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20 Oct 2024
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Description
"You make a living from what you get. You make a life from what you give." - Winston Churchill. I am 52 years young now. I am done with the making a living part of my life. I am now into the making a life part of my life.
I am a self-funded social worker who is passionate about creating, maintaining and enhancing an experience based holistic learning environment for children. I am currently busy setting up the infrastructure for this environment. Learning is proceeding on three fronts - Eco-Construction/Energy, Organic farming and animal husbandry. I have now dedicated my life for uplifting the learning environment of rural and tribal children in the villages of India. Prior to this I ran a successful consulting practice which specialized in the implementation of emerging technologies. My endeavor now is to see the benefits of technology reach the people who are at the lowermost level of human existence. My family consists of four dogs and two cats. They have all been rescued from the street.
Theme Phrase for our ranch - "Where Dreams Dance".
Theme Song for Ranch:
Oh! Give me a home where the children roam
And the dogs and the cats are at play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Oh! Home on the ranch
Where the dogs and the cats are at play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the children are happy all day.Types of help and learning opportunities
GardeningDIY and building projectsGeneral MaintenanceFarmstay helpHelp with Eco ProjectsTeachingUN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Help
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker. This is all about creating a future for our progeny, a future that thrives on Holistic Learning, Eco-sustainability and Altruism.
There are always new projects being implemented here. Projects completed thus far are - Geodesic dome, Geometry dome, Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Geothermal, Organic Banana Plantation, UDDT (Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilet) based compost toilets, perma-culture based food forest and many more. I am looking for volunteers who are willing to participate in these projects, learn by doing and experiencing the activities and passing on the benefits to the people and regions they plan to be a part of in future. I am doing this as a part of my gift culture philosophy. I will be screening the volunteers because I will be investing my time and energy in facilitating the experiential learning process. Selected volunteers will get free lodging and boarding on the farm. This is a self-sustainable environment. There is no TV. Wireless/Mobile service and internet is accessible from a few service providers. For all practical purposes the place is akin to wilderness camping. Volunteers will be sharing responsibilities for all activities including cleaning and cooking. I stay on the farm and I am actively involved in doing all the activities on the farm including cleaning and cooking. I enjoy this Eco-immersed lifestyle and hope you will enjoy it too. My family consists of four dogs and three cats.Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Gujarati: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Marathi: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
I can with learning of English and 4 other Indian languages - Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Konkani. I like to learn all languages.Accommodation
The farm is a no-smoking, no-alcohol, no-drugs zone.
All construction on the farm is bamboo based and uses locally available building materials. There are two bamboo based huts of 200 sq.. ft. each. The huts are called 'Casa' - 'Home' in Spanish because I like the Spanish phrase "Mi Casa Su Casa" which means "My home, is your home too". I live in Casa Uno which I share with my visitors too. It has a 110 sq. ft. wooden loft in addition to 200 sq. ft. of floor space. It can sleep 10 people. Casa Dos has 2 Queen size bunk beds and the rest of the floor space provides good sleeping space too. During the Jan. 2014 Eco-Workshop it accommodated 11 children and their 6 mothers (total of 17).
There is a Geodesic Dome with about 1000 sq. ft. of living space. There is a Geometry dome whose roof uses reciprocal design. It has a loft and it can accommodate 10 people.
There are two bathrooms and two Indian style toilets and two western style compost toilets. The indian style toilets are connected to a septic tank. The grey water from the bathrooms and wash basins are fed to plants. A 300 liter solar water heater provides hot water for bathing all year round.
There is a kitchen with gas based cooking facility. The kitchen has all the provisions for daily cooking needs. The food cooked is vegetarian which includes eggs. There is a banana plantation on the farm. So during the harvest period you can have all the organically grown and organically ripened bananas you can eat.
The place has State Board provided electrical supply. In addition there is a 7.5 KVA generator set which is run by a 13 HP Power Tiller (mini tractor). There is a bore-well with a water pump. The overhead water storage tanks store 6000 liters of water. The bore-well provides good quality drinking water. In addition there is a passive filtered drinking water facility.
For practical purposes this is akin to wilderness camping. There are no urban style comforts. There is no air pollution, water pollution or light pollution here. Everything is as nature gives it to you. There are no lights on the outsides of the Casas. Use torches when walking outside except on nights when moonlight is good enough. Self-sustainability is practiced here. Everyone(including myself) shares the responsibilities of cleaning and cooking. I live a rustic lifestyle and thoroughly enjoy it. I hope you will enjoy it too.What else ...
"If you want to harvest for a season, grow crop. If you want to harvest for a decade, grow trees. If you want to harvest for a lifetime, grow people." - Chinese proverb. The endeavor I am on is about growing people. Along with the volunteers I expect to grow too. It is a two way path.
