Footcept :
“India has been home to several ancient civilisations and empires……the rich diversity of India is the result of a fusion of native with foreign elements.”
The Frenchman & the German bio-physicist in Calcutta
Thierry & Wolfgang run their own homes for runaway street children in Kolkata.
One with a Bengali-French flavour & the other one a mix of German values & acute Bengali chaos…...
Frenchman Thierry Darnaudet, who has set up a home for street kids in Kolkata, says his dream is to be able to feed all the starving children who live on the pavements, railway stations and slums.
Four years ago, he bought a two-storey building in southern Kolkata’s residential Lake Gardens area to provide refuge to some of the many orphaned or poor children in the city.
“I have now 72 children. The youngest one is six months-old and the oldest 25,” he said.
The Tulsi People
A group of Americans,with Indian names, are reviving worldwide interest in the holy basil(Tulsi) plant.
Influenced by the ancient Indian philosophy & principles, they are encouraging farmers to do away with western methods of agriculture, that harm the earth, and adopt more traditional ways of growing Tulsi in thousands of acres of land.
The organically grown Tulsi is processed into products & marketed to western nations.
“What is happening today in the small fields of India and China was happening many centuries ago. There is no need to study history records or to pay a visit to the remains of the megalithic fanning of the Andes.
The agricultural practices of the orient have passed the supreme test – they are almost as permanent as those of the primeval forest, of the prairie or of the ocean”
The German Bakery founder in India
Deep in the Himachal mountains is a village called Nashala.
The 60 year old founder of most of the German bakeries in India lives here, tucked away in the remote mountains.
He has taught a whole generation of Indians the art & craft of making whole wheat breads, cakes, pies, & desserts for western travelers.
And the skills of running a cafe profitably.
Now experimenting with special techniques for organic farming, he lives with mountain villagers in a place where western languages are rarely spoken.
Peace & Business success in India
An unusual French-born businessman in India may well be the corporate antidote for
this age of greed.
Christian Fabre is the chief executive of a $300 million company based in the southern city of Chennai. The company, Fashions International, is one of India’s most successful ragtraders, employing 72,000 people and sourcing product for big international fashion lines such as Kenzo, Lee Cooper,Nike and the French department store chain Galeries Lafayette.
Operating out of stylish modern offices, it exports around five million garments a year worldwide.
That’s all fairly straightforward; India as a cheap product source for Western buyers. What isn’t so simple is that Fabre is paid just $250 a month for his chief executive duties. Moreover, he spends much of his time in the nude or, if he’s negotiating with business partners,in a light saffron shawl.
The office wear is saffron-hued because for 20 years, M.Fabre has been Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadhuta, an ascetic Hindu monk who was elevated to swamidom on January 26, 1988, India’s National Day. The nudity comes from his Avadhuta order which teaches that devotees should be absent of worldly goods, including clothes.
More coming soon…
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