{"id":2605,"date":"2021-02-24T09:51:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T05:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/?p=2605"},"modified":"2022-08-06T17:01:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T12:31:54","slug":"luk-from-worktree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/24\/luk-from-worktree\/","title":{"rendered":"Luk from WorkTree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Work Tree is one of the most important \u2018pioneer species\u2019 that helped Auroville establish its current forest cover. A very hardy type of acacia, it was able to thrive in the almost barren landscape that Auroville was founded on. More than 50 years later, the Auroville unit Worktree \u2013 named after its favourite material \u2013 is turning these trees into beautiful handcrafted items. We met up with Luk, who, inspired by this beautiful material, went from Maths teacher to woodworker.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyclone Harvest<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seed for Worktree was planted by one of the most impactful events in Auroville history: the landing of Cyclone Thane in 2011. According to some estimates, the cyclone pulled down about 60% of Auroville\u2019s forest cover, and it was especially the Work Tree that suffered. Luk saw an opportunity: \u201cMy father and I have maintained a piece of forest for the past 35 years or so, and after that storm we had cleared out so much wood from trees that had fallen. Selling the wood over the years has always been a bit of a hassle, so we thought, \u2018Okay what are we going to do with all this wood?\u2019 My wife Shanthi works at the Kindergarten and they have a big room for block play, which is very popular with the kids, so she said \u2018Why don\u2019t you guys start making blocks with this wood?\u2019 So the idea was born to start a small business unit making toys, especially the wooden blocks.\u201d Now Luk, his brother, and Shanthi run the unit together, each taking up different parts of the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they started, there was not much of a market in India for wooden toys, but Luk has seen a shift to a more environmentally-aware India. \u201cBecause the Indian market wasn\u2019t so interested, we were also making cutting boards and other utilitarian items, which were doing well. Slowly our focus changed from toys to kitchenware and homeware over the years. But nowadays, the market is a lot more conscious about not using plastic, and using natural products.\u201d The interest in the value of block play has also gone up, as more and more research points to the importance of simple toys to stimulate the child\u2019s imagination and spatial awareness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Both Sides of the Fence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luk has been around since a while \u2013 he came with his family to Auroville when he was 8 years old, in the 1970s. \u201cGrowing up in Auroville wasn\u2019t easy, it was very challenging when I came first. It\u2019s challenging because you come from a Western world, a totally different culture. I didn\u2019t speak English, I didn\u2019t speak Tamil, I didn\u2019t speak French. But I grew to love it. Indian culture really clicked for me, I had mostly Tamil friends so I learned Tamil. There wasn\u2019t much of an educational set up, there weren\u2019t many schools, so I did my education by correspondence and that gave me the idea of starting what is now Future School, where I taught Maths. Then I did web programming for a long time, and then Worktree happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Auroville, we have two types of work environments: service units, and commercial units. The service units are those that provide a service to the community and which are maintained by the Central Fund, like our schools, while the commercial units create products and exchange with the outside economy. Luk now knows the challenges of both: \u201cI was in the position of being part of a Service for many years, where we used to ask for donations from Units to help us out. When I started Worktree I was on the other side of the fence, which was very interesting. I realised that running a unit is definitely not easy, and it might seem to the outside that you\u2019re doing business, but it\u2019s not really that simple. The fact that I was once asking units for help and now I run a unit is what I like about Auroville, that you have the chance to do these things\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n