She chose harsh farm life over a 6-figure American paycheck

I didn’t know it back then, but till the time I was studying in class 12, the life I was living was what we call “sustainable” these days. I pedalled five kms one way to school, and back, and what we ate was healthy. This was how things were in my village, Chinatadepalli, a small settlement in rural Andhra Pradesh. 

I belonged to a privileged family of landlords, and getting a job or mixing with regular folk was unheard of. After school, I enrolled in a college in a neighbouring town. Thereafter, I pursued an M.Com degree while also attending a two-year diploma course in computer education. The year was 1991, and computer education hadn’t taken off yet.

Because of my interest in computers, after my studies, I got a job as a computer teacher. In 1995, I moved to Hyderabad as a faculty member of Aptech Institute. Later the Y2K boom occurred and I got a job with a company called Pentafour Software Exports in Chennai. My next stint saw me becoming an IT consultant with multiple companies in the US.

Initially, life in the US was good. It was a big change from what I was used to in India but I adjusted well. I travelled extensively and excelled at work. I would say adapting to the first world is easier, than to one’s own country once you have lived abroad. 

However, the course of my life changed in 2012, when I lost my father who was living in India. To cope with the shock, I began practicing yoga. The irony is that I began this transformative journey of learning this discipline in America, by studying under an American teacher! 

Yoga not only helped me cope with the grief of losing my father but also changed my worldview. I also noticed that a lot of young people were succumbing to deadly diseases. Pesticide-laden food and an unhealthy lifestyle were doing this to them. I realised in today’s world sustainability is paramount, and this was my soul’s calling. 

So, I decided to move back to India in 2017. I took the bold decision to return to my roots and start by making my village a model village for others to look up to. I gave up my six-figure paycheck without any regret. At the time, I prioritised inner well-being over materialistic needs. 

I had a concrete plan. A vision. I wanted to guide the villagers to shun plastic, use solar power, plant more trees, realise the value of better sanitation and to teach them emotional and physical resilience through yoga. 

On returning to India, I made it a practice to pick up a broom and lead from the front by sweeping the streets of my village myself. I soon realised that the practical realities of India were different from what I had imagined them to be when I was living in the US. 

For starters, my own family members, who considered themselves landlords and above duties like civic cleanliness drives, started distancing themselves from me. 

Then, when I began awareness drives on better farming practices, I overheard people question my credentials as a farmer. They wondered how an IT professional sitting in an air-conditioned office would know the basics of organic farming. It wasn’t enough for them that I had taught myself what I needed to know about sustainability. 

This triggered me to stop teaching and start farming myself. I learnt about farming techniques from books. In 2019, I began growing paddy on two acres of land using natural farming techniques. 

Here too, I faced a challenge. After the cooler climes of the West, the weather in my village was harsh. I had grown accustomed to cold and dry conditions whereas farming in India meant I had to face hot and humid conditions. But I persisted with my efforts. I began growing vegetables on three cents of land.

Next up, I had the fortune of meeting someone who ran schools in Guntur. This allowed me to start educating children in two of the schools, teaching them about plastic-free living, natural farming and yoga. We even began a kitchen garden together on a quarter acre of land. I felt speaking to kids about such issues created a good impact.

We began taking the children on outdoor immersive lessons where they learnt about the environment through interactive sessions. The children’s parents also showed an appreciation of what was being taught.

My YouTube channel, Nurture5, began in 2023. I set it up to educate people about sustainability. Alongside I got a project from a foundation to help farmers turn to natural farming. I also began travelling to colleges as a speaker on sustainable lifestyles. 

I recently took on the project of converting seven acres of my ancestral land to a permaculture food forest. Through my brand, Nurture5, I’ll be selling produce that I grow on this land to the masses. We already sell products like hair oil, tooth powder, turmeric, coconut oil and dried flowers for tea.

We’ll also build sustainable living quarters on this land, where guests can stay, for educational purposes. I already invited children to my farm to teach them about this.

My advice to those wishing to give up a corporate job or city life to go off the grid is that they should really think this decision through. After all, one doesn’t need to give up on regular life to be an advocate of sustainability. You can make a difference in small ways, by giving up on plastic, taking bucket baths, using less electricity and eating organic food.

Perhaps I’ll write a book called ‘Journey of My Mistakes’ to highlight the things that I did wrong in my quest to be a sustainability advocate. That will help others treading this path. The practical side of life varies vastly from how we perceive things, as I discovered on my journey.