. This is having a picnic lunch on the way, and although the sun was shining, it was still quite cool.

This is the pot-luck group in Hot Springs

And given the rapt attention on this lady's face and the others nearby, I must have been sharing something of interest at that time.

We visited thes springs of mineral water nearby, which in this instance are not hot, as are those in the township of Hot Springs and used for Spa purposes.

Many of the local people come here for their drinking water supplies. We tasted them and found that each has its own individual flavour.

This is a list of their mineral content.

Originally the waters were sold. These days the property is owned by the government.

Attending another Potluck with the Natural Hygiene Group in Houston

And our host Mamiko, who has translated many books on Natural Hygiene into Japanese, regularly travelling to Japan for lectures and promotion.

Here I am with Dr Cinque in Austin, Texas.

Dr Cinque's vegetable patch.

And one of his recently planted pomegranate trees.

We also had the pleasure of spending time with Dr's Viginia Vetrano, her daughter Tosca Haag, and Tosca's husband Greg at their home in San Antonio, Texas.

And to cap of our last day in Houston, Anna hosted a potluck at her home in the Woodlands,a delightful tree studded area, where I was invited to visit Bolivia next year.