Samanvaya News Room

'Njal left his body' said the simple subject line of this morning’s mail from Auroville announcing the death of a German origin Aurovillian, Njal. Immediately the mind went back to the time I met with Njal and his partner Rita about a decade ago during the peak of the Endosulfon controversy at Kasargod. They had been fighting usage of this deadly pesticide in the Auroville region, particularly in the cashew farms.  Their fight was against this POP being so liberally used while alternatives were available. I remembered meeting them and being gifted with several crudely stitched cloth bags in various sizes which they had made with unbleached coarse cotton as an alternative to carry bags. This was still a time when talking about these things hadn't caught large scale attention (and plastic carry bags were just getting to be seen as a menace in society). I still use some of these bags. When I saw the message this morning the immediate feeling was sadness...