Hello!
Welcome to Velanga, your friendly neighbourhood orchard. I am Karthik, head of housekeeping for your stay. We are absolutely delighted to have you over, and we hope you respect and enjoy the space as much as we do, or more, just not less.
I will be your contact for everything outside the studio.
Karthik - 9113914175 (for calls and message)
Alternative number - 9632218265 (WhatsApp messages only)
Here’s all you need to know about your stay.
Dates
Check in is post 11am and Check out is before 12pm. It takes 3 hours from the nearest airport in Chennai or Bangalore. So calculate the road travel in your plan.
Orientation - 5:30pm with tea and snacks
August batch
Check in 3rd August post 11am, Check out 30th August before 12pm
September Batch
Check in 3rd September post 11am, Check out 3rd October before 12pm
October Batch
Check in 7th October post 11am, Check out 6th November before 12pm
For students who have signed up for two or three month duration. Here are the holidays in between batches. The studio will be closed for these days. You may stay at the farm and relax or go to the city/nearby vacation spots.
30th August to 3rd September. Sep Course orientation 3rd Sep 5:30pm
3rd October to 7th October. Oct Course orientation 7th October 5:30pm
Reaching velanga orchard
Location
Velanga Orchard is located in Andhra Pradesh in a village known as Jambuneradipalli.
Our location is available on google maps as ‘Velanga Orchard’. You can follow the directions given there.
Distance Bangalore Airport to Bangarupalem - 164km
Distance Tirupati Airport to Bangarupalem - 105km
Distance Chennai Airport to Bangarupalem - 163km
Nearest airport
Tirupati Airport is the closest, though we recommend taking a flight from Bangalore Airport or Chennai Airport as very few flights go to and from Tirupati and are normally expensive. Check all options before booking.
We recommend reaching Bangalore airport for more comfort and to have the option of carpooling with other students in your batch.
Buses and Cabs
When you reach Tirupati/ Bangalore/ Chennai, you can take a cab or bus from the city to our farm. There are plenty of buses and cabs available. Local buses, Volvos, Uber, Ola, airport taxis, Gozo cabs are just a few of the common options.
Taking a bus from the city
Fresh Bus - An electric bus service from Bangalore to Tirupati. You can go to their website from the nearest bus stop in Bangalore.
If you don’t have a preference of the pickup point, we recommend Boarding Point - K.R.Puram. The bus stop on google maps is ‘Ganesha Temple, KSRTC Pick up point, K.R.Puram’
Enter drop point as Chittoor Bypass and ask the conductor to drop you off at ‘Nandi Food Plaza’ from where our farm is about half an hour away by auto.
We will book an auto/tuk tuk for you (The auto person is reliable and safe) which we can coordinate on WhatsApp. Do inform us beforehand if you’re coming by bus
Important Note - Do not reach before 11am or after 9pm. Plan your travel accordingly. In case of emergency, we will make an exception.
Slow Pottery Studio & Course
By Nikita Dawar
To make this course everything you’d like it to be, here are some guidelines and rules I’d like you to read before coming to the studio.
The Studio opens at 10:30am and closes at 8pm everyday Mon-Sun.
You’ll be provided with all materials, tools and an apron. You don’t need to get anything with you.
I’d like you to be punctual about studio timings.
Please be respectful to the studio, me and your friends.
All students collectively will be responsible for making sure the studio is well organised, clean at the end of day, as they find. Nothing more, nothing less.
Please make sure you cut your nails and tie your hair. Pottery is not possible with long nails.
Please get a pair of shoes or slippers to use only in the studio. When you get to the studio, there will be a shoe rack for your regular shoes. I’d like you to only wear your clean studio footwear to keep the studio clean. If you forget to bring them, you will be asked to work bare feet or buy local footwear from the town nearby.
Wear comfortable clothing and footwear. Wear minimal or no accessories.
Being clean, careful and respectful is important in the studio.
There’s a tea/coffee station in the studio to accompany you in the classes.
Phones on silent in the studio. If you get any phone calls, please take them outside the studio.
To make sure our professional and personal boundaries are not blurred, please do not get any work related questions or discussions outside the studio after 5:30pm and before 10:30am. Some exceptions are welcome :)
Any misconduct/inappropriate behaviour is not allowed in the studio or in the farm.
Make sure you take care of the studio, materials, work station, equipment.
No littering.
No smoking or alcohol use is allowed in the studio.
If you are not feeling well due to any reason, please take an off and stay in your room. This will prevent any infection from spreading around.
If you have any issue during the course and have to urgently leave, we will not be providing you with a refund.
Our People
Our core team consist of 4 ladies and one man who will be looking after cooking, housekeeping and farm safety. They speak mostly Telugu or Tamil, with a little Hindi & English, so feel free to communicate and have fun with them with a few pointers to remember.
