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Divagar |
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Hi Mansoor,
As mentioned earlier by a friend of mine, Benny John, this is indeed the new Coonoor that I miss very dearly. Definitely the progressive, practical and innovative ways have given a progressive dimension to Coonoor. I was born and brought up in Coonoor and its very heartening to see such an initiative in my beautiful hometown. Looking forward to visiting! Kudos!! How did you hear about us? -Friend 19 March 2010 08:35am - Hyderabad, India |
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Anish Mathew |
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Hi guys,
I am friend of Rohit Kattoju ..a couple years ago we had done a road trip from cochin to your place.It was an awesome experience and we had loads of fun...i do have a lotta pix from that time..i keep bragging bout that road trip to my wife.anyways thought id just say hi and thank you for all the fun we had...
regards
anish How did you hear about us? -Friend 8 March 2010 04:10pm - vizag,india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anish,
Yes we remember well... especially your daring trip back! Glad you enjoyed that trip so much but in that case you should make another trip here now. We have moved to the farm and things are quite different here. Rohit and Vibha visited us few months back but for only a night.... less than 24 hours but it was great fun.
Look forward to connecting again.
Regards
Mansoor |
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shumita |
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haylo mansoor
your site looks great and so does the work
look up this site www.dantswasth.webs.com
my cousin Tarun has made a very effective tooth powder and warns us about tooth-pastes
he has also learnt about neem khaad and other neem products for the farm plus cow-products
summer has cometh. warm wishes to the family How did you hear about us? -Friend 4 March 2010 02:19pm - new delhi india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shumita,
Yes things going well here. Hoping to start farmstay soon. Maybe this summer. Did check out Tarun's site. Really interesting idea and journey he has described there. Can understand all his concern about toothpastes. Would love to try his product but if easily available nearer.
Mansoor |
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basavakrishna |
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Hi Mansoor,
Just few days back i found this site on google. I impressed a lot after watching this site. Following heart is a really great thing. Half of credit goes to your family members. In cities also so many people want to live like you. But they can't, becoz of lakhing family support and so many constraints. In this point of view you are so lucky.
You are doing right thing.
Sir i have one question for you.
You are a great talented director. Now you are protesting chemical agriculture and supporting organic agriculture. You have one goal. Why don't you use your weapon(directing skill) to achieve your goal? Why don't you direct any movie with your thoughts?
I don't tell you make documentary and loose your money. If we observe aamirkhan recent movies he is doing every movie with one message and making big hit. He mixing message & commercialpoints and finally he is getting success.
My all time best bollywood movie is Rangdey basanthi. In that movie one dialogue impressed me a lot. Madhavan told that dialogue with meaning "Don't criticise your country,
be a part to avoid all negatives". really superb dialogue. Before i watch that movie i used to think same like siddhartha character becoz i have some bad experiances in government offices. After watching that movie i changed my openion.
I don't tell you every one change and follow you after watching your movie. But some people must chage. That's enough to reach your goal up to some extent. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 1 March 2010 05:29am - Vijayawada, India Mansoor's Reply - Hello Basavakrishna,
Thank you for your amazingly candid letter. I must add that I read it while I was in the midst of struggling with the very issue that you are talking about - how to communicate some of my realisations to a broader audience. On this note I must add that the kind of crisis that we are facing today is fundamentally spiritual and at best academic. It is not as simple as what is being portrayed in Rang de Basanti and similar films. It is not about nationalism, honesty, truth and personal character. It is all these things but fundamentally it is about a paradigm shift. An end of an era of a particular style of thinking that we call industrial. And all that was possible by free and cheap energy. In this pursuit we as a species have violated every possible rule of the living world. Now I feel inadequate making a film that addresses only a slice of this issue. That is what most well-meaning people are doing. And to do justice to it we have to delve deep and that I am afraid may be too heavy for a film.
I have not given up but am wrestling with the right framework to present these thoughts.
So thanks once again for your suggestion and encouragement. Hope something does come out of me.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Kannan |
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Mansoor Bhai -
I am a frequent visitor to your site for the last one year.I love what you are doing there and envy your life! Not a joke.. really. I like to visit the farm one day to understand the farming and animal farm; I am a big fan of Subashji and Fukouka.I love to see the cheese making also.Planning something like this in few years and need to do some prep work for 1-2 years. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 23 February 2010 10:20am - San Ramon,US Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kannan,
We did some experimental stints on growing maize and oats but now that we have moved to the farm we are getting into more serious planting. Real challenge with the farm and wild life that we have here. So we were forced to fence an area for ourselves. Hope our veggie garden is in place by the time you come :-)
Yes please tell us when you would like to visit us. Meanwhile stay in touch and all the best with your plans too.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Shibani Bathija |
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Hi Mansoor, the farm is just stunning and am so amazed by the variety of cheese and other wild and wonderful things you have there. No wonder it takes so much to drag you away. Look forward to visiting sometime soon. How did you hear about us? -Friend 21 February 2010 01:21pm - Mumbai, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shibani,
Wonderful to have your comment here. I figure later that this was due to my effort to enlist Acres Wild finally onto Facebook. Something I personally keep away from :-) So my daughter helped me set up the fan page there.
So do keep checking in and look forward to your trip this side.
Mansoor |
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vinothan |
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Hi sir,
Just stumbled up on ur web site while i was looking for some info regarding Gobar gas plant......i have a gr8 passion for animals and Agriculture ...thanx to u i did get a lot of info regarding various breeds of cows and beekeeping and Donkeys as well.....i would suggest you can keep dogs-i did see a dog in one of ur pictures...but i would suggest a German Shepherds (if u want aggressive dog) or Golden Retriever (if you want a gentle dog) coz they can easily adapt to the cold Conoor Climate and will look really pretty when they are running around in you field. They would also make a very good entry in your animal collection. I do agree with you that maintaining a farm is not easy, there are a lot of practical difficulties. Wishing you a happy new year and a happy life to you and you family...on the whole your farm is awesome... How did you hear about us? -Google Search 18 January 2010 06:26am - Erode TN Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vinothan,
Glad you dropped by our site. I have added some more info on a good book called "Manual on Deenbandhu BioGas Plant" which has some great info on history, designs and construction details of the Deenbandhu model of Gobar Gas plant. It costs only Rs 200/- and I have given details where you can get it from on The Farm page.
Our dog, Rhea is a labrador and she loves the cool climate. Not much of a watch dog but a great farm companion.
Do keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor |
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shafeena |
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we like to visit your farm.plz give details How did you hear about us? -Google Search 18 January 2010 05:37am - kerala Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shafeena,
I have emailed details on visiting our farm. Incidentally it is also there on our Farm Page.
Look forward to meeting you.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Raj Mungara |
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Dear Mansoor,
You are living dream of many. I found your site by accident 4 or 5 years ago. Instantly fell in love. However due to life struggles almost forgot about your site. After watched "Avatar" in Imax 3D, the only thing came to my mind is your farm. Your farm is my dream ever since. Your farm is my "Pandora". You are my Navii chief. You are richer than Bill Gates in my opinion. I would rather visit your farm than go to Moon. Thanks for setting up such a farm, so that people like me can dream.
Thanks again.
Raj Mungara How did you hear about us? -Google Search 16 January 2010 08:18pm - Harrisburg, PA, US Mansoor's Reply - Wow Raj,
That is some strong stuff... :-) but thanks for your candid appreciation of our project. Yes some may call it a dream but I like to think of it as a vision. Even if it does not materialise (as it sadly does not for many) I feel it is still a vision worth having.
Hope you can visit us someday and all the best with your planning your vision/dream :-)
Regards
Mansoor |
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May Zachariah |
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Dear Tina and Mansoor,
As our annual visit in Coonoor is approaching, I thought I'd contact you in advance, to make sure I manage to visit your farm this time! We will be there for most of february, and hope you will be in station also. I've been keeping an eye on your website, and am looking forward to seeing it all in person :)
How did you hear about us? -Friend 12 January 2010 11:18am - Bergen, Norway Mansoor's Reply - Hi May,
Glad have been checking in and look forward to meeting you in Feb. Yes we are going to be around. Please email your tentative dates when you know them.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Prachi |
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Hi,
I visited this site because of my interests in you as film director and love for QSQT / JJWS. And now I am totally bowled over by acres wild farm.
I wish I had known of it last week when we were in Coonoor. Now I cant wait to make another trip just to visit your farm and learn more about cheese making.
Hats off to you and your family, sir!
Regards,
Prachi How did you hear about us? -Google Search 3 January 2010 03:17pm - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Prachi,
Yes pity you discovered about our farm a bit late. Do keep checking into our site as there is lots we keep updating and if you come this side, do call and fix a visit to our farm.
Mansoor |
Cinnabar Farm |  |
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Hi Mansoor,
It was nice meeting you in Kodai last week.
We've got into some courses on our farm that seem to be quite a hit. One is a 3 day course in Organic farming and the other is on Culinary skills, incorporating cheese making, bread baking and a whole lot more. We have a lot of fun and the guests enjoy themselves too. You guys should consider something like this too. There is a little bit about it on our website. I'll send you more details via email if you are interested.
Take care and keep up the good work.
Bala
www.cinnabar.in How did you hear about us? -Google Search 17 December 2009 05:48am - Kodaikanal, India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Bala,
Yes we would surely like to incorporate some of these kind of activities for our farmstay. The cheesemaking workshop is a must along with how to use the different cheeses. But right now just waiting for B&B license :-)
So all in due course and would love to invite you as our guest speaker if you are up to it.
Look forward to more info from you and will pass the word around to check your website too.
See you again soon for some more tennis!
Mansoor. |
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Chris |
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Greetings from England.
I just wanted to say you are an inspiration and a role model for others around the world on how to live in a sustainable and eco-friendly way. Well done and keep up the good work. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 29 November 2009 09:41pm - Canterbury, UK Mansoor's Reply - Wow thanks Chris,
Truth is that we have started our efforts to be sustainable but it is a tough trek. Will be posting evaluation of what we have realistically achieved in a while. Thanks for the encouragement and do keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Deven |
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Hello Mansoor.
To be honest i dint knew you before visiting this website, but i am really impressed with the work you are doing.
Me and my wife are MBAs and are doing job in MNC. I am tired and frustrated of monotonous bored life of job and thinking of giving it a quit. But at the same time i am stuck in dilemma as i am young and need cash to run my family. I have a small farm in midst of jungle near Porbandar and its my dream to "live" there. Your story has truely motivated me. Looking for support from you so that i can also develop my farm the way you did How did you hear about us? -Google Search 6 November 2009 10:41am - Porbandar, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Deven,
Yes I am finding thru our website that there are so many urban people who have similar aims and dreams. There are some I have met and am in touch with thru our forum on our site and thru our chat page. We try and share our experiences of such a move and discuss the problems we are coming up with in terms of growing things and meeting expenses and sustainability both ecological and financial. It is a tough space no doubt and all of us are struggling with it in different ways. Do join us on our chat page or forum and I am sure you will find lot of company and answers.
Look forward to connecting further.
Mansoor |
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Sameer Thakur |
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Mansoor bhai,
When Maine Pyaar Kiya and QSQT came along almost the same time, I was in 12th. Many of my friends preferred MPK over QSQT and I used to think how pathetic they were, not understanding real heart warming films as opposed to melodramatic, loud, chick-flick ballyhoo.
Then came JJWS and I fell in love with you.. (Dont misunderstand :-)). After a long time I felt, we found a director who knows.
But you lost it in Akele hum akele tum and Josh was honestly no good. Now I suddenly, when out of a whim, decided to google what you were up to these days and because I was feeling nostalgic, I stumbled upon this website and realized perhaps your heart wasn't in your last two films. It might have been wandering in the wilds.
Hats off boss! I love what you are doing and now respect you even more because you left glamorous materialism to pursue your heart. Very few people can do that.
I live in New Jersey, USA.. used to work as a software consultant. Came to US to make money from computers and go back to direct films. Instead I did a couple of indie films here. Got married, made kids, lost any motivation to go back. Now I am 37 and thinking of retreating away from the city close to nature.
Then I stumble upon you and what you are doing. So my one time idol has retreated towards serenity and harmony and this inspires me more.
Thanks for triggering my mundane life. I do need short bursts like that. Lets see how long this one lasts.
I am not into star chasing. Find that very cheap. But there are some people I really respect like Gulzar.. Steve Waugh.. Wasim Akram.. Naseeruddin Shah Vishal Bharadwaj, RD/SD Burman, Mansoor Khan and the Coen brothers.
Now I know where to find one. If time permits and God willing, I will surely visit your farm one day.
respectfully,
Sameer Thakur How did you hear about us? -Google Search 1 November 2009 01:59am - New Jersey USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sameer,
You got it right. My motivation in life was never to make films.... I was doing that with the sole purpose of appearing responsible till I could finally escape urban life and mainstream thought. So it showed I guess in my later films - actually JJWS was the only film I wanted to make. So was I lucky to get to Acres Wild at that end! I am glad it struck a chord with you somewhere. So stay connected and would love to see your films some day.
Mansoor |
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Aline |
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Hello Mansoor and family,
I have enjoyed reading through the blog posts (very interesting ones on economics and peak oil) and have gotten hungry looking at Acres Wild cheeses.
Looking through your profiles I eventually realized that the enthusiastic cheese maker who started this adventure, Mansoor, was involved in films before...? most of which I have seen and really liked.
Feels funny that I did not connect that you and the film director were the same person.
Glad to have found your site, very inspiring experience. It gives me lots of ideas for the farm website over here.
If you are ever in need of cheese recipes (specially camembert and brie), will be glad to provide some. :-)
Cheers. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 30 August 2009 06:44pm - St Georges - France Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aline,
Glad you enjoyed the blog. Yes there were a spate of interesting events recently and lucky I could capture some of them visually.
I am kind-of obsessed with the economic scene in the context of Peak Oil. Not many are aware of it and so few would agree with it today. Only tomorrow will tell where we stand. Yet I feel it is valid not because I am a doomer but because I don't see any other way but a return to the limits of nature. Oil gave us a stored booty to loot and make our industrial dream possible.
Really tickled that you have seen and actually like my films :-) And will call on you for cheese recipes soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
Utpal Datta | |
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Hi Mansoor, I love to watch Bollywood movies specially those films made with passion. Your all films are passionate films, specially JJWS. I am waiting for your next film. You are from a film family, so you cant live without making films. To be true, I wish you see as a director. When you will give us another film filmed in your beautiful farm? How did you hear about us? -Another Website 18 August 2009 03:17pm - Guwahati, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Utpal,
Very encouraging words, thanks. Really do hope I make a passionate film - if and when I do. Not sure what it is going to be about yet so following my heart for the time being. Yes something may come out of all this.
Regards
Mansoor |
Chetan L. Pujara (VU3DMP) | |
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Hi Mansoor,
I hope you remember me.. This is VU3DMP from Mangalore, we had many chats on the radio during your filming time of "JOSH"
Infact I was in Ooty and Coonoor for my Honeymoon last year 18th Dec 2008, I had come across your wonderful farm "Acres Wild" article in Bangalore Express.... and came to know that you have shifted in Coonoor.. I had a VHF handy where I had accessed repeaters and had qso with many hams there in Ooty and nearby place. It was sad that I came to know about you after I left Coonoor, I would love to visit your wonderful farm maybe in 2010 and have a Eyeball Qso. Coonoor is a wonderful place and like Heaven.. Congratulation on Organic Cheese making.. I too am concious about Organic foods... I Love Cheese very much.
Very Happy that you have done what you wanted in life by being close to nature and organic Cheese farming... Also my wishes that you Sail all over the world adn be active as MM (maritime Mobile) Hi.. Hi..
The website is neatly done and very informative. My Congratulations once again.. Hope you are still Active on HF Radio.
Cheers and My wishes to your family How did you hear about us? -Press Article 17 August 2009 07:18pm - Mangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Chetan,
I have a foggy memory of the Josh time mainly because there was lots of stress then. But good to hear we had QSO's and look forward to more. I have a much more regular HF setup here. Have to move it to the farm though. VHF not working currently but will fix it soon.
Thanks for your good wishes and hope to meet you in Coonoor soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Rahul |
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Hi Mansoor - I remember seeing something on a new humidifier (?) for your cheese. where did you get that equipment from?
I'm looking at starting off cheese making seriously and was wondering what kind of equipment was needed How did you hear about us? -Google Search 11 August 2009 09:40am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rahul,
I have not figured out anything more on a humidifier yet. Been more concerned with temperature control and now with our new cheese cellar that is doing better. Monitoring what kind of temperatures we are getting on average and will decide if we need to cool it etc. Will post our experiments in all these areas soon on our site in a more organised way. That includes the kind of equipment that we are using - most of which is made locally. Not very complicated. As you are in Bangalore, not too far, I would suggest you visit us sometime and you will get a first-hand idea on things considering that you are very keen on cheesemaking.
Think about it.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Amit |
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Hi Mansoor,
I like what you have done in Coonoor.
I have been trying with my dad to run a farm and a nursery(around 3 acres). We are not completely organic but getting there. However, it is hard to make it profitable or even break even. The farmers suicides are a huge concern. I wish, we could do something. I hope there is a way to apply your successful methods on smaller farms. Are you doing any rain water harvesting? I don't know if you have seen the latest marathi movie "gabhricha paus". Do watch, if you get a chance.
cheers
amit How did you hear about us? -Google Search 23 July 2009 02:41pm - Dallas, Tx Mansoor's Reply - Hi Amit,
Yes we are struggling to do the things we are ideally aiming at. Right now still in the shaping stage. Direct profit is a distant dream here too. Cannot evaluate what we are doing right now. Yes we are doing rain water harvesting even though we are lucky to have plenty of water on our land. The water from roofs of cowshed, small cottage and cheese room collects in a 35,000 lt tank at the top of property to feed the farmhouse below. Water from farmhouse will be harvested at a later date.
I will try and get a copy of 'Gabricha Paus' and hope my school marathi allows me to understand it :-)
Mansoor |
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Nandu |
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Dear Mansoor Bhai
Your Story is truly inspiring. When I came to dubai 14 years back with Rs.1000, i had a dream of becoming a millionaire. And now after making several of them I was wondering whats next. . Every other person I discussed about my retirement ridiculed me. Then when i read your life story my mind became clear. Now i've decided that once the work of my new home is completed i am going back to enjoy the life i missed . I came here in dubai at 21 now at 36 i want to do what i always wanted to do. Watch lot of movies, spend time with family, and who knows may be direct a movie too ;D. But on a serious note i am planning to establish a charity for poor kids who want to study . And i always wanted to write stories ( in malayalam)
Now when i look ahead i see whole new life waiting for me. Thank you again and Wish you a very happy life ahead and may you go where your heart leads. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 21 July 2009 04:23pm - Dubai - United Arab Emirates Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nandu,
Wonderful reading about your achievements and plans. Simple thing in this is that either one connects with this kind of thought or one does not. There is not much point wasting time with people who don't. Anyway luckily you have secured yourself financially. Now who is to tell what you should or should not do. You have noble thoughts. Best of luck and stay in touch. We will have lots to share.
Regards
Mansoor |
Jharna | |
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Documentaries that Changed the world by John Pilger:
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/dcwh.html
BURP...!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3c3AScxUQ&feature=PlayList&p=22AAA5A7FAD7382F&index=0 How did you hear about us? -Friend 21 July 2009 10:33am - India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Jharna,
Will check them out and get them one way or other. Good idea to put it here in the guestbook for site visitors too.
Mansoor. |
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Rahul |
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Hi Mansoor
Have wondered about your cheesemaking for a while now. A bit of an amateur myself, I'd love to visit sometime if possible. Can you let me know whether this is ok and if so what would be a good time.
were taking or annual vacation to ooty this week, so was wondering whether it would be possible to meet you. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 14 July 2009 10:45am - India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rahul,
You are welcome to visit us anytime but this this weekend we are very busy with a Cheese Presentation at Coimbatore Club. In fact Sat and Sun we will not be in town. Please call and we can fix something early next week if possible.
Regards
Mansoor |
Toby Joel | |
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Hello Acres Wild Organic Farm!
I just sent an email describing my serious interest in volunteering and learning all about cheese at Acres Wild Farm.
To recap, I have a deep interest in organic farming and want to expand my knowledge to include cheese-making. I am sincerely, humbly asking that you can find space at the farm for someone whose seriously interested in learning through working directly.
Thank you so much for hearing me out! I wish all the best for the whole Acres Wild family.
- Toby
My mobile: 098 1865 5828 How did you hear about us? -Google Search 11 July 2009 05:11am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Toby,
It was good talking to you on the phone. Call us one 19th July as I would be free from our Cheese Exhibition. Look forward to your trip here.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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manoj |
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hi
Wonderfull! Excellent! Superb! Its exactly what I have in mind and what i want to do.. the farm (not sure about the cheese)though would love to do it too. I was born and brought up in Coonoor. Just shifted to Chennai (temporarily for work) on December 2007. This back to nature feeling is eating me day in and out and to see 'Acres Wild', wow.. you put it down in action! Hope to realize my dream some day soon.. if not in Coonoor, then somewhere else. Hoping to stay in touch.
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 3 July 2009 10:27am - Coonoor (past) Chennai (current) Mansoor's Reply - Hi Manoj,
Really hope this inspires you to get to where your heart is. It is a synergistic process I believe when people with similar interests connect because I feel energized by your enthusiasm that I sense in your note.
Wish you all the best and stay in touch.
Hope to meet some day.
Regards
Mansoor |
Dr Balaji | |
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I am Impressed.I see a lot of cheese in discovery channel.But its in my doorstep.I am from chennai.Please continue,the good work How did you hear about us? -Google Search 30 June 2009 05:00pm - india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Dr. Balaji,
Glad to you know you are interested in cheesemaking. We are looking at putting together some kind of cheesemaking course but in good time. I will be posting details on our site so do keep checking in.
We are just a step away from moving our residence to the farm and things will then be able to put some of these plans into action.
Thanks for you interest.
Regards
Mansoor.
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Benny John | |
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Hi Mansoor,
As a resident of Coonoor it makes me feel good that there are things to look forward to in Coonoor on the progressive front. Its nice to know that most of your structures and ponds are based an built in a manner that does not harness nature and the beauty it has to offer. A good informative website. I am sure you have wonderful landscapes that would be fun to off road. I had tried to get some land next to your place, however prices have gone sky rocketing after your entry. Its a good move towards the positive side. You should consider an off road event that can be organised within your farm.
