Adjustments

Fractals

"They would have never shut the project down."

Umesha was standing at the edge of a ragi field. Rows of finger millets stretched out in front of him, waving softly in the breeze. The sky above was a rich blue, a rare occasion in the hot summer. Behind him, he could see a gentle slope, rolling away southwards, covered by field after field of ragi, sometimes interrupted by a vegetable patch or a jackfruit plantation. Far off in the south, he could make a large shimmering lake at the bottom of a shallow valley. He found it hard to believe that this was the notorious olagade of Bengloor, the heart of what was once a bustling metropolis.

"This used to be a science institute, you know." said Swarna. After the meeting, She had invited Asha and him to take a trip to her home. The trip had been smooth they left the ring road. Beyond that, they had to make do with their own feet. Swarna had hoped to catch a ride from a passing tempo-truck, but they'd had had no luck. After a couple of hours walk, they had arrived at Swarna's own community.

"Students studying the latest in cutting-edge technology used to walk on these very lands." she said, pointing at their feet. "Towards our right was an agricultural college, one of the best in the country or so it is said. Well, I suppose their professors would like what we've done with the place."

"I don't get it." muttered Umesha. "I thought the olagade was a city. You know...buildings, slums, crowds of people...that sort of thing..."

"It was." replied Swarna. "But times changed and we changed with them. I mean, long before the buildings and the crowds, I think this place used to be fields anyway. In a sense, we're going back to what once was."

"They use no modern technology." put in Asha. "It's one of the reasons why the Ring communities still look down on the Olagade Nowru. They have no VR-Net, no internet, no blockchains, no international accounting systems, and only a minimal use of computers and electricity. Just enough to keep resources coming in, the trucks powered, and food going out."

"I can see why the Ring calls us savage." said Swarna smiling. "But it is our kind of savagery, to be shaped and determined by us as we see fit. We went back to farming by human hands. We rebuilt the old reservoirs and wells to catch rainwater as and when we could. Oh, it isn't perfect. We don't have medicines for the more serious diseases, and we have trouble educating our children out of ancient books. Our numbers are small, so we often fall short of labour. But then again, the aachekade, the outside, isn't perfect either. Is it?"

"I've never seen anything like it." confessed Umesha. "In Srirangapatna, we don't voluntarily discard modern technology like you do. I mean, we don't really have a choice - when we get our hands on something useful, we make use of it. I've never seen anyone, much less a whole community give up such choices."

"The pipeline drying out taught us some important lessons." said Swarna, slowly. "We learned to distrust systems which tied us to what we can't see or touch. Do you know that old saying - out of sight, out of mind? Well, there are certain things we can't afford to have out of mind. That's why we want to see our water accumulate, drop by drop, with our own eyes. That's why we want to grow our own food with our own hands. Doing things by ourselves reminds us of how much we have and how we don't."

"But things are now changing, aren't they?" said Umesha, casting an enquiring look at her. "In a few months, you won't be the only people managing that lake over there. The Ring communities will start having a say as well."

"Better than having the Ring flatten everything we have done." laughed Swarna. "How did you like my negotiation tactics?"

"You were very convincing." said Umesha, laughing. "But that was an awful risk you took, handing everything over to the Ring communities and hoping they would back off. What if they had actually taken your claims seriously? You would have given up all your lands to them!"