State to State

/ Martin Bawden / Leave a comment

Kerala vs. Tamil NaduI live in New Jersey and go to school in New York, and consequently, I have crossed the border into New York on many occasions.  During my drives, I often don’t even realize when I cross the border; the only thing that lets me know is a small sign that welcomes me to the state of New York.  Almost a product of its name- the United States of America- this holds true for many states across the United States.  When you travel between neighboring states, the principal language is the same (English), and apart from a few exceptions, people usually both look and sound similar.

As part of my summer interning at Raxa Collective, I am currently staying in Thekkady, which is located in the Indian state of Kerala.  A couple days ago, a few colleagues and I decided to go for a ride to one of the neighboring states, Tamil Nadu.  Because of my experiences in the United States, I expected both Kerala and Tamil Nadu to be very similar.  Boy, was I wrong.  While the only indicator that signaled my entrance into Tamil Nadu was a gate manually operated by a few workers, it was clearly evident that I was somewhere different. Continue reading →

Thrikkakara Vamana Moorthy Temple – Cochin

/ Salim.E.I / 1 Comment
Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Located near Cochin, Thrikkakara Temple is one of the few temples dedicated to Lord Vamana, the 5th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The name Thrikkakara means “the Holy place where Lord placed His Foot”. Thrikkakara is famous for the 10-day Onam festival celebrations. Continue reading →

“The Upcycle”, the sequel to “Cradle to cradle”

/ Allegra / 4 Comments

If you’ve read “Cradle to Cradle” and you come here regularly, chances are you’ll be as excited as I am to learn about the sequel : ‘The Upcycle”.

10 years ago William McDonough and Michael Braungart published one of the most important environmental manifestos of our time.

Based on biomimetics, Cradle to Cradle design is an approach to the design of products and systems. It models human industry on nature’s processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. The book states that:

“All products can be designed for continuous recovery and reutilization”.

Every product can and should be conceived with the reuse of its materials in mind and every material can and should be conceived to be used again. Just like in nature, nothing goes to waste.

If you have not read it, McDonough’s TED talk Cradle to Cradle design will probably make you want to give it a go.

In their newest book  The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability – Designing for Abundance,  McDonough and Braungart go further than ‘Cradle to cradle’ saying that we should be ambitious about our role on this planet.

“Industry can do better than “do no harm”: it can actively improve everything with which it comes into contact.” Continue reading →

Flavours Of Kerala – Unniappam

/ Salim.E.I / 1 Comment

Unniappam is a traditional snack popular all over Kerala.  They are easy to make, very tasty, and are prepared from the main ingredients of rice, jaggery, banana, and ghee.

How to Prepare

Mix rice powder, jaggery, chopped banana, fried coconut bits, and  cardamom powder for flavor, all with water to make the batter.  Then, heat the oil in an Unniappam pan and fill the holes with the batter. Continue reading →

Are you doing a Big Year?

/ Allegra / Leave a comment

 

I was working from the internet café during a windy day last week-end when I thought I was squinting again. “Did you see that bird? It has two tails!” my colleague Martin exclaimed entering the room a little later. I checked out the sighting: a racket-tailed drongo. The most surprising, graceful creature I have ever seen. Actually, I didn’t know much about birding before I got here. Since then, I’ve learned about the fallouts following a storm, the threats to bird migration and the ethics of the birder. As of yesterday, thanks to India’s cable tv, I’ve learnt from a Hollywood movie that birding can also be a competition. Continue reading →

Periyar Sightings June 9th 2013

/ Salim.E.I / 2 Comments

Elephants

On the morning of June 9th, Shaleen James went for a nature walk in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.  While originally from Mumbai, she was visiting Cardamom County.  Shaleen enjoyed her trekking and had many good sightings and consequently, has kindly shared some of her photos with us. Continue reading →

Food, Waste, Change

/ Organikos / 9 Comments

While we are on the subject of looking at food differently, as well as depending on others for new perspective, we can wrap all that around last week’s emphasis on food waste.  We will not let that topic go until we see the dial turning. We will keep a spotlight on the need for change, and share whatever we find from our good neighbors on this topic. WRI shares a thorough examination that is worth a click and read:

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 32 percent of all food produced in the world was lost or wasted in 2009. This estimate is based on weight. When converted into calories, global food loss and waste amounts to approximately 24 percent of all food produced. Essentially, one out of every four food calories intended for people is not ultimately consumed by them. Continue reading →

Photogenic Food

/ Organikos / 2 Comments

foodlens7

We mentioned recently that we are crowd-sourcing a new way of looking at decor for Cardamom County. National Public Radio (one of the great investments made by the tax-payers of the USA, in collaboration with loyal listeners who donate funds to their local stations) has a food-focused blog that has introduced us to a photographer of Indian heritage who grew up in the USA and has traveled around the world doing what photographers do: seeing the world through the lens, differently than we might otherwise see it. Here he is concerned, curious and creative in his exploration of what is in the food we eat:

These intriguingly abstract images are part of a photo series called Naturally Modified — the brainchild of photographer Ajay Malghan. To create them, he shines colored lights through thin slices of fruits and vegetables onto light-sensitive paper. So what you end up seeing isn’t a picture of the food itself, but an ethereal image of its shadow. Continue reading →

Bodi Mettu – Munnar

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment
View of Bidi

View of Bodi from Bodimettu

Bodi Mettu, the highest peak in South India, is located along the Munnar-Madurai Highway near the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. From this point on a clear day one will get a bird’s-eye view of Tamil Nadu and the Bodi town. Continue reading →

The Wild5Five collection : drawing from Nature

/ Allegra / 2 Comments

via kerala‘s Wild 5 Five collection was designed to raise awareness about the fauna of the Periyar forest by setting forth 5 wildlife ambassadors. To decide which 5, the team of designers at Thought Factory carried out thorough research on the fauna of the Periyar Tiger Reserve in online journals and books, blogs and libraries. Continue reading →

“3 idiots”: a Bollywood must-see

/ Allegra / 2 Comments

3 idiots

One of the most memorable weeks of my childhood was during a summer holiday in Mauritius spent with my brother and cousins with no adult available to take us to the beach. We kept going back and forth to the video store because all there was on television were Bollywood movies with no subtitles. Since then I’ve been pretty biased against Bollywood movies, there’s only so much Shannen Doherty direct-to-video one can take, you know? So when I met friends from Bombay, I asked them for an outstanding Bollywood movie. They said: “You’ve got to see 3 idiots“. That same night a friend from Tanzania wrote on his Facebook wall: “Make your passion your profession.! #The 3 Idiots.” So it was written in the stars, I had to see this movie.

Continue reading →

Cactus plant

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment
Cactus plant

Cactus plant

Cactus are unique plants found naturally growing in tropical regions, dry areas and deserts. Belonging to the family of cactaceac, instead of leaves from which water can easily evaporate, members of this family have spiney succulent body parts that help to control the water levels. Continue reading →

Really, Bechstein?

/ Organikos / Leave a comment

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Disgust seems to us the only appropriate response to this seemingly beautiful, ultimate craft luxury.  We appreciate craft, but not when ivory is part of it.  It does not matter how the ivory was sourced: at this moment in time there is no justification for supporting the notion that ivory is still an acceptable definition of luxury. Shame on Bechstein, and more so to anyone who purchases their musical instrument made with elephant body parts. We try to keep it positive on this site, but with stories like this who can possibly contain the outrage? Continue reading →

Brothers In Craft

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

What do we love most about this?  The evidence that two brothers can work together effectively, pursuing a common dream; check. The commitment of two brothers to a craft, elevating it to a new level; check. The artisanal beards; enough already. It is about the brothers as much as anything else, and worth a few minutes of your time.

If you want to learn about the Masts, their approach to chocolate, and about their company, click the video above or here for the About page of their website, which includes more vimeos (note to Raxa Collective: are we using too many words and not enough video?).  But do yourself a favor and click here for the ever-superb Jessica Harris’s conversation with these two brothers on her entrepreneurship-focused podcast called From Scratch: Continue reading →