At no point should anybody behave rudely to them under any circumstance, we mean under any circumstance at all. Any requests, any suggestions, any complaints, any issues at all should be brought to my (Karthik) attention and we will assure you that it will be resolved.
Our Animals
We have a cat, Peechu, the chances are you might not ever see him except on social media.
We have 4 dogs, Kahva, Shai, Jammu and Khumani.
Kahva, one of dogs is territorial so please don’t pet him. He can get possessive around Nikita and I. He’s a bit moody and can snap.
If you see him during walks and around the farm, he’s quite friendly.
Do not feed any of our animal - no exceptions - nope not even a tiny biscuit.
Dogs, Monkeys, insects, lizards, tiny crawlies, frogs are all normal at our farm. We’ve created meshes on the windows so your room is safe from anything that might be dangerous.
At the same time, as nature is dominant in a farm. Your rooms will have house lizards. Sometimes bugs of some kinds, moths, fruit bats that surround us enter the rooms. They are harmless but can scare some people.
The best prevention is to keep your doors closed properly when not using the space.
Please don’t harm anyone. They are all a part of our environment. We can help you a bit in the starting before you get used to them.
Boundaries
It is absolutely safe here. But take your general precautions.
We have a barbed wire fence around the entire property, feel free to walk about as much as you like, you can even venture outside the property but after informing me so we are aware .
After dark always keep me informed if you are outside the farm.
Please try not to disturb the ecosystem by plucking flowers / mushrooms etc
We also like to keep our personal space separate, so please make sure you respect ours and everyone else’s space. And we are sure to respect yours.
Cottages
You will be provided with a kitchenette which has a kettle, tea pan, induction plate, coffee, tea bags, a small fridge.
There is no Air Conditioning in any room.
You also have a bed linen plus an extra pair to use through your duration of your course. Please ask us if you need anything else.
We do not provide bath linen and toiletries except toilet paper.
Please keep your room doors and the small gates outside closed and latched as much as possible, to avoid uninvited stealth beings like rats who will closely be followed by snakes.
Please turn on one or more lights outside the rooms to suit your comfort in the evenings but please turn them back off when you wake up.
Do not leave food inside or outside your rooms for any amount of time, you may eat in your room but the plates and utensils must be returned to the common dining space to maintain hygiene and uninvited guests.
There’s a compost bin in the common kitchen. Please discard food waste in this bin. Try as much as possible to not have leftovers or food scraps sitting in your rooms.
You will have drinking water refilled in clay pots in your rooms. Feel free to message me if you need more or if they are empty and we have missed it by chance.
Please conserve water and electricity as much as possible.
Please don’t throw toilet paper inside the toilet bowl. It can clog the plumbing pipes.
Cleanliness
You will be provided with bed linen and a weekly change. Please bring your own toiletries and towels.
Your room will be cleaned Mondays to Saturdays every morning. Sunday will be an off for our cleaning ladies.
Laundry
(this photo is from images online, not the actual laundry room)
We have a DIY Laundry room for our students with two machines and natural detergent & fabric softener.
Timings to use laundry room - 9am to 7pm
Each cottage will get two days in a week to use the laundry room. You will know your cottage number during orientation.
Cottage 1, 2 - Mondays & Fridays
Cottage 3, 4, - Tuesdays & Saturdays
Cottage 6 - Wednesday & Sunday
Each room has a drying rack to dry their clothing.
For garbage disposal, there are two bins in their rooms, one in the room and one in the washroom.
Any food waste goes to the compost bin in the kitchen. Please collect it in a bag/bowl/any container and get it to the kitchen compost bin.
The Common Space
The Common Space is a space just for our guests to lounge, dine in, read, relax, hang out, practice yoga, meditate and do laundry.
The kitchen, dine in, lounge, guest restroom opens 9:30am and closes 10pm.
The Laundry opens 9:30am till 7pm on designated days. Thursday closed.
The terrace where one can do yoga, workout and just watch the sunrise or sunset without any kitchen amenities can be accessed from 5am till 10pm.
If you need anything from the kitchen before 9:30am and after 10pm, please plan and stock up in your rooms.
Food
All meals will be served in the common space. The meals are cleared post the meal timing.
Food timings
Breakfast 9:30am to 10:30am
Lunch 1:30pm to 2:30 pm
Snacks 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Dinner 8:00pm to 9:30pm
Cuisine
We make wholesome Indian meals with many variations.
Spice levels are low for our students as Andhra Pradesh is known for high spice. But if you need it even more lessened, just let us know and it will be done.
The meals have rice & chapatti, lentils, veggies, salad, yogurt, meat, fish, lots of pickle and papad (South & North Indian Styles)
We sometimes try variations of other cuisines, get take aways on weekends. This is mostly to have fun and break the monotony.
Keep giving us feedback on the meals so we tailor it to your taste as much as possible.
Fruits, nuts, seeds, desserts, soft drinks, juices, jams can be accessed at any time. We will keep this stocked up through the duration of the course.
