A Treasure rises from trash

It’s a beautiful view out there,” says Aviram Rozin, sitting in the cosy comfort of his humble hut, situated deep in the lush green Sadhana Forest. Hidden from modern civilisation, this 70-acre tropical paradise in Auroville, founded by Aviram with his wife Yorit, was a vast expanse of severely eroded arid land 13 years ago when the Israeli couple decided to make India their home. “After our first visit in 1998, we fell in love with the country, especially Chennai and Puducherry. We decided we’d come back and live here.” 

When they finally moved to India in 2003, with their daughter Osher, Rozin was shocked to see the rapid deforestation across the country. A chance discussion with a friend in Chennai led him to Auroville, where he found many like him, pursuing their own passions. Investing a major part of their savings, the family then bought 70 acres of barren land in Auroville and started transforming it. 

“We knew we were taking a huge risk and that it wasn’t going to be easy,” he recalls. While the local community helped them build a hut for themselves, Aviram scanned the neighbourhood for plants and trees going extinct, procured their seeds and saplings and began cultivating the land acre by acre. Word slowly spread and Sadhana Forest soon had eager volunteers swamping the place to support the cause. 

Today, thanks to the dynamic community of volunteers from all over the world, many of who also live here, Sadhana Forest is now a bustling eco-friendly and self-sustained settlement with thatched houses, wind powered pumps, solar powered LED lighting, compost toilets, a vegan kitchen, energy efficient stoves, multiple methods of water harvesting and around 29,000 indigenous trees. 

Reforestation and water conservation are their main objectives. “Once the land has water, nature does the rest of the work. We’ve dug percolation ponds, built swales, bunds, earth dams and more to make do with available water resources,” says Aviram. Not only do they store and recharge the water aquifer (ground water), they also ensure that they use as little water as possible. “At Sadhana Forest, everything -- from the food we eat and how it is prepared to our water consumption to the use and reuse of every kind of waste -- is approached with a deep consciousness of its effect on the environment,” he points out. 

Sadhana holds a very special place in his heart, more so because his second daughter, Shalev, now eight years old, was born in the middle of Sadhana. In Sadhana, what is considered ‘waste’ in most parts of the world is turned into a valuable resource with the dry composting toilet system. “We create fertiliser from human ‘waste’ that is later used in the forest for planting and fertilising trees. We create ammonia from our urine which serves as a powerful natural and free cleaning agent for the toilets,” explains Aviram. They have also trained the local farming community, empowering them with knowledge, skills and faith in their land to be able to create long-term food security. Effective water conservation has also helped the water table rise dramatically in the past 13 years.

Sadhana Forest revolves around self-motivation, says Aviram. “No one gets paid. It’s seva. We survive on donations from abroad and also from the locals.” Volunteers may choose to help or involve themselves in projects of their choice. They live, work, cook, eat, sing and dance together. Volunteers also share knowledge they have and host workshops on anything from Mongolian poetry to building solar ovens. However, competitive sports and games are discouraged as it is believed that competition hampers social unity. 

The forest has close to 1000 residential volunteers every year besides the 1500 villagers living adjacent to the area. They work on strict schedules that include two sessions of volunteer work among other activities until 12.30 pm. “After lunch everyone is free to attend to their own personal activities as long as they are responsible for their weekly shift, such as cooking, turning the solar panels, etc.,” Aviram explains. 

All the residential volunteers also make a signed commitment to abstain from drugs, alcohol and tobacco during their stay at Sadhana Forest India, whether inside or outside the campus. “We have had quite a few people successfully give up these addictions after staying with us,” he adds. A round of children’s laughter interrupts our conversation. It’s a group of students from local schools in Puducherry, who have come to water their plants in the Children’s Land area of the forest, where they have been taught to maintain their own garden. 

The kids of Sadhana forest, however, are not sent to school. They are only taught when they express a desire to learn something, a concept adapted in order to encourage the culture of learning at one’s natural pace. The rationale is that self-motivation is the only force behind their education. “So you may have a tiny tot and an 18-year-old, both learning to read at the same time. They interact with people from all walks of life from across the globe. The lessons they learn through these conversations and experiences are the best life lessons,” says Aviram. 

He excuses himself for a minute and returns with a pronounced excitement in his voice. He’s got news that most of the 80,000 Maya nut trees that he and his volunteers had planted in Haiti have started to flower. Each of these trees will become an annual source of income and nutrition for a family of five. So Aviram has created a Sadhana Forest in Haiti and Kenya too, realising that it was a concept, not a place. 

The success of Sadhana Forest has been receiving good press in recent times and Aviram says it’s an experience that will leave one with a lifetime of memories. “It is a place where you can be, and feel like an integral part of nature. Anyone’s welcome to visit or even stay, become a part of our beautiful family. All you need to do is pack your bags and join us to help create more forests to grow more people.”