Happy New Year 2015

Peace and love and kisses for 2015!

Our best wishes to everybody for the coming year, filled with happy moments, good health, enough money to survive, lot of joy and always the right ideas to solve a problem … 

May the changes – so urgent needed for our global society on this planet Earth – come closer to realisation for a peaceful future, where everybody has access to clean water and food and education …

May we open the eyes for all these little things usually we have no time to see, as the tiny flowers of weed growing at our Sylvianderland enriching our daily life unexpectedly …

2 Years guests and projects at: Art Museum and Eco Homestay

On 21. of December 2012 Sylviander House was inaugurated with the assistence of Amaji, Alexander‘s Mother, and Annakutty, our greatniece… 

Today on 21. of December 2014, 2 years have passed. 

We had interesting guests from Europe, from Australia, from Asia enjoying our days with good conversations and laughter … 

Once a guest from Munich prepared a original bavarian dish for us … 

… we had international guests giving lectures at the Sylviander House Art Museum … 

Dr.Dorjee Rapten from Bangalore, our tibetan doctor, Ravindra Ranasinha from Sri Lanka, a drama therapist, Mrinalini Rajgopal, a Rejiki healer and expert for healing plants … 

… with them and others we were rich with good moments … 

… always discussing themes about life in a pleasant cool corner of our verandahs …

… daily we had visitors coming regularly in the garden …

… we had a number of children classes with dance and drawing and talks about nature … 

… and on 21. of September 2014 the children class joined the Global Action Day, which happened worldwide, the symbol was a green heart … 

One of the several highlights was on 9. of August 2014 the the foundation of the project CSPA, initiated by our friend Sethu Das – (Center for Social and Political Art: www.cspa.in) 

On 12. of December 2014 we joined the global wide action day Earth Hug and renewed the heart in our garden … 

Really a lot happened in these 2 years – we never felt any boredom. 

Our big garden kept us busy too, gifting us once in a while with fruits and vegetables … 

… and one day, our first pineapple plant started blossoming. We had to be patient until it was ready for harvest! But then: Best pineapple of the Universe!

Thanks to our master cook Alexander we had excellent food every day! 

And we got cat kids! In October 2013 Simba-Meeyoo, meanwhile our big boy, and in August 2014 little girl Moojoo – both love eachother, playing, kissing, fighting … they share their days and nights. And both love my writing table and climbing into the drawer! 

21. of December 2012 is a special day, which we have chosen for the opening date of our vision Sylviander House. 

For that time the old Maya culture had calculated the end of a cosmic cycle and the beginning of an new era. And each year the 21. of December has the longest night and the shortest day. From tomorrow on, light will be reborn and grow with each day … 

Thankful we are looking back … and we are looking forward to new projects, which are in planning … and of course we are looking forward to welcoming guests from all over the world again and again … 

(for more details, please see our blog) 

Earth Hug Day 2014 at Sylviander House

Few years ago the movement of End Ecocide (www.endecocide.org) started in Europe to protecting nature from ecological devastation by companies ignoring the consequences of their business. 

In respect of Mother Earth and in awareness for the need of her protection, End Ecocide initiated the Earth Hug Day on the 12 th of December: 

»think about it. who has supported you all your life without asking for anything in return? fresh air, clear water, food, stability and unconditional love … 

the earth provides. the earth cares. the earth loves!

it's about time we love her back again … 

every day – every moment … and with a huge collective earth hug right around the planet! throw yourself on the ground and hug the earth! run to a tree and hug the earth! put your arms around each other and hug the earth!

hug the earth ♥ share the love« 

This year in 2014 we joined the Earth Hug and renewed the heart in the garden of our Sylviander House. Alexander had made it once 2 years ago, short time after the inauguration of Sylviander House Art Museum on 21 of December 2012. We were surprised, it was even to be seen from space. 

Since that time the sandy heart overgrew and was slightly visible only by the different color of the grass. For long time we had in mind to shape it afresh, but rains this year were plenty. 

