It is another new year, maybe time for resolutions and new beginnings... Here are a few paragraphs from a poem that has struck me and I wish to remember it as we build Grounded !

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A Psalm of Life

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

TELL me not, in mournful numbers, 
        Life is but an empty dream ! — 
    For the soul is dead that slumbers, 
        And things are not what they seem.

    Life is real !   Life is earnest! 
        And the grave is not its goal ; 
    Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 
        Was not spoken of the soul.

    Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
        Is our destined end or way ; 
    But to act, that each to-morrow 
        Find us farther than to-day.   

    Lives of great men all remind us 
        We can make our lives sublime, 
    And, departing, leave behind us 
        Footprints on the sands of time ;

    Let us, then, be up and doing, 
        With a heart for any fate ; 
    Still achieving, still pursuing, 
        Learn to labor and to wait.

Times of India, Goa Edition, December 11, 2011

At the beginning of this month, I heard them arrive. At 4pm one evening there was suddenly lots of activity in my backyard. There was lots of twittering and flashes of colors as the winter migratory birds had arrived.

My backyard in Goa is basically a jungle, so we are now honoured each day with spectacular shows courtesy of these beautiful creatures. The Bulbuls are the friendliest, they que up at my birdbath and one by one jump in, wiggle their bottoms, fluff up to twice their size and then fly away.... The bigger birds don't bother with many cute antics, they stay perched regally on some high branch and glide off most gracefully to survey the salt pans and hunt their catch. Then there are the birds that chase the squirrels and the squirrels that chase the birds... It is all very amusing and calming..

Here are some more common birds that I see in my backyard:

The most well dressed of them all, the Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Photo Credit)

The playful and friendly, Red Whiskered Bulbul (Photo Credit)

The most noisy, Rufus Treepie (Photo Credit)

The calm one, Black Drongo (Photo Credit)

The undisputed king, Brahminy Kite (Photo Credit)

The most colorful, White Throated Kingfisher (Photo Credit)

The tiny, Sunbird (Photo Credit)

One of the bigger birds, the Greater Coucal (Photo Credit)

The beautiful, Eurasian Golden Oriole (Photo Credit)

I had to buy this gorgeous flower when I saw it in the market even though I had no idea how to cook it. Regardless, the bright purple hue and the little flowers delicately placed the petals was enough reason for me to bring three of these home !

After some research online and with some local intel, my cook and I found that cooking Kelful is a long process that involves pealing the flower petal by petal and then removing the smaller flowers from within. These small flowers are super cute and are arranged like tiny bananas (as they would eventually turn into bananas). The Kelful bhaji is made with these flowers. From the flower, two different parts are removed as they are bitter and not eaten. One is the long dark color stem inside the flower and second is a part of the small petal called 'feather'. Below is a video that describes the cleaning of Kelful.

After cleaning, some cooks recommend soaking the usable flowers in water with lemon. This prevents the delicate flowers from oxidizing in air. Next we chopped the flowers and cooked them as regular bhaji with coconut.

The flowers are very delicate, but I felt that cooking them as bhaji does not do justice to their texture. For next time, I am looking for a recipe that will require minimum or no cooking of the flower. Suggestions ?

The flowers are 'champak' and they are blooming in Goa right now. You can find them by following their sweet smell in the markets or on road-sides where village women have strung them into gorgeous 'venis', little garlands designed to decorate one's hair.

The botanical name of the plant is 'Michelia champaca' and it is a variety of the Magnolia family. 

Interestingly, I found a

video

that shows how to string flowers together in a veni using two long threads and stringing each flower using special knots. I don't think the video explains enough for one to try this on their own but clearly shows how delicate the process is.

Click here for link

.

The strong sweet smell, vibrant yellow color and delicate shape are a treat for all senses.

And did I tell you that they smell like heaven... the entire house smells like a perfume factory !

This is a local vegetable that grows in the wild in Goa in the monsoons. It looks very intriguing and tastes like meaty beans... 

Can anyone help me find its name? and any other interesting information/ properties ?

Click the pictures for a larger view.

In September 2010, We moved to Goa after living in New York for 5 years and Boston before that for 2. This does not mean that we have left New York for good. That would be unthinkable. My husband and I want to live in both places.

To most people that sounds crazy and not 'something that one does'. To some extent they are right, we have picked 2 locations that couldn’t be further apart from each other but really it is not that bad. The 15 hour direct flight from New York to Mumbai helps...

I guess the next big question is why? My simple answer to most people is 'to build a house in Goa'. The longer and more insightful answer is complex. It is mainly driven by my training as an architect in India, a planner and real estate professional in the US and being passionate about the rapid development occurring in India.

I am an architect and planner. I left India in 2003 when the sharp upswing in India's development had just started. As a result, I have observed most new developments from afar while simultaneously studying and learning about the best and worst practices in city planning and real estate development around the world.  In all the years that have followed, I have brainstormed, researched and written about the many ways in which India has the potential to leapfrog to a new sustainable developed future nation, by learning from the past mistakes of the West (that they are struggling to correct like over-dependence on cars, urban sprawl, a highly energy dependent society, corporatization of food, and rich man’s diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart ailments). If India must mimic the West then we should mimic the future that the West is trying to create rather than the past that they are leaving behind.

These are interesting times in India. There are masses of consumers with increased spending power demanding new products. This is also a time where one can set standards and put forth products that become benchmarks for future developments.

As an observer of the real estate market in India, I have been shocked at how the sale prices have shot up to be directly comparable to other ‘hot’ and ‘desired’ real estate markets in the world but the quality has remained very much what it was in the last century. Home owners still complain of cheap quality of construction, water seepage, floods, termites, high energy use, worsening micro-climate, loss of green cover, unplanned parking and zero space for recreation.

These observations are ofcourse not new and not just mine alone. There is a large community of thought leaders in India and abroad who know and advocate similar thoughts and principles. The problem in my mind is that the folks actually implementing development works are not actively engaged with the thought leaders. Most implementers are thinking short term and not changing their ideology and processes based on a long term view of sustainable development. In commercial real estate development in India, most developers are so busy profiting from the surge in demand that they see no incentive in changing their age old business models and construction practice.

Among global consumption of resources, buildings account for: 20% of water use; 25-40% of energy use; 30-40% of solid waste generation; 30-40% GHG emissions; and 40% - use of raw materials.

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This statistic alone proves how important the building sector is and why construction is a big responsibility.

I find it frustrating to see that most intellectual talent who claim to know how to do things right are completely removed from all commercial building activity. I get frustrated when great ideas stay on the drawing board because there is a divide and a feeling of distrust among intellectual and commercial sector. I want to take the great ideas and build them. I hope to show that attention to good architecture and high quality construction is needed and that consumers deserve better.

While building a house in Goa, we will utilize principles of good architecture, sustainability and high quality construction to build a home that we will then sell in the mass market. The idea to build responsibly and create a model in real estate development that is responsible, innovative yet economically feasible.

This is an effort to offer new and better alternatives to the innovators, visionaries and leaders of the new sustainable future India.

Along the way we are learning new ways of living and building in lovely Goa, while getting inspired and motivated in amazing New York City.

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(Source:  The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, UNEP, OECD)