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Go Bodh Ashram (गो बोध आश्रम)
In snskrit the word Go means the universe (Go arthe Brahmanda; GoBrahmanda) it also means the Cow. Hence Go Bodh stands for consciousness about the universe as well as consciousness about the cow.
The Hindu saints and sages understood and appreciated the relevance of cows to the survival of all living beings and referred to the body of the cow as the home of all gods and goddesses. When they mention Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, lives in the cow dung, the one who is not familiar with the culture may feel disgusted. However many scholars in modern times are coming up with research to scientifically prove the wisdom about the cow that Hindu ancestors passed on to their next generation and proving the proof of the sacredness of this sacred animal much beyond its capacity to give us much useful milk and meat.
Three flows of life of the Ashram
The Ashram will selflessly work to serve humankind in three areas.
1.
Environment Conservation through Cow based integrated self sustainable organic farming.
2.
Health and Education of school going children from underprivileged families of the.area.
3.
Support in income generation to underprivileged families.
Let us have a detailed discussion about each of these above mentioned areas of service.
1.
Environment Conservation through Cow based integrated self sustainable organic farming.
The cow dung works in the beginning of our food chain. The microbes that make food for the plants flourish when they get a little cow dunk. The dung itself consists of a few microbes that are very productive and work consistently for the survival of the chain of life and makes the life immortal. Mixing cow dung and cow urine with jaggery and gram flour in water our ancestors made a microbe culture called Jivamrita (immortal life) not only to enhance the fertility of the soil but also to change the chemistry of the soil and turn any soil into fertile soil for any crop. This is where the relevance of our ancestors saying goddess Lakshmi lives in cow dung lies. Another such concoction called Panchagavya made by mixing cow milk, dung, ghee (refined butter), cow urine, and butter milk into water, seasoning it for a specific period of time can take care of upbringing of our crop. It works as insecticide, fungicide, and hormone and secures magical growth in productivity be it any crop, any vegetable, any fruit, any tree. Not only plants, these two concoctions can be successfully used in pisciculture. Applying these in a fish pond leads to the birth of millions of planktons in the water which creates a food chain in the water securing nourishment to fish, snails, ducks etc.
Apart from the two mentioned above these days vermicompost made out of cow dung and straw, or any such carbon, are getting popular again. Many aware farmers and conscious hobby gardener are replacing the chemical fertilisers citing the danger to the environment such fertilisers cause.
Thus understanding life and consciousness in the universe can start at the very beginning in the form of microbes and their role in the food chain by appreciating the sacredness of our sacred cow.
The state of West Bengal is blessed with very fertile soil. The river Ganges and its many branches and tributaries running across the state have been depositing nutrients for centuries and making the soil highly fertile. Plenty of rain throughout the year and tropical climate makes the state rich in agriculture. The state ranks among toppers in the production of both food grains and vegetables. Most parts of the state get 3 to 4 crops a year. Though the irony of the modern farming techniques is, better the state does in production more harm it is making to the soil and its environment. In a competition to grow more in a cycle through the year the farmers apply more and more chemical fertilisers, use hybrid seeds, and irrigate their fields mindlessly with water from tube well pumps. The chemical fertiliser often kills the valuable microbes, friendly earthworms, the water of the tube well pump in most of the area is full of iron, arsenic and other heavy metals they together reduce the actual fertility of the soil and the agriculture becomes entirely dependent on the chemical products. Together with missing nutrients in the soil the crops grown from hybrid seeds are less immune to disease and pests makes it compulsory for the farmers to use much harmful chemical pesticides, fungicides and different kinds of poison always coming to the farmland in fancy plastic bottles and packages causing a health hazard to the entire living entity. Hence under the present system the more a state grows the more threat it brings to life.
Presently Go Bodh Ashram has a tiny farm land of 48% of an acre. The project will start by excavating a pond on the 50% of the land with the aim of harvesting rainwater as well as making home for Fish, Ducks and setting up an aquaculture as well as such pure water with no contamination and rich with nutrients will be used for irrigation of neighbouring farmlands during the dry season. As the state experiences very high levels of rain, approximately 5 acres of farm lands of the neighbouring farmers can also be irrigated with the water harvested in the pond.