Cheers,
Benny John How did you hear about us? -Friend 26 June 2009 05:13am - Coonoor, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Benny,
Yes we were lucky. Bought at the right time and now trying to make the most of the land we have got. Anyway something like this was the plan and reason for leaving Bombay :-)
Look forward to meeting you one of these days. We are a few days away from moving residence to the farm. After that we would welcome you to visit us. Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Anupama |
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Hi Mansoor,
This is the second time I am visiting your website, and just looking at the photos makes me feel like I am back back home. The cold interiors of my multistoried office seem to have broken away and I was transported back to the cool green tea estates and blue mountains.I really liked your simple and practical First Cottage. Can you please give me some basic facts about the material used and the architect who designed it if possible please? How did you hear about us? -Another Website 25 June 2009 05:24am - Noida, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anupama,
Welcome back. I know what you mean. I feel that way each time I get back from any trip away from these hills.
We made the First Cottage out of adobe bricks that are made with mud from our land. It is basically compressed mud. 20 parts mud, 1 part sand and 2 parts cement. There is a machine we made locally for pressing this mixture (slightly moist). The brick is then dried in the sun for about 10 days. That is it. Will put these details with photos on our site soon.
Our architect is Vikram Devraj. He is well known here in Nilgiris and a very close friend. You could call him at his office at 0423-223-1532.
Mansoor |
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Chandrashekhar |
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Hi Mansoor,
Wonderful experience! Must visit your farm. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 13 June 2009 12:24pm - Pune(Maharashtra)India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Chandrashekhar,
Glad you liked our site. Keep checking in for news on visiting our farm.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Gauri Shankar Gupta |
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It is very enthusiastically.I would like to come in contact with you, if possible. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 13 June 2009 09:05am - Konz, Germany Mansoor's Reply - Hi Gupta,
You can send me email at acreswildfarm@gmail.com
Regards
Mansoor |
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Nivedita |
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Hi,
I had been so thrilled with your cottage cheese last time that this August when we go to Ooty we would like to drop down at Coonoor. Or can we get the cheeses also in Ooty? In fact my wish to come down is also because I was wondering whether you can give me a couple of your herb saplings. I have tried all of them from seeds, but only basil and dill are thriving in Chennai's hot weather. I see from your website that everything has been expanded since 2006; or have you moved to a new area? Hope to pick something up!
And the very best for your marvellous work.
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 5 June 2009 08:17am - Chennai India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nivedita,
That is great. Look forward to your trip and do drop into Coonoor and our farm and we will help you with the herb saplings. As for the 'expansion' - I had not posted photos of most of our structures till they were ready. Farm is where it was.
Regards
Mansoor |
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kitty prabhakar |
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i loved coonoor and your farm is so beautiful,i wish imran had written his article before i went to coonoor...i would have definately paid a visit..lets c when i come nexxt...mayb when my dream comes true How did you hear about us? -Press Article 2 June 2009 04:55pm - new delhi.india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kitty,
Yes pity you did not know about us earlier. However we are also just getting settled in the new farmhouse and so there will be more to observe if you visit us on your next trip.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Harshraj |
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Hi Mansoor,
I am a big fan of your and Amir's movies. QSQT, JJWS and AHAT are my all time favourite movies.
It feels good to see you doing something different from what we at Mumbai do in our concrete jungle.Most of us dream of doing such a thing but can't get into it due to materialistic needs.
We, fans of yours would seriously appreciate if you can direct Amir again and create few more memorable movies. You are seriously good at it and should continue doing that too.
I hope this request does not fall into deaf ears.
Regards,
Harshraj How did you hear about us? -Press Article 1 June 2009 03:23pm - Mumbai, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Harshraj,
I seem to have moved onto something all together different from films. Living in the city is very much needed for Bollywood films and that is not acceptable to me. So here I am. Who knows what comes next :-)
Mansoor |
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Ratna Lalitha |
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Hello Mr. Mansoor, Thanks to an article in the Hindustan Times by Imran Khan, in which he had indicated your website address, I got this wonderful experience of browsing through your organic cheesemaking farm and all the other interesting aspects - animals, birds & plants etc. Coonoor is a lovely place where years ago, our relatives were living. But only now I have come to know that there is a HEAVEN WITHIN THE HEAVEN CALLED ACRES WILD. MY BEST WISHE TO YOU ALL IN YOUR ENDEAVOUR. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 1 June 2009 10:11am - New Delhi, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ratna,
You are right. Coonoor is beautiful and we have been lucky to get a great slice of it to shape our dream of Acres Wild. Hope you can visit us some day.
Mansoor |
Rohit Hinduja | |
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Hi Mansoor,
Just came across your website while searching for some great monterey cheese on the web. Is there a possibility if I could visit your place in Coonor, unless its private, keeping in mind your status. Also, is there a way I could order some cheese online and if you could ship it to me overseas. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 1 June 2009 09:09am - Zurich, Switzerland Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rohit,
Yes it is possible to visit us for the day or stay over once we start our farmstay. It is not possible to buy our cheese online as we are selling only thru selected outlets and to only nearby places.
Mansoor |
Mahesh | |
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Hi Mansoor,
First of all, I am huge fan of you and Aamir. QSQT and Jo Jeeta are two of my all time favorites. I have been to Acres Wild site before and I am here again as Imran mentioned about you in his column. That should put a lot of spotlight on you. Not that you need it but you definitely deserve it and this might pursued more of the city rats to break away from the race and do what they really want to do.
It’s really heart warming to read on your website about what you are doing. And that lush greenery! The grass is really greener on your side literally.
I might approach you to check if you need a volunteer on the farm when I am around Coonoor.
Keep up the good work.
Love to all,
Mahesh
Oh, and happy birthday! How did you hear about us? -Google Search 1 June 2009 08:01am - London, UK Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Mahesh,
Yes my family was here to celebrate my birthday. That is how Imran got to writing about our farm that he was seeing for the first time. I keep it low key because it is for people who are genuinely interested in this kind of life to find out about it and they eventually do. Thanks to Google and other search engines.
Glad to hear you are interested in learning hands-on.
Bye for now
Mansoor |
Paddy | |
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Hi Mansoor,
Great website - Back to Nature, that's
what we always dream for. Are u active on 20m, give us a shout when u hear us.
73,s
paddy
vu2pep
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 29 May 2009 02:31pm - Hyderabad India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Paddy,
It is a long trek back to nature and we have just started. I am having some problem with my 2m rig so cannot operate reliably. Will look into that soon. Am active on HF also on 20m only.
Catch you on air soon.
73's
Mansoor - VU2MHK |
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Mr. Prakash Joshi |
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Whether your farm fresh products can be made available in Mumbai City ? How did you hear about us? -Google Search 25 May 2009 04:41am - Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Mr. Prakash,
I am afraid we don't have any outlets in Mumbai yet. We are only selling thru outlets listed on our web page for the time being.
Regards
Mansoor |
Navin Muralidharan | |
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Hi Mansoor,
Am a die hard fan of Coonoor as i have a palce in Brooklands but work out of Chennai. Appreciate if you can give me the exact directions to this wonderful place of yours.
Cheers !!
Navin. How did you hear about us? -Friend 22 May 2009 09:55am - Chennai - India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Navin,
We are located 2 km from the Coonoor bus stand on a road called Kannimariam Kovil Street that goes to Laws Falls. It was also called the Old Ghat road. I will put a map with directions on our site soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
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S.Venkatesh |
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Dear Shri Mansoor:
Greetings from Venkatesh(Physicist from Detroit).Recently, I was able to find some interviews of Shri Nammalvar (Organic agriculturist from Tamil Nadu) and I thought I would let you know about it. The URL is : http://muralilistening.blogspot.com/2008/12/g-nammalvar-videos.html. The videos are also posted in youtube. Interview is bi-lingual (Tamil and English).He mentions about late Prof.Dabholkar's methodology to reclaim the fertility of soil damaged by extensive use of synthetic chemicals.
Regards,
Venkatesh
How did you hear about us? -Friend 17 May 2009 11:05pm - USA Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Venkatesh,
That is most helpful. I will check it out asap. We have been travelling lst month and just got back to Coonoor. Sorry for the late reply.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Laxmi Honavar |
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Hi mansoor, great website. what a absolute pardise you'll live in. hopefully will make it there someday. where does one post and look at other recepies. How did you hear about us? -Friend 12 May 2009 11:39am - india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Laxmi,
Thanks for checking out our site. Look forward to your visit.
Meanwhile I have added a General Recipe category in our Forums. You can find it at http://www.acres-wild.com/tikiwiki3/tiki-forums.php
From there you can start New Topics with recipes of your choice.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Balvinder Singh |
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Hello Mansoor
your hard work is great contribution to developing India.
I own a small modern dairy farm with 50 cows and expanding. I am planning to make biogas from cow dungs.
Can you please guide me how to convert it to electricity.
brgds n god bless
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 6 May 2009 02:41pm - Ambala, Haryana, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Balvinder,
Good to hear of plans to generate electricty from gobar gas. Unfortunately we have not tried that as we have very few cows and not enough to generate electricity. I will post any details if I find them.
Wish you all the best.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Zehra Ahmed |
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Hello Mansoor,
Your site was referred to me by my brother Zaheer as I was going thru Post vacation blues after a holiday from India, longing to go back to the basics of living.
Not sure if I have it in me yet but it was very refreshing to know some one who is leading by example.
Some thing else that stood out while on your site was your polite interaction with your guests, a very rare find :o)
Go green,
Zehra
How did you hear about us? -Friend 20 April 2009 04:46am - Scottsdale, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Zehra,
Welcome and hope you follow our tribulations at trying to get back to basics. We are nowhere near it but yes on that path. We also realise what are the unnecessary frills that we have surrounded ourselves with and are mentally prepared to drop them if the need arises. It is a pleasure for me to interact with people who stumble upon our site and discover that they have the same thoughts lurking somewhere in their subconscience. I also happen to be a compulsive-obsessive :-) when it comes to website maintainence so that helps in replying to all the guestbook entries. Do keep checking in and we hope that one one of your India trips you make it this side.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Mukesh |
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Hi Mansoor,
I am very interested in marketing the cheese from your farm in other places. Please let me know if you are interested. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 18 April 2009 08:25am - Bangalore India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks for the offer Mukesh,
Not sure about extending our outlets except for Bangalore maybe. But will keep in mind. Will email my queries to you directly by email.
Regards
Mansoor. |
Zaheer Ahmed | |
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Hi Mansoor, your farm is like a window into paradise - for a person like me who is currently in a boxed cubicle somewhere in downtown Chicago, surrounded by nothing but concrete and technology :)
Love your website and the content you have gathered and posted.
Your knowledge in things is quite remarkable. From cow breeds to vermiculture - how do you gather all this information?
Btw..don't tell me you have designed and hosted your website all by yourself !! Looks like it is doing pretty good. Did you know (you probably already do) you can checkout your website statistics at http://www.websiteoutlook.com. I say hookup with Google ad cents and generate some money from all the traffic your website is generating and use that for your farm improvements.
Anyways - it's really inspiring to come across someone who is doing what he truly believes in.
Keep up the good work and all the best !!
I'm back in to correct a typo in my previous post. I implied Google AdSense (not ad cents :).
You can call me "acronym challenged" on that note - but consider another individual educated on peak oil :) How did you hear about us? -Google Search 17 April 2009 04:00am - Chicago, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Zaheer,
Yes I have designed the site myself. More intimate and immediate that way and finally the years of tinkering with technology and programming came in handy :-)
I collect info from all over and some our own experience. Will certainly look into ad-sense. Had heard about it but was not sure if the kind of traffic I have now is really worth it.
Good thing the Peak Oil stuff made sense to you. It is a geological reality and imminent and obvious and not a 'theory' as contenders and media loosely call it.
Keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Siddharth |
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Hi Mansoor,
Big fan of your movies. I was just talking to a few friends over the phone when somehow the topic of discussion came to you and one of them said what you were upto.I must say that each of us after hearing about what you have been doing confessed about the deep buried thought of leading such a life but only to return back to reality and the thoughts of responsibilities.
If it is not too personal to ask ,I'd like to know if you had any hurdles and make any compromises to achieve what you wanted ? and what do you have to say to someone who maybe wants to do something else and feel re interested in life but is compelled by either responsibilities towards family or society.
BTW,Do you plan to distribute your cheese through exclusive joints at any point of time .I am sure you'd find audience for such niche outlets in B'lore /Mumbai ...Just a thought ..
Wishing you all the success in whatever you do ..
Siddharth
How did you hear about us? -Friend 12 April 2009 00:42am - Columbus,USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Siddharth,
I found it very easy to adapt to the new life I chose. It just took me over 25 years to get to it. I did not have to make any compromises as I love to be in isolation. Yes I had to be careful with finances for a while and if you have that worked out then it is fine. But for an in-depth discussion I would recommend you visit our forum where we have a specific topic about moving away from Big Cities and to a farm life-style. Many young people are considering that and some have actually started it and we discuss all aspects of that in our forum.
The address of the forum is http://www.acres-wild.com/tikiwiki3/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=8
Hope that helps,
Mansoor |
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Deepthy |
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Hi mansoor
I have a little daughter whom i want to give the farm experience . I found everything iam looking on yours . Do you have accomadation for family of 2 adults and 2 children below 6.
Do let me know . How did you hear about us? -Google Search 6 April 2009 05:19pm - bangalore India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Deepthy,
We are just a step away from moving onto the farm and then only can we accommodate guests. So not possible this time but will post when it is possible on mainpage of our website. Will actually also send an email all around to people who have been enquiring.
Hope you find a suitable place and enjoy your trip to Coonoor.
Regards
Mansoor |
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ghayathri |
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awesome website....made me shed tears as i miss my home town coonoor. at present in texas, usa How did you hear about us? -Google Search 6 April 2009 06:23am - texas, usa Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ghayathri,
Glad you stumbled upon our website. We are lucky to be able to move here and will never forget that. The website was a kind of motivator for us to make the farm keep pace with our ideas which usually came up on the website first. Now its time for the farm to overtake the website! Stay in touch. Especially when you are home sick and hope we can meet someday....... in Coonoor of course.
Mansoor. |
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Rishi Khanduri |
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Aloha Mansoor,
Writing to you just after watching "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander" an umpteen number of times. First saw as a 14 year old during its 1994 release & what an indelible impression that film has left on me over these years.
I can easily relate to the character of Sanjaylal, the major transformation he undergoes from a brash juvenile otiose to a sensible Mensch winner.
Sometimes during leisure time with friends I used to keep reminding of the scenes when Debo Mukherjee says "Hey! Paunchy” or those witty one liners “Hey! Champ” “hello Dear” was indeed hilarious or when Asrani says to Kulbhushan that "Maan gaye ki Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander".
The only Hindi film which was far better than the original "Breaking Away"(1978).
During one of the candid interviews from your immaculate cousin Aamir Khan I came to know that your Alma mater is IIT-Powai & then through Wikipedia came to know that you attended Cornell & the elite MIT as well. Kudos to you Mansoor-An ace Filmmaker, IT-MIT Alumni & now Farming. Wow! We can dream of having a profile like yours. I’m an Electrical(Electronics&Power) Engineer currently working as an IT Consultant with a leading Software MNC.Even I’m now planning to go for my MBA perhaps from INSEAD or IIM based on the GMAT score I get this year.
Keep up the good work in whatever field you choose, but a film sometime in the near future can be an “icing on the cake” for an Aamir-Mansoor Khan admirer like me.
Have faith..............Ciao
Rishi How did you hear about us? -Google Search 3 April 2009 09:13pm - Mangalore-India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Rishi,
Jo Jeeta was probably the only movie I wanted to make. Even before QSQT and even then I had Aamir in mind. It was what I felt... a loser who had dropped out of MIT because I did not see myself ending up working in Intel or HP. My 'thing' lay somewhere else, not in engineering and not in films... I knew that well even when I conceived 'Jo Jeeta' in my mind about a loser who behaves like one and then learns that it takes hard work to win. So Jo Jeeta was never Breaking Away which was about a winner who feels he is too good to cycle with the locals and wants to race with the Italians only till he gets burnt by them. The two premises and stories are completely different. I had worked out my story for Jo Jeeta (based on our high school experiences and the fact that our school, Scottish Orphanage, had the National Cycling Champion). The last event would be the cycle race at Vallabhai Patel Stadium (where we shot incidentally). It was thrilling to watch the national champ do his thing on the vellodrome slopes. It was engraved in my memory. That is where it came from. Somewhere after I had worked out my screenplay I saw Breaking Away (maybe because I had heard that it was a cycling film) and what I took home from that was the angle that the hero pretends to be Italian (Sanjay pretends to be from Rajput School) to impress the new girl in town. A ploy that has been used in umpteen hindi films and almost in all my dad's movies. So I had an aversion to using these ploys. But in this case I found it really working for the falseness of Sanjay Lal's character. So I shaped it that way. And so it was to be mistaken that Jo Jeeta was a remake of Breaking Away. I have never bothered to explain this anywhere public but here it is. Believe it or not.
Anyway the film served a purpose and that is more than I could have asked for.
Some things deeply concern me now and maybe a film can emerge from that. Otherwise I know that I am committed to the farm lifestyle that eluded me since way before I made my first film.
Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Ashutosh |
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Hi Mansoor ji,
I have seen your movies innumerable times and I must admit that they have changed the way I look at life. While I do admire and respect your decision to change your line of work, I feel that you must continue to give more such movies, if possible, to your fans. How did you hear about us? -Friend 1 April 2009 05:57pm - Vadodara, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ashutosh,
I am touched by your from-the-heart comment. But I am afraid the two life-styles cannot meet. Also my current pursuit is much dearer to me. But who knows...... maybe thru this some kind of film may emerge :-) Just have to follow our inner light I feel.
Do keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Ayesha Mathur |
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Dear Mansoor Sir,
I know you are currently busy connecting with the natural world, but I just have to thank you for giving the world Akele Hum Akele Tum. An indelible part of my childhood, this movie will always be special for me and my family. I saw this movie in 1995 as a 7 year old with my parents and I could relate to the character of Master Adil as if he was in my flesh and bones. I am now 21 years old, and you know what I can still relate to him! He is the little child in all of us. Since then, I must have seen the movie about 20 times. I never fail to be moved by the honest emotions and liberating ending. I am dying to ask you, how is Adil now, where is he and why didnt we see him in more movies after his brilliant performance. The entire cast and crew are excellent in the movie thanks to you and Nasir ji. However, I wish I could meet Adil one day and personally tell him what an impact his performance has had in my life. Please give me some more information about him. I am sure he is as old as me now, no longer the kid we see in the movie! :)
With sincere respect and utmost regards,
Ayesha How did you hear about us? -Google Search 28 March 2009 10:27am - Pasadena, California Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ayesha,
That was interesting hearing your candid impressions on Akele Hum and how it has touched you deeply. I am afraid it seems so distant for me that I have to recollect moments of how I felt then. I have a tendency to leave the past behind. Especially films. So I have not been in touch with Adil or his mother who was related to Zafar Sultan who edited our films. I just tried his number but it seems to have changed. I will certainly pass your thoughts to them as soon as I get their new numbers.
And you are right about me being immersed in the natural world. The deeper I go here the further it takes me from mainstream and films. Anyway do check our sites for info on life-on-the-other-side :-)
Bye then
Mansoor |
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Thomas Gomes |
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Dear Mr Mansoor,its me, Thomas Gomes from Kolkata,i spoke to you by phone,i really wanna learn about cheese making,it was my dream-pleae do help me,if possible please do alllow me to come to your farm,to learn making cheese,can you give me the most convenientway to come toyour farm from kolkata.thanx
regards
thomas gomes How did you hear about us? -Google Search 27 March 2009 05:53am - KOLKATA--INDIA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Thomas,
Yes you could visit us and we will share what we know. Closest airport is Coimbatore which is about 90 km from Coonoor. More detailed directions I can give if you call once you reach Coonoor.
Regards
Mansoor |
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saravanan |
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hi,
do you have home stay facility, if yes i do like to come by april 29th to may 3rd please do reply to my email id How did you hear about us? -Google Search 25 March 2009 05:46pm - chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Saravan,
Thanks for calling and your interest in our farmstay. Still some time as mentioned and will keep this site updated when we are ready. Look forward to meeting you when you come this summer.
Regards
Mansoor |
Faraz Ahmed | |
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Mansoor, I love your film direction. PLease come back to direction and Direct your cousin Aamir Khan & Amitabh Bachchan. I have a request. How did you hear about us? -Another Website 25 March 2009 03:17pm - Pakistan Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Faraz,
It feels good that you like my work so much. But life is taking me down a different path that I must do justice to. I love what I am doing presently but not ruled out the chances of making another film. However the screenplay comes first and not the choice of actors much as I would love to work with Aamir and Amitabh together in one film.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Anurag |
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Mansoor,
I was referred and happenned to visit your website. This is something which I want to do sooner or later. I along with my wife would like to visit your farm sometime. I have a stretch of land back home and would definitely like to learn from you on how to use it. Can you please let me know the options - Is home stay working now? How did you hear about us? -Another Website 18 March 2009 08:47am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anurag,
Good to hear from you and that you are interested in similar things. We are creeping towards completion of our farmhouse and so the farmstay too. Also a lot of farming activity is also just about getting into place. Would recommend you check our site in a month or so to decide on a good date to visit us.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Asif Zubair |
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Hi Mansoor Bhai,
Did you work out details for a Homestay yet ? Looking through the thread of mails, it seemed you were toying withe the idea. I'd love to visit your place along with some friends. In any case, would it possible for us to visit and see what goes on at Acres Wild ? Hope to hear from you.
Asif How did you hear about us? -Google Search 7 March 2009 08:48am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Asif,
Thanks for your guestbook entry. Yes still working on the homestay bit. Meanwhile I have sent a direct email to you.
Do keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor |
Aditya Takley | |
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Hello Mr Khan
I liked the Changes you have made to the site .There have been many livestock additions over the last six months!The animals look in fine condition .I was wondering wether you also plan to start organic egg farming? How is the Bee colony ? I am planning to come down south from the 16-21 (not sure) I was wondering wether I could drop by for a day to see your farm in person?
Kindest regards
Aditya Takley
How did you hear about us? -Another Website 5 March 2009 03:58pm - Pune ,India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aditya,
Not planning on marketting the eggs yet. We consume them ourselves or try to hatch them. Bee colony not doing too well. Lot of disturbance around currently though and that may be the reason. Meanwhile I have sent a direct email to you too.
