Book excerpt: On the Canvas of My Time is a narration of a life lived with passion, commitment and honesty that often went against the prevalent beliefs and values of the time. The author, at the age of 56, takes the reader on a solo bike ride – from the present on his family farm in rural Karnataka to parts of North India where he spent his childhood. Along the road the reader gets to see glimpses of the author’s life – the transition from the fast-paced lifestyle in New Delhi to building a sustainable, self-reliant life ethic with his partner, Juli, and their children. The book shares his worldview and provides a first-hand account of the ground realities of the yawning urban-rural divide, its impact on human dynamics and the looming environmental disaster that we are fast approaching in our blind pursuit of short-term developmental goals at the cost of real sustainability. The journal is also a narrative of the couple’s love story and their fascinating journey stretching over three and a half decades.