Stories From Nammalvar

Once, Nammalvar visited Aurobindo Ashram Farm to attend a workshop. There, he met a foreign lady who took a round with them through the fields and on coming back to Ashram, sat to have her lunch that afternoon. When all the courses were served, she commented, “Why do you serve me poison, when I’m looking for food?” Though surprised and shocked at her comment, Nammalvar and others were convinced when she explained about the chemical fertilizers used in farming to grow those crops which were used in cooking the lunch! The thought of Natural Farming, using natural fertilizers struck his mind for the first time and he did not delay anymore to pool information on Natural Farming. Nammalvar recalls it as the third most important lesson that he has learnt in life.

when America and Germany sought patent on seeds of neem tree which is the mother tree of India. For that patent case he visited Munich in Germany. Nammalwar kept in his hands all the sample parts of a neem tree to prove that India has been using each and every part of the tree from times immemorial. The person who came from Germany inquired about them. Nammalvar took out a neem stick and told him that it can serve the purpose of both toothpaste and brush if bitten at one end and used for brushing the teeth. He further explained that toothpaste and brush, invented by them are non-biodegradable and non eco-friendly, causing danger to both soil and the livestock in it whereas his neem stick is bio-digradable and eco-friendly. “It was only when an American who came to Bombay found out the fact that neem oil could be used as mosquito repellent that he took neem oil to America. Why mosquitoes, we drive away even the ghosts by the leaves of neem tree!” he added. After listening to his delineation, the German scientist was dumbstruck and his stand was nullified in the patent case. Their dream of obtaining patent was thus shattered, says Nammalvar, proudly recalling the day as an important day of his life and the nation too.

The packed food items exported from America are very expensive and to buy those products we pay 40% of the cost towards shipping charges, but paying nothing to the farmer who produced it! “What is the solution for that?” wonders Nammalvar. He suggests that we should eat what is cultivated in our own land, in our own nearby village. He says he has developed the habit of eating the fruits and vegetables that grow in the nearby lands, even the paddy grains. He does not even touch the cooked food. Rather, he prefers to eat them raw and fresh. What else do you get after boiling rice? He says most of us eat not the crops but the corpse of rice!

Stories From NammalvarStories From Nammalvar