Regards
Mansoor |
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gaurav |
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Dear Mansoor,
I stumbled upon your website while surfing thru the net on enquiring about buying some land and doing exactly like what you have been doing all these years.Have been looking to get out of the Hell Hole that our cities have been turned into by Humanity. I feel extremely strongly on environmental issues like global warming , peak oil since past 2-3 years and trying to get involved(greenpeace n like)in whatever manner possible. But it's(to move)easier said than done with middle-class's life's complexities & issues like emi's,change of lifestyle(for family)and pure inertia that keep one sucking deep into the same dull n dreary existence like quicksand. Also as you mentioned at the outset,primary task on hand is to convince my better half(kids not grown up as yet) to move lock stock n barrel.Family support means the most.Hopefully your story should help.I especially admired how your family has taken to it and much involved with cheese making and other stuff that you do there.I intend to make it in 2-3 years time, thus the planning. Coonoor is a lovely place though have very hazy memories of the place.(Started my schooling in Wellington).I would love to visit your place and see it working along with my wifey n kids. Waiting for the Homestay details whenever you are ready.Hopefully will do that otherwise a day visit would be great too.Will fix it beforehand with you. Btw it was pleasant surprise to find that you are famous mansoor khan of JJWS fame. Great work!both here as well the movies that you made. Thanks & best regards,Gaurav Kanaujia How did you hear about us? -Google Search 26 February 2009 10:47am - Bangalore,India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Gaurav,
I can completely relate to what you are going thru. Sometimes it is not even resources that decide whether you are able to make the move. I was pursuing similar things for over 20 years and it did not happen despite earlier finding another suitable land. Confirms the belief in destiny. So now that we have finally managed it I keep trying to remind myself how amazingly lucky we are and to be grateful to the Big Scheme of Things (my phrase for God :-).
Hope you are able to realise it someway too and yes it has to be full-family thing. Gaining consensus without pressuring is an art. I did have to work on that
Also congrats on being Peak Oil aware. Stunning how few are the people who know about this very real factor for an industrial, energy dependant world. I gave a talk on it at Percept Ad agency in Bombay recently. All except one person were clueless of this reality. Waiting for the day that Peak Oil surfaces first in newspaper reports (like Global Warming did too late) and becomes the next coffee table discussion point. So going and seeding minds meanwhile. Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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May Zachariah |
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Hi Tina and Mansoor! Sorry I missed seeing your farm this year also, but with Accoos help, at least i managed to find your website! :) It looks very impressive, I especially like your ponds. I grew up on a dairy farm, on an island in Norway. The cows look somewhat the same, but the scenery is quite different. Looking forward to seeing you next year! How did you hear about us? -Friend 23 February 2009 09:38am - Bergen, Norway Mansoor's Reply - Hi May,
Yes hope you can visit us next time. Things should be much more in shape by then too. Just getting our irrigation in place and hope to do lots of planting in the coming months before the rains. Also hope to get the pastures thicker and richer by spreading slurry from the gobar gas plants. Sure the cows will appreciate that. Keep in touch.
Bye
Mansoor and Tina. |
Dr Francis Xavier | |
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Hello,
Congratulations on you effort.Your venture can be a model (not finance!) .I am in charge of the Cattle Breeding and Fodder farm of Kerala Agricultural University and I have an NGO(www.jananeethi.org) combining Humanrights to Agriculture. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 19 February 2009 03:54pm - Thrissur,Kerala Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Dr. Francis,
Yes it is difficult to make things financially viable in the manner in which we have got used to using goods and services but we are trying to shape one aspect of the farm that hopefully will be viable on its own terms. Did visit your site. My best wishes in the good work that your organisation is doing.
Hope to meet you someday.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
Binny Marwaha | |
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Hi Mansoor,
I found this website by chance. Wow! this is a wonderful effort. Your website is quite inspirational and detailed.
Our dream is to open a self-sustained bed & breakfast (which means an organic farm supporting it) somewhere in Wide West of USA. Because we are not some celebrity director/producer, I may take some time for us to realize our dream.
Do you make all the cheese for local markets or some specific customers only?
Wish you all the best.
Binny.
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 11 February 2009 06:47pm - Glen Allen, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hello Binny,
Glad you stumbled upon our website. Interesting to know what you were looking for when that happened :-) but you could whisper that in my ear later ;-)
Yes B&B with an organic set up is a great combination. People looking for that combo and sure to do well. Wish you all the best.
We are making cheese only for local market and upto Ooty (20km away) and Coimbatore (85 km away). Don't want to spread more or the nature of our efforts will surely change.
Wish you all the best too. Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor |
Gopinath Sunil MD | |
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Hi Mansoor Congrats on this great effort.. excellent website, great information. I spoke with you just now; glad to get more info on your area. I am looking forward to visiting you soon. How did you hear about us? -Friend 8 February 2009 12:52pm - Trivandrum, Kerala Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Sunil,
And interesting talking to you about your project. Wish you all the best and hope to see you soon up here in Coonoor.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Kalyanasundaram Raj(K. S. Raj) |
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Hi Mansoorbhai
Glad to note the upgrades in the farm as well as the Website.
Please note the Website address of Shri.Subhash Palekar,founder of ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING(ZBNF):http://www.palekarzerobudgetnaturalfarming.com/home.html
I trust you find the site & the technique useful
Regards
KS RAJ
Mumbai
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 5 February 2009 07:52am - India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Raj,
Will certainly check out the link. Lots of things have happened here as you can see from website. Actually coming closer to getting down to doing some serious farming/planting once the infrastructure etc is over in next couple of months.
Mansoor |
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Abijith |
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Hi Mansoor,
Just wanted to write a message to you saying that what you are doing is totally overwhelming. My best regards to you and your family. I will try to visit your place when I am in India. All the Best.....
- Abi How did you hear about us? -Google Search 4 February 2009 06:51pm - Bangalore, India - Lawrence, Kansas, USA Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Abhijit,
I look forward to meeting you and do keep checking in for updates.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Christopher Rego |
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Hi Mansoor,
A few quick questions.
1. How financially viable (or taxing) is the farm as of now .. without income from a farmstay.
2. Do you live in the town and work at the farm ? What is your non farm activity.
3. You expect to lose the children soon to the city ... is this quiet and solitude which you enjoy so much a strain on them. This would be a big practical issue for those contemplating a change in lifestyle with family in tow.
Regards
CJ
4. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 1 February 2009 05:56am - India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Christopher,
Very quickly...
The farm is not viable... in money terms and with the kind of things we have become used to in life. Nevertheless it is something we need to pursue for many reasons - eating organic, some level of self reliance and reconnecting with nature. So we are doing it.
My non-farm activity is reading on a wide variety of subjects that I have given links for on our website - state of world, depletion of resources and other general chaos we find ourselves in but mainly from nature, environment etc point of view and not political.
Yes the children will move to a city after 12th and find their way. I am sad but I hope to leave some memory in their mind that they kind find a path back if they ever wish. Otherwise they are reasonabley happy presently but look forward to their summer and christmas holidays with cousins in Bombay.
Actually this 'change in lifestyle' is a good topic to start from our forum. Much easier to discuss things in a forum and can't go far in a guestbook. So will start a topic there. Do check out our forum at http://www.acres-wild.com/tikiwiki2/tiki-forums.php
Hope that helps.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Prasant Tangirala |
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Mansoor-ji,
I am following up on my post from a few days ago (that you replied to below). As interesting as your cheese farm activity is, it is the other cow product that grabs my attention more - Gobar. I have been thinking of building a gobar gas plant in India (later expanding it to a full-fledged farm with a possible CPV solar farm addition) for a while now, but am stymied by the paucity of resources on setting up one.
Specifically, I would like to get your thoughts about the economics of building a gobar gas plant, and distributing the gas to the grid (or keep it off the grid as the case may be). I have relatives in rural Andhra Pradesh, and I am scoping out land in the East Godavari district: a fertile, but energy-hungry area.
I have been itching to move back to India for a few years now; my wife and I are targeting a return to India by 2010. I hope to lay the foundation of the plant by that time, and move there to complete the construction and make it operational.
Please feel free to reach out to me via email if that's more convenient.
Thanks! How did you hear about us? -Google Search 29 January 2009 05:12pm - New York, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Prasant,
I have put some info on our Gobar Gas page about people who built our plant. it is a government organisation called K.V.I.C (details on gobar gas page). But I am not sure that supplying gas to a grid is really viable. Unless you are talking about a closely knit community and distances are not much. Also to generate electricity from Gobar gas would need a large number of cows. One gentleman I know who was doing it said nothing less than 50 to 80 cows and that too would only be for your own use.
But honestly I have not explored all this. We are sticking to personal consumption and for heating and cooking.
Will certainly pass on info if I come across.
All the best with your plans and be in touch to discuss further. Our email ID is acreswildfarm@gmail.com
Regards
Mansoor
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Rahul |
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Hi Mansoor - your cheese is something I am enviously eyeing. I live in Bangalore and have just got to making my first batch of mozzarella in a state where it is edible. Any chance you might want a temporary hand in the cheesemaking (that way i get to learn a bit too!!:-) How did you hear about us? -Press Article 28 January 2009 04:13pm - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rahul,
Good to know that you are interested in cheesemaking too. We are almost ready with the new cheese cottage on the farm and moving activity there soon. Will be working out on what basis people can visit if they want to learn cheesemaking. Will post all the schemes here once we are ready so do keep checking in.
All the best with your experiments meanwhile.
Mansoor. |
Suraj | |
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Mansoor, kudos and good luck for your wild endeavours!
I'm planning and preparing for a post-peak oil world in my own little way (bought a humble 2 acre land in Tanjore) and learning some basic electronics with the hope that I'd be able to make a living by making simple low-energy communication devices that bridge the distance gap.
But more than anything, I'm determined to do whatever I can to educate people about peak-oil. First in that, to let people know how precious energy is and how we've taken energy for granted post discovery of black gold.
Given your wonderful movie making abilities and background, I'm sure you're already thinking of a good educative yet masala+masses movie on the same topic. Hoping to see a good blockbuster super-hit come out of you soon! Really, take this as a request :)
... and good luck in surviving.
Cheers,
-Suraj
How did you hear about us? -Friend 26 January 2009 03:10pm - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Suraj,
Good to hear from you. You are one of the first site visitors that is aware of Peak Oil and making suitable plans. I can't possibly overstate the implications of Peak Oil enough but in India it has not been mentioned at all. I just gave a talk at Percept Ad Agency on the subject and only one person had heard of Peak Oil. I guess the rest will notice in retrospect once papers start writing articles on it like global warming :-(
Anyway all the best in your efforts in low-energy communication. Sounds like a great and practical idea.
Look forward to meeting you one day.
Regards
Mansoor. |
Prasant Tangirala | |
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Kudos on creating such a beautiful and innovative farm. Hope to sample and buy some of your cheeses the next time I am in India. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 22 January 2009 08:12pm - New York, NY Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Prasant,
Do check out our list of outlets as we are only selling in Ooty, Coonoor and Coimbatore at the present.
Hope we have some more varieties by the time you get here :-)
Regards
Mansoor |
Kadhiravan | |
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Atlast I could find something that I am always interested in. My childhood days were in a very busy part of chennai. Whenever I visit my uncles farm in North Arcot District I used to dream that there could be a better farmhouse where I can take my friends too. Now there is Acres - wild with lot of things to offer. I really would like to appreciate and congradulate for making all the way from Busy Mumbai life to Coonoor. Hope to see you definitely once you are ready with your Farmstay shortly. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 17 January 2009 11:54am - Chennai, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kadhiravan,
Yes I guess my farm fantasy started young too and luckily I did not forget about it. We used to have a piece of farmland near Panvel and would go there for week long stays and plant carrots, tomatoes and corn. Found it very exciting. We look forward to meeting you soon.
Mansoor. |
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Patricia A |
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Mansoor, Tina,
Might visit Coonoor in the near future, and will, most likely stay at the YWCA Guest House. I would love to make a day trip to your Farm, and may visit to stay when your homestead is up and running.I think what your doing is what I would have loved to do. If you need a spare hand,let me know ! Best wishes and regards, Patricia
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 16 January 2009 07:24am - Chennai,India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Patricia,
Look forward to meeting you. Lots of work here for sure. We feel like we have not even started on the farmstead part. But soon and a helping hand is welcome :-)
Mansoor.
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Madhusudhan S Sharma. |
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Hi Mansoor,
Where where do i start from....first of all....i feel that you are living the life i very much wanted to live like....in fact we do also have cows at our place..in the city..for the past 25 yrs...very few..jersey...holestin...we too have our own self made cheese.butter and ghee....too very much wanted to start a dairy project...but then economics forced me to concentrate on my immediate vocations...ie., business... in textiles..and trying to ...making one two ka four :-)....anywayz... hope will make to your place sooner..and live a day or two with you to realize the dream of living in a farmhouse at conoor....btw....we a bunch of frds out here are die hard fans of AK...and QSQT was our obsession....we did the opening out in Coimbatore..ie., the first three tickets..of the first day first show..was by us...i was preserving those ticks. until last 3 to 4 yrs....but lost it somehow...QSQT was the movie after sholay in coimbatore to run almost upto a year..it was..a record...lost around 50 audio cassettes at that point of time in the hostel...other guys used to walk in and simply take away to listen "papa khete and gajab ka din...wow..wat days were those....saw the movie around 80+ times....even today first day first show....is of AK...you guys were terrific in the movies you mentioned..but more than that is the life you have choosen...as somebody else said earlier in this column..you are gifting your kids a life worth living....they will thank you for ever and ever....take care and all wishes.. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 8 January 2009 07:44am - Coimbatore. Mansoor's Reply - Hi Madhusudhan,
Once again you have reminded me how absolutely lucky I am to get a chance to live this life that also is my deepest desire and belief.
Oddly, the success of QSQT never made me feel so strongly about it. Maybe because my heart and being were already somewhere else. Took me a while to get to here and the shape of the dream changed a bit but it was always about escaping the city and urban life-style.
So here we are and glad to share it with others and hope that it leads others to their cherished dream.
But more than dreams we are also looking at a reality that the world is just becoming aware of but very slowly. Life is not about mega-bucks but about maintaining the balance that allows life in the first place. I seriously hope the economic meltdown reminds people this simple fact.
Hope to meet you on our farm one day :-)
Mansoor. |
Dr Queen B. Saxena | |
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I was so exited to see article in the newspaper and when I actually saw so much more in your web I felt so much joy inside me. I am true lover of nature and have a small farm in South of Delhi. I grow Mangoes, lemons, lime, chinese Mandarine oranges etc and I enjoy very much there. It is like I am meditating when I am there. All the best for you and your family. I wish to see your farm one day.
Queen How did you hear about us? -Press Article 8 January 2009 04:23am - New Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hi Dr. Saxena,
You felt exactly like what I feel when I find other urban people who are re-connecting with farming and nature. It is a minority yet but will soon change I feel. I hope you can make it here some day and if we are around Delhi we will try to visit your farm. Be in touch as there is lots to share.
All the best to you too.
Mansoor. |
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Varun Dube |
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Read 'bout 'Acres Wild' in 'The Hindu' a few days ago and I have to admit, I am in awe of you guys!
Would love to have y'all over in Bhopal - y'all will love it there!
And as an added incentive, I promise we won't let you leave until you've tasted some 'Wild Boar'!
Peace. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 7 January 2009 10:35am - Bhopal, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Varun,
Thanks for your generous invitation and we will surely take it up sometime when we are able to make some travel plans that side. I remember being in Bhopal a long time back where my grand-uncle had a lovely house near a lake. Would love to re-visit that too. And the 'menu' sounds too good :-)
Mansoor |
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Anuradha |
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Hi
Your children will be so grateful for the life you have given them now.
I love the ducks. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 31 December 2008 04:21am - India, Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Yes Anuradha,
I am going to show your message to my kids right away and hope they agree :-) But it is just a short while before the city steals them back. My hope is that one day they may return.
Mansoor |
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Anchal Duggal |
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Hi,
Read about acres wild in the Hindu dec 30th. Wanting to check out if agroup of 7 adults and 2 kids could come there for a 3 day vacation. and what would be the charges.
regards
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 30 December 2008 06:44am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anchal,
We are hoping to be complete with our farmhouse by end Feb and only then will we put up info on farmstay. Bit early now. I suggest you check into our site then and I will surely put up all the info there.
Mansoor |
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Asha krishnakumar |
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Are you also housing any homeless animals. YOUR FARM IS JUST WAY OUT. How did you hear about us? -Friend 29 December 2008 05:14am - TIRUPUR Mansoor's Reply - We did keep some dogs that noone wanted. They stayed for a while but ran off. But any others we come across we hand over to an animal shelter our friend runs in Masinagudi.
Mansoor |
S. Santosh | |
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 28 December 2008 06:24am - Coimbatore |
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rajesh |
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ooops sorry ..forgot to mention that iam a die hard fan of your movies too.Jo jita being the number one :-).wish you could make cheese and movies together :-)
peace How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 11:54am - hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Right. Thanks Rajesh. Not sure if the two life-styles will work at same time for me. Right now all focus is on the farm.
Mansoor. |
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rajesh |
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Hi,
Like many others who had written in here I too came to know about you through the article in The Hindu dated 27dec .I belong to the film fraternity too ..Into movie special effects and animation field for the past 10 years.I know its tough ....anything related to movie making involves erratic working hours,staying away from home etc etc and i guess you are very lucky to have found a new passion which is equally creative i guess more than creative ...I really envy you guys .
Wish you goodluck in whatever you do and hope to hear more about you and your new found passion in here. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 11:44am - hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rajesh,
Yes I can imagine your stressful life-style as I used to run a video studio with graphics once upon a time. But I always had intentions of making my tracks towards a farming life-style and so lucky to be living it now. Keep checking and hope our site relieves some of your stress :-)
Mansoor |
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Anuja vincent |
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Hai,Today i read the article in Hindu, it was superb.sure will try your cheese at the oxford book store. being a nature lover can you let me know wheather i can visit your place with my family.Is there accomadation & more details.All the prayers and best wishes to do more better. Thank you. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 08:29am - Coimbatore, India. Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anuja,
We hope to be ready with our farmhouse end Feb. Then it will be possible for staying. Tariff and other details will be posted on our site after that.
Regards
Mansoor |
NOOR AS | |
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Dear Mansoor,
How are you doing!
Today morning I just read an article in the Hindu newspaper about your Life Living in Nature and also gone through your website acres-wild, it`s fantastic!
When some day I will be in the lap of Nilgiris,I love to pay a visit to your farm.
By the way, myself an Artist(painter)by profession and a Gypsyman by nature.
Lots of Love & Bless to you and your family.
---NooR.
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 06:15am - India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks so much Noor,
We look forward to when you can make it this side. I am sure that you will relate to the settings and our activities. All the best till then.
Mansoor |
Anil Saraswathy | |
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Dear Mansoor,
I am Anil Saraswathy, running an IT company in Technopark, Trivandrum, Kerala. I just read about your venture in the Hindu. Just wondering if a group of 40 from our company could visit your farm sometime in Feb/March.. Is there any accommodation available at your place / nearby ? What would be the expenses ?
Thanks in advance.
Anil. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 04:08am - Trivandrum, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anil,
We are not geared for accomodation yet but will post details soon. Anyway it is not possible with such a large group. Day visit may be possible so check with me when you do plan your trip. There are a choice of other places but it really depends on your budget. Some of them are small homestays and may not be able to accommodate group of 40 either.
Mansoor |
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Ranjini Anandanathan |
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Hi, I read the article in the Hindu today and was really impressed by all you have done. I am a cheese lover and will definitely try your cheese at the Oxford Book Store. You seem to be doing what I always dreamt of doing. All the best. How did you hear about us? -Press Article 27 December 2008 02:53am - Coimbatore, India Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Ranjini,
We are getting closer to achieving some of our goals on the farm. Long way to go still. Do check out the cheeses at Oxford Book Store and other option is Nilgiri at T. V. Swamy road. And keep checking this site. We are constantly updating and adding new flavours of cheese.
Mansoor |
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Pooja Baid |
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Hi. Was really nice talking to you. Do let me know when you can start sending the fabulous range of cheese to Kolkata How did you hear about us? -Friend 13 December 2008 05:53am - Kolkata Mansoor's Reply - Thanks for you interest in our cheese Pooja. We will certainly keep you posted on when and if we can send cheese to further places. Keep checking our site for news.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Arunabho & Shakti |
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Hi,
Just thought of enquiring about the ducks in your farm...have they started laying eggs? or the wild cats are still running their restaurant? How did you hear about us? -Friend 11 December 2008 03:06pm - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Sadly not laying eggs yet and the wild cats are still getting a good deal. It is a bit of an uphill task right now so waiting and watching.
Mansoor. |
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Joshua George |
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Hi Mansoor & Tina,
Its nostalgic for me to browse your website. Having been born and brought up in Coonoor, I miss the peace and tranquility. Its indeed great to note of your organic cheese making, best wishes for your venture in the days to come. Where is Acres Wild exactly located in Coonoor. Our family used to have a lovely bunglow (Shalom) with flower gardens, tea garden etc, in a place called Kardipallam beyond Ottupattarai. I live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia since 2001.After the sudden demise of our dear father last year, we sold the property early this year. May be the next time we are in Coonoor, would love to meet you guys.
Warm Regards,
Joshua George How did you hear about us? -Google Search 4 December 2008 09:01pm - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mansoor's Reply - Hi Joshua,
Good to hear from you and that you were living in Coonoor. We are indeed lucky to be in this beautiful and peaceful place. Our farm is in Kannimariam Kovil street that goes to Laws falls. As for location of your house - I have vaguely heard those names but not sure we have been there. Will look out though.
Do call and visit us whenever you come to Coonoor and meanwhile you can stay in touch thru our website.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Susheela |
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Dear Mansoor and Tina,
Good work on the web-site and great work on the land. My husband George and I are just in the process of moving to a small piece of land we bought last year. Of course we're organic and want to work on increasing the on-farm bio-diversity and conserving the local fast disappearing bio-diversity. Hope to visit you some time. And hope you can come and visit us. We're in the much lower ranges of the western Ghats, near Sirsi, in Karnataka. Good luck with all your ventures. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 20 November 2008 10:04am - Sirsi, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Susheela and George,
Great to connect with people on a similar track. We look forward to exchanging news and tips as we get along. All the best with your farm and hope we make it there one day. There is a forum on this site and I am hoping it gets activated as more people doing similar things post their experiences and discuss ideas about their journey back to sustainability and that too the organic way. But it will all take time.
Mansoor |
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RAMESH ULLATTIL |
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It is initally cost heavy to run a organic farm but on the long run the value will be realised , Great job buddy. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 20 November 2008 02:28am - Oman Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Ramesh, we realise it is a trek back to get our soil to be what it used to be before people got the bright idea of pumping chemicals into it. But the journey has begun and we are committed to enjoying it :-) Keep checking in. Bye.
Mansoor. |
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Venkatesh Naidoo |
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dear mansoor
pity i missed visiting your farm /cheese making in my five years in coonoor
i am now in bangalore ( earlier in elk hill coonoor)
i spent many years in assam (tea ) and have association with agasthya foundation in kupom where rural development is the project
your farm and mission can be an inspiration to add to the daily routine work
your web site /ur responses have made me change my mind about the drab repetetive world of the filmi world and people in it
good to see india shining in many ways again
--
venkat naidoo
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 15 October 2008 06:58am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Venkat,
Yes pity we did not meet while you were here. We just got a lot of our act together only in last 2 years. Yes we are trying to use the web medium in a way that can work mutually for us and those who visit our site. Must admit that people have a way of finding what they are looking for within and so we enjoy the different paths that people have taken to find out about our website and farm.