So Earth Hug Day was a good opportunity to take the chance to joining this meaningful project. 

Because of the rain in the last night, work was harder for us  while our cats Simba and Moojoo enjoyed jumping around us supposing it was just for their entertainment. 

Finally the heart again is visible as symbol of our love, gratefulness and respect to nature. 

Mother Earth doesn‘t need us, but we need her. 

culinary joy: home made bread with passionfruit-papaya-pineapple-pomelo jam

Before all politics: Food! You are what you eat! 

From May to November plenty of passion fruits are growing in the garden of Sylviander House, where pesticides have no permission. 

Passion fruit is very tasteful and there are a lot of possibilities to use it for fine dish. Beside fruit salad and fruit jelly I always make some varieties of jam. 

This time I made passionfruit-papaya-pineapple jam and passionfruit-papaya-pomelo jam, which has a slight bitter taste. 

I don‘t use much sugar – and never the white one, only natural palm sugar. For thickening I take Aga-Aga, which is made from algae. 

I cut everything very small, a part of it I smash in the mixer for a second. Then cook it for few minutes and put it hot in glasses, close them, set them upside down for an hour – this creates a vacuum inside and makes it long lasting. But my experiences in the last years showed to me, that in the tropical climate it keeps on a dark cool place for some weeks or months only, instead years as it does in cold Germany. 

With this fruity jam we can eat the local roti, but for me as a European there is nothing more delicate to eat with than a fresh made bread of full corn … 

The smell, when it is baken brings happiness to all my senses! And of course to bite in this freshly made bread, slightly warm, crispy and soft … 

And you really have to bite and chew, which I miss in the indian cuisine. Our european guests are happy whenever I bake bread for breakfast, which they enjoy with my fruity jams … 

First Stone Laying

We had a dream … a place to live and to work as artists, a land and a house with enough space to welcome guests and to gather with people for creative activities, for exchanging ideas, for building intercultural bridges and many more plans … or just simply to relax and to enjoy being. 

drawing by Alexander Devasia 

For many years we were searching in South-France, in Italy, in Sizily, until we understood, that we can‘t afford our vision in Europe at all. 

We continued our search in Alexander‘s homeland Kerala in South-India, where we finally found on 4. September 2004 a big land in Chettikad near Alappuzha, and the untouched beautiful nature made us say without any hesitating: Yes, that it is! 

After returning to Germany we came back in 2005. 
While contemplating at the land I received my first inspirations for the design and the position of the house, which then I started drawing on millimeter paper, a long process … 

We built a 20 sqm hut – the later massage room – in which all the second hand windows and doors from old traditional demolished houses, we collected during the past years, had to be stored. 
Again we had to return to Germany and came back in 2006. 
A Vasthu-architect measured the land for the foundation and told the exact place for the first stone laying, which took place on 28. August 2006 at 11.45 am. This auspices date and time was found out by our astrologer. 

Some family members, among them Alexander‘s parents, and few friends had come. 

The Vashtu-Masters prepared a small ceremony … 

During the traditional cutting of the first wooden piece by an old Vashtu-Master the splinter fell in a very good way to the ground, which was interpreted as an optimal Omen! 

Then came the main part: to lay the first stone. It is custom to add something precious, which in Kerala means Gold. 

We had no gold, but in my travel bag was a moon stone, which I bought once in Sri Lanka in 1980 with the idea to make a ring with it. I never did, instead carried this little moonstone in my luggage around the world for nearly 3 decades during my travelings. 

I felt, this was the perfect gift for the first stone – this vagabond moonstone would get its home finally. 

I myself plastered it on the brick stone, then together with Alexander we put it at its place in the hole, which was dig before. 

After this was done we showed respect to the Vashtu-Masters by presenting them a certain amount of money, wrapped in a Mundu. 

According to their advise 2 small Jackfruit-trees and 1 flower-tree in front of the house … 

… and 1 coconut palm behind the house were planted. 

Then we went home altogether, where a fine fish curry was prepared …