This is an opportunity for volunteers to gain from the Experience Based Holistic Learning Environment. The volunteer will learn how to use technology for Eco-friendly construction and energy projects. They will learn problem solving and project management skills. I have worked in all the continents on the planet except Antarctica. The volunteer will learn how to look at things from an international perspective and work with people without discrimination of nationality, color, religion, gender or age. The volunteer will learn self-sustainability skills and thereby improve ones self esteem.
I volunteer at the local village and tribal schools. Interested volunteers will get a close first hand experience of working with these children.
I am an avid reader of inspirational books. I also have a good collection of information in digital format. I will be sharing all this with the volunteers. I also expect to learn from the experiences of the volunteers and the travels they have had prior to their visit to my farm.A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
I live in the wilderness so I've limited internet connectivity. But via email I can help in whatever capacity possible.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
There are no limits so long as the volunteers demonstrate sincerity in learning.
Feedback (40)
I spent around 3 weeks on the farm and very much enjoyed my stay. During my stay I took care of the cats and dogs and helped with regular maintenance work like cooking, cleaning, etc. We also worked on and finished a new bamboo roof,… read more
She got along well wuth all people - local and international.
I look… read more
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Cultural exchange:
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I spent around 3 weeks on the farm and very much enjoyed my stay. During my stay I took care of the cats and dogs and helped with regular maintenance work like cooking, cleaning, etc. We also worked on and finished a new bamboo roof,… read more
She got along well wuth all people - local and international.
I look… read more
I had a great time interacting with both. I got an opportunity to test my concept of self organizing systems and that when the time is right the Universe conspires to make things happen. Both collected and washed all the blankets and bed-sheets on day one and lo and behold the very… read more
I had a whale of a time here.
The following are the highlights.
Talking the walk.
One of the driving philosophies while living here is "from ownership to shared responsibility"
I so felt at home with this, I had much fun 1) exploring Sapna 2) cooking and washing vessels, kitchen management 3) laundry 4) looking after the… read more
Experiencing the sustainable lifestyle Hasmukh has created is eye opening. You do not work at the ranch, but rather you live, helping create, maintain, and improve the ranch through creative and original ideas.… read more
We originally intended on staying at the ranch for 10 days, but actually ended up staying for just over 3 weeks, I think that proves what a great time we had there!
During our stay we worked on an array of diverse and interesting projects that all had a key theme in common, natural, eco sustainable living!… read more
Touch with nature, every day learning, warm family atmosphere, conversations, master classes, tasty and healthy food, lovely pets around especially Coco, Stuffy and Dusty (our favorites:)
Cooking and eating experience was amazing!:) We learned how to cook many of indian dishes!
Here creativity was evoked (special thanks… read more
Life at the ranch is very easy going, from every day duties to living with others.
Everyone is very welcoming and make you feel home.
Exchanging experiencies knowledges and everything you can is the essence of the ranch. Learning from each others.
Had a… read more
When I arrived I was told that I was going to feel very quickly in the family ... and that was the case!
All the people who live on the ranch will do everything to make it as pleasant as possible for you, and with sincerity.
I will not dwell on everyone in this commentary but I challenge you… read more
Hasmusk is a very nice guy, he has a very interesting project , and will also make everything in his power to make you feel comfortable ! He let you test your own ideas in work and in everyday life.
We also ate like kings everyday and that make the difference !
Thanks, and good luck… read more
Thank you Hashmukh
It was wonderful to have them on the farm. They are all very creative, very cooperative and fun loving. We had several light hearted moments. Most importantly they are all avid learners. They got into learning about all there was to learn at the farm - from organic farming to… read more
My travels though India started with 2 and a half weeks at the Ranch and for me there could not be a better start. People talk about India like "Crowded, Dirty, Smelly, Loud" ... Not here. Here in the backcountry of maharashtra you have the honor to experience a whole other side of India… read more
On the edge of wild nature, is a place, full of experimental work.
Some on the paper, some on progress, repairing, improving, finishing ...
Place opened for doing "mistakes = experiences" and learning thru that.
I learned lot about basement making, bamboo work,… read more
Hasmukh will go to efforts to make sure you have a good experience and learn new things during your stay.
Read the seagull book while you are here!!!
Thank you for everything hasmukh, we wish you all the best for your amazing project… read more
I really enjoyed my stay at Hasmukh's farm, learned so much about many different things and had fun / enjoyed this beautifull and peacefull place at the same time.
Always smilling and positive, Hasmukh is every time open to new ideas and proposals. He will not impose you the method to do / realise… read more
Nothing is fake there, if something is here it's for need and not for pleasure or decoration. For me it was just real life time, Thanks all of you guy… read more