Friends of Aura
Before everyone comes together, Aura begins to fill slowly. Friends arrive from Singapore and different parts of India. There is no need to rush into a programme. These days are for finding the place.
RIPE
Right Timemade visible.
Some things cannot be hurried. A cherry. A ferment. A field. An idea. A relationship. You create the conditions. You pay attention. And eventually there is a moment when something becomes ready.
This September, we come together at Aura just as the estate moves towards harvest. Friends begin arriving from the 20th. Boojee and BESST join us on the 24th. And for a few days, we walk, taste, make, ask questions, get our hands dirty, eat together and spend time in good company. Then harvest begins.
Come in
Good to be here.
20 SEPTEMBER
- Arrive.
- Coffee.
- Find your room.
- Walk.
- Meet whoever is around.
- Eat together.
- Sit by the fire.
- Let Aura introduce itself.
Find your rhythm
I’m beginning to understand this place.
21 SEPTEMBER
- Wake early if you want to.
- Follow the cows.
- Walk with someone from the estate.
- Find coffee somewhere.
- Spend time in the field.
- Eat.
- Talk.
- Do nothing for a while.
- There is no need to see everything.
Get closer
I’m starting to become part of the place.
22 SEPTEMBER
- Spend more time with the people of Aura.
- Help make something.
- Walk deeper into the estate.
- Join what is already happening.
- By the time everyone else arrives, Aura should feel a little less like somewhere you are visiting.
The company comes together
24 September 2026
Boojee and BESST arrive. The full company comes together. No big programme. Arrive. Check in. High tea and a welcome to Aura. Then dinner by the fire.
Arrive & Exhale
I am somewhere special.
24 SEPTEMBER
Now we slow the pace. Not to do less. To notice more.
- Check in and settle.
- High tea. Welcome into Aura.
- Bonfire and dinner.
- Season RIPE: the route for the three days ahead.
- An icebreaker.
See & Feel
There is so much happening here.
25 SEPTEMBER
The first day belongs to noticing. Not only coffee. What grows above it. What lives beneath it. What moves through it. And the people who care for it.
- A walk through the tea, if you like.
- Breakfast on the estate.
- Frame walk and cherry picking.
- Lunch outdoors.
- Biodiversity discovery walk.
- Honey bees and pollination.
- Coffee cupping.
- Free time.
White. Indigo. Or both.
25 SEPTEMBER · EVENING
- Nothing more complicated than that. A simple visual thread for an evening when everyone is together.
- Bonfire and dinner in front of the bungalow.
- Tonight, just good company.
Understand
Now I understand how it connects.
26 SEPTEMBER
Cow to soil. Soil to tree. Tree to harvest. Observation to memory. Memory to better decisions.
- Breakfast by the chef.
- BD 500, CPP and soil biology.
- Stir it. Smell it. Hold it.
- Lunch together.
- Free time.
- The Hungry Soil experiment.
- Live kitchen by the fire.
Make It Yours
I was part of Aura.
27 SEPTEMBER
Plant something. Make something. Leave something behind. Take something with you.
- Plant Your Tree.
- Coffee and breakfast.
- Temple time.
- Lunch and goodbyes.
The experience moves through two different arcs.
The days have structure. They also have room. Weather may move things. The estate may move things. Something unexpected may become more interesting than something we planned.
FRIENDS OF AURA
20-22 SEPTEMBER
- Come In
- Find Your Rhythm
- Get Closer
In Good Company
24-27 SEPTEMBER
- Feel
- Understand
- Belong
This is a working estate. Walk. Explore. Get your hands dirty. Taste. Create. Pause. Ask. Notice. Discover.
How to show up
Come curious
Ask the obvious question. It is often the useful one.
Participate
Touch. Taste. Make. Try. Discuss. Share.
Notice first
Look before photographing. Observe before asking for the answer.
Let the day move
Weather and the estate may change the rhythm, and we let the day move.
Respect the working farm
The people, animals and land are not here for our visit. We are entering something already alive.
Bring what you know
Coffee. Food. Technology. Plants. Design. Storytelling. People. Everyone coming knows something somebody else does not.
What to bring
Field
- Comfortable outdoor clothes
- Full-length trousers
- Closed walking shoes
- Cap or hat
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent
- Water bottle
- Small towel
- Rain protection
Evening
For 25 September: white, indigo, or both. Comfortable smart-casual clothes with light jacket or shawl.
useful
- Phone
- Charger
- Powerbank
Making
One old outfit that can get dirty or stained
with Boojee and BESST.
- Friends with friends.
- Coffee with shade.
- Roots with fungi.
- Cows with soil.
- Food with season.
- Knowledge with memory.
- And all of us with the land.
Nothing here grows alone.
Harvest begins with gratitude.
Prayer belongs to the beginning of harvest. It is not a performance. It is not an activity. It is a moment to acknowledge what the land has given before we begin taking from it. Guests may be invited to participate where appropriate. Mostly, we listen.
What should Aura remember from today?
Every evening, one question. It may be answered with a sentence, a photograph, something learned, something funny, something small, something we should change, something we should never change. The gathering should leave more than photographs behind. It should leave memory.
Some guests will leave another kind of memory.
A tree. Coffee, cacao, shade or another plant chosen according to what belongs in the land. The relationship continues after the visit ends.
- GUEST
- -
- TREE ID
- Assigned after planting
- SPECIES
- Chosen with the estate
- BLOCK
- -
- PLANTING DATE
- 27 September 2026
- FIRST PHOTOGRAPH
- Added at planting
- LATEST OBSERVATION
- -
The gathering finishes on 27 September. Harvest does not.
From here Aura moves through:
The page should continue with the harvest until February. What happened to the coffee. What became a lot. What tasted extraordinary. What failed. What changed. What we learned. What still needs another season.
- SEPTEMBER
- OCTOBER
- NOVEMBER
- DECEMBER
- JANUARY
- FEBRUARY
The harvest timeline opens once the gathering ends on 27 September.