That kind personal transformation is much easier to attain with hands-on experience, says Ajay Rastogi, Philosopher and Applied Ethics practitioner, and founder of The Foundation for the Contemplation of Nature.

I had the good fortune to meet Ajay at the recent Tasting India Symposium in New Delhi, an event that brought together some of India’s brightest minds within food and sustainability. Like many of his contemporaries there, Ajay had left a successful career to go back to his home region and drive change from within. For Ajay that meant working together with the rural villagers of his homeland at the foothills of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand.

The foundation aims to research and develop new models for Resilience through cultural exchange, by connecting villagers with people from the cities and other countries in residential homestays and programs such as yoga and meditation retreats. The Contemplation of Nature is threefold; immersion in nature, mindful meditation, and a hands-on experience of the rural ‘resilient’ life.

Resilience moves far beyond current definitions of sustainability. On a 2-week homestay you get to take part in everything that rural village life offers. Don’t worry – there is no enforced programme here. You are free to just rest and explore if that’s what you need, but guests usually end up getting quite involved with village life; learning about everything from organic seed banking, to preparing grain harvests, to tending to the village cows, cooking the local Kumaoni cuisine, or celebrating one of the many festivals that happen throughout India.

The Vrikshalaya centre is the headquarters and heart of the Foundation. It also offers longer term residencies for artists and designers who are interested in exploring the principles of resilience as part of their work.

Vrikshalaya means ‘Home of the Trees’ in Sanskrit – so outdoor activities such as rock-climbing, water rafting, camping and hiking are all part of nature immersion. The area is stunning, and the centre has been listed as one of ten top yoga venues in the world by the Guardian newspaper.

The aim of the foundation is to get people to experience three basic principles of Resilience that sustains all life; Dignity of Physical Work, Interdependence and Interconnectivity.

The Dignity of Physical Work
There is a long tradition in India of travelling to the Himalayas and rural areas to practice yoga and meditation as spiritual practice, but not physical work.

Ajay explains: “In India, we have such an inequitable society. The caste system is still deeply engrained in society and especially in rural life.”

Specific tasks, such as tailoring, traditional music, cleaning and different crafts, are often associated with specific castes. It’s considered servant’s work. And work is very gendered. Traditionally, women prepare the food, work in the fields and take care of the house. A recent survey revealed that women spend more time in the fields farming than men and bullocks combined!

“We never even imagined the value of cultural exchange with western visitors. Younger westerners in particular would challenge outdated ways of thinking about caste and gender,” explained Ajay. “They wanted to know why the village girls were fetching water and taking care of the cows after school, instead of playing cricket with boys.”

Also, the homestay families are from different castes. This was purposefully provocative on Ajay’s part. The foundation hosts communal events for the visitors and their host families, challenging these deeply engrained practices. Traditionally, lower castes do not eat together with higher castes. They do not attend the same meetings. Lower castes are even given separate plates and cutlery if they go to the house of a higher caste.

For the visitors, the learning curve is clear. Artisanal types of work and growing our own food re-connects our minds and hands. Doing something mindful with our hands together with others is natural and enjoyable.

This especially affected some of the younger visitors from the States, Ajay explained. “Their tears welled up as they realised they hardly ever spend time with their family. Here in the villages, shared activities, whether it’s farming, preparing millet, or making textiles, are a way to spend quality time with friends, family and neighbours. It’s fun to create something of value together.”

The repetitive actions of simple tasks also have a positive effect on the mind and body. When your mind can reach a level of sustained calmness, your body starts to do miraculous things. It’s called the ‘deep relaxation response’ in psychology. The stress hormone cortisol isn’t frantically released as our bodies aren’t in a fight or flee mode, aggravated by extremes in emotion. Combine this innate calmness with physical movement and you have a recipe for better mental and physical health.

Interdependence
Interdependence, is about people, reciprocity and solidarity. We are all used to financial transactions; I buy something and I pay for it, I own it. But it’s far smarter and more beneficial for the individual to systemically build society around shared spaces and shared resources. In the village, not everyone has to take care of their cows every day. They can share the duties, and reduce the daily work from once a day to once every 30 days.

