A trip to life in nature at lower foothills of Western Ghats

Lourenco Trindade Fernandes | SEPTEMBER 18, 2021, 08:08 PM IST
A trip to life in nature at lower foothills of Western Ghats

A Goan lady, Cheryl Marina De Souza, wife of late Anthony Matthias Sanfrancisco, along with her daughter Aki Zafraan Sanfrancisco, has hundreds of acres of land at the edge of Bhendiwada, an agricultural enclave of the village of Maina in Quepem taluka, which nestles against slopes and forests of the lower foothills of the Western Ghats on three sides. 

The Curca, a tributary of the larger Kushawati River, passes on three sides of the farmhouse. It has about 1,000 coconut trees bordering the land near the stream, and a few thousand cashew trees dotting the large but gently tapering wooded hill that overlooks the farmhouse. It also has hundreds of fruit-bearing trees - Mango, Chickoo, Betelnut, and also other local varieties like Mulberries, Love Apples, Guava, Ramphal, Soursop, Star fruit, Kokum, Jackfruit, Avocado, Rambutan. The fully grown betel nut trees have pepper vines growing on them. 

Cheryl Marina De Souza's upbringing was from a more urban ambience with her studies in literature in Panjim and schooling in Mapusa. Today she is a successful farmer. She narrated that her farming journey was through her late husband Anthony Matthias Sanfrancisco, who had a strong will and fancy for farming and was an artist too. "To motivate me, he built a luxurious Portuguese house amidst the idyllic verdant surrounding, says Cheryl. The house is with en suite bathrooms, salons, lounges, a vegetable garden, which is solar power fenced with water outlets, and dog kennels." 

"The unique feature of the house is the numerous windows, which are open to the atmosphere. Open sky with twinkling stars and a blue moon with a painting brush was his imagination. That was the concept of the life of my husband. Initially, life was difficult for me, but soon I learned the art of farming, and today, I love it. It has become a way of life, and maintaining the right soil conditions is most important. We don't use chemical fertilizers but generate our compost fertilizer from the composting pits in the farmhouse." 

She has struck a deal with the local dairy farmers. The dairy farmers would graze the cattle in her farmhouse during the day and in return, the dairy farmers would give a cart full of cow dung every month. It is a win-win situation for both - the dairy farmers get free natural fodder for the animals and milk to sell for a decent living, and she gets the natural manure. This helps in maintaining the environment. It is a part of community living. "We don't encourage the bullies who would destroy our environment and kill the goose who lays golden eggs," shrugged Cheryl Marina. 

There are three large rainwater harvesting pits to regenerate groundwater. She hates the use of plastic, not a single litter plastic can be seen at the farm, in fact, the carry bags are stitched from unused clothes. When asked whether she encountered wild animals, Cheryl proudly proclaims that she sees many wild animals who come to the river for their water requirements. They don't harm us and we don't harm them. We have learned the art of living in harmony. 

When animals know that they are safe, they will not harm you either," says Cheryl, nonchalantly. 

"It is a natural and peaceful coexistence. In May, the temperatures hover in the 30s, during the rest of the year the days are pleasant and breezy and the late evenings and nights warrant a light sweater. Between November to early February, the sweaters would come out earlier in the day and blankets would be most welcome at night. Rainfall in the area, given that it is bordered on one large side by protected thickly forested slopes, is well above the monsoon average for the rest of Goa and all the forest slopes threaded with streams and waterfalls. In the rainy season, the air is moist and cool and the slopes around are coated with mist. The water table is abundant. With a couple of freshwater springs, potable drinking water is not a problem. When cyclone Tauktae hit last May, thousands of raw mangoes were spoiled, many trees were uprooted, that was a big bad hit. But nature knows to heal itself," says Cheryl with a smile on her face. 

"There was no electricity for a week, we could not pump water up in the tank. While elsewhere, Goans were lost and dazed and dumbed to the natural calamity, our community here had spring water to drink and bathe, river water to wash and vibrant nature to rejuvenate with moonlight and sunlight which gave us the solace. The birds were chirping and the poetry was in the air." 

Cheryl Marina De Souza's has a message to the Goan youth: "Toil your hands, work with mother nature and make your content living."



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