| Organic farmer connects with God through his work |
| By Yam Phui Yee | |||||
For organic farmer Yahqappu Adaikkalam, farming is a spiritual activity which connects nature and man, provides food necessary for life, and brings him closer to God. “You come nearer to God in the most real way. All the while, I thought I knew God, but I actually didn’t. The real God is in the thing that humans detest most. You find God in mystery. We look at the veil and think it’s God but it’s not; God is behind the veil. The veil is removed by suffering,” says the former restaurateur cum part time church minister, who is now a Catholic. Through suffering, he continues, “you see God”. The organic farmer works with his bare hands and thinks of the difficulties of manual labour as part of that suffering through which he sees God. During the past eight years, he has been cultivating not only his organic farm in Batu Arang, Selangor, but also his spiritual life, as a result of farming.
Yahqappu’s farm is called The Lord’s Garden, and sits on one-and-a-half acres of fallow land, which he has turned into fertile beds, sprouting with okra, corn, long bean, kangkung, spinach, radish, brinjal, groundnut, papaya and banana. Sitting in the living hall of the simple brick house which he had built with a farm worker, Yahqappu sips tea and snacks on homemade dhal chips. His wife, who comes from India, is inside a room where their three-year-old son is napping. Occasionally, guests from around the world would drop by. Volunteers from France, Russia, Germany, Spain, Australia and New Zealand have come here to experience life in the organic farm, trading their manual labour for free food and lodging. Yahqappu discovered organic farming at an ashram in Bangalore, India. At that time, he went through a difficult period in his life and left for six months to seek solace in various Catholic ashrams in India. These spiritual hermitages combine Indian mysticism and Christian teachings, and Yahqappu -- a fan of Eastern religions, St. Augustine and Leo Tolstoy -- was deeply attracted.
He was so drawn to it that he wanted to give up everything and follow a guru in the state of Karnataka. But he could not accept the fact that most of the ashrams and gurus were not self-sustaining. He heard that the guru he wanted to follow slept in public verandas and begged for food. “I was never satisfied with taking from others. Why should I live off others? I’m strong and healthy and can work for myself. So farming seems the best option, since it is the most basic and somebody has to do it. And it’s in tune with my spirituality,” he says. He quotes from the 400-year-old King James Version of the Bible, “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt return,” and farming reminds him of that. Yahqappu’s three objectives for his work are to be economically viable, to integrate socially by being egalitarian (serving all people equally), and to be united with God. He detests the human-centric Western philosophies and the adverse effects of capitalism, secularism and consumerism. He dislikes the idea of organic farm owners who are in the business for the money, but leave all the labour to their workers. “That’s not what farming is about. That’s what factory is about,” he says.
He has tried going off the grid. He has lived in a hut, dug a well, cooked with wood, been a fruitarian (a diet consisting of fruits, nuts and seeds only) and lived less lavishly than his neighbours (partly also to avoid robbery, because he believes he has to give to anyone who asks of him). But he then realised that he was going out of pace with the world and decided to get back on track. Looking back, he wishes he had continued on, to see how it would have been. His brick house, now, is furnished with minimal electrical appliances. He bought the television only because his wife wanted it. Yahqappu, however, is not living like the Amish in rural America, who eschew the demands of modern life. He still uses a mobile phone, surfs the Internet from his home, and drives a jeep to deliver his vegetables. He jokes that he has no choice but to wear the pair of jeans that is on him. Yahqappu earns between RM3,000 and RM5,000 a month from the farm’s produce. He uses no chemicals or pesticides. Yahqappu’s cow, affectionately named Selvi, provides urine for multiple purposes in the farm. Nearby, a small hut surrounded by passion fruit plants for shade, houses composting bins filled with rich, black organic matter and happy earthworms.
Yahqappu is happy too. When he nourishes his plants, there is little need for pest control. “I strengthen the plants to withstand diseases. That’s why I want seeds of the traditional species, because for hybrids, no matter how much you give them, they can’t have a good immune system,” says Yahqappu, who places his sandals at the edge of the farm while he works, so he can feel the earth beneath his feet. Although nature is a challenge to him -- such as the current rainy season that affected the growth of his red spinach -- another obstacle he faces is how people undervalue farmers. “With capitalism, the more selfish you are, the more you acquire, (and) the greater you are seen. But the more you lose yourself and become selfless, humble and bow down to creation, you are seen as a nobody. “This is what I struggle with. Sometimes, I face the temptation to be part of the status quo. I also like to be seen as a great man… and say, ‘Hey, here I am -- a successful entrepreneur!’ (But) that’s another aspect why I started farming -- to strengthen my spirituality,” he reminds himself. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi -- the great pacifist -- Yahqappu says that self worth and dignity comes from doing something that one is proud of, and he blamed the capitalist world for undermining agriculture and depriving man of the dignity he deserves. “If you find (that) your work doesn’t improve your personality, character and spiritual growth, move away from it,” Yahqappu says. It appears as if, for him, farming is the ultimate job while everything else is inferior. “If they respect the farmer, I respect them,” he explains. *Find out more about The Lord’s Garden at yahqappu.blogspot.com. Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