Be in touch and hope we meet one day.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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shumita |
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hi folks
took the panaromic tour of the house...lovely. Thanks for sharing. Looks a haven from the busy environs of Ring Road Delhi with trucks blazing past at 3 a.m.!!Read up all the posts n responses. Keen to see the documentary..how does one do that?
the cheese ommelette video looks scrumptious..courier some pronto! The only picture of Mansoor Coonoor Khan missing from the lot this time..Ther e is Cheese store near Habitat called Cheese Balls...Flanders cheese. Wish we could get some of Tina's in these em parts...kuchh karo jaldi. Have started painting again..good to dabble in colours..very therapeutic n meditative. Some day will come to your home stay write poems n paint...apart from whatever work is assigned to the visitors!!Love to all of you How did you hear about us? -Friend 11 October 2008 09:54pm - New Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shumita,
We are really enjoying putting all kinds of new medium like pano photos and videos on our site. Fun sharing. At present Delhi sounds too far to stock cheese in shops. Next stop will probably be Bangalore. Exploring that and maybe about as far as we go.
Could not figure out which documentary you were talking about. Tell me in an email. And my photo is there in 'About Us'.
Bye then
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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C J Vikram |
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Hey Guys, Great job and keep up the good work, I am from Coimbatore and have just acquired land in Anakatti (coimbatore - kerala border) on the way to silent valley, I work for HP in bangalore and looking to run away from the madness very soon, I am passionate about dairy farming and hope to start by end of next year with jerseys only, I would like to visit your farm some day. do let me know when it is convinient to come over.
All the very best.
Vikram
Mobile - 9003027304
How did you hear about us? -Google Search 11 October 2008 02:40pm - Coimbatore & India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vikram,
Wonderful to hear that you have similar plans to escape the madness. Good idea to plan ahead as it all takes time. We are currently in final stages of our farm structures and hope to be ready by December. Would suggest you make a trip after that as things would be more in place.
Meanwhile keep checking in and stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
Rajashree | |
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Dear Mansoor,
Hi! I want to read the Outlook Traveller article about Acres Wild, but can't find that issue. It would be nice if you could put it on the site.
By the way, I really liked it that the font is bigger on some of the pages, but I dont know why, I can't read the cursive-style font so clearly on my monitor as the other one.
I love that tree in the middle of the small lake in the picture! How did it get there? :-) Is there a tiny island in that small lake or had the lake become bigger because of the rain?
Please do let me know if you are coming down to Bombay - I'd love to meet up.
Warm regards,
Rajashree How did you hear about us? -Friend 6 October 2008 03:33pm - Bombay, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rajashree,
I have posted (with their permission) the Outlook article at http://www.acres-wild.com/wordpress/2008/09/01/outlook-traveller-on-acres-wild-cheese/
And yes the trees in the pond are on little islands but one is submerged and cannot be seen.
Mansoor. |
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Uma |
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fantastic work!!
look forward to meeting you all in october How did you hear about us? -Google Search 29 September 2008 03:50am - bangalore,india Mansoor's Reply - Hi Uma,
Thanks for your call and guestbook entry. We look forward to meeting you.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Zain |
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Hello Mr Khan,
I came across a lovely article on Big Cheese in Coonoor in the Outlook Traveller, September. It is great that you have appeared in OT. It is the best magazine in the country. Saw your website printed there and checked it out today. I'm fond of cheese and have loved your website. Can I get the cheese in Delhi? In the OT article as well as on your website, Delhi is not mentioned. How can I get to taste your cheese? How did you hear about us? -Press Article 28 September 2008 04:31pm - India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Zain,
Thanks for checking out our website. Unfortunately we are not planning to sell our cheese too far from Coonoor so Delhi is definitely out for the moment. Also we are making limited quantities as we want to keep it at a family farm level. Hope you get a chance to visit this side though.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Asif Zubair |
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Hi - loved the website. and all the detail you put into it.
I wanted to ask if you people will be adding horses to your farm ? horses are cool! :) How did you hear about us? -Google Search 24 September 2008 09:59am - Bangalore, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Zubair,
We were thinking of keeping a pony at the most but don't know when. Horses will be a bit too much for us to handle here.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Ashwini |
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Hi,
I just loved what you have done at your place ! I would love to visit you farms. Please let me know if its possible.Also, I love the cheeses that you make...Can I find them in Bangalore ? How did you hear about us? -Press Article 14 September 2008 09:30am - Bangalore,India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ashwini,
Thanks for appreciating our efforts. Yes it is possible to visit our farm. Please co-ordinate via email to fix date and time. Unfortunately our cheeses are not available in Bangalore yet but with the successful launch in Coimbatore we are encouraged and may explore that soon. Do you have any suggestions of good outlets in Bangalore?
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Charan |
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Hi Mansoor,
The idea of organic farming always excited me. This is a nicely done website. The view from you resort is amazing..Will be there for sure sometime in the future. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 10 September 2008 12:40pm - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Charan,
Thanks for dropping by and look forward to your visit. Yes the view is great and thankfully most of the opposite hill is forest dept so should stay.
Mansoor |
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Arunabho |
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Hi Mansoor,
Got to know about your farm from the article in Outlook Traveller. It is a fantastic thing you are doing there.
We are planning to visit Coonor just before diwali(26-27 Oct to be very precise). Would it be possible to visit the farm at that time? How did you hear about us? -Press Article 9 September 2008 04:54pm - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Arunabho,
Yes sure you can visit but keep us informed as the date approaches so we can fix time etc.
Regards
Mansoor |
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shilpam vaid |
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enjoyed our chat while you were in mumbai, hopefully we will one day get to see your wonderful place, pl do keep in touch How did you hear about us? -Press Article 8 September 2008 06:48am - mumbai, india Mansoor's Reply - Yes Shilpam,
It was fun talking to you and pity I could not drop by and meet you. But will catch up here when you do visit. Stay in touch.
Mansoor. |
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Basant Giri |
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Hi Tina/Mansoor
Got to know about you guys from Outlook Traveller. Let me know once the farm opens, would love to visit.
How did you hear about us? -Press Article 4 September 2008 05:56am - Mumbai, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Giri,
Good to hear from you. Yes will be sending a circular to all our website visitors once things are in place. Look forward to meeting you after a long time.
Regards,
Mansoor. |
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Mathew |
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Hi Tina & Mansoor,
Was just going through Outlook traveller and saw you folks mentioned. Thought would drop you a line but you already have it up on the website. Good. Passed you one day on the way to Cbe. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 4 September 2008 03:41am - Kotagiri, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Mathew,
Good to hear from you. Yes I have put the news of our Outlook Traveller article in our Farm Blog. Just saw the article myself on this Bombay trip. Will catch up with you soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Vivek Jayan |
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Mansoor, Thnx for your update on my queries and actually I am setting out on revising the intial roadmap on Project Milky way(ought to make this happen by 2010). I happen to verify ur site on my smartphone, as the last couple of days acres-wild site was in the wilderness from my laptop. Guess some link issues from my side. Anyways, will be in touch thru the site and see if I could drop down to your farm sometime late this year, if this is of convenience then to you. One suggestion, if you deem this to fit ur site will be to add Go home/go top links on the main page/blog page as this would be pretty useful for people accessing ur site through smartphone/PDAs. Also the home page writeup font size comes pretty big on the PDA. Just ignore, if this doesn't matter to you. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 31 August 2008 05:34pm - Dubai Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Vivek,
Been re-designing lots of stuff on site so maybe some broken links but getting cleared soon. I have not thought of any other medium like PDA's etc but will keep your suggestions in mind.
Look forward to meeting you but do check with us as we are on move a bit nowadays.
Bye
Mansoor |
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Roland |
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Hi!
Organic farming is definitely for future!
One question: how do you cope with the growing number of bulls? In the west ,it's easy: slaughter!
Do you also use cow's urine as medicine?
How to collect urine in a proper way?
thanks. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 31 August 2008 04:20am - Perth, Australia Mansoor's Reply - Hi Roland,
No doubt about organic being the future but it always was the sensible thing to do so we have not really learnt anything new, just a return to what was supposed to be correct.
Right now we have number of male calves and we are letting them grow for now. It is tough to decide what to do with them as it is expensive to feed them and they don't give milk. But there is an animal shelter nearby that has offered to take them. Also some local farmers are still using bulls so we may even be able to sell them. Lets see.
We are presently using all the cow urine in the gobar gas plants. It feeds directly from the cow shed into the gobar gas plant. The output slurry is great fertiliser so not thinking of medicinal value of cow urine yet. We will surely try Panchgavya explained on a page in our site.
Hope that answers your queries.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Tithi |
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:-? I was disappointed to know that the farm is not yet open for home stays. Do contact me when that happens. 30 August 2008 03:10am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Tithi,
Thanks for your call and sorry about the farmstay bit. Taking a bit of time. Will inform all as soon as things are ready. Meanwhile do check in and browse the site. Lots going on presently too.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Ved Segan |
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Dear Mansoor,
You can never give up making films. The movie I have just seen, is alive and ongoing, where all the charactors, actors, sets, script is real life.
I am glad you are enjoying it as much as we who are just watching it (& wish we had some role to play.):-}
Keep it on as every day is a climax. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 27 August 2008 03:19am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Dear Ved,
It is wonderful to connect again after so long and to have you visit our website. As you can see this has been drawing me more than film-making and wonder if that is going to change in a hurry. Also would be great if you could make a trip this side soon. Would love to share with you what we have managed here that was not to happen in Mandwa. But then who was to know.
Do browse around a bit till we meet again.
Love from all here
Mansoor. |
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Dhiraj |
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Hi Mansoor,
Greetings!
I am writing this just after watching "An Inconvenient Truth".It was a fantastic documentary.You were the first person I thought of talking to about global warming.
India is a developing country.There is a lot more industrial progress which will take place in India in the years to come.All this will happen at a huge cost.
We dont even have enough electricity at the moment but when we do have it,I hope it is from renewable resources and for this to happen we need all our countrymen to understand the fact of Global Warming.
It'd be great if you make a documentary in hindi on this issue.I am thinking of spreading this message starting with family-community-town write some articles for local newspapers & in all the companies which I have an association with.
Would it be possible for you to guide me on spreading the message of Global Warming? I plan to either walk or cycle all of India over a period of 1-2 years spreading awareness on Global Warming.
Looking forward for your support.I can guarantee mine in anyways should you need it.
I watched "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na"in Goa.
Liked it.Sonali My wife liked it even more.
Do you by any chance know Vinay Somani from Mumbai? He is ex IIT Bombay & Harvard.He s my brother in law.
I m looking forward to meet you.
Regards to all
Cheers
Dhiraj How did you hear about us? -Google Search 23 August 2008 03:58am - India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Dhiraj,
I don't usually reply so late but good state of being busy was happening :-) As far as spreading the word goes, we are doing some but mainly trying to correct our life style. Really speaking it is not one thing like Global Warming that needs to be addressed in isolation but the basic paradigm of 'growth' which is so deeply embedded in our economic outlook. Yes it is great that your are planning to undertake the cycle tour for awareness but only if people realise the deeper paradigm shift required. My support is there in whatever way possible.
I don't seem to remember the name Vinay Somani right now sorry. Was he in hostel 5? Then I have a faint memory.
Look forward to meeting you and stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Vivek Jayan |
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I am basically a Keralite working as a banker in Dubai for the past 10 years. Your site was kind of an enlightenment to me as was some of the other biodynamic farms tat i had looked up through the internet.
Working out a roadmap to start a midsized diary farming(organic) and do mixed farming by early 2010. Learning basics of Diary farming, biodynamic farming ...wouldn't say just for passion, looking for a commercial viabilty to follow my long held passion for the same. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 17 August 2008 04:14am - Dubai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vivek,
Good to know that you are so clear and with a plan for the future. It took me a long time to get to doing this though I had all the options. Sometimes things just take their own time - no questions on that :-(
Wish you all the best and hope this site inspires you further. We are learning by the day and putting our experiences here. So keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Another Kiran in NYC |
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Advice question here.
You mention that you have many animals forage on your farm. Since you grow vegetables and fruit on it also, how do you manage to keep the animals away from those areas? Do you use active controls, detterents or just hope for the best? I understand that you really can't do much about elephants running around your property, but what about the smaller animals that destroy plants for food.
Do you have any ideas for desi "totkas" (remedies) for this?
I ask since I live in a very heavily wooded area, I have a problem with deer and foxes and gophers and every other temperate woods creature rampaging thru all my plants. I cannot and will not fence the large property for reasons of cost and ecology (property is on the edge of wetlands and a reservoir). I have tried the usual deterrents of wads of hair in pouches hanging from trees, coyote urine around growing areas etc. None seem to really work. So now I am looking for something completely different... perhaps traditional desi remedies. What do you or your neighbours and like minded farmers use?
Any input would be appreciated from you or readers alike.
Warm regards,
Another Kiran in NYC 17 August 2008 04:02am - New York City Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kiran,
We are still in a tizzy about how to deal with the wild animals like bison that come for the greens. So we are thinking of keeping the lower half of property for the wild ones so we can grow our kind of stuff on upper part.
But now we have added goats and they are lethal and can wipe out anything green even more indiscriminately. So no real solutions yet but interesting on what all you have tried. Will just do some research from local sources and get back.
We had put a chain link fence all around more for demarcation against humans intrusion but the elephants and bisons have conveniently flattened all that :-) Ecology Zindabad!
More later.
Mansoor. |
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Aviral |
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Hi
Its really a cool technically blended site.The idea is so eco friednly and it has just the perfect technical work to let all across the globe know about the importance of ecological balance. Its a great start to do something on the planet, we all live and flourish.Hoping for others to keep up the spirit that this business shows. 2 August 2008 07:16am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aviral,
Yes I just felt my way as I went along in designing this site. It is strange but sometimes designing the site helped us shape what we are planning at the farm :-) But then it is quicker and easier to put things on a site than to make them happen on the ground.
About the videos - I had recently been thinking of that and reading up on what are the options etc. Need to buy a video cam though. Will follow up on that. Thanks for reminding me. Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Kalyanasundaram Raj(K. S. Raj) |
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Hi Mansoorbhai,
Great website.Very happy to have visited your site and learn about your interests.
We have Shri. Subhash Palekar from Maharashtra who has devised and been propagating what is known as 'ZERO BUDGET FARMING'. Fortunately, Govt. of Tamilnadu has roped him in and arranges for 4/5 days camp all over the state to educate the farmers. I have read many articles and his interviews in the media as well the success of the 'ZBF Technique'as narrated by many farmers.I have read his books in English. I am sure Shri. Subhash Palekar's 'ZBF Technique'is the perfect way ahead for the world to overcome the gloomy scenario ahead of all of us.
Will be in touch & would love to visit yor farm someday in the near future.
Thanx.
K. S. RAJ 23 July 2008 04:29am Mansoor's Reply - Hi K. Raj,
Thanks for the link to 'Zero Budget Farming'. I have checked it out and will look out for Mr. Subhash Palekar's writings etc on the concept. Cannot believe that just one cow can be so useful. I have made a blog entry on this site to that link for visitors to our website.
Keep in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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S. Venkatesh |
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Dear Shri Mansoor Khan,
Greetings from Venkatesh(Physics PhD student from Detroit). Thank you for responding to my previous entry .Recently I came across a very interesting article about Dr.Shripad A. Dabholkar by Shri Arun Shouries ( http://arunshourie.voiceofdharma.com/articles/1997
0705.htm).
This is the first time (thanks to my ignorance) I came to know about Dr.Dabholkar and I was fascinated by his life and work. While reading about him I though about you, your work and your website. In case you are not already aware ,I took the liberty of writing about Dr.Dabholkar in your guestbook and here by kindly wish to request you to please add info (on Dr.Dabholkar) in your 'links to think about',if you think it's worth doing.
Thank you
Venkatesh
P.S: Amidst you busy schedule did you get time to gather info about Shri Namalwar? Through internet I couldn't gather any info. How did you hear about us? -Google Search 15 July 2008 04:31am - Detroit, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Venkatesh,
Thanks for your suggestions and appreciation of our website and activities. I will read up on Dr. Dabholkar and Shri Namalwar. I am afraid I have not come across them yet but will find out. We are learning by the day and all inputs are welcome.
Stay in touch and keep checking our site for updates.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Bhavin Zaveri |
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Thanks Mansoor for the reply, I will drop a mail before I come down there, let me also tell you this, memories of Kyamat se kayamat tak are still very fresh in my mind :), we (family) are going to Mudeshwar today for an extended weekend holiday...and have already added KSKT songs to our ipod ;) , I believe one should do only those things which one loves to do, with minimal impact to the environment and society we live in. Sometimes we overlook all this small things in life due to our own ambitions and responsibilities and by the time we realize it, its was too late...anyways...I sincerely wish good luck to all your endeavors. see u soon (hopefully)
till...we meet...happy farming...
bz! 11 July 2008 04:39am |
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Sampath Paul |
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Nice website and nice Inspiring family.
All the best and happy farming.
Bye,
Sam. 11 July 2008 04:36am Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Sam,
Keep checking in and hope to connect more sometime in the future.
Bye
Mansoor. |
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Another Kiran in NYC |
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I stumbled onto your lovely website (cant remember the links)and was very intrigued. As an amateur (very,very amateur... I am teaching myself off the internet and have visited a few artisan cheesemakers) cheesemaker myself, I was very intrigued by your experiment of sustainable and ecologically sound agriculture.
My own cheesemaking has been a mixed bag of "not bad" and "lets feed the compost heap with it"! Needless to say, only our family consumes our cheese, because they are patient and love us despite out foibles! I get my organic milk delivered by a hugely expensive organic food delivery service, so for me it is truly just a labor of love and it remains just a hobby. I am so truly envious that you are able to make good cheeses for commercial sale in an economically feasable way. Good luck with all of that.
I liked seeing pictures of your farm. Very lovely. I spent time in the Nilgiris as a child (Wellington) and visiting my sibling at Lovedale. The pictures brought back happy memories.
Are there a lot of smaller/mid sized farms in that region.What is midsized in your context anyway?
You mentioned a variety of fruit trees were planted on your land. Some did well, and others did not. Are they all native to the region or transplants? For example pear... is there a variety of wild pear in the region?
I look forward to reading more about your farm and your lives there.
Warm regards,
Another Kiran in NYC 11 July 2008 04:33am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kiran,
Welcome to the 'mouldy' world of cheesemakers. Lots of trial and some errors and we get along but mostly going good. And when it comes out good it feels great. I am talking as if I make the cheese. No Tina does and I am the cheerleader/marketing manager.
You must be having fond memories of Wellington I am sure. It still is lovely. As for size of farms - there are more of tea estates here and they are in the order of hundreds of acres. The family farms growing other things are small about 1 to 20 acres I would say.
We had planted pear, peach and plum. They are not native as such but brought by the British. But yes now they are part of the trees that grow easily here. But our soil needs some attention and we need to correct several other things when we plant next time. Like protecting them from animals when they are saplings.
We will keep posting our experiences - good and bad. So stay tuned.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Bhavin Zaveri |
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Dear Mansoor and Family,
My name is Bhavin and I am resident of Bangalore. I live with my wife Jenish and Krishna (1 year old baby daughter), we both are zoology graduates by education and specifically my wife is very fond of nature and botany, I would love to take her to your farm and give her a pleasant surprise if you all are OK with. I am planning to come to Ooty for a 2 day trip, just to spend quality, peaceful time together on 15th August 2008 and would surely love to meet you (if possible). I am from a very small village in Gujarat and have cherished memories of my child hood days of playing in farms and enjoying home grown vegies/fruits and to be honest I seriously miss those days..anyways..I guess I getting a bit nostalgic...but yes...I cant help it.
happy farming :)
Bhavin, Jenish & Krishna 10 July 2008 04:41am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Bhavin,
Yes you could visit our farm. Only it is a bit early for me to say what we will be doing on those dates. Please send me an email (given in 'Contact Us' section) a few days before and we will fix up something. We have the opposite background - grown up in cities etc but there was some bonding with the countryside I don't know how. More on that later.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Vijith V. |
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Nice website.
After going through your web site, I bought some organic fruit products from FabIndia. It was tasting good. But very expensive.
May be you should add some information on types of cheese, recipes with cheese preferably that takes less time and less number of ingredients. 8 July 2008 04:43am - Kochi, India Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vijith,
Yes organic food is more expensive but that is the way it goes. We are working on putting some cheese recipes together that we will put up on our site. But first we must try them ourself.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Bhairavi |
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Hi Mansoor.. thanks for the previous reply. Nice to hear that you are enjoying what you do now. Just watched Jaane tu.. it's a nice movie - well made. The story is very light and different, but it is still made very entertaining.. It took me back to my college days for 3 hrs :):) Liked everybody's acting.. Oh, and other than that I liked the title of the movie.. pictures with pastel colors.. Imran has done a good job.. somehow reminded me of Faisal Khan when I saw him first time on the screen today..
Are you planning to direct a movie in near future? Really loved your work in QSQT, Akele hum.. and Jo Jeeta.. Never watched Josh..
That's it for now.. Good luck!
Bhairavi 5 July 2008 04:47am - Washington DC, USA Mansoor's Reply - Glad you liked Jaane Tu. It is doing really well thank God and being appreciated. Imran has proved himself as a debutante. I am sure he will go places and do path-breaking stuff like Aamir.
I am not planning any movies right now. Am far from it and the only thing on my mind is Acres Wild!!! But loving it. But who knows what happens next ;-)
Keep checking in.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Girish |
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Mansoor,
I was thrilled to hear from you so soon. I have made this my home page now. This website has been very nicely designed and is very picturesque and informative. I wrote a more detailed email to your farm email address. Not sure if you are currently at the Farm or in Bombay.
I read your note on Jaane Tu?Ya Jaane Na experience and that was cool. Best of luck to Imraan on his movie career.
More later. Please reply directly to my email address at your convenience. 3 July 2008 04:49am - San Francisco, USA |
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Girish Hullatti |
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Mansoor,
I am extremely impressed with your progress in life. We knew each other back in 1988.. I am very happy for you and your family. I saw some of the pictures on the website and it brought tears to my eyes. I had lost touch with you guys and now I am glad I keep in touch with you. I am a big believer in Organic farming, Yoga and other healthy living. Please pass on my warm regards to Tina ( a.k.a. Lisa )..
Seeing all these photos reminded me of a Kannada movie I watched last year "Ghali Patha"
Girish 1 July 2008 04:51am - San Francisco, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Girish,
Good to hear from you after a long time. Wonderful that you stumbled upon our website. It is a short intro to what all we hope to do here. I think I finally got down to doing what I wanted and lucky that Tina finds it meaningful too. Hope you can visit us someday. Meanwhile keep checking in and stay in touch.