Plant based milk is available here. Do let us know in the form on preferences of food.
Respect is all we ask
It is very important we adhere to these house rules for a pleasurable stay for all our guests and ourselves.
- Respect is all we ask for our environment, animals, people and everyone’s schedules.
- Please lower the volume of music or speak softly post 10pm. The farm is super quiet, so be a little gentle.
- You can have get togethers at your cottage area and hang around in common spots without disturbing your neighbours.
Weather & What to Pack
August to October is rainy along with humid, warm but pleasant breezy mornings, can even be chilly at night.
Expect warm mornings and chill evenings.
Due to the erratic weather conditions, unexpected rains have become common.
Work clothing can be light and summery, with evening jumpers/cardigans/sweaters/jackets/shawls
Bring studio footwear, regular footwear, hiking shoes, slippers if you need
Swimsuit if you’d like to swim in the lake.
Any medicines that you need. Suggestion - Anti Allergic medicine, mosquito repellents
Any city supplies like snacks, cigarettes, any specific tea/coffee etc
Rest - The usual
Phone Connection
Only Jio phone and internet connection works well in our farm.
You can get your own SIM cards for the phone and internet connection.
We don’t provide common wifi. Everyone here has their own connections or dongles. Please make sure to arrange for this beforehand.
Students coming from outside India may contact Karthik for sim cards before hand. Indian Resident students must bring their own.
Cigarettes and alcohol
Alcohol is allowed in your cottages and the common area. Smoking is allowed in your patio and smoing zone in the common space. Smoking with non smokers, inside the rooms, studio, inside non smoking areas is prohibited.
Alcohol, we get limited brands here. Decent brands though.
You can also bring with yourself while coming from Bangalore Airport or if you visit the city.
You can give us the order. After which you can pay me the bill amount.
Cigarettes - In the local market here, we only get kings, that too not regularly, which is pretty bad quality. If you smoke, please get your own. The local market is 10km away so you can’t get it by yourself.
At the same time, we do get better brands in Chittoor, which isa city 40km away from us. Once in a week or two, we can get you what's available there.
Deliveries
Our farm location is very remote. So if you want anything from the city, carry it with yourself. But don’t worry, we go shopping regularly to the nearby city market and can buy stuff. You just have to be planned and tell us in advance. Last minute shopping is difficult. Anything that’s not basic will not be easily available here.
Amazon deliveries are possible but take an extra few days to come.
They deliver it to our town nearby from where we pick up.
If you’d like to order when you are here, here’s the address -
Karthik Ramaraj
No 1, Jambuneradipalli Village, Bodabandla Panchayat
Bangarupalem mandal, Chittoor District,
Andhra Pradesh - 517416
Contact - 9113914175
Note - While ordering, mention your own name continued with Karthik Ramaraj. In this way we can identify who does the package belong to.
Farm Activities
We can go up the hill for a short hike 6:30 am - 8:30 am. Once you know the way, feel free to go anytime.
We have a barbed wire fence around the entire property, feel free to walk about as much as you like, you can even venture outside the property but after informing me so we are aware .
Every Friday evening we can go to the lake, get on the kayak or just to swim, light a fire with snacks and beverages.
Saturday nights we will have a bonfire, some outdoor cooking and a few beverages
Toddy mornings on request. Note toddy is a natural local alcoholic drink extracted from coconuts early in the morning. Healthy when had in moderation. Can make one sleepy, so we usually arrange it on sundays for our students.
We have bicycles that you can take around.
There’s a few boardgames, card games, yoga mats, hoola hoop for our guests to engage in. There’s also a plenty books in the common area for you to read. If you take anything from the common area, please make sure to return it.
Weekend getaways
The nearest cities are Bangalore, Chennai and Tirupati.
Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram is around 4 hours drive from our farms and have lovely beaches, restaurants, shopping, seafood, European and Tamil Cuisine.
You can choose to either drive yourself or hire a cab. We can help you with the drivers number.
Code Of Conduct
With a new batch of students every month, conflicts/ disharmony between students is possible. At the same time, we want to make sure that nobody without any exception is to engage in rude/inappropriate behaviour, or any form of verbal abuse, physical abuse or mental abuse with anyone - students, teacher, staff, host, animals, nature.
If there is any issue between anyone, please don’t bring it to us or the other students. We want to make sure our focus is on hosting you all with good energy, with no biases and on teaching you pottery.
Please note, if you do engage in any kind of abusive behaviour (verbal, physical, mental) we can ask you to leave with no refunds. We are particularly intolerant to any inappropriate behaviour as we know that many students come from different countries, spend time, money, effort into this course and stay. It won’t be fair to them if this behaviour was tolerated, leading to a dampened state of affairs.
Please read the guest agreement that will be sent to you via email, sign, scan and send it back to us along with your identity proof.
Looking forward to having you over!
Cheers,
Karthik & Nikita