Traditionally, when someone dies in India they are cremated on an open funeral pyre. Everyone visits the house in mourning to pay their respects and donate some wood. The job of collecting wood for the funeral pyre is taken care of by the community. Community takes care of necessities. It used to be the same with cooking for a wedding. Surplus food is also distributed throughout the community to those in need. Interdependence exists as a fact, so working with it is just common sense.

Interconnectivity
The third and final principle of the foundation is Interconnectivity. This is about striving for a harmonious coexistence with nature, as we rely on our environment for all the resources that keep us alive. Ajay’s hope is that people will take the realisation of interconnectivity back with them and apply it to their own lives.

As a modern, connected culture, we need to cultivate an attitude of care and understand where the things that sustain us come from and go to. Our resources are not limitless. Food, water and energy doesn’t just appear, just as clothes and products do not just appear. Our culture of waste has inherent challenges. All our actions have an impact and an intrinsic cost that someone, somewhere must pay. If we keep that connection in mind, the impact on our everyday choices can be profound. The proof of concept is in the eyes of all the people involved; the host families and the visitors. When the guests leave, says Ajay: “Every farewell is always tearful, always connected.”

The Foundation for the Contemplation of Nature 
Tasting India
Heavenly Himalayas 
India Tourist Board

Credits
Words by Tanya Kim Grassley

Photo credits
#1 View from Majkhali village. Photo by Dhirendra Bisht
#2 The Yoga Hall at the Vrikshalaya Centre. Photo by Dhirendra Bisht
#3 Ajay welcomes everyone to the Vrikshalaya Centre. Photo by Ajay Rastogi
#4/5 Morning meditation and yoga. Photo by Tamsin Chubb
#6 Celebrating Diwali. Photo by Pete Zhivkov
#7 Transplanting rice to Hudikia Ball music. Photo by Dhirendra Bisht
#8 Celebrating Spring. Photo by Jogendra Bisht
#9 A homestay family’s house. Photo by Dhirendra Bisht
#10 Home-stay mothers preparing food. Photo by Ajay Rastogi
#11 Carrying compost to the fields. Photo by Dhirendra Bisht
#12 Ajay gardening. Photo by Ajay Rastogi

Imagine a scent that feels not only like a fragrance but also like a deep-rooted experience with a multitude of layers. Such are the perfumes created by the designer, multitalented artist and perfumier Filippo Sorcinelli. He is the creative force behind UNUM, an Italian fragrance brand whose perfumes draw inspiration from sacredness, spirituality, art and beauty.

The story behind UNUM is unique: in 2001, Sorcinelli created LAVS, an atelier that designs and makes sacred garments, including for Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. From this, Sorcinelli created a fragrance to be sprayed onto the clothes before they were shipped to the Vatican. That is when the idea of UNUM was born, an artistic perfume series filled with mind-exploring fragrances and aesthetic olfactory journeys. Sorcinelli is a photographer, he plays the organ, he designs and paints and he is usually referred to as a highly conceptual thinker who experiences the world through beauty, art and aesthetic dimensions. Needless to say, interviewing someone like him is like diving headfirst into a pool of poetic formulations, complex threads and visionary discourses.

We talked to him about his creative endeavours, what it means to be an artist today and how he works with his unique experience fragrances.

A lot of references in your UNUM perfumes are directly related to the Catholic church. Is the church and its unique culture something you’ve always had in your life?

“I was born in a small village in Mondolfo, Italy. Everybody knows that Europe feeds itself with its own history, roots that are deeply tied to the Catholic church – my life is part of this world. It is therefore easy for me to go deep into this ‘matter’, which is a rare collection of culture, spirituality, art and cult of beauty. I grew up this way.

“When I was five, I would accompany my mother when she cleaned the Mondolfo. Walking between the columns, I smelled incense for the first time. I entered the sacristy and I saw the sacred vestments. After finding an old key I climbed up to the organ and laid my hands on it. This is my background, my education, my artistic and human preparation and the nourishment for my music – until the day I started to work for the Santa Sede, the Pope and the Catholic church.”

How did the idea for LAVS come about?

“It was born out of a call from a friend telling me about his decision to become a priest. I told him, ‘Don’t buy anything!’ I asked my aunt who ran a little tailoring shop with my sister, did some research into style and fabrics, something helped by my years of study at the Istituto d’Arte di Fano, and my first creation was made.”

Was it a natural transition to go from making sacred vestments to perfumes?