There will be a cow shed with 6 cows to begin with, not with an aim to produce milk, the calf will have the right to its mother's milk. We collect mainly its dung and urine and once in a while a little milk after the calf is fully fed. With which we will prepare the magical concoctions of Jivamrita and Panchagavya. As we are not in a race of producing milk for commercial success, we will choose pure country breed small cows, even though they produce little milk and are small in size, they are easy to take care of. They don't need vaccination as they have strong immunity and like to eat all locally available grass, hey, mustard cake etc as their food. Like the ancient time, the life at Go Bodh ashram will revolve around these sacred creatures living their lives to give to all living entities consistently without ego or taking any pride of giving.
There will be a duck and chicken shed with approximately 100 layer ducks and 100 layer chickens all pure country breed. Apart from collecting their eggs, natural hatching for new generations with the aim of distributing those for free to support the villagers that need them, we will collect their manure and wastes to prepare natural nitrogen fertiliser with it.
This Adivasi (tribal) locality, of the village Jioldanga, falls under Habra Police Station, at the district of North 24 Parganas, in West Bengal State. The area is at close proximity with Kolkata city. The airport is merely 35 km from the land. Being close to the city and having good connectivity with many markets with roads and railways helped the farmers of the area progress well. However, being more progressive in the present times makes a farmer more dependent on modern techniques, pests and chemicals being the reason for self -destruction in the long run. Even though most of them are aware of the danger of such chemicals on their land and the health of all living entities, they don't find an effective alternative handy. Hence it'll be the aim of the Ashram
a. to work with such farmers to slowly introduce them to the impact of Jivamrita, Panchagavya, vermi compost and other organic matters on the land and its productivity. Here are Paddy fields, all sorts of Vegetables farming, big orchards of Banana, Papaya, Lime, Berry, etc. The Ashram will make all the efforts to make those farmers aware and provide initial guidance and all support to bring the cow based farming methods to their land.
b. Distribute Jivamrita, Panchagavya, vermi compost etc. for free of cost to the farmers initially to make them realise their effectivity.
c. Share knowledge about cow based farming, demonstration and hands on training about making the concocations and preparations always for free.
2.
Health and Education of school going children from underprivileged families of the area.
The majority of the population of the area belong to the scheduled tribe of Adivasi. They are landless labourers. In most of the families both the parents work as day labour ro earn basic living. In such circumstances the children's nutrition, health and education issues do not get adequate attention. Our West Bengal government is implementing multiple family and social welfare programs such as Swasthya Sathi, Khadya Sathi, Mid day meal at schools, and there is Students health home etc. However due to lack of education, awareness and administrative difficulties many families and their children are left behind in getting advantages of such programs. Many children even at this time in the 2020s can not even make their way to the government school. Many can't even make their way to the hospital and claim the advantage of Swasthya Sathi or student health home.
The ashram will take initiative and assist the children's parents in getting benefits of such government welfare programs for the health emergencies of the children. For any health issue that is not covered in our government's program the Ashram will take initiative to make arrangements to cover the expenses of treatment either spending from its earnings or getting sponsorship from private donors or raising funds through crowdfunding platforms.
GoBodh Ashram will take initiative to get all children admitted in schools and take responsibility for related expenses. It will also build a small eco-friendly hut where it will hold free tuition classes for students of all classes. The tuition centre will function through volunteer teachers from the neighbouring areas. Apart from helping them with learning their school curriculum, the Ashram will also help them to learn extra curricular activities, such as Music, Painting, Weaving, Knitting, Computer, Spoken English etc. It'll hold workshops and learning sessions on any such useful life skill that will be useful for all round development of the children.
3.
Support in income generation to underprivileged families.
GoBodh Ashram will in various ways try to generate income for our Adivasi villagers.
A. At Least a couple of families will find direct employment at Ashram at various stages of its activities, at the cow shade, at the fishery, the bird shade etc.
B. Educated unemployed youth of the locality, who are interested in teaching will find part time employment as teachers and guide to children.
C. From time to time batches of ducklings and chicks will be given to the needy so that they can grow their own livestock.
D. Any effort by landless farmers to take land on lease or share to set up organic farming will be supported financially and by all other means and ways.
Finances and Funds
The sole aspiration of the Ashram is to become financially independent through Fishery, Ducks keeping, plantations and Vegetables growing. However, for creating the initial set up the Ashram aims to raise some funds by accepting donations from friends, allies and well wishers and featuring the project on crowdfunding platforms. It does not aim at any specific amount, and promoting itself aggressively but it aims at accepting what comes with grace and as blessings in the way of Bhiksha from the people who associate with the idea. With our sincere and selfless efforts, blessings of our friends and good wishers, we will hopefully become self-sustainable within a short period of time.
