A Season of RIPE

A seasonto remember.

Some places you visit.Some stay with you.The soil under your nails.The sound of cowbells.The quiet between the trees.The warmth of the fire after a long day.

The first glimpse of a place that would slowly become familiar.

The estate began to open up and became a world to discover.

The paths and people became more familiar.

The estate became the canvas.

Each person carried a piece of Aura. Together, it felt alive.

The unfamiliar became a world of new discoveries.

From cow to compost to soil to coffee.

Aura began to connect.

Some things we leave behind are meant to grow.

The red earth track up to the estate house, under a rain tree — Road to Aura

A table laid with oranges, pomegranate curd and a dish of roasted vegetables — Breakfast, shared

The valley and the hills beyond under a sky of moving cloud — The view from the temple

Three dogs resting on the red steps of the bungalow — First to say hello

A painted tin box on the trunk of a silver oak among the coffee — A painted box on a silver oak

People at work in the clearing among the pines, looking up to say hello — Waving hi from the field

Cumulus cloud over the palms and the hills — Cloud watching

A black cow looking through the wire of its shed — Some moo time

Prayer flags strung between the trees, moving in the breeze — Prayer flags in the green

A rusted steel pillar engraved with the Aura mark and the words Attention, Unhurried, Rooted, Awake — Attention, unhurried, rooted, awake

Clusters of green coffee cherries on the branch — Patience in berry form

A pill millipede making its way through the grass on the red earth — Biodiversity in disguise

Bracket fungus growing along a fallen log — Wood with company

An old tree on great buttress roots, moss and ferns on its trunk, sunlight through the canopy behind — Old roots run deep

A stream tumbling over rocks under the leaves, brown with the rain — Water finding its way

A macaque peering into a trail camera in the forest — Aura celebrity spotted

A grassy track running between tall shade trees through the coffee — Estate walks

Pepper the dog leading the way up laterite steps through the coffee — Pepper, our guide

A pill millipede on the red earth among dry leaves — Wild encounters

A fern frond laid across two forearms, beside the white fern print it has left on the skin — Natural ink

Deepak on the phone beside the Aura stone marker, deep in the trees — Deepak, in demand

Children and young people standing together outside the workers’ quarters — The next generation

A young man in gumboots leaning on a hoe, his T-shirt reading Change is never easy but always possible — Never easy, always possible

Children running across the grass towards the studio, palms behind them — Making room for a game

Dannes in a striped shirt and green apron at work in the kitchen — Dannes in action

People gathered at night around a lit tent set up for Ganpati — Sacred spaces

Children cheering in front of the Ganpati shrine, under marigold garlands — Ganpati blessings

Nayana in an Aura T-shirt, talking about tagging the estate’s trees — Nayana on tree tagging

Two chefs in Aura aprons cooking over a laterite brick grill in the open — Making dinner in the wild

A small insect held in an open palm, an Aura T-shirt behind — Small wonders

A man in an Aura sweatshirt sipping coffee from a small glass among the trees — A slow, contemplative sip

Two women smiling together on the estate — Warm smiles

A watercolour of yellow and purple flowers beside a paint box — Painted moments

RIPE26 being painted in white on a slice of wood, brushes and paint beside it — RIPE takes shape

Painting hens onto the doors of the chicken coop — Freshly painted coop

The finished coop doors, painted with a hen and a rooster — Feathered friends

Painting yellow flowers in watercolour at an outdoor table — Brush in hand

The studio wall hung with small framed and pinned works — Studio days

Children playing in the courtyard of the workers’ quarters — Young minds

Nayana sitting with children on a doorstep at the estate — Shared stories

A man at a laptop on an outdoor table, a small girl leaning in beside him — Work, interrupted

Women of the estate standing in a line, ready for the day — Working hands

Women in bright headscarves and shawls gathered together — Colours of Aura

Two men in Aura tops standing among the silver oaks, the tea estate and hills behind them — With Raghu on the tea estate

Sadanand at work by the compost beds under a shade net — With Sadanand

Two cooks in green aprons smiling through an archway into the kitchen — Smiles from the kitchen

Three young men walking up a forest path, one pushing a wheelbarrow — On the way

Hands easing the stone Buddha into place at the foot of a tree — Finding his place

Setting the garlanded Buddha down among the ferns — A shared moment

People garlanding the Buddha beneath the tree — Peace in position

A group photograph of guests and the people of the estate — All together

Five men of the Aura team in caps and Aura tops, arms folded — Aura family

A man in a cap with his hands folded in namaste beside a small stone temple, its deity garlanded and lamps lit — A moment at the temple

Breakfast laid on checked cloths in the open, the misty hills behind — Breakfast with a view

Four friends sharing breakfast plates under a big umbrella in the drizzle — A drizzly breakfast

Walking single file through the rows of tea — Tea estate walks

Pulkit on the biodiversity walk, down the red earth track between the trees — Biodiversity walk with Pulkit

Tying a bracelet of flowers around a wrist — Flower bracelet

A long table set with leaf plates, petals and candles among the trees — Dinner kept a secret

String lights and an Aura banner over the dinner table at night — Forest all around

A candle on a stone painted RIPE26, among the leaves — RIPE nights

Guests at the long table under the string lights — Shared tables on the estate

A guest smiling in the candlelight at the dinner table — Candlelit smiles

Rao sir and Arun sir, in Aura tops, explaining the cow pat pit under a shelter — Cow pat pit by Rao sir and Arun sir

Cows walking across the yard, on their way to becoming compost — From cow to compost

Adults and a child mixing the compost by hand — Getting our hands dirty

A child reaching into the compost — Little hands in rhythm

Bare feet working the cow pat pit mix together on the ground — Treading the mix

A wooden box of biodynamic preparations — Biodynamic magic

A preparation held in a cupped hand — BD 502 in the palm

Balls of compost drying on a mesh — Cow pat pit balls

Laughing during the compost session — New perspectives

Labelled drums of jeevamrit under a shelter — Jeevamrit drums

A man standing barefoot under the eaves, the forest behind — Barefoot

A man crouched barefoot, working the compost with his hands — Into the earth

A tasting table set out under the trees — Coffee tasting

Hot water poured from a kettle into a paper dripper over a glass server — The first pour

Two people pouring from kettles at the tasting — Slow pours

Pouring hot water over a pour-over dripper at the checked tasting table — The coffee ritual

A pour-over dripper set on a standing stone — Brewed on stone

Planting a young coffee sapling into the red earth — Ready to take root

A guest holding up a young coffee plant — Carrying Aura

An adult and a child planting a sapling, a basket beside them — Planting together

Pressing a sapling into the soil — Rooting in

Two people planting a coffee sapling together — Hand in hand

A hand settling a coffee sapling into the red earth — Something left

A smiling guest crouched beside a newly planted sapling — Shared memories

A smiling guest holding up a coffee sapling, its tag marked with a name and the date — Tagged and ready to grow

A smiling guest in a striped waistcoat holding a coffee sapling in its paper sleeve — A sapling, proudly held

Everyone together in the studio for a last photograph — Until next time

At first, Aura was unfamiliar.Ten days later, we knew the paths by heart.There were stories behind the faces. Places to sit beneath the trees. Dogs to look for. Cows, insects and plants to notice. Time had been shared. Something had been made.RIPE has come to an end, but something has just begun.Aura had slowly become more than a place to visit. It had become a place to belong.