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Bhairavi |
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Hello... I knew Mansoor Khan as a director but only when Aamir Khan mentioned on his blog about you being from IIT, Cornell and MIT, I was curious to know about you.. I mean a man from film industry and IIT+Cornell+MIT combination was a surprise.. So ended up here and read lots of things about you and your farm.. Nice! Basically your confession about not getting bachelors degree seemed so very innocent and honest, I am impressed as well as motivated.. great work. 30 June 2008 04:54am - Washington DC, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Bhairavi,
Thanks for sharing your candid thoughts. Yes I have had a chequered life but now when I look back I was meant to be doing what I am doing now. Maybe that is why I have no regrets that I did not get my bachelors degree. Our website is a condensation of our activities and my blog on it is more specific to my concerns and goals. Keep visiting - I assure you it is a constantly updated site 8-)
Regards
Mansoor |
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Arun Bellie |
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Hello Sir.... Its a great informative website.... Soon I'll be visiting you. I've decided to come to my native Nilgiris since the lifestyle I love is there and not here. I've decided to keep a farm there so that I do something good to the environment and reduce my Carbon Footprint. I'll be calling you sooner....8-) 29 June 2008 04:57am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Good idea Arun,
Look forward to meeting you and all the best.
Mansoor. |
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Mahesh Patel |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
Great website! I am very impressed with everything that you are doing there. I am coming to Bombay on June 29, and was wondering if you needed anything from here. I will see you at the JTYJN premiere. I am really looking forward to it.
There is an amazing place called 'Trader Joes' that sells mostly organic foods. Let me know if you need any cheese cultures etc. By the way, I noticed that some other 'Mahesh Patel' had posted a message on your site several months ago and you responded thinking it was me.
Anyway, look forward to seeing you soon.
Regards,
Mahesh (and Smita) Patel, Atlanta, USA:-) 19 June 2008 04:58am - Atlanta, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Mahesh and Smita,
Yes that solves something that had puzzled me a bit when I got that note from the other Mahesh. It was the Yaadon ki Baaraat point that made me think it was you but then how did you land up in Durango and US suddenly.... etc.
Ok have corrected that comment now.
Good so you finally saw our site and what we are upto. Yes this is kind of the direction that we want to go in. Don't need anything from US right now, thanks. Look forward to meeting again soon.
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Rashmi |
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Hello Tina and Mansoor,
I will be visiting Coonoor, and would like to know if you 'welcome' tourists to your farm. I love cheese and after reading about your set-up I'm eager to get an experience of cheese making in India. Can we drop by, and meet you and see how you do it all even if I do not end up buying cheese!? Please inform.
Thanking you. Rashmi 18 June 2008 05:02am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rashmi,
Would appreciate if you could send us your email id so we can complete our guestbook. You could call us on the mobile listed on our website in 'Contact Us' section. We don't encourage tourists :-) but would certainly like to meet people who have similar interests and concerns. Please inform us of your visit.
Regards
Mansoor |
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S. Venkatesh |
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Dear Shri Mansoor Khan,
Few days ago for the first time my bother told me about you and decided to find out more about you.True to what my brother said (he lives in Chicago) you had been living your life and doing a good work.
I am really impressed with what you are doing with your life.I wish to mention I like your webpage a lot,especially the links are very useful,informative and diverse.If possible I would like to visit your farm sometime in future (not near future)
In case you are not aware I wish to kindly bring to your notice about Shri.Namalwar (natural/organic agriculturist from Tamil Nadu)) and his recent interesting interview in kumudam.com (Gnani pesukiren section).I came to know about Shri.Namalwar only few days ago when my brother was talking about you,so I donot know much about him.After visiting your webpage I just thought you may be interested in knowing/interactin/collaborating with Shri.Namalwar.
Thank you
Venkatesh
P.S: I am currently a full time Physics PhD student in Detroit.Originally I am from Madurai. 17 June 2008 05:04am - Detroit, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Venkatesh,
Thanks for your comments and the info on Shri Namalwar. Will certainly read up as soon as time permits. Have been away a bit from farm so delay in replying. Be in touch and look forward to meeting you one day.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Dhiraj |
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Hi Mansoor!
Greetings! It was great pleasure to meet you by phone on the 6th of June.I first got to know about acres-wild site in march after my visit to Bandipur,Mudumalai & Ooty.I made a trip to south again(June 4 to June 9)this time to meet you!
I am a corporate trainer by profession.I run a corporate training form out of Pune.My wife's an Interior designer. Sonali has also done a course in pottery from Atlanta.
I think 99.9% of people in this world are doing what they need to do and not what they want to do.You are excluded!I am partially excluded because half the time I am doing what I need to do and not what I want to do.I am sure of what I want to do its sometimes the foolish circumstances.I'll get over them.
I have two options-
Option 1
Start my own farm.
Option 2
Work on an existing farm set up.
I prefer the second option for several reasons.Maybe I'll get a better picture once I meet you.
In my view 'You don't work at all if you love what you do!
Sonali & I'd like to meet with when you have the time.
Silent regards to all!
Cheers!
Dhiraj & not Neeraj#-)
dhiraj.chothe@trainingelements.in
www.trainingelements.in 11 June 2008 05:06am - Pune Mansoor's Reply - Hi Dhiraj,
Interesting thoughts. I agree with all of it. Yes undoubtedly I am the lucky super-minority :-D and I never forget that. But as I tell others that realisation of what is going wrong with the world paradigm is important - even if it means that you are working in the thick of what we consider its mess. Most people go into severe denial because of where they are placed presently and so do not give themselves and the world a chance of correcting.
Look forward to meeting you. Keep us posted on your plans.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Sonal Jain |
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Hi Mansoor sir,
i have just passed out from whistlingwoods international (Subhash ghai's film institute in Mumbai) as a scriptwriter. I wanted to meet you but didn't know any other way of contacting you so opted for this one. I still believe you should come and make films like 'Jo jeeta wohi sikander' which inspires every time one sees it. Film making is a great medium where you can bring awareness to the people on a larger scale. This farm looks great and i would love to visit it but more than anything i want to meet you.
thank you
Sonal Jain 8 June 2008 05:09am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sonal,
Good to hear that you have formally learnt script writing. As far and films and I go, I am far from making a film for many reasons but the main being that I am immersed in the farm and getting away from mainstream life. Yes there are a couple of thoughts I would like to communicate but at this point I would like to address them thru my daily actions rather than a film. Kind of walk the talk. I am quite one-track that way.
Anyway I wish you find what you are looking for thru films.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Anupama |
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Hi...
I'm from Coonoor and right now sweating it out in Noida. Had I known that Coonoor life could be so great I never would have left my hometown in the first place.
Great venture.. great pics.
All the best and keep up the good work.
U made me feel homesick..
8-0 28 May 2008 05:11am - Noida, Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anupama,
My heart goes out to you. Have never been to Noida but cannot imagine it to be better than Coonoor. I am lucky and will never forget that. Hope circumstances allow you to get back. Thanks for visiting our site and keep visiting to refresh you memories of Coonoor :-).
Mansoor. |
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Joseph |
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Dear Mansoor,
Today I read a article about you on MSN and that inspired me to know more about you and got into google,where I got the link to this site.
I always wanted to do what you are doing right now, but then never had the courage as I felt I should be abnormal to do something like farming after having a good job and visiting countries with a engineer tag.
After reading your interview,I felt that when such a high profile person like you can have the will power to do what the heart suggests you to do,then there is nothing more for me to think,but to just get into it.
I have always loved farming especially,wineyards,horticulture,fruit farming etc.Now I am going to study further more into this and see how I can make it possible.I am right now working in Malaysia and will be visiting India,very soon.I have visited ooty and conoor before while I was doing my engineering and would love to visit your farm if given a chance.
Will keep on updating you on the progress.
Best Regards,:-)
Joseph. 27 May 2008 05:13am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Dear Joseph,
You have made my day. That was a very honest account of your feelings. But instead of feeling outnumbered you should count yourself lucky as I do. Connecting with the natural world is going to be considered more and more the correct thing to do as the world spirals out of control in its industrial pursuit. I wish you all the best and stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Umesh Jhurani |
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well,my first view of your web site...truely mansoor you were never good at making movies ....so a good fall back option....all the very very best....cheers...(or should i say cheese)
uj 4 May 2008 05:15am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Welcome Umesh,
Our website has come quite a way and the farm is trying hard to catch up. Things in full swing and hope to have it all set by end this year.
As for movies - I got out before I was booted out ;-) Now lets see how I fare as a farmer.
See you soon.
Mansoor. |
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Payal |
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Dear Mansoor,
Went thru acres-wild after a real long time and was so happy to see so many updates and so much happening!! The website looks very cool too! Loved the quotes and the blogs...Great going!!
Saw 'An inconvenient truth' last week and was totally shocked and agitated...I just find it so difficult to decipher what really is good and what bad even in terms of basic food that we ignorantly consume..every pack which claims to be organic might not really be that way...
Would be great if you could add some info on such basic do's and donts for people like me who are living in cities but would like to be lesser of a burden on this beautiful planet!!
Hope Tina, Zaynu and Pablo are doing well...Was great to read Zaynu's blog :-}
Lots of love to all of you,
Payal 3 May 2008 05:16am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Payal,
Good to hear from you after quite a while. Updating our site has become an obsession and I myself did not notice how much it has grown as I do it on a daily basis.
You know I find so much matter on the net on sustainability and the reversal of attitudes in the world's crazy industrial outlook, that I am still trying to find my place in what to contribute thru our site. I guess it will come as we get more hands-on on the farm. Presently lots of setting up happening.
And yes 'organic' is a buzz word to be vary off, like 'sustainability' and what not. Frankly our industrial age knows very little about these principles but we are beginning to throw these words around - part fear, part guilt.
So keep checking in and talk to you soon.
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Kay |
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Hi,
Remember I'd written to you like a month back. Well, I've decided to make the trip, since am dying to see your cheese making place and my son your lovely farm. Am at Coonoor on the 3rd at the Neemrana Wallwood, and am planning to come over on 4th Inshallah.
will call before I come
Love Kay 1 May 2008 05:23am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Ok Kay,
This was a heavy week but things should ease by then. Please call on our farm mobile which is in the contact us info.
Mansoor. |
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Aditya Takley |
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Dear Mansoor,
I was reading your honey and honey production pages.Since I am primarily an entomologist I was curious with regards to the Bee species you use in your hives,could you let me know which species they are.Also where did you obtain your original foundation stalk of honey bees, I ask these questions because there is a serious problem in the Europe with regards to Varroa mite infestations and inbreeding in colonies . I would also like to know what parasitic infections you have encountered in your hives , if any? I hope its not too many questions.:-?
Regards
Aditya Takley,Liverpool 1 May 2008 05:17am - Liverpool, UK Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aditya,
Good to have you back again and those are tough questions. Actually the way we get bees here is thru local word of mouth and as far as I know the people who get them are tribals. They go and get wild bees from the forest. They kind of tame them for a while to get them used to being in the boxes that we use. We have been facing problems with the whole colony just flying away but I don't think we are seeing 'colony collapse disorder' as I read is commonly happening elsewhere. But will find out more.
Incidentally, our new partner, in supplying our cheese from Ooty, is a foundation called Keystone Foundation who are working closely with tribals all over Nilgiris and helping them make a living by selling forest products in the mainstream market. They have loads of info on bees as they are doing this first hand. You could visit their site at http://www.keystone-foundation.net/web/and I will ask them some questions too.
More soon.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Sashikumar |
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I regularly return to this site whenever I need to look at someone doing something that "they love" and not just a job. I regularly search for updates on how your farm buildings and layout...it just gives me a perspective of life that is at one's own defined pace. Good luck and hope to see a lot of activity coming up on your farm.
Regards
Sashi. 29 April 2008 05:24am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sashi,
Glad to hear that this site is working well for you. Actually maintaining this site is also a great source of inspiration for me. Gives shape to our thoughts and plans and helps us interact with like-minded people. So keep visiting and be in touch.
Mansoor. |
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Shumita |
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hullo dears
the soft cheese looks soooooo tempting
the leopard so majestic
Zayna is 15 wow! what a nutty blogger lol 28 April 2008 05:26am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shumita,
Yes we are now focusing more on soft cheeses also and adding new flavors. Zayn is quite enjoying her ability to publish to the world so a bit extra nuttiness there. Tina and Pablo have to make a start. Hope all well there with you.
Mansoor. |
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Lakshman M. |
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Hi,
It was great to speak to you this morning after going through your web site. I was very happy to get the information of the Gobar gas aspects from you. I have spoken to Jaypal and he is coming to Coonoor this coming Tuesday and I will take him to the estate and work out the details.
We are running a Home stay concept in our plantations at Palaniappa estates situated 24 kms away from Coonoor.
I will be happy if you could visit our plantation when ever you are free. Call me and then come.
with warm regards,
Lakshman 25 April 2008 05:27am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Lakshman,
Glad I could be of help. And yes Mr. Jaypal of K.V.I.C. is a very helpful person and they will certainly do a good job on your gobar gas plant.
We would love to visit your estate once things settle down a bit at this end. Will be in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Shyam Sundar |
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its quiet amazing for me that such a beautiful farm there where I schooled I am really proud after visiting ur site
I'm now settled in Andaman Islands, and I'm very happy to have glimpse of Coonoor beautfied by u. thanks. 24 April 2008 05:29am - Port Blair Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shyam,
Thanks for your appreciation. We are outsiders to Coonoor too but certainly not outsiders to planet earth. So all we are doing is what our educational system should have taught us a long time back - be in sync with nature. Instead we were unlucky to be a part of an industrial mode of thought that was and is at complete loggerheads with everything around us. It is a long trek back for all of us in the mainstream - as I repeatedly say.
Keep in touch and hope you get to return to Coonoor sometime that is obviously very close to your heart.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Aditya Takley |
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Hello Mr Khan
I am an Indian student in the UK studying parasitology , but organic farming and sustainable developmental solutions interest me , I stumbled on your site while searching for issues relating to organic farming.A Malaysian friend of mine is very impressed with your site and wants to do the same back in his native Malaysia.Do you provide consultancy with regards to organic farming techniques??
Warm Regards
Aditya Takley,Liverpool 21 April 2008 05:32am - Liverpool, UK Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aditya,
Good to hear from someone formally training in these subjects. Well honestly we are no experts and far from being able to provide consultancy I am afraid. We are learning by just doing and there is so much to do still. In fact one thing I am shaping is a farm wiki in which I am hoping that different people, like us who are trying to shape small organic, sustainable farms, will contribute.
Glad your friend liked our site and we will keep updating it with our experiences and hope they are useful to him and others.
Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Mandeep |
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hi mansoor
i have gone through ur site found it interesting and also informative
currently i am in states and i am also interested in the same kind of stuff you guys are doing
good job lastly I thought it would be hard to find people like you who still love nature
keep going 20 April 2008 05:35am - Warangal Mansoor's Reply - Hello Mandeep,
Glad you stumbled upon our site. Apart from what we are doing at the farm, we hope that this website helps in like-minded people collecting and getting ideas and courage to reverse the notions of the industrial age. Not an easy task as even we are finding out but at least we can acknowledge the follies and move on.
Wish you all the best in following your similar plans. Keep in touch meanwhile.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Mandeep |
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hi mansoor
nice to hear from you i also wish to give you a solution regarding the goats
you said that no goat kid is been surviving did you ever try to find the cause of the deaths and make an analysis of it, i mean consult a vet regarding an issue
and also think of the breed of goats u are raising because as far as my knowledge they are good adapters of the locations they are raised.and also in our state we feed the goats with neem leaves which is a very good enhancer of the health of the goats.
and also in states dairy farms also practice a method of using the cows urine waste as a good fertilizer also try to implement it.
i tought this might help you 20 April 2008 05:34am - Warangal |
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Sashikumar |
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Hi All,
An amazing site and was it really refreshing to see someone doing something different in the Nilgiris other than building resorts and spoiling the hills. I have just come back from a visit to the Blue Mountains and after looking through your small farm via the web - I do hope a lot more people who value nature get to see your website and think otherwise that the normal "ooty" is cool let's litter it as much as we can.
I hope you continue to do well and enjoy the time you have in the hills and your beautiful farm.
BTW - Your way of returning to nature reminds me of the Amish in NY and the other parts of the US.
Good luck - thanks for the beautiful photos.
Regards
Sashi. 19 April 2008 06:07am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sashi,
Thanks so much for appreciating our site. Yes we are trying our bit at getting back to things that really matter. Long trudge back to nature no doubt.
There are so many things we have to 'unlearn' on this journey that we are not fooling ourselves that we are getting about it completely the right way. But at each step we can at least be honest with what we are doing wrong. And so it goes.
Hope you can make it here sometime. Keep in touch.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Kunal |
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Hi,
Am from Keystone and just want to say that simplicity in thought can save so many issues, I did it when I joined Keystone 4 years ago after doing all studies that was possible.... But I have always had doubts that the city might pull me in..... into the big black hole two wheelers have made it into.....Reading you makes me feel good... 15 April 2008 06:08am - Kotagiri Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kunal,
Wonderful to hear that our website makes you feel good. I dread the city too - it took me long years to escape its powerful field that just won't let go. And I don't mean I was attracted to it - on the contrary - but it still would not let me go. I am lucky - what else can I say :-)
We visited Keystone the other day and look forward to many more trips to learn so many things from the people there.
Stay in touch.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Jigna Desai |
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Hello Mr. Khan,
Have been visiting the acres wild website regularly and have been exploring the methods with which you manage your recources out of curiosity and interest. It is commendable the way you have linked things together and there must be a lot of ongoing research behind it. I was wondering if you have considered making your farm completely autonomous and not relying on any external recource (including electricity)? It seems possible as only a part of your energy comes from outside.
Also I was part of an interesting workshop where we had to 'define sustainability' at a regional scale. Will forward the report once it is ready as i would be interested in getting your feed back on that.
jigna (cardiff university) How did you hear about us? -Google Search 7 April 2008 06:10am - Ahmedabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Jignesh,
Glad to hear you are visiting regularly. We are trying many things but none of them are really very seriously yet towards getting off the grid. Electricity is a demon in our lives - so cheap from the grid that any other way seems futile. But it also requires altering life style to reduce our usage so that alternate means of generating it are sufficient.
Please do send me the report you suggested.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Suman |
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Hi!!!
We are going to be in Coonoor tonight and are planning to stay there for the weekend. I was wondering if we can come and visit your farm. Do let me know if it works good for you.
Thanks,
Suman How did you hear about us? -Google Search 5 April 2008 06:12am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Suman,
You can call me at 94432-32621
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Kay |
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My son Nishaant and I went through your website and blog, and are suitably impressed. He studies in a Steiner school and would like to come down and visit your cheese farm. He also loves animals and am sure he is going to have a blast seeing all the animals u have there.
Its always been a dream to get out of Mumbai and settle down in a small town but just havent had the courage to take the first step. I genuinely envy you for having done so, and made a success of it too.
My best wishes with you- always.
Love Kay 1 April 2008 06:14am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kay and Nishaant,
Wonderful as usual to hear from people who are tuning in to 'reverse migration'. Whether they have managed to do it or not, it is an important thought today we think. Would love to have you over, we are just in the last stages of getting structures and accommodation ready on the farm. Small towns have a lovely laid-back, natural pace of work too ;-) as you can guess. So be in touch meanwhile and all the best in your plans to quit the city.
Mansoor. |
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Sunil |
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Hi Mansoorji,
We had a wonderful time at your place, and it was nice to see the way cheese is made, you imparted knowledge that we never had an idea of, Good luck for your cheese making venture....:-) 29 March 2008 06:16am - Mysore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sunil,
We were glad to share our experience and knowledge with you and your team. Alway fun when the cheese is appreciated and I must say you all did justice to the cheese ;-)
Yet there are so many things that we are trying to learn further. Looking forward to sharing notes once Chida starts making cheese too. Stay in touch.
Mansoor. |
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Sanjay |
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We are very impressed with your website and even more so with your farm. One day we hope to try something similar where we are. Thank you for sharing! 22 March 2008 06:20am - Dushanbe, Tajikistan Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sanjay,
Thanks for the complement and for visiting our website. Would love to have you visit our farm some day. Do send me an email to tell us more about yourself.
Mansoor. |
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Manish |
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Hi Tina and Mansoor,
When we started out from Mysore to meet you we were totally ignorant about organic farming. Thanks to you we learnt a lot and hopefully we will try and learn from you. It was truly inspirational meeting you and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
We thoroughly enjoyed the time that we spent with you. Thank you once again for the wonderful time.
Regards,
Manish. 16 March 2008 06:23am - Mysore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Manish,
It was great fun talking to you and your team. The fun was in the unexpected I guess. Do keep checking into our site and I am setting up a wiki and our blog is active. We can share ideas as we keep learning more. Will be in touch for any web related queries I have.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Chaitali Nandi |
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Heyyyyyyyyy uncle n aunty.......
the site looks really cool..n conoor looks soooooooo beautiful in the pics...... i really wanna come there ...... the cheesemaking looks sooooo exciting........
all the best!!!!!!!
love
chaitali 16 March 2008 06:22am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Chaitali,
Yes Coonoor is a beautiful place and a trip is long due for you and family. We are getting a foot-hold on cheesemaking but so many experiments going on with different kinds now. Look forward to your visit and remember you have work to do on the farm!
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Sukanya |
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Congratulations on going back to basics. I think the elephants are a good sign and signify great success for your venture. You may not be making films but you are still creating magic which is making a positive difference to all beings......I wish you all the success in giving something back to our environment and thanking nature for its generosity rather than taking it for granted. 11 March 2008 06:27am - Cardiff, Wales Mansoor's Reply - Oh it is a long long journey to basics I fear. I suspect that it is going to be imposed on all of us, harshly by nature in the years to come. But there is nothing better I can imagine doing. As for elephants - lets see if they return in summer this year. I feel if they do then it is going be a lasting pattern. Meanwhile keep visiting - the info here may come in handy for another project of yours :-)
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Shumita |
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the blog looks great now and enjoyed the music you've made. could'nt figure out how to add comments there. and i don't see my last comment in the guest book either so obv am doing something not quite the thing! love to y'all. 11 March 2008 06:25am - Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Thanks. Yes I made a quick switch of the software I was using. Wordpress is really good and lots of templates and other useful things. I have sent an email to you too explaining some guestbook housekeeping I have to do. Catch you on email later.
Mansoor. |
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Aparna |
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Hi Uncle Mansoor and Aunty Tina,
The website is absolutely wonderful! The view, the wildlife that has been spotted on the property...simply amazing! Pity that I've never been to visit yet. I will definitely drop in when I am in Coonoor next.
All the best!
Aparna 10 March 2008 06:30am - Cardiff, Wales Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aparna,
Good to see you at our site. Shaping the website has become a bit of an obsession with me of late. The down-side could be that I ignore the real, living farm :-D. No just joking. Do visit when you come 'back home' next.
