A Home in the Hills..

My father lives in the Himalayas.. his bedroom overlooks a valley at the back..

More snow views are a little way off his property... a place called sheetla.

At a nearby hotel.. his house is enough just for him as there isn’t that much flat land available all together in the Himalayas.. 

Appa's land stretches till that tree-line at the back. in the foreground is the hundred thousand litres tank which takes in rainwater from the roofs of the house. this is the sole water supply at the property but does quite nicely.

Near this tank is the old house that came with the property and is approached by a flight of 20 steps in the open.. We live here when we visit..

Swallows, who winter in india and go back for summer to the northern hemisphere, build nests at his house as well as in the nearby shops !

This is the last of our 7 dogs - Mili.

One travels to the hills by road by car (though public bus and train are available too) - and we stock up on seasonal fruit being sold on roadsides on the highways - in this case Mangoes !

There were many fruit trees on my father's property - peach, apple, plums, but langoors or leaf monkeys have destroyed most of them.

One of the most important videos I have seen recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdQGozSavz8

Lois Arkin talks about the Los Angeles Ecovillage she cofounded and shows its many parts in practice. Its about how small communities can set up their own infrastructure and services, live much closer to nature, collaborate in many fun and useful projects, and finally, do it all within limited budgets. 

This is one among many shared gardens which grow things, there are play and relaxing areas, and work areas such as shared Tool Shops !

There are only two rules in using the Tool Shop - put things back where they belong in 24 hours, and dont get blood on the tools !

Canning of self-grown fruit in progress here by one of the community members. 

The young inhabit the complex, as well as the old. We generally self-centered North Indians have a lot to learn from this successful experiment.

Kirsten Dirksen uploaded this ecovillage video as well as scores of others that i have been watching recently, on tiny homes and self-help initiatives.