マカイバリ 紅茶
マカイバリ 紅茶


by Satsuki Nagura (Ms)
The University of Tokyo
The Faculty of Education 2nd year
   
What I feel in MAKAIBARI
Mr. Banerjee, thank you for welcoming us to MAKAIBARI in September 2014. In MAKAIBARI, I learned a lot, especially, I realized three important things.

First is how to live with nature. I had heard about organic agriculture before going to Darjeeling but never heard about the way of MAKAIBARI, the way to be connected with the cosmos. I feel not only agriculture in MAKAIBARI but also people in MAKAIBARI live connected with the cosmos, live with cycle of nature because nobody is in a hurry. In Japan, people are pressed by work, or for time and are very punctual. To meet the deadline, we often work all night. In addition when we are not pressed, we often set up late at night because there is lots of entertainment: cellphone, TV, Internet, games and etc. Even at night, many shops are open and there is never total darkness. In MAKAIBARI I cannot use the Internet or my cellphone at all. I had thought it was very inconvenience before spending three days in MAKAIBARI. However, in MAKAIBARI I felt free from being connected all time. I realized I was tired of being connected all time in Japan. I was consumed by my cellphone. In MAKAIBARI, I slept when it got dark, and got up when the sun rose. I could adapt to the rhythm of nature, and I felt very fresh. There was no entertainment different from Japan, but nature and life with nature made me fresh, I had never felt this feeling in Tokyo. To live with nature's rhythm is not to be tossed about by entertainment, to live human's original time. This idea is not difficult but I think in Japan, many people cannot live this way and therefore, many people have mental problems, many cruel incidents always occur, drugs are spread.

Second, I felt warmth of the people. At my homestay, my host mother showed me photo albums of the family. My host mother told me happily when and where the photos were taken. When I looked at photos I felt very warm because I knew how precious she valuated her family. Moreover, most houses don't have walls, so neighbors are very near. Girls of neighbor's house came to play and my host mother treated the girl as daughter. At first, I thought the girl was her real daughter. In Japan, the situation in rural area is a little similar to that in Darjeeling. In my hometown Shizuoka, I know neighbors and often went to play to neighbor's house when I was a child. Now when I go back to my hometown and take a walk, neighbors often speak to me. However, In Tokyo I don't know even the person next-door in my apartment. Links of humans is missing. In Tokyo, there are many things to do and lots of entertainment. I can contact anybody anytime. But, I felt lonely when I stay my house alone. In MAKAIBARI, people value their family and others, so I remembered how precious the direct interaction of people is.

Third, I wondered what happiness is. Japan has a lot of foods, goods, and entertainment. However, I saw people in MAKAIBARI happier than people in Japan. I think the work in MAKAIBARI is never easy because I was very tired with only walking through the field. I felt people working in MAKAIBARI are proud of their works. Their faces are very fresh different from the faces of workers seen at the jam-packed train in Japan. I often heard that material wealth does not always lead to happiness. I understand the meaning of this phrase truly after going to MAKAIBARI. I want to help people who suffer from the poverty in the future, so I have to keep asking myself what is happiness.

In this age of science and technology development, life becomes more and more useful. You told us that industry is important, politics is important, but the environment is also important. I think good environment, especially the nature makes people fresh. I am often tossed about by the cellphone, but I have to live my own time, original human time connected with nature's rhythm. That life can make the spirit healthy, and based on the healthy spirit we can work and study hard. We can think how to make others happy and act. I want to live not to forget to live with nature's rhythm imagining the scene of Darjeeling. I work hard to makes people truly happy in the future as you do in MAKAIBARI.