Mansoor. |
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Musaddique Qazi |
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As-salaam-u-alaikum Mansoor bhai,
I am an IT Project manger currently in Phoenix, AZ. I am a big fan of the 1st 2 movies that you made. Why have you stopped making movies? Are you going to make a comeback?
How was the experience studying in the top institutes of the world?
Wassalaam,
Musaddique 1 March 2008 06:31am - Phoenix, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hello Musaddique,
Welcome to our farm site. As you can make out I am far from making films now and extremely engrossed and involoved in what we are doing. Actually something I wanted to do more dearly than making films. I did enjoy it earlier as I did my stint in Cornell and M.I.T. but we all change and sometimes we go back to our inner nature. That I think is the luckiest thing that can happen.
So keep in touch and follow our escapades of getting back to nature on a struggling organic farm. ;-)
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Appicatla Kumar |
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Dear Mr. Mansoor
Hi. I am Kumar (had come along with Rajesh and Mani) . It was exciting meeting you and mam and was a pleasure interacting with you.
I have seen your website. Its beautiful. Next time I will come in daylight to see your beautiful farm.
regards 24 February 2008 06:33am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Kumar,
Thanks for visiting us and for checking our website. I have now started a blog on the website that gives a lot more structure to presenting the flow of my thoughts and our farm activities. It was fun talking to you and certainly hope you can visit our farm.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Shanta Manohar |
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I was searching for some details on rearing of geese when I hit upon your site. Acres wild must be a wonderful place in the mountain ranges. Your web site is very informative and you have taken care to include details about animals both domesticated and wild which are living around your farm. I was surprised to see that you make cheese in the same way good cheese is made in Denmark. It is good to learn that you practice organic farming methods which help in maintaining a sustainable environment around your farm. Acres wild is a great mix of farm animals living on the same farm. The efforts put in by you youngsters who are living away from the civilization enjoying and appreciating nature and learning about nature is good. I would love to visit your farm sometime.
Keep up the good work
Regards
Mr. Shanta Manohar
Founding Member
Caring for Creation
Bangalore. 20 February 2008 06:35am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shanta,
From Geese to Cheese :-) Thanks for going thru our site so closely. There is so much that we are learning and experiencing that we cannot even start to put on the web. So please do try and visit us sometime to share thoughts on sustainability and non-urban living.
Regards
Mansoor and TIna. |
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Srikanth |
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Dear Mansoor,
We were delighted to see your organic farming efforts and the way you have presented the information on all your projects. Priti(my wife) and I have been inspired by your site to create one of our own and share our story on experiments with our Organic/Natural farming over last 9 years.
Thanks for all the great information.
Warm Regards
-Srikanth 12 February 2008 06:36am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Srikanth and Priti,
You know I have realised that a web-site helps build self motivation and confidence. So many times we put ideas there that we are intending to implement and that way it kind of makes it easier to happen. We would love to share experiences in due course. We are on the uphill curve right now. Would love to visit your farm sometime. Keep in touch.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Rajesh Lotlikar |
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Gone thru details at ur website... it really tempts me to visit there.. and i will soon organise a trip.. just not vist but also to work there at farms for few days for a big change in life.. All the best for a new venture.:-) 6 January 2008 06:37am - Goa Mansoor's Reply - Wonderful. Look forward to your visit Rajesh. I am sure Mr Lotlekar will be glad to see the things take shape here. Keep visiting our site for updates.
Mansoor. |
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Mahesh |
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Hello Mansoor,
It's Thanksgiving weekend in the US and I am snowed in here in Durango, Colorado. Started catching up on old Hindi movies and nostalgia set in. Watched Yaadon Ki Baraat yesterday - did you assist in any way in its production? It's as evergreen as it was back in '74 - watched it as a six year old then... Started googling and came across your blog. You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself in Coonoor. Any plans to get back into movies? Looking forward to your next project, whatever it may be.
Best,
Mahesh 25 November 2007 06:39am - Durango, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Mahesh,
Glad you checked out our site. Yes we are having fun but also realising that sustainability and all that is not so easy. But that is what is going to be journey for all of us in times to come.
About Yaadon Ki Baaraat - no, I did not help on that. I was in the 7th standard or so. But I remember going to the shoots and music sittings and what not. Never thought then that I would make films ;-)
Mansoor. |
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Rajashree |
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Dear Mansoor,
Hi! Visited the site after a long time and was delighted to read about the ducks and the fish - and how they're going to help each other. :-)But seriously. Your site just opens up the mind.
Wishing you a lovely festive season with lots of love, laughter and reasons to celebrate,
Love,
Raju
PS: I've re-started working on the website which you'd designed for me. 24 November 2007 06:40am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rajashree,
Glad you find that site inspiring. We are waiting for the day that we can welcome visitors at the farm... waiting for some basic infrastructure to finish. That is when the fun starts.
Mansoor. |
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Asha Rao |
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A really lovely site. Wish we had more such sites - it was a real joy to go through it and learn so very much. I wish you guys all the very best and hope all your dreams come through.
:-)
An enormous amount of work put in by you all but I am sure it is worth the efforts. 12 November 2007 06:42am - Pune Mansoor's Reply - Hi Asha,
Thanks for visiting our site. Yes there is lots there and can take a lot of your time :-) but actually it is not that tough putting it all together.... I mean the website not the farm. But taking it all as it goes. Keep checking in.
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Nidhi and Ashraf |
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Hi Mansoor, Tina, Zayn and Pablo,
How is life in the Enid Blyton book going? Feel like packing our picnic basket and a jug full of lemonade and joining the fun...:-D
The panoramic pics are beautiful...
When are you coming out of your book into hot and humid Bombay? Looking forward to seeing you...:-) 5 November 2007 06:43am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nidhi and Ashruf,
Always wanted to be in an Enid Blyton Book so here we are as you describe it :-) Just finally come back from Bombay and still working out plans for Christmas. Will catch up when there.
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Nivedita |
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Hi Tina and Mansoor,
Since I visited your farm last year November a lot of new things have been added I find. We were absolutely thrilled with the wheel/slice of Camembert and Colby we bought from you. In fact since then I always keep an ear open in case any of my friends visit Coonoor to spread the good word regarding your farm and ask them to pick up something for us :-D.
If you have worked out some logistics of distributing your cheese in Chennai, do put it up on your site, I am sure there will be some interested people!
Keep up the good work!
Best,
Nivedita 25 October 2007 06:44am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nivedita,
Good to hear from you again. Yes we have been adding lots of things to the farm. Had been away for a bit so some lag in updating the site. We are working on increasing our output of cheese and working on Coimbatore as next outlet. Chennai a bit later hopefully. Please do tell your friends to collect for you though if they come this side and thanks for being in touch.
Mansoor and TIna. |
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Fathima |
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Hi to the Acre wild family, it was lovely to revist your website today masha'Allah I must say I had this fantasy to visit a hill station like coonoor for a few months now, when I was looking on google for some information about Coonoor I happened to stumble upon this site but at that time the site was under construction,
but now its gone beyond that subhan'Allah, and all that you have there is really marvelous,
Mansoor saab I must confess when I first came across your site I really thought that you must be a resident of this place and inherited your ancestral land and are trying to make the best of it and are trying to hype it a lil bit,
but whew!!!! when I read that your the film maker I was really amazed, wow, do u know Bangalore is getting to become the next Bombay with a immense flood of human population from all over the country, roads are gettng congested, things getting more expensive and there is no where a breather of peace....:-)
I'm a lil fed up of this, I've been telling my father that we'll sell our property here and go an dsettle in such a peaceful place for which i'm not getting very positive responses.....:-)but insha'Allah
I work for a BPO and insha'Allah am plannng to take my team to Conoor in the month of November, what I wanted to know was?????.........
are you renting out your cottage for business or your here on this website for a hobby, coz if you are renting the place I'd like to come in for my trip
can you give me more info as to how I can go about arranging this please...
info including food and accomadtion charges...I'd be much obliged to know of it... :-)
I'll stop now, the mails gettng a bit too long....
hope you have a nice time than ever before, may Allah bless your lives with peace
regards
Fathima. 27 September 2007 06:45am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Fathima,
Thanks for the great feedback. Have sent an email to you with proper reply. Hope you have got that. Stay in touch and do check our site for when we more set for visitors.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Unnikrishnan.T. V. |
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dear Mr.Manzoor,
Well, it took a lot of time for me to start scribbling something on your guest book as i couldnt find any other words to praise you people for the effort you have put in creating such a beautiful farm, as almost all those words are being used in the previous 89 guest signatures#-) .
I stumbled into your wonderful website while gathering some details about dairy farming. its simply amazing. its a pleaure to read all those writings you have made in your website. looks simple and elegant as you people. 19 September 2007 06:46am - Nagercoil Mansoor's Reply - Hi Unnikrishnan,
Thanks for the encouraging words. We had a rough week with a cow of ours dying. Something toxic in what it ate says the vet. We have so much to learn so we are pulling up our socks. So do keep visiting our site and hope you find something useful here from our experiences.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Poorni |
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Great to hear about you. Googled looking for organic tea farms in Coonoor (special memories from visiting as a kid).
Vacationed at Wallwood gardens last summer and would like to get involved somehow. Am a veterinarian by training and now a practising toxicologist with the California EPA. Husband is from NH and planted neem trees in Niger, West Africa for 2.5 years and does ecological risk assessments here in CA. But we need to meet you guys and see what we can do to contribute. Love to your kids, who have a great inheritance in the values you give them. Keep up the good work.
Peace...
Poorni 12 September 2007 06:47am - Sacramento, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Poorni,
Thanks for your interest in what we are doing. Tea is growing on our land from the previous owners but that is not what we are into. We are leaving some of it and remaining area doing as many diverse things as possible as you can see on our site. To be trully organic one needs neighbours that are organic too, if you know what I mean. Lots to do and its fun. Do visit us when you come this side next.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Shumita |
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Hello dear Mansoor & Tina
the photographs are a welcome update. leopard at the farm site:-0?! have to still figure out the panaromic ones bec my pc kept saying try firefox. maybe i was trying to just double click not drag etc.
howabout some pictures of the photographer as well;-)!Apron and kerchief milkmaid is makin some yummy cheese it looks like!Make sure therez no hole in ze bucket dear tina dear tina...:-}!
The labels look great. As do the products set against gingham. Curious Bison shots I liked, wish more folks would stick to just shooting with their cameras. Wonder if Tina is getting any time to paint as well...
Enjoyed reading what some others have to say about being "inspired". Monterey is v lovely too.
don't forget yr friends livin in the wild urban jungles - incl me :-|
love to u all spl salaam to salma
shumita 18 August 2007 06:49am - Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hi Shumita,
Yes we are definitely getting more visual on the website. The panoramic photos help get a sense of space too. And about being forgotten - I thought people who left urban nodes were at greatest risk :-D So get here and we can connect all over again.
Love from all
Mansoor. |
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Umesh Shirdhankar |
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Hi Mansoor Khan,
Acres wild is really a great achivement for you and Tina. Congratulations and keep up the good work.
You and your films have greatly inspired and influenced my life. I was in 10th grade when QSQT was released. I became a Software Engineer because you were. I always hoped to direct a film or assist you in one. Me and my wife named our first daughter Ira (after Aamir's duaghter). You and Aamir are my teenage idols. I asked Aamir when can we see Mansoor-Aamir film again and he replied that you were in Conoor. Since then I used to google for your whereabouts. I am in Monterey, California since 2000. I will be visiting my parents in Mumbai in November 2007. Is it possible to meet you atleast for a few hours in Nov 2007. And I promise you we will talk mostly about Organic Farming. Now that is one more field you have inspired me to take up. We really have to respect & preserve mother Earth. Thanks for your efforts and inspiration. Will keep in touch thro this site. Would love to see your work in this field also.- Umesh 6 August 2007 06:50am - Monterey, USA Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Umesh,
Your letter is surely going to inspire me in pursuing even more deeply what we have set out to do. Sure you are most welcome to visit us here in Coonoor and we will check out whatever stage we have reached on the farm. We are planting at a fervent pace to undo damages already done to the land. And widening the kinds of farm animals, birds and fish that we can sustain here. May sound queer to you but this was always dearer to me than making films. I am grateful to 'scheme of things' - popularly known as God - that I am able to get down to this.
So be in touch and look forward to meeting you.
Mansoor. |
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Doris Mehra |
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Hi you lucky guys...I m planning to visit purple farms in sept to do a course in biodynamic farming and would love to see your place..have bought a place in talageon and have yet to plant my first tree and since i do not want to use any chemicals i thought ofdoing the course.By the way is Tina Carol fonseca's sister?if so then Shanti Menezies has told me about you guys..bye for now regards Doris 1 August 2007 06:51am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hello Doris,
Last things first.... yes Tina is Carol's sister. Good to connect with you. You are most welcome to visit us in Sept on your trip here. Things are in the works though. Would love to learn something about bio-dynamic farming like all the other things we are learning about the real world.
Bye then and see you soon,
Mansoor. |
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Deepak Subramani |
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Hey Mansoor and Tina. Hope you guys are doing good.
Like many others before me, i cant help but admire what you guys are doing. To leave behind a familiar life and try the romantic untested.
Sorry for being presumptuous, just wanted to validate my intuition that you are trying to build a financially sustainable farm model by creating multiple income streams in the form of cheeze, tea, farmstay, etc. Am i right? I plan to embark on something like this someday.
Looking forward to the farmstay coming onstream. Would love to meet you guys and experience the farm. 6 July 2007 06:52am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Deepak,
Thanks and we do consider ourselves lucky to be able to do this. One more important thing is that both Tina and I are drawn to this lifestyle - lucky too as the worst thing that can happen is that one person is a city bug and that is an irreconcilable difference.
And yes we trying to build a financially sustainable model but with the new-worlds awareness of being gentler on the environment. And I hope you get to do the same too.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Tariq Farooqui |
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Hi Mansoor Bhai,
I got to know of your site from Sania Baji who is visiting us in Singapore. I really loved your site and you have inspired me to follow my dream which is to be a farmer. I hope like you, someday I will be able to fulfill my dream. All the best to you and look forward to visiting your farm once the lodge is ready.
regards - Tariq 2 July 2007 06:55am - Singapore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Tariq,
Good to hear from you and thanks for checking out our site. I keep putting info and photos there as we manage to do the things that we have planned. Glad it serves as an inspiration. Ironic that now we have a reverse realisation to go back to the farm after an era of single-minded urban chase. Luckily for Tina and me this is happening and working. Keep in touch and visit us some day.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Sunil |
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;-)Hey Mansoor,
Your site is great! Thank you for all the information provided... I would love to stay at your farm; do let me know when you are done with your construction work.
Thank you,
Sunil
+919844278029 1 July 2007 06:56am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Sunil,
We are working slowly towards what we have put on the site. I do plan to put a whole lot more information on the site but only as and when we have tried and done it. It is taking a bit of time especially the accommodation. Look forward to your visit.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina. |
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Shumita |
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8-)Bhai Wah! enjoyed the almost virtual site visit. And dipping into your mind.Hope to experience it one day.:-|
shumita 1 June 2007 06:57am - Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Shumita,
A little way to go before we can share actual farm site meaningfully with others. Loads of work going on. Do keep visiting virtual site meanwhile for updates.
Mansoor. |
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Naren |
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Hi MTZP:-)
Indeed a well-thought site and really awed at the mind map page- i guess lot of mind and time has gone into making this site - I also appreciate the footer which mentions about the human edited web directory- very sensible and responsible gesture to the society. I was very keen of being your guest for a day or two (dropped in a mail)- why travel to Europe and Australia when we have the haven very next door and people who are dedicated to the betterment of Planet Earth...
I would love to show my son around in your cheese factory :)
More than eager to hearing from you.
Good work.
(BTW, being a post grad in Agriculture, it never struck my dumb mind that i should give back the nature what it really deserves:-( ) 24 April 2007 06:58am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Naren,
We really appreciate your detailed comments on our site. Actually you will be surprised but whatever I have shaped on this site has not been hard work really..... I always believe that when you do something you enjoy you feel nothing :-)
Yes that is the down side of things - we thought we would be ready and we kind of put it out on a web site then.......... there were real world delays but it will happen.... so...
Yes I am an engineer and tinkerer by upbringing but it took a flash of realisation that, that was because I was a product of the industrial era.... nature is a different ball game. We better respect that.
See you soon
Mansoor |
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Sudip |
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Hi
want to thank you guys for creating heaven in conoor, i get to visit the city once a year, can we buy some of your cheese and stay at the farm? 14 April 2007 06:59am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sudip,
Thanks for the complement. We are still in the process of doing basic construction but lots of planting. For staying at farm you will have to wait a while. Info is on our site. We make the cheese from our house a few km from the farm and you are welcome to buy it from there. Please inform us via email when you plan to visit. Looking forward to meeting you.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Catherine |
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hi! found your very interesting site googling for "donkey milk". your dream to have a simple life close to the earth is inspiring! keep up the great work.
catherine
London, Ontario, Canada 29 March 2007 07:01am - Ontario, Canada Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Catherine,
Yes we are hacking at getting back to basics with lots of trials and errors. Enjoying all the way too. Do keep checking in to see how we get along. Have postponed the donkeys for a while. Realised we are trying to run in a life style where slow and steady is the true way :-)
Mansoor |
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Lalit Pandit |
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Hi Mansoorbhai and tina-got ur site from Tony..Its great!All that you guys are doing!had a look at your music set up-i still have to hear what you did on it.Was eager to write to you!Working with 2 new guys for film scores who are absolutely your fans for JJWS.Its good to see the kids after a long time..they look fine and growing up!!All is well here...do keep in touch..will keep myself updated with you on the site...love..lalit 26 March 2007 07:02am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Lalit,
So you managed to find your way to our site. Great. Yes this is what we are up to. Really where I wanted to be - kind of a step beyond Mandwa. But we had good times there. As for the music on this site - was fiddling with the newly discovered softwares etc. But hope to do a lot more of it in future. Hope all well with all of you. Love to Jatin and rest of your families.
Mansoor |
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Karan Makhija |
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:-D
hey mansoor bhai,
i finally signed the guestbook. its really cool. the place and the website. i loved the mind map!
may the venture gain strength and momentum.
i'd like to visit whenever you say its ok. 1 March 2007 06:04am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Welcome Karan,
Glad you finally visited our site. Lots of work to be done and all going behind sched because of a certain other project...... :-)
But would love to have you over and will get into talking about all the stuff that is not possible on a disciplined set.
Yes still working on mind maps and wondering whether they do actually help or do they happen once I have figure out what to do actually?
Mansoor |
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Nuzhat |
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hi farmers! even though fred is in town as I write. but still.. was longing to somehow get to acres wild, and have to wait till summer, thought i would say hello. hope the bees are doing well in their new homes, and wish wilma would get down to posting some farm gossip as well! Much love, Nuzhat. 8-0 21 February 2007 07:06am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Greetings from the farm and film city,
All is going well but a bit slow. The roads are done but no sign of the ecolodges yet. But bees are ok so far. Will get Wilma to post some farm gossip hot and fresh from her keypad.
Love from the Flintstones. |
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Radha |
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Dear Tina, Zayn, Pablo & Mansor,
75 sweet plums, 1200 pear cuttings,325 coffee saplings 12,000 tea bushes, the words skip along merrily, breathlessly fast for me to catch up on the message board. But all the same it fills me with delicious anticipation as I think of the bottles jams, preserves , compotes and wines that will spread good cheer over your kitchen table, as Tina is sure to turn out some of the best of these lovely things from her wonderful kitchen, filling every nook and corner of your sweet home with the most heavenly smells of home cooking.
Christmas will be all the more special to you, for all the effort that has gone into acres-wild.
Here's wishing you all "A Very Happy Christmas and a great year ahead". warmly,
Radha 24 December 2006 07:07am - Pune Mansoor's Reply - Hi Radha,
That is a lovely picture you have conjured of Christmas at Acres Wild. We however had to be with Tina's parents here in Bombay for christmas - family calls! But once things are set up better we will invite them to Coonoor for Christmas with sounds of nature all around.
Wish you and family a very Merry Christmas and compliments of the season.
Love from all of us
Mansoor Tina Zayn Pablo. |
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Felcy and Melwyn |
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I must congratulate you on the most fulfilling venture. This is something that I would love to do and hence I couldn't go away without signing your guest book, commending you for what you've taken up. I can promise that next time we - will travel those 500 odd extra Kms from manglore to check out your place.
My best wishes to all of you there. I haven't seen your whole site yet, but I do hope there are some nice pics too.
best regards
felcy mayola & melwyn 12 December 2006 07:09am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Dear Felcy and Melwyn,
I can make out you connect with what we are trying to do. So much still to happen and that applies to the pictures too. We will put more soon but being there is more than pictures can say so please do take the trouble to come the 500 odd km next summer.
Love from Zayn Pablo Mansoor and Tina. |
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Kiran Rao |
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hey guys!
its a dream come true!! great going... can't wait for the pine view lodge to be ready. bags i the first booking! and the cheese looks fantastic... so proud and excited.
kisses and lots of love to our SuperKhans!
k 7 December 2006 07:10am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Kiran,
Pine View Lodge awaits you. Now that you have taught me to keep things on sched and in budget........ oops sorry not on sched :-)...... nevertheless it will be ready soon!! Look forward to the ribbon cutting and meanwhile keep blowing that trumpet for Acres Wild!
Love from the Flintstones. |
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Maj Kanad Bandyopadhyay(Ret.) |
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Mansoor and Tina,
Very impressive. Mansoor I am '58 born too and profiles rhyme to an extent - IIT, US degree, etc. I am still dreamin'. Returned from Zurich where I met a young international VC/entrepreneur who has interest in organic farming. May be, you could be our show case in India.
On a more serious note - keep the Ambanis and others from coming too close. EXert politically as a local, else everything will be wiped out. They are buying up everything. Landbank! as CNBC stock news says. Sad for India! Goodwork. I shall follow your website posts.
Kanad 25 November 2006 07:11am - Mumbai and Baroda and Ahmedabad and Pune Mansoor's Reply - Hi Maj. Kanad,
Pleased to hear we have lots in common including the dreaming :-).
We have lots to learn in organic farming but yes sure would love to set an example in our region at least. And yes will keep 'land bank' policies in mind. Thanks.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Rajashree |
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Dear Mansoor,
Hi!
Sitaphal planting will begin today at Acres Wild. Elephants are pregnant for 22 months. And you'll be making cheese from goat milk soon.
Reading your site was like opening a window on a different world - it made me realise that we have choices. Choices that we're not even aware that we have.
Wishing you all the best in whatever you feel passionate about, especially getting enlightened, and of course, making cheese from goat milk.
With warm regards,
Raju urf Rajashree :-) 20 November 2006 07:17am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Dear Rajshree,
That felt good - your loving comments with a writers touch ;-). But we won't let you go that easily. You have to come to Acres Wild and serve some time!!
