Barefoot - Naren’s last testament

Naren’s book is an insider's plea to save farming from the many ills that afflict it today, mainly as a result of the industrial-chemical agricultural practices…

A little over a year ago, we lost one of the finest men I have known. As his wife Uma aptly noted, ‘Naren passed away peacefully after (not) fighting brain cancer on July 5, 2009'. I wrote then in these columns about the many ways in which my friend Naren had taught me many lessons about life and goodness. I continue to learn from him.

Naren left behind an almost completed manuscript, “Dilemmas in Agriculture: A Personal Story”. We persuaded Uma to update the volume, and add a few personal notes. The little book is ready and published by Vasudheva Kutumbukum ( kutumbukum@gmail.com). It is rich with wisdom and gentle insights about the predicaments of rural life in India today, but what makes it significant is that it is based on their own journey. The narrative begins in 1987, when Naren decided to leave his well-paid job in a Bank to return to his ancestral village Venkatramapuram in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, for a ‘life of organic farming and social work'. With heavy hearts, they sent their older daughter Samyuktha to a school, Kalakshetra in Chennai, whereas the younger Lakshmi was raised for many years in a village school. Looking back, Uma writes: ‘I have no doubt that villages are the best places for children to grow up'.

Full report here Hindu