Gift culture and my experience

Gift culture is a concept that I was introduced through various tools and people. I was left with Awe, to believe that we can look at the world beyond money. People can live with the energy of generousity, love and trust was new for me. Over the years I began experiencing and soon realized that it is not a concept to be understood but to be experienced.

For the benefit of someone who doesn't know what is gift economy or gift culture I will try and explain in my words. To me its about looking at life beyond money, more important than money is the relationship of humans. The earth and its people have enough for our needs and we dont need to live in scarcity, we can live in abundance. In a space where the spirit of trust, generosity and love come rather than selfishness and competition. There are many forms of of practicing gift economy and I am going to share about some that have touched me over the years based on my experience.

Dariya Dil Dukan : Stuff is everywhere, our houses are filled with it but not everything we own we need at all times. Creating spaces for people to give away the things they dont need but can be used by another is what I feel is Dariya dil dukan. Its not about the rich giving to the poor but about sharing among communities.
The shop with the heart as big as the ocean is the literal translation of dariya dil dukan. When I open my heart to giving I have experienced that I receive so much and not always has to be in tangible terms. I have experienced dariya dil dukan go beyond clothes or books, people have offered their homes to come stay, their expertise to learn from and their listening ear. Its really about offering and receiving beyond monetary transaction.
Having hosted many dariya dil dukan myself I am always been left with a so much love. I have been part of spaces where an individual offered a Kindle for anyone to take and also another individual offer a simple small stapler but held with love and care.

Sliding Scale : When I conduct workshops or sessions, I deeply want the workshop to be accessible to all and not let the fees of a workshop come as a barrier of learning. However I also understand that I want to earn some money to get by in this world. Keeping a sliding scale on the fees of a certain service like one example could be Rs.500 to Rs.1500 gives space to the giver to choose yet make sure I am able to cover the bare minimums.

There is also a concept of pay as you wish, where you ask the person to give as they would like. I haven't yet experimented with this concept. There are many other forms of gift economy, some our apart of our traditional Indian system.

Of course gift economy is not perfect and I feel its really about trusting the universe and people. To me its not a system, its about how I want to look at money, trust and life. Its how I understand myself and how I want to take care of my needs and wants.

The latest beautiful experience I went through is when I offered my hosting skills to some people with the intention to learn myself. I was giving without the thought or expectation of getting anything back expect learnings. People were touched by my hosting and work. They offered from their own side, some took me out for a meal, some offered to give me a ride around, some offered a gift and most astonishing for me was to be offered a token of appreciation in form of money.

There are such small moments that fill me with so much love and gratitude. I more and more believe that when I give openly , I am receiving double. I am still discovering my relationship with money and move between scarcity and abundance as my journey progresses. I just have to open my heart to receive love that the universe has to offer.

My trip to Auroville

Flow game :

I got trained as flow game host in 2018 March. There was a sense of inadequacy to host and some blockages to be able to open up and host flow games. I made an impulsive decision to go to Auroville. I was called by the invitation of a fellow host to come co-host at Auroville and that broke the barriers in me.

I co- hosted four flow games. One was a team game. In the process of hosting I was able to appreciate my hosting skills. I really enjoyed hosting flow games at Auroville and it became my central purpose of my time at Auroville.


Auroville :

The first thing that struck me about Auroville was the greenery. It's a beautiful township nestled among so much nature.

I loved the vision of Auroville. I found people very loving and kind. It was so easy to strike conversation with strangers and find new friends. Auroville felt very safe. It was comfortable to ask for lift, it was okay for a  alone women to walk the streets at night, it was safe to leave your cycle or scooter without a lock.
 There is so much space and opportunity. Lots of wonderful experiments, inspiring work and learning opportunities. People are open to people who are curious to learn.
 Of course the place is not Utopia but its a township that very different from anything I have seen and I loved the energy there.

 I visited Sadhana Forest. They are doing some amazing work on reforestation. I went for a tour. I walked out of the tour inspired to look at my food through the lenses of sustainability and look into finding ways to become at least a half vegan if not a complete one.

I visited Solitude farm. They had an interesting Earth festival going on. I learnt lots of recipes of local food and interacted with local food chefs. At the festival I got an natural tiara. I broke my worry of what people would think and went the whole day with my flower crown.

I visited the Mantrimandir. I got to a tour and meditate in the inner chamber. It was a peaceful experience. Got to spend some time with myself. Also through the tour got a better understanding of Auroville.

I ate some good healthy food at Auroville. Yummy food served with love. Best was at the solar kitchen.

Auroville is not perfect but its a town of happiness and meaningfulness.

Note : This blog is purely my personal opinion not a ultimate truth.