Love from all here
Mansoor. |
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Nivedita |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
Your cheeses are really being appreciated! We had some German and French guests and the Camembert particularly was toasted again and again!
I am awfully happy that we took the trouble to hunt up your farm in Coonoor. Also would like to thank Tina for handling our visit with so much aplomb.
Best,
Nivedita 20 November 2006 07:13am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Nivedita,
Glad you took the trouble to come up. Pity I was not able to be there then. So we look forward to your next trip. Stay in touch.
Mansoor. |
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Radha Nair |
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Very humourously put.. Recipes from the archives of The sisters of the last bite!!!!!!!!Serioulsy, can you post some really,easy to try, sure winner cake/pizza/tart recipes, on your website. Would truly appreciate that.
Radha Nair 13 November 2006 07:19am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Radha,
Just spoke to Tina (I am in Bombay for a bit of work) and she will start putting some recipes together for me to post on site. So bit of slowdown happening here till I get back to Coonoor.
And yes that was a bit of private joke :-) - The Last Bite was a cake enterprise that Tina had started when we were living in Bombay.
Stay in touch
Mansoor |
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Santosh Hegde |
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Great website and great plans.Heres wishing all of u PZTM the very best. 10 November 2006 09:42am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Santosh,
Good to see you visit our site. I have not been able to update the website as often as I wanted to but that is temporary. Keep dropping in here and will talk to you soon.
Love from all
Mansoor |
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Tamil Selvi |
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hi mansoor and tina,
really great that farm of yours. i am a student of horticulture.so naturally your farm intrigues me. and to add to it, i'm a nature lover and totally for the wilderness. can i visit your farm with a couple of friends? coonnor is just an hour travel for us.is it ok? do reply....
Regards,
Tamil Selvi 6 November 2006 09:43am - Ooty Mansoor's Reply - Hi Tamil,
I am currently travelling and will be out till end Feb. Would love to have you over once I get back and a few of the plans at Acres Wild are in place.
Regards,
Mansoor |
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Dagmar |
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Hi, your project sounds very interesting.
Are your cheeses sold in Delhi?
If so, let me know where.
Lots of good wishes to you,
Dagmar 2 November 2006 09:49am - Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hello Dagmar,
We are currently selling locally in Coonoor and exploring nearby places like Bangalore and Coimbatore. Will take a while as we must have put together a bigger and steadier production. But Delhi seems unlikely for quite a while. Thanks for your good wishes and be in touch.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Adarsh |
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Mansoor and Tina,
I couldn't ever possibly be any more jealous of people, than I am right now of you guys!!:-(...Man....a farm with a view..animals..children and cheese..!!...what else could one want in life huh!:-).....and choosing all this after showbiz in Bombay...hmm...thats quite a choice to make:-)
would love to visit your farm sometime when I can escape the clutches of dreary old Hyderabad......
just one question.....the fishes for your ponds....are those native species that you are considering?...and have you people started growing herbs too?....I'm sure you could do great with herbs in the Blue hills... 1 November 2006 09:50am - Hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Adarsh,
I try to remember at least one time everyday how lucky I am. Easy to forget.
About the fish - we are definitey considering native species. Have done some basic research but have to actually go to the local fisheries dept and see what they have to say. We are growing our own herbs for the cheese. Fennel was a big hit but we had some trouble growing that but now we have managed - if the hens leave it alone :-)
Wishing you all the luck to escape Hyderabad for a while and visit us.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Sundur Tumuluru |
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Hello,
The article in "The Hindu" was good and not precise and exclusive, yet satisfied the curiosity in me.
It is a happy moment to find enterprising people like you and hope to hear from may like you who make humanity understand its synergy with nature.
Maybe one day I will plan for a stay along with my family with nature lovers and who contribute to the preservation of nature.
regards,
Sundar Tumuluru 29 October 2006 09:51am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sundar,
Thanks for your candid observation. Actually the article in Hindu was supposed to be about the cheese that Tina makes but inadvertently and a little prematurely it drew attention to what we are doing at large. But I am glad the article happened when it happened and we are now actively working on the farm and farmstay. We are trully struggling to find our 'synergy with nature' - something that few institutions in today's world prepare us for. I admit that our attempt is ad hoc but that is the best that our mainstream life has guided us. To your comment I would just like to add one thing the way I see it - it is not that we are trying to preserve nature - nature is much larger than us - but conversely that if we are able to surrender and sync with nature then nature will preserve us.
I look forward to meeting you and sharing more thoughts.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Santhosh,Reshmi & Pranay |
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Dear Mansoor & family,
We have read the article came in " The Hindu ". No wonder you have really brought in lot of insight to the dilemma part of my mind....The courage and enthusiasm shown by you starting such a venture is above the mark. Did you really dream of the same long back..? And have you made a generic plan on the progress of this venture like a beautiful script of a ever thrilling movie. Keep up the good effort...We will do visit your farm and make our plans to stay for a week atleat( We know thats too short...) once its ready to occupy. All the best once again..and God bless you....
Santhosh, Reshmi & Pranay.
Calicut. 22 October 2006 09:55am - Calicut Mansoor's Reply - Hi Santosh, Reshmi and Pranay,
Yes Acres Wild is a realisation of a dream conceived a long time back.... 1980 in fact for me and I have worked towards it. I did not know that it would end up in Coonoor or take shape the way it is now. I thought it would be much closer to Bombay and near the sea but the concept of getting back to open spaces and nature is pretty much the same - has grown a bit more mature along with the 'dilemma' realisation of the state of the world that I hope to elaborate in my blog. Looking forward to it culminating when we can meet you and others who are finding this kind of thing interesting. Till then all the best and thanks for the feedback and encouragement.
Mansoor |
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Milton |
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I have gone through your article in HINDU,it was really nice,i will visit the place very soon. I wish you all the best in your great effort.
Milton 22 October 2006 09:54am - Anantapur Mansoor's Reply - Hi Milton,
Nice to know that the Hindu article is still being noticed and read. Look forward to meeting you soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Penny & Mohan |
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Dear Tina
MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY. MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME.
Love
Penny & Mohan 22 October 2006 09:52am - Cochin Mansoor's Reply - Hi Penny and Mohan,
Thank you for remembering Tina's Bday and of course a very happy birthday to you too Penny. We had a lovely impromptu party for Tina here in Bombay as we are visiting and got together with family and friends. We look forward to getting back to Coonoor and one day meeting you there.
Love from all here
Mansoor and Tina |
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Nivedita |
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Dear Tina and Mansoor,
Looking through the Nilgiris sites for a possible place for an escapade from Chennai, I came upon your site. Even better, I found you are into cheese making. That is one thing I was awfully sad to give up when I came back from Europe. Blue cheeses in India, that too the non-packaged imported version! It has certainly made me sit up!
Looking through your website, I can't but admire the guts which made you chuck everything up and start afresh something so new! Most of us are so hidebound.
The Nilgiris seem to be the nearest getaway from Chennai; isn't it a pity that with so much natural beauty that India has, so few of us can escape the humdrum things of life.
I hope to visit Coonoor some time and will love to visit your farm!
In the meantime, all the best with your projects.
Best,
Nivedita 17 October 2006 09:56am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nivedita,
Thanks for visiting our site and comment. We are still experimenting with blue cheese but hope to get it right soon.
Yes one has to think outside the box for some of the simpler things that seem so difficult to get nowadays.
Meanwhile we are setting up the farmstay and look forward to being ready mid next year. Look forward to your visit sometime then.
Mansoor |
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Ashutosh Rai |
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hi,
Read a very interesting article on you and
your wife in Hindu.I was quite delighted
on reading that you are leading a quite and happy life in Nilgiris but have you completely given up film making .Making a
cheesy film starring Amir khan would't be a bad idea. 14 October 2006 09:57am - Ghaziabad, UP Mansoor's Reply - Hi Asutosh,
Yes we have made a shift in our lives but something we thought about for a long time. I am presently completely into this project so can't say anything about films etc. Hope you enjoy reading what we are upto at our farm.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Radha Nair |
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Dear Tina and Mansoor,
On Wednesday,October 11th,with our bags packed for a 2 day trip to Nasik, the wait for a taxi was killing, until I leafed through a tossed aside Hindu, of 8th October. I stumbled on ?Blue cheese? That made the wait enormously cheerier, as I read on and felt the first stirrings of excitement
Cambebert, Brie, Gouda, , Feta Roquefort.....the cheeses I used to view, in whole, glassed- in counters at Spinney?/ City Centre/ Mercato in Dubai, was now being made in the Nilgris, by two wonderful people, who chucked up the mad whirl that represents Bombay to Acres Wild . All I can say is, that I am thrilled and awed by the courage it must have taken to start from scratch a venture so different from what you had been doing all along. Salut!
Years back, I too had a dream of setting up home in the Nilgris, having fallen in love with its wild beauty each time I visited Ooty, while I taught at WPT/ Coimbatore. Instead after marriage I spent 19 dreadful years in Kerala, till I got my chance to go the UAE, at age 50 and discover a vastly beautiful country. I still nurtured grand ideas of relocating to Ooty, when the time came for us to leave the UAE, more so, because I have 2 daughters Anjali, who loves good food...so pigs, hens, cows, were naturally on the wish list, and the second one, Lakshmi, is passionately fond of all kinds of animals. So a farm, in the Blue Hills was what I dreamt of. But as luck would have it, we finally decided on Pune, due to financial constraints.
But I have not stopped dreaming. Not after reading, what you have done. Inshallah some day, you might find me at your door step, willing to learn the basics and pitch in if need be.
I even tried to convince Anjali,, (who adores salami and sausages), who unfortunately soon after marriage, and with an altered perspective, has sunk a fortune into a poky little flat in Chennai, to sell her flat and instead consider buying a small cottage with a fair sized garden with masses of flowers and fruit trees. A shed could come up later on, where she could try her hand at making cheese too, if not for anyone, except to treat herself and her husband, to delicious toppings of nourishing homemade cheesefor pizzas. Sad to say she lacks the sterner stuff that courage is made of. And so for the present she is stuck in Bangalore, with a whole lot of dreams shelved.
All I can say is, that I am so happy for you. That you took the plunge, and have started on a venture so refreshingly different from the run of the mill choices that the average person makes. Your children are so lucky to grow up in the beautiful Coonoor valley, surrounded by smells and sounds, that would surely make them think ...if there be a heaven...it surely is this.
Just a little while back (Oct 13,on my return form Nasik) I visited your website, and feel that much happier, going through the tastefully presented information about the jams, wines, cheeses all made at Acres Wild. And happiest of all when I read about Tina, that she is an ex-St Joseph?s product, of which I too happen to be, and will always be proud to have studied under some truly inspiring teachers. I can never forget ,Sr. Mary Lawrence, St Cecilia Francis, Mrs.Broadley, Mrs.Sequeira, Mrs Lobo...were they your teachers too,Tina?
Sorry for rambling, but blame it on this article and the possibilities it has opened up...Before I close, I was so absorbed with the story, that day, when I started reading it, that I did not hear the taxi wake up the entire neighbour hood with its insistent klaxon, nor did I see my husband?s face turning a rich purple, as I carried on reading and forgetting in the process that there was a trip ahead!
Best wishes to both of you, Tina and Mansoor, and bless you for having done what you have done.
Sincerely,
Radha Nair 13 October 2006 10:00am - Pune Mansoor's Reply - Dear Radha,
This is an update reply. Thanks for your open and candid letter. This is a hectic part of our life in setting up what we have described on our site but we are enjoying that too. Look forward to more interactions in future.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Sreeju S. |
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hello sir
it was my dream that now u people are fulfilling
sometimes by gods grace i too will be able to purchase some land and make my retired life meaningful 12 October 2006 10:01am - Punalur Mansoor's Reply - Dear Sreeju,
We are lucky for sure and I am sure that if you are really keen on this kind of thing then you will find a way to do it. All the best.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Nidhi and Ashraf |
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Dearest Mansoor, Tina, Zayn and Pablo Khan,
Well Done! We are so envious and proud of you. :-D let history repeat itself. Do you have jobs for us?
much love n regards,
nidhi n ashraf 11 October 2006 10:04am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Arrey thank you bete thank you,
We are enjoying ever moment and please find time to visit - once it is all set. We have lots of jobs - but more in the line of farmhand and milkmaid. Sorry nothing for a script writer and film maker :-) So make your choice.
Love from the Flintstones. |
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Sree and Balachandran |
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Hi Mansoor,
Thanks for the prompt reply and I could visit ur site. Thanks to 'The Hindu' also. We are so eager to come over there and stay in one of your cottages. And.. Should u decide to accommodate a Vet and a Gynec. permanently, please don't hesitate to mail us.
Regards
Sree and Balachandran 11 October 2006 10:03am - Kerala Mansoor's Reply - Hi again Sree and Balachandran,
A vet and gynac.... hmm.... very useful :-)
Things are slowly taking shape so do keep checking web site.
Mansoor |
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Durga Prasad |
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Hi,
I read the article in THE HINDU and got the URL from there.Let me say you have built a great place!!Surfing your website reminded me of famous five books I used to read as a kid.That farm lifestyle I mean.The photo of honey bottle that you have put up is very tempting.I always wanted to visit nilgiris now your place has given me more drive.I would like to stay in your cottages once it is complete.All the best for your future plans. 10 October 2006 10:11am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Durga,
That is a great picture from the past you have reminded me of. I hope my kids would read those timeless books and get the same sense of adventure on the farm. Will have to locate some Famous Five and other Enid Blyton books again. And when you visit us we will try to solve some local mystery :-)
Mansoor |
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Asha Rao |
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Hi Folks,
Coonoor is my hometown and it is so sad that we have not been able to do anything there.So happy to know that you guys are doing a great job. Got a lot of friends who would like to chill in a place like yours after the buzz of city life. shall spread the word.
do let us know when you are ready to soar with your cottages.
all the best to all of you
asha;-) 10 October 2006 10:10am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Asha,
We love Coonoor and maybe that is what is inpiring us to do all this. We will keep everyone posted on the progress with cottages. Do spread the word but with a note of caution.... it will take a bit of time.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Juhi |
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What an incredibly fulfilling lives you guys must lead... I guess it requires a lot of hard work & guts too. Would love to do something like this someday... Hope I will be able to visit your farm and stay in the cottages one day soon 10 October 2006 10:09am - Hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Juhi,
I have never felt more alive. And I think once you find your focus then nothing is hard work. As for guts - don't look down and you won't get scared ;-)
Mansoor. |
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Juhi |
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Same Juhi who signed the guestbook beneath :-)
Just wanted to add another point - love your website name. I love words and acres-wild has such a vast, dreamy and poetic feel to it. 10 October 2006 10:08am - Hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi again Juhi,
Glad you liked the name. While thinking of a name I was trying to incorporate the idea of going back to the past - the primitive - and Acres Wild popped in my mind and there was no doubt in my mind that this was it. Definitely because of the song by same name by Jethro Tull - a group I love.
Mansoor |
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Nandita Cidambi |
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I must congratulate you on the most fulfilling venture. This is something that I would love to do and hence I couldn't go away without signing your guest book, commending you for what you've taken up. I can promise that next time we are in Chennai - I'll travel those 500 odd extra Kms to check out your place.
My best wishes to all of you there. I haven't seen your whole site yet, but I do hope there are some nice pics too...BTW you must check out this blog http://farmgirlfare.blogspot.com Might interest you a LOT!
Nandita
Http://saffrontrail.blogspo
t.com 10 October 2006 10:07am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Nandita,
Sounds like you are going to be a Farmgirl soon. Especially if you trek 500 km here #-) but I can understand that feeling. I have done similar things - a sure sign of passion. Enjoyed the farmgirl link you sent. And you seem to be one hell of a cook. Your page has lots of lovely photos. Afraid I need to get more organised on photos on my site. But will do soon.
See you soon
Mansoor |
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Engels Almeida |
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Hello All,
Great website good luck with your business! My cousin Blossom referred me to your website. Keep up the good work:-) 10 October 2006 10:05am - Coronoa Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Engels,
Keep visiting our site to keep up all the madness on a laid-back farm. I don't know how far or where Corona is but when you come to these parts do drop in.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina |
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Devadas Menon |
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You have gone ahead and doen what I hoped to do with a few friends together. Congratulations!
Does your facility have plans to provide permanent accomodation to others? How does the farmstay concept work i.e.
regds....devadas 9 October 2006 10:22am - Bangalore and Kerala Mansoor's Reply - Hi Devadas,
Thanks. Well I am afraid we will not be providing permanent accommodation. What we are running is first a farm that is basically our place of residence too. Then we would like to share the experience with like-minded people and for that the can come and stay, in seperate units, over for short periods of time.... usually a few days to a week. How the compensations work out I have to get into. We are just starting up. Hope that answers your question. A search under 'farmstay' on the net will reveal all kinds of concepts happening but basically this is it.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Soenke Hoof |
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:-) Great to hear about all the cheese you have been making!! We would like to know if it's possiible to buy it online?? Also is it possible to come and stay at your farm? What is the best time to be there? 9 October 2006 10:21am - Ahmedabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Soenke,
Cheese is delicate stuff to transport particularly the soft varieties. That we are definitely keeping local and on the farm when people visit. The hard cheese we do vacuum pack and there is a possiblity of sending it longer distances but the economics have to work out. So we are loooking at outlets in Bangalore and Coimbatore for a start. Further cities in due course.
And yes it is possible to come and stay at our farm once the accommodations are ready. Check our site for updates on all that.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Liz |
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Hi Mansoor & Tina
I came to know about your site from the Hindu. I jotted down 'acres-wild.com' in my mind as a must-visit website, next time I'm browsing...:-)
Thank God!! I didn't forget!.. This is such a pleasant place!!
I don't think I'd ever be able to do something like this, and so I'm so absolutely happy for you!!.. and jealous too ;-)
After your cottages come up.. I'd love to pay a visit!!! 9 October 2006 10:20am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Liz,
You have a good memory to remember our site address. When we had selected the address I debated about putting the '-' between acres and wild as most people may not notice it and just type acreswild.com. But I finally put the '-' because visually it reads much better.
Anyway glad you felt it was worth remembering the address. Hang on a bit and we will be set to welcome you here.
Mansoor |
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Arul Murali |
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hi producer de josh and dears,
are you okay?its really amazing once i seen from the newspaper to the internet,its wow part in this world organic,cheese,wine that too in india taking india globally words like eco friendly three cheers gentleman,beautiful minds,creating teams and working with nature no words enough to express my joy in seeing people like you wonderful job being done keep going will be there shortly,very intresting keep it up.
ooty has a special place with me when i played my cricket in schools like lawrence,kethis great place for travel and living.
happy days,
arul. 9 October 2006 10:18am - Chennai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Arul,
Thanks for your appreciation of what we are doing. Coonoor and Ooty were nostalgic for me to even before we moved here. My father and I shot a couple of films here but I never realised at that time that I would settle here. Hope you get a chance to visit and check out the places you had played cricket.
Mansoor |
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Ammu |
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As a member of a small group of cheese-enthusiasts in Bangalore I'm delighted to know about your variety of home-grown organic cheeses. It'll be good not to have to rely on international travel for cheesy get-togethers! Hope to find a local source for your products.
Also good to know that you're planning farmstay facilities. Will keep that in mind for future get-aways. 9 October 2006 10:17am - Bangalore Mansoor's Reply - Yes Ammu,
We hope to be able to reach our cheese to Bangalore. It is real happening city and I am sure we will find our niche there. Hope to see you soon when we are set.
Mansoor |
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Vijendra Jafa |
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Congratulations and best wishes for your growth, success and prosperity! Your website reads like poetry and romance. This is from cheese lovers and farmers. But how do we get to savour Tina's great cheeses? Vijendra and Jyoti 9 October 2006 10:16am - Jafa Farmhouse, Village Bhondsi, Gurgaon, Haryana Mansoor's Reply - Oh Wow,
That is high praise Vijendra and Jyoti,
Will keep working on our stuff here and the site. Cheese tasting may be a local affair for sometime I am afraid but working out practical outlets. Of course you could visit us when we are set and taste the cheese and share your farming ideas with us.
Look forward to that.
Mansoor |
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Vikram Rao |
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Hello Mansoor and Tina,
Great looking place you got there!
I am intrigued by the cheese making. Where can I buy some in Hyderabad?
All the best and hope to visit you guys sometime.
Regards
Vikram 9 October 2006 10:14am - Hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vikram,
Thanks, yes we are blessed with a lovely location for our farm. Will be posting more photos as we shape it up.
We are exploring places to outlet in other cities that will be practical for us but basically we are very very small scale and that scale is determined by the land we have, the grass we can grow and so the number of cows we can keep happy :-) With that in mind, lets see how far our cheese goes.
Hope to meet you soon.
Bye
Mansoor |
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Legia |
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Hi,
I heard about your place from my godparents Alves and Lucy Almeida. I am very impressed with your farm and cheese products. I would love to bring my family to visit and stay in the cottages once they are completed. What time frame are you looking at completion of the accommodations? We visit Bangalore often, and would like to visit your farm. All the best in your future endeavors.
Legia 9 October 2006 10:13am - Virginia, USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Legia,
We are looking at completing middle next year. But we want to really get the look and feel right too so don't want to hurry it too much. But do visit when you come to Bangalore.
Love from family here
Mansoor |
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Pooja S. |
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Hi,
Got to read the article in Hindu.. really a dreamy affair of opening a farmhouse in such a beautiful locale..We also have a farmhouse in Lucknow...Plan to open something like what you have started with. Do you give training or something in cheese making??Definetly would want to learn:-) 9 October 2006 10:12am - Delhi Mansoor's Reply - Hello Pooja,
Yes we would love to take people thru the cheesemaking process when they visit. Like a basic course. Just like Tina did when we went to Cinnabar farm, a homestay in Kodai (link to their webpage in our Links page) where Tina learnt her basics. But beyond that you have to read and study and experiment a lot on your own. Then you makes some cheese and share your experience with other cheesemakers and so on.
More on that will be in the web site. In short we have no hesitation in sharing what we know about cheese or anything else. All the best with your farm near Lucknow.
Mansoor |
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Vineeta |
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Hello there,
I read the article about yourselves published in the magazine section of The Hindu today with great interest - more so because my husband and I are a like minded couple, planning to shift out of the hurly-burly of big city living to the Himalayas - to run an eco-resort. My husband is a cheese gourmand (as also a gourmet!) and that's what initially caught my eye. I am a planter's daughter myself and am familiar with the life-style you have opted for - it's great. I was very impressed with your links, especially In Context. Keep it up & good luck with all your plans. There's nothing as rewarding as following your dreams and seeing them fructify.
