It is Saturday afternoon. I am rushing to Paliashvili Street. But not me alone! The reason is, a Saturday market of organic producers from Kakhetia functioning for years, organized by a French farmer and baker Jean-Jacques in the patio of the house 33a. The main product is ecological non-yeasted home-produced bread made of an ancient Georgian wheat Doli, cultivated by Jean-Jacques personally. Besides that, one can find there cheeses produced of whole milk on European technology, hen’s eggs, Kakheti honey, natural apple juice, vegetables and grains, herbal teas and plenty of other useful things.
At 12 noon the stalls are already half-empty. The habitual customers are coming early in the morning, so as to buy groceries for the whole week.
However, after a while I realize that it is not just about the groceries. Every customer lingers at Jean-Jacques’ stall for quite a long, exchanging greetings, news and jokes with the seller. Somebody is constantly laughing loudly in the area, so the atmosphere is filled with freshness and vigour. It is pretty clear that the customers get their weekly boost of energy not from the products simply!
As soon as Jean-Jacques has a spare moment, I come up to interview him. Questions are many, but Jean-Jacques appears to be not the one to be pestered with inquiries. I do not mean he is reticent, not at all! It is just as though he were spreading the atmosphere of absolute absorption into the “here-and-now” essence – those who know him will recognize the trick, - so that all the daily rubbish gets unimportant, and the jolly clear wave of the present moment overwhelms you, and all you want is a smile on your lips – nothing but a smile. Waves of laughter are ringing and roaring all around – people are appreciating a new joke at the counter. I ask the seller the simplest question ever:
Jean-Jacques, how did you come to be in Georgia?
One always has some moments on his life that he cannot possibly explain. I was at the crossroads feeling a need to choose a long-term direction – and, by a curious quirk of fate, I found myself in Georgia. Once I happened to try the local bread. Just once I did. And the matter is, I have always been allergic to gluten, but the local wheat was definitely not the case: it was special, causing absolutely no allergic reactions. That was the reason I returned to Georgia once more after a while. Later, I found another wheat variety here called Doli – bread made of this wheat was suitable to my nutrition as well – and decided to stay here for the time-being. It has been years since I started cultivating this variety of wheat, baking my own bread and selling it. All in all, I have been living in Georgia since 2006. And it is 5 years that I have been residing in Kakhetia, a village near Tusheti. I have a house there and a piece of land in the country.
The taste of conscious life
Jean-Jacques – a French farmer in a Georgian village
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Why do you think people prefer city life? Only few remain loyal to villages nowadays.
People believe city life to be more pleasant and profitable, offering plenty of opportunities. But in fact, they need some time to realize that life is not all consuming, chasing things and suffocating in a stuffy office.
If one has no question to life or about life, he really can live his age simply working in the office and consuming the never-ending range of goods and services. But how can anybody call it “life” if there is constant pressure and haste present in it, with no chance of silence, not a second to yourself to finally think of the most important question? Today’s lifestyle is most superficial, and few people manage to be really happy. I have no problem with city life as such, but I need more! The thing is, if you haven’t got to grips with the meaning of life, then what’s this all about?
In fact, it is just after all the city haste that many people finally recognize the need for slowing down the rush. Many people return to the nature, to the genuine life. A certain shift takes place in their minds.
Have you ever had a chance to live in the city?
I grew up in the French countryside. During studying (Jean-Jacques studied Philosophy, Physics and Chemistry)and later on I used to live in the city, so all the city life is familiar to me. It appeared to be enough for me. On the other hand, if you feel no particular sense in living in the village, you will find it hard living there.
Living in the city, people chase new things year after year. But once, there comes a moment to realize: these are only things, nothing more, and the emptiness inside remains the same – one might try to fill it with purchases, achievements, talks or whatever else, but it’s all in vain.
And what has attracted you here so much that you prefer life in Georgia to life in France or any other country?
It is wheat, as well as ancient culture and traditions which have been practically lost in Europe by this time. Traditions are the past – but one should know the past, as this knowledge can be helpful in creating something new. There is a certain power in traditions which we should utilize for heading for the future, not for sticking to the past.
Georgia has a significant potential for organic produce cultivation. Quality comes first. People are eager to buy organic products.
How do your neighbours in Kakhetia treat your bio-production? Do you try to disseminate your knowledge?
No, I don’t try to teach people deliberately. I am just doing my job; somebody notices, takes an interest and learns from my experience. Moreover, one would find it pretty hard to teach Georgians on his own initiative (laughs).
In fact, all the changes begin with the people simply doing their job. Sooner or later, the society takes notice of them and realizes that such actions yield results and even success. Then some people decide to try it themselves… This is how knowledge is naturally spread.
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Jean-Jacques hurries to the stall – late customers are coming. They ask for cheese but it has been already sold out. They make orders for the next Saturday and choose some of the remaining products.
A few more photo-portraits – and I’m leaving with my purchases, adding my “good day” to a choir of lively voices.
But some special, oxygen-like taste of simple conscious life remains in me for long.
What is the taste of conscious life for you?
Translated to English by Julia Kudryk