half days the substrate should be sprayed with water three times a day with a shower pointing upwards so that the water falls on the bags like rain. On the following day small mushrooms, the size of pinheads will appear. Two days later fully grown mushrooms will appear. The mushrooms should not be pulled out because the substrata will also be pulled out with it. Instead they should be cut or twisted and broken off from the base. If the substrata is dry the bag should be given a quick dip in water. Otherwise continue spraying with water. The second crop of mushrooms will reappear one week later. The process can be continued upto 4 times. Then one has to start afresh. This is because after 4 crops the substrata begin to attract disease and get contaminated.

Pests and Diseases: Mushrooms are easily attacked by pests and diseases and therefore require utmost care and good management. Of the two well known types of mushrooms, the button mushroom is more prone to disease whereas the oyster mushroom is hardier.

Insects which attack mushrooms are the Scearid fly, the Phosid fly, Spring Tails (small insects like grasshoppers) and mites. To prevent insects from attacking mushrooms it is best to keep the mushroom bags at least one foot above the ground. One can burn sulphur in the room before seeding the mushrooms. Citronella oil mixed with water can also be used for spraying on the bags. It is absolutely essential to maintain the highest standards of hygiene to prevent attack by insects.

Bacteria and nematodes are other causes for worry. Bacteria occur when there is too much humidity and this shows in a wet rot or a brown blotch. To avoid this problem it is essential to constantly monitor the humidity level and maintain it as required. To prevent the occurrence of nematodes, the substrata should be constantly changed-it should never be older than six months to one year. The straw must be carefully selected and should be disinfected thoroughly before use. 100 gms of potassium permanganate, or 20 ml of formalin should be sprayed on the bags if the disease should appear.

Chapter 5: A Trip to Kerala

It was now the end of August and also the end of the heavy rains. I was eager to begin travelling out of Goa to visit the many places on my agenda. I had got fairly comfortable now with being on my own within Goa (where I could at least communicate in the same language with anyone I met) asking for directions, buying myself a meal and learning to handle small quantities of money. I therefore impatiently awaited my trip out of Goa.

Another reason for my wanting to travel was because I was fed up of my neighbours and friends constantly asking me what I was doing after my SSC and why I was not in college. Somehow they couldn't get used to the idea that I was enjoying myself learning the things I wanted to on my own, so I would be constantly badgered by queries. I thought that if I went away I would certainly escape all these queries.

It so happened that my father was attending a seminar on organic farming in Kottayam and as he would also be visiting some organic farms he thought it a good idea if I came along. The trip would take us to Kerala.

Dad and I left Goa on 30th August, 1995. The bus departed from Panaji bus stand at six a.m. and reached Mangalore the same day at four in the evening. En route we passed through Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Honavar, Kundapur and Udupi. Mangalore happens to be my ancestral home. (My dad, though born and brought up in Mumbai and now living since marriage in Goa, is originally from Mangalore.) Although we do not have an ancestral home any more we have lots of relatives in Mangalore city.

We stayed at my grand uncle's house which is very close to the bus-stand. It is a two storey building in the heart of Mangalore and my grand aunt Monica Mauxi lives there with her three sons, Reggie, Patrick and Lambert and their families in a sort of joint family set-up. My grand uncle J.S. Alvares who was a very well known Konkani writer passed away a few years ago. I was meeting my aunt and cousins almost for the first time.

After the introductions were over and we had had tea and snacks Dad showed me around the city. Since I knew that I would be returning to Goa alone at the end of the seminar in Kottayam I took care to be very observant about landmarks and other details so that I would not get lost on my return trip. I carefully noted the locations of the railway station, Hampankatta, which is the centre of Mangalore and the old bus stand and the route to Aunt Monica's home. We returned at dark to a splendid meal and went to bed early for we had to wake up at 3 a.m. for our onward journey.

Our train left Mangalore on the dot at 4.15 a.m. We travelled all day through green countryside, passing through Kannur, Calicut, Thrissur and Ernakulam to reach our destination Kottayam at 3.45 p.m. We were booked at Hotel Aishwarya. I had a refreshing bath and then as usual we went off to explore the city but had to return soon because it started to rain.

The seminar was at Hotel Green Park and we set out for the venue early in the morning. We had already been registered as participants and each of us was given a cloth bag, notebook and pen to use during the seminar. There were many stalls selling a large number of items from organic tea and pickles, to books and manuals.

We looked around very briefly for the organisers were already calling out to everyone to settle down for the inaugural. All day there were talks, most of them by scientists. The sessions continued till evening with a break for a vegetarian lunch in between. Of all the talks, the one that caught my attention was the talk given by Dr Sultan Ismail on earthworms. I have refrained from giving details of Dr Ismail's talk here because I have a full chapter on my association with his work later in this book.

The next morning the same sort of programme continued. However there was a farmer's session which was chaired by my father. Many farmers spoke about their experience in organic farming. I found it quite interesting. Sometime after lunch my father and I, along with Guru Rishi Prabhakar (the founder of the Siddha Samadhi Yoga programme) and Kartikeyan (who was researching some chapters for a source book on organic farming) left to visit the farm of an organic farmer, a Mr. K.T. Thomas. He showed us his shrimp pond, rubber plantations, cows, fishing ponds, orchids, giant bamboo filter ponds, etc. His farm was really huge, dark and damp-like a forest in the night!

Next morning we took a train to Calicut. We passed through Ernakulam and Trishur. At Shoranur we changed trains and from the railway station we took a bus to Sultan's Battery where we spent the night at a hotel called the Resort. As usual, we spent enjoyable hours walking around the town.

The next programme was at Wynad. Here, another meeting of persons interested in organic farming was taking place. We stayed at the Wynad Wildlife Division Guest House.

The group here was not very large and they generally had small intense discussions. I was not much interested in the sessions and wandered about as I pleased. But I liked the company of the people there very much for all of them were very knowledgeable and they were the active type too. Some of them-like Bernard from Auroville, Korah Mathen and his daughter Nidhi from Ahmedabad and Omkar-I would meet again during my sabbatical year.

We used to go for long walks in the forest, morning and evening. On the first day itself we saw Nilgiri Langurs and a variety of small birds, frogs and trees.

In the evening the organisers showed us two movies on the pollution of the river Bhavani. After that we watched a very popular and lovely movie called `Animals are Beautiful