Vineeta 8 October 2006 11:00am Mansoor's Reply - Vineeta,
It most definitely sounds like we have been thru common paths in our minds. Main thing for us was to pursue life closer to nature and closer to the soil. Then cheese happened and now this farmstay concept. But we are enjoying every bit of chasing our dream........ or should I say 'reality' actually. The produce of the land is the only real natural capital. All else is a nice figment of an energy dependant economy that has to come to terms with the rest of nature. Oops... I am not supposed to do all that in my comments.... to read more of my rants visit Mansoor Blog Page ;-)
I wish you and your husband all the luck in speedily exiting from your city and setting up your eco-resort. Kindly share your progress with us.
Mansoor. |
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Rohini |
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Hi Mansoor,
Read about acres wild in todays Hindu, have seen your movies & your yacht (where is it now by the way?), heard your music recordings on the site and would love to convince my dada (Randhir) who lives in Alibag, Maharashtra to trek down south to visit his daugther & allow her to take him up to the hills (where he kinda grew up like a free range... :) to enjoy the lovely environment you have created for your family, friends & visitors. Any creative ideas? Please ask the dudette, future farmer & cheese maker for inputs...
Cheers! 8 October 2006 10:58am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Rohini,
I am deducing that you are Randhir Bhel's daughter. Yes you should catch hold of him and bring him up here just once again. He must have forgotten how beautiful it is here. The dudette, future farmer & cheese maker are at a loss for such ideas. It was I who convinced them to make the shift to Coonoor. But yes now they will give strong support. Will call Randhir when I am in Bombay and work on him. Yacht is gone as I now live in the hills.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Devarajan K. |
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very interesting project.like to visit the place.inform the address 8 October 2006 10:57am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Devarajan,
The contact info is on site under 'Contact Us' on main page. Only thing our farmstay will be functional only mid next year. Please check the web site for updates on info.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Sanjay Odhedar |
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Hi Mansoor & Tina,
Great to know about about somebody whose has taken the same leap that my wife Madhu and me have taken!!
We chucked up our Corporate lives last year and moved to Ooty. We have bought a 40 acre farm near Ooty and are tying to set up a farm similar to yours.
We would love to meet you guys and exchange ideas. Please contact me at 9442247409.
Cheers!!
Sanjay & Madhu
Ooty 8 October 2006 10:56am Mansoor's Reply - Yes Sanjay and Madhu,
It seems like we will have a lot in common to talk about. Will call you sometime and get into all the details. Feels good to have others in the same mode around :-)
See you soon.
Mansoor |
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Vinod |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
Great Job!! Yours is my dream project. Myself and my wife smitha would like to visit your farm.Please do reply.
Regards,Vinod 8 October 2006 10:55am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Vinod and Smitha,
As you must have gathered from all the other posts - the farm is onn but the farmstay a few months away. Then we can share our dream ;-). Would love to have you guys visit and will keep you posted thru web site or email.
Bye till then
Mansoor. |
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Ashique Ahamed Farooque |
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ASAK mansoor and family,8-0
Bravo for venturing out to the basics in this era of maddening choas of consumerism shall i say it is better late than never in all aspects of life:-). Having studied in Coonoor for 14+ years in SJC when we returned we found it in shambles to what pristine context it contained in the early years:-/. But still with some hope we have acquired some land in Orange Grove for our later years:-|. Love to come there for a visit to format the hard disk(Mind) sans one glitch we do not know your costs:-?. You have my mail id please revert to revist memories of the past#-).SHALOM
Regards
Ashiq 8 October 2006 10:54am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ashique,
That is good forward planning you have done - buying your land in Orange Grove. Hope that happens soon. Details of our farmstay costs will be modest - don't worry. Will keep you posted as soon as we get ready.
Mansoor |
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Mini Vasudevan |
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Great going! I am very inspired reading about your venture in the Hindu. We would love to viist your farm. Please send us your contact information. Mini 8 October 2006 10:46am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Mini,
Glad we inspired you. BTW the contact info is on site under 'Contact Us' on main page. You are most welcome our farm but the farmstay is still a while away.... middle next year we hope.
Regards
Mansoor and Tina |
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Penny & Mohan |
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Hi Tina and Mansoor
So nice to read in THE HINDU about your venture to make all those exotic cheese in Coonoor. Congrats and Good Luck to you. Please tell me where I can buy your products from and their price -- in Coonoor/Ootty or Bangalore? Please let me know more about the accommodation on the farm - how to reach, tariff, etc.
Tina, 23rd October is an important date to me too - that's the day we moved into our own house in 2003.
PENNY, cochin 8 October 2006 10:45am - Cochin Mansoor's Reply - Hello Penny,
We are presently only outleting thru selected stores in Coonoor. Still working out means of stocking cheese in Bangalore. Will post info on the site soon. Same applies to the accommodation etc. Regarding accommodation - sorry but resoponse from The Hindu article took us by a pleasant surprise too. I should have put it more clearly that we are in setup phase. But all that will be setup soon and the info will be on the site.
Will celebrate 23rd Oct with a toast to your house from now on :-)
Mansoor |
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M. Mazharuddin Javeed |
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Hyderabad
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Dear Mr. Mansoor
I happen to bump into your site while I was brousing.
I am form Hyderabad and poultry breeding is my business and profession.
The site is excelent, I rate it as one of the best few sites which are so well layed out and easy to navigate, while brousing one dose not get lost in the lambrinth whereever you maybe.
I have a small sujustion if you don't mind. In your chicken stocks you also add a variety which is famous to have least colestrol in its meat. this can also become a very good revenue genaration centre at your farm.
Out of the few farm photose which I saw I can make out how pictures the location must be.
I can find a prestigious costomer for your cottage cheese. They are non other than the family of Nizam's of Hyderabad. When ever they are in Hyderabad they miss the good cottage cheese from UK and Turkey. Insha Alla may next time I will remember and put a word to them provided you could send it Hyderabad.
Next time when I am in your neighbour hood I will remember to drop in for a cup of tea with coocies and cheese.
At the same time Hasna my wife and mysef extend an invitaion to you Tina and the kids, to visit Hyderabad and be our guest for a nice helping of BIRYANI and Khubani Ka Meetha.
God Bless you
Khuda Hafez
Javeed 8 October 2006 10:44am - Hyderabad Mansoor's Reply - Wow Javeed Mian,
First let me enjoy your praise on our web site design............... Yes that felt good!
Will check into your suggestion on special chicken stock. Actually keeping chickens here is rather difficult. They fall sick easily. But we are learning.
Thank you for your invitation - Hyderabad is wel known for its excellent food and cooking. We will inform you when we come to Hydrerabad next.
And lastly....... hope our cheese is worthy of the Nizam...... but we will try. :-)
Regards
Mansoor. |
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Ramesh |
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This is truly inspiring for people who want to get out of the Urban Chaos and give something back to the nature. It takes lots of courage to let go a lifestyle and fame of 40 years and I wish you guys the very best in your future endeavours. Hope you are able to expand into other areas like water harvesting, clean energy creation etc.
I will definitely be interested in following your footsteps some day ..
Regards
Ramesh 8 October 2006 10:42am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ramesh,
I don't know whether it was courage or sheer stubborness but Urban Chaos was definitely not for me. And of those 40 years........ 20 went in plotting the escape. The city does not let go easily no matter who you are. And yes we are already water harvesting from our roof but small scale. Lots of experiments on solar to come.
Mansoor |
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Raghu and Sunita Shastry |
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hello dear both,having done what many just dream about, with thought forGod,s creation,may he bless amply.
wishing you more strength to your elbow(s)
shastrys:-} 8 October 2006 10:42am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Raghu and Shastry,
Thanks for your good wishes and prayer. With the response we are getting - we will need strong elbows :-)
Thanks again.
Mansoor |
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Ajay |
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Dear mansoor and Tina
it is wonderful that u haverealized ur dream!! come and meet u.
godbless u all ajay
mobile 09847804636 8 October 2006 10:41am Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Ajay,
We are most lucky and never forget it for a moment. See you once it is all set.
Mansoor |
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Aditi Makim |
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Dearest Mansoor, Tina and the Kids,
Acres-wild is a fabulous site, drawing me into the place without actually being there, very intimate indeed. Keep it that way - straight from the heart and easy to navigate! You are "following your blessing" for sure - a term Joseph Campbell coined demanding a leap of faith to jump headlong into making your dreams a reality. and from what i see on the site you have been blessed. This is a double blessing - working with nature, nature blesses! Waiting to go that way myself! Luckily, Bibu and I are in synch on that dream too. Can't wait to come and visit you - and work there on this production of yours under your able direction!! Would love to work as a farm hand - I know you will follow through on the threat of making val and me milk the cows - but we're up for it!! Great going with the cheese, Tina - your cottage and the thermometer and all look really professional and yet completely organic and rustic. Its great to achieve that balance of natural discipline:-) May you continue to be blessed so! May you always be happy!
8-0
Aditi 8 October 2006 10:39am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aditi and Birbal,
Yes we are waiting eagerly things to shape here so we can have you guys over as you have been following all our plots and plans thru the cyber world. Web site design is not my forte but hacking at it and enjoying.
Also I am sure you and Birbal will find your escape soon. All the best.
Mansoor |
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Mukund Naidu |
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Dear Tina and Mansoor,
Very glad to know there are folks here in India who share a passion for cheese. Im a cheese maker myself and have been making European cheeses in the traditional way for the past 15 years. Would love to share my knowledge and visit your farm. Call me on 09845668621 or email.
Good luck and great going. Cheers!
Mukund:-) 8 October 2006 10:38am Mansoor's Reply - Dear Mukund,
15 years is good amount of time. We are 2 years old in this biz. We would love to share our experiences. Will be in touch and look forward to your visit - only a little time needed for things to take full shape.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Senthil |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
Came to know about your Organic farmstay from tody's article in "The Hindu". Your website is excellent. I and my wife would like to visit your farmstay. More about acco. details in your website would be highly appreciated. Great going guyz :-)
Rgds,
Senthil. 8 October 2006 10:37am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Senthil,
We are in setup phase and so not many photos but soon. Would love to have you and your wife visit so look out for info on this site. Glad you liked the site design. Has become a bit of an obsession with me now 8-)
Mansoor |
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John T. |
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08 October '06
Dear Mansoor and Tania Khan,
As a guest in your lovely country for a number of years, I've been suggesting to so many friends that India could produce some of the finest cheeses: an export just waiting to develop. Thank you for your initiative which I learnt about today when I read about your wonderful work from the Magazine section of The Hindu. Congratulations!
Maybe I will have the rare privilege one day of visiting your farm and sampling some of those mouth-watering cheeses - what I have missed so far in India, though my palate has been feasted with so many delights of this fabulous Subcontinent. May the blessing of the Divine Creator be upon you and your co-creating eco-friendly activities. May many more follow your example!
John T
;-) 8 October 2006 10:34am - England Mansoor's Reply - Dear John,
You come from a great cheesemaking country. That makes your comments particularly encouraging. Tina enjoys what the whole process of experimenting in cheese making and there is so much to learn - even for me as manager and chief taster :-D
In fact we are planning to visit UK next month and I suggested to Tina that we visit cheesemaking places and try to learn more..... apart from actually sampling a whole lot of different cheeses. So we will be better prepared before you visit us John :-D
Regards,
Mansoor |
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Aleyamma Joseph |
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Hello Manzoor and Tanya,
I read about you wonderful people in
today's Hindu.Icould visit your
website only now.What you are doing
is really great.Congrats and may
God bless you.God willing I would
like to visit your place some time
Love,
Aleyamma 8 October 2006 10:31am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Aleyamma,
Thanks for your comments and wishes. Do keep checking the site as things shape up. Look forward to meeting you.
Mansoor |
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Adil Sadiq |
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congrats!
if ur in the rat race, u've got to be one.
Will drop out too- its not the if, its the when.
very personal touch to the website. can start taking in the coonor air and tasting the cheese (virtually)!
Great going with the eco-farming, cheese, animals and all.
admiration for the family: not easy pulling it off,...and together.
familiar trekking in conoor.
would love to visit....if u are not fed up with the invasion of privacy by then!
It took an article in the Hindu to let me know....
Love cheese, love nature..and the concept!
all the very best. 8 October 2006 10:30am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Adil,
We are not in any race for sure. Biggest myth of evolution is that it is all about competition. I believe it is symbiosis. Coonoor is a great place for trekking I am sure. Not done it myself but maybe soon.
Regards
Mansoor. |
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S. Sukumaran |
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Dear Mansoor and Tina, It is really delightful to learn that people like you are interested in organic farming with least disturbance to environment and ecology and I am becoming nostalgic of my 10 years' stay at that wonderful hill station.MAy god bless you with lot of energy to pursue your avocation 8 October 2006 10:29am Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Sukumaran,
Luckily Coonoor is in much better shape than the chaotic growth in Ooty. Hope you get a chance to visit Coonoor again soon.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Blossom and Nandi |
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Dear M,T,Z & P,
Congratulations !!!!! Amazing stuff , i wasnt really aware of your GREAT PLANS!!!! i think WILD ACRES is outstanding in many ways, well like i said to Teens in my email retirement boon & bonus - WILD ACRES most definitely for ME ... forgive me for what i once thought was outrageous - your taking away my best friend from MUMBAI.......
lots of love, good luc & may the good Lord help you guys realise your dream....
BLOSS 8 October 2006 10:28am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hi Blossom and Nandi,
Super to see you check out the site. Yes maybe I was not able to articulate all that was in my mind. Will take shape slowly. And look forward to you coming here even before you retire.
Love from M, T, Z & P |
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Ravneet |
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mansoor and tina...i must congratulate you on your successful endeavour into this eco friendly venture.there can nothin be better than actually doing something that you feel for from heart and enjoy the most.well,i checked out your website after reading the article in hindu.could not stop myself from writing to you both and wishing you luck.hope the accomodation comes up soon,would love to come and see your place and of course relish those delicious cheese.regards..........ravneet 8 October 2006 10:27am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Ravneet,
Thanks for your encouraging posting. Yes this is where our heart is and looking forward to meeting like minded people like you. See you soon.
Mansoor and Tina |
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Amala |
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Hi,
Congratulations. Sounds so much what I have dreamt of seeing in India. I would v.much like to come once the cottages are ready with my family.
Keep up the good work.
Amala 8 October 2006 10:26am - Singapore Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Amala,
Now with this kind of response we are working overtime to get it all ready. Look forward to your visit.
Mansoor |
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Alves & Lucy Almeida |
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8-0
We are Blossoms Uncle and Auntie
We wish you success in your Organic products and stand behind you all the way. 8 October 2006 10:25am - Mississauga, Ontario Mansoor's Reply - Great to hear from you Alves and Lucy,
Thanks for your encouragement. We have a long long way to go but honestly this is something that I always wanted to do. Luckily Tina has similar bent of mind and now it is happening. We would love to share it with you. When you come down from Canada, please try and visit us. And kindly pull Blossom and Nandi along too :-)
Love from all
Mansoor Tina Zayn Pablo |
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Nuzhat |
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hello farmers! imran and I just finished reading all the letters sent yesterday and we are both bursting with delight and pride ! so heart pleasing to see others every where responding so emotionally to your 'dream' .. and yes i agree with mansoor.. its no dream now anyway... its real. Much love to you all and I cant wait to come.. counting down to diwali now!
Nuzhat and Imran Khan8-0 8 October 2006 10:24am - Mumbai |
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Pankaja Srinivasan |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
How wonderful to know that there are others like you out there who will hopefully turn things around for this planet and our kids can live to see a better world, cheese, cheesecake and all!!And thanks for the good words. Be in touch,
Pankaja 8 October 2006 10:23am - Coimbatore Mansoor's Reply - Thanks for this post Pankaja,
So now everyone can see whodunit! We will be in touch and do drop in when you visit the hills.
Love from all here.
Mansoor |
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Umesh |
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Hai folks, It is real interesting to know that such lovely cheese are now made in the Queen of hills.Coonoor is afantastic selection of the choice. :-)PLEASE DO SEND ME MORE DETAILS OF YOUR PRODUCTS. lOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU. BYE Umesh. I have read about you in todays Hindu Magazine. All the best....... 7 October 2006 11:03am Mansoor's Reply - Hello Umesh,
Yes Coonoor is a great place and particularly to make cheese. We are learning everyday and will keep most info posted on this site. Hope to to meet you too.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Alka |
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v nice...put more pictures of accomadation iteriors too...curious to see .... 7 October 2006 11:02am Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Alka,
We are in process of designing and building the farmhouses.... will post pictures soon. Guess what? I am curious too to see what comes up ;-)
Regards
Mansoor |
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Ashish |
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A very very neat project....hopefully it will prove to be a leading light and be inspiration to others.......
Hope to come for a stay one of these days may you all go from strength to strength
cheerio:-) 7 October 2006 11:01am Mansoor's Reply - Yes Ashish,
The synergy of inspiration will continue - like we have been inspired by others who are doing different alternate things. Do check into the site for updates etc
Mansoor |
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Sen Mathews |
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Hi Mansoor and Tina,
Came to know of this site yesterday when Avi mentioned it to me. Great to know that you've ventured into Organic Farming. Are the chickens there 'farm-free chickens' a term Geeta (GM) introduced me to.
I'm glad to know that you are keen on protecting the environment and the natural life there by planting local trees; Please leave some fruits on the fruit-trees for our natural and nocturnal friends. All the best on the Cheese front too.... I envy you.
Sen 24 September 2006 11:04am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sen,
Yes we are lucky to be able to pursue what was really close to our hearts. About the chickens - I think you mean 'free-range' - meaning they are allowed to run around freely. Yes that is how they are kept here. Intend doing that more and more for the cows too.
And yes we will remember to leave a share of the fruits for the birds and animals too. See you soon.
Mansoor |
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Sunil Maulik |
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Hello Mansoor,
I'm an old friend of Anil Pal's who told me about your site. (Anil and I grew up together in Juhu before I moved to the UK and then the US.) Congrats on your farm. Sustainable, organic cheeses are very popular in the Napa Valley area just north of San Francisco. (I'm sure Anil has filled you in about this.) Perhaps you could start exporting! (After all Sula wines are very popular with SF restaurants!)
I went to Lushington (now Hebron) in Ooty so I know the area well. I hope you are enjoying it. The indigenous Toda people live a very interesting (and sustainable) lifestyle.
Anyway, greetings from CA and perhaps we will meet either in Coonoor or in San Francisco sometime.
Cheers,
-Sunil 11 September 2006 11:05am - USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sunil,
Yes I have heard your name often from Anil. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. We are keeping our cheese enterprise small and local at present but never know. Eventually it will be determined by the number of cows we can keep on our land as we want to keep a control on milk quality.
We briefly went to a Toda village and their houses and lifestyles are fascinating though changing so fast. Nevertheless lots we can learn from them.
Keep visiting our site for updates and look forward to meeting you.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Carol Mendonca |
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Hi from the Mendoncas!
It looks and sounds sooo good we feel like getting back from down under to Coonoor right away!
We've sampled the cheese and fruit and vegs- organic and tasty. We checked out the farm and ate the eggs!
We're comming back next year to see the elephants and learn more cheesemaking!
A prophet before his times- Mansoor and
Tina!
You're forgiven for the 9hrs lecture!
:-} 10 September 2006 11:07am - Melbourne, Australia Mansoor's Reply - Hi Carol, Pierre, Adam and Liam,
Lovely to have you visit our site. You must have noticed some familiar photos of the farm - Liam with the chick and the calf. We are waiting for your next trip and we hope to have added a whole lot more farm animals by then.
Love from Zayn, Pablo, Tina and Mansoor. |
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Derek Pereira |
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Hey Mansoor, Tina, Zaynu & Pablo
Well done with the site. Looks good.. your logo looks great. The cheese tastes even better.
I guess there are heavy discounts for family. (better be or else you know what happens to the son-in-law rating).
Good Luck.
Get those cottages up soon. The Pereiras are coming with the Fonsecas. 5 September 2006 11:08am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Hey Pereiras and Fonsecas,
Thanks a ton for all the compliments. Tina is working real hard on the cheese and the rest are supporting and helping in various ways. And yes Family is Free! After all I have so much ground to regain in the SIL competition. But FIL and MIL will not be fooled so easily Derek :-(.
Love from all.
Mansoor |
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Anasua Banerjee |
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hi Mansoo, though i have managed to get thrown out of the Scottish Bandwagon, i do keep reverting to it from time to time. Esp my present job keeps me stuck to the computer.
This - enterprise should i call it? - of your must by great. For me the main attraction would be the cheese, if I'm ever down south'
~AB~ 30 August 2006 11:10am Mansoor's Reply - Hi Anasua,
Good to hear from you. It has been a real long time and I am curious to know how you heard of this site. Yes Acres Wild is our main interest these days. Do write via email and visit us. All details are on this website.
Regards
Mansoor |
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Sunil Abhyankar |
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Hi Mansoor,
Thanks to Avi, we know where you are hiding now! It is amazing to see what you are up to. Kudos for having the courage / spirit to do what you have done and live in the calm and peaceful surroundings in Conoor. Any chance we can buy the cheese stateside?
Sunil 30 August 2006 11:09am - USA Mansoor's Reply - Hi Sunil,
Yes I gathered that Avi has lifted our cover :-B but now it is welcome. As for cheese to US..... we have a modest output and concentrating on local outlets. Some exception can be made for batch of '74 :-D Avi will have to help with that. Look forward to meeting when you visit India next.
Mansoor |
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Arvind Rao |
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Well done, sher khan!
make sure you have lots of cottages and space for refugees who will get the message a little later in life and migrate over.
wonderful to see you experimenting into self sustaining natural cycles and completely bypassing all the artificiality we live in today.
any chance of summer camps for volunteers to come over and work in the clear, misty, Coonoor air?
Avi 20 August 2006 11:11am - Mumbai Mansoor's Reply - Dear Avi,
Thanks for your encouraging comments. And yes Acres Wild is waiting for you summer, winter or monsoon.
Mansoor. |
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Atul Ramchandra |
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Dear Mansoor:
This is taking shape nicely!!
Well done, and remember my retirement plan...
Would love to come and build things there, along lines of that phrase Appropriate Technology.
Atul 19 August 2006 11:13am Mansoor's Reply - Dear Atul,
Yes certainly. Lets get back to the experimenting days. Maybe we will finally build that hovercraft running on gobar gas :-)
Mansoor |
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Susanna Prasad |
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It was great visiting your website.
I am sure Acres Wild will go places with all the products that are in store... especially the lovely cheese -(of which I am a great fan!!)... and of course, with your commitment to what you love doing in harmony with nature and the peace that you love so much!
Here's wishing you every success in your ventures!
Warmest regards,
Accoo.
5 August 2006 02:57am - Coonoor Mansoor's Reply - Thanks Accoo,
We need strong support like yours or we will never survive in this jungle here. Keep visiting the site. You might find some comments from Coonoor Royalty here
Love from Mansoor Tina Zayn Pablo. |
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