Prince of Rajpipla - Full of Surprises

Written by Caroline / 24 January 2009 / Read Caroline's latest blog entries.

We had a beautiful and incredible evening with the inspiring Prince of Rajpipla, who happily welcomed us into his palace when we decided to stop for a charge when the night fell a few hundred kilometers before Ahmedabad. We had no idea that we would stumble into a palace, that while we waited for our cars to charge that the Prince would come home, and that he would turn out to be an incredible climate solution.

The Prince of Rajpipla is an organic vermiculturalist, who sells worms that he raises using solar greenhouses to create ideal temperatures for his worms even during winters. He has big visions for a solar-powered AIDS Hospice and an old age home for elderly homosexual men. Together, these two community service centers would be run by solar electricity, solar water heaters, and provided with organic food. It was incredible to share these stories and ideas with him.

It was most incredible to share his music. The prince is an experienced harmonium player, and Solar Punch brought in their song books and their acoustic guitars to play a few songs with him. He loved "Colors of the Wind" when Paul sang, and together they sang "Roobaroo" and a few other Hindi songs the Prince suggested. It was a night of incredible sharing of ideas and experiences, of cultures and of backgrounds. Most importantly, we shared solutions! Moving forward, IYCN interns will help the prince fulfill his dreams of a solar hospice while gaining incredible experience working on designing efficient solar-powered homes.