“It was very natural, because each handmade item from the atelier is carefully shipped in customised boxes. A detail was missing at the time, a detail that lets the customer live a sensorial experience and adds more beauty – the perfume.”

What was your inspiration behind these scents?

“UNUM was born thanks to the idea of a fragrance dedicated to the liturgical vestments. From there, mysticism, music, my own feelings, my love for gothic art and photography – these have become UNUM. In other words, the unique story of a life made by choices, many of them courageous and tormented. Different experiences and elements fitted in between each other in an inseparable and coherent way that led me to be what I am.” 

Your sixth perfume, Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto, will be released this year, created as a tribute to the late photographer Mario Giacomelli. How did you come up with the idea?

“I met Mario Giacomelli when I was very young and working at a printing shop in Senigallia – he would often bring in stuff he couldn’t print himself. The name of the fragrance reveals a fascinating story – in 1961 Giacomelli met a group of young students from the Senigallia episcopal seminary. With the permission of the church administration he started taking pictures of them relaxing after the long hours of study and prayer. He developed images of the [trainee] priests playing football, walking in the snow in their capes, having pillow fights.

“One Sunday, Giacomelli took some cigars and photographed the students smoking. He was accused of creating chaos in a place where discipline had to reign, and they withdrew his permission to photograph. Don Enzo Formigoni, the seminary’s rector and a friend and supporter of Giacomelli, was removed from his office. Giacomelli titled the series Pretini, Young Priests, then he decided to choose a strophe from a poem by David Maria Turoldo, ‘Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto’ – there are no hands to caress my face – binding those images to a precise concept, to a difficult choice.

“The bottle is in a metallic paint similar to one of Giacomelli’s ever-present cameras. The lid is covered with a double metallic fabric. The draping alludes to the ‘dance’ of the young priests’ dresses and the fabric is to evoke Giacomelli’s bag, which always smelt of tobacco. The picture on the bottle is to remind one of Don Enzo Formigoni, the rector who lost his job at the seminary because of those shots, shots that today are famous all over the world.”

You are often referred to as a renaissance man and a true artist in every sense of the word. Why do you think that people tend to see you as this multi-layered and high-conceptual philosopher?

“Why not? Of course I haven’t chosen to be one, but I think that every step, every vicissitude and also my personal aptitude have nourished me with all forms of art. In me, art produces a thought metamorphosis that becomes matter, sound, sculptures. One is an artist not just in virtue of ability and culture but also of a gift. The person who has something to say through art but is never happy about the accomplished work is an artist. I translate into matter what my interior space and my authentic impulses produce. The matter and its transformation is today my humus and they make me communicate to others a world and a way to live. It is immediate, alive, true, free and coherent and I want to talk about it in the same way I’m living it.” 

Where do you find inspiration?

“The nature of things, the winning of curiosity versus mediocrity becomes my imagination, my visions. Every single idea generated by my curiosity gets in touch with my way of seeing the essential, the beloved and the infinity. Every intuition becomes revealing music, a gesture that goes to the bottom of things, towards thought labyrinths, in the dangers of distressed hours, among the ghosts of soul solicitations. Inspiration is a dramatic vibration that gets involved in all the senses. Life and art are tied by a casual flow that neutralises the fears. Improvisation is like entering into the substance itself, with that pure freedom where the more intimate images are settled. No formal strategies, just a spontaneous and always new wind that links me with the nature. I welcome it with astonishment, solitude and an innocent shaking, following the internal impulse to get involved with beauty.”

What are your next creative projects?

“There are many, but never too many. With my staff, I realised it’s time to talk to everybody about a whole universe, not just a discipline. A new tessera is coming – SAUF haute couture, an exclusive collection of tailor-made garments, completely handmade, almost unrepeatable, I would say – conceived from a segment of precious fabric, shaped in a single gesture. The intention is to neutralise the body and its image in order to reach its core. A preview will be presented at the Pitti Immagine, Florence, in June, followed by an installation in January, in complete harmony with UNUM, SAUF Bijoux and SAUF Fragrances, which are UNUM’s little sister. In September I will launch NEBBIA, a new series of fragrances dedicated to this interesting atmospheric phenomenon that has fascinated me, moved me and embraced me forever.”

Credits:

Words by Camila Catalina

Image courtesy of Filippo Sorcinelli