Agriculture & Natural Living

The early signs

When I was young, I could spend surprisingly long periods in gardens and parks, especially looking at plants and flowers. Even at home, flowers were rarely just something to put in a vase. I wanted to water them, clean them and take care of them.

One strawberry-picking trip, when I was around five or six, made my interest particularly obvious. What my family expected to be a short outing became an entire day. While everyone else was ready to leave, I was still happily picking strawberries.

Discovering life off the land

A few years later, around the age of eight, I visited an ashram where life was radically different from what I knew at home. There was no internet or television and very few modern conveniences. The community grew much of its own food, kept cows, followed a vegetarian diet and made things by hand-including spinning yarn.

My family expected me to get bored within a few days. Instead, I became completely absorbed. I helped milk the cows, sow seeds, tend the garden, harvest and cut vegetables, work with irrigation and draw water from the well. I also experienced the process of spinning yarn and other aspects of a largely self-sufficient way of life.

The visit, initially imagined as a short stay, stretched to almost a month. When it was finally time to leave, my family almost had to drag me away.

The annual return

My first ashram visit eventually became an almost yearly experience. And that recurring contrast has made the experience especially meaningful to me.

At home, I can be as immersed in screens and modern technology as any other kid. At the ashram, those things simply disappear. Yet I am not restless or looking for entertainment. I am happy spending my days with plants, animals, food and physical work.

The ashram has shown my family something that photographs of my gardens alone cannot: I am not simply interested in agriculture as an activity. I genuinely enjoy the slower, more physical and more natural rhythm of life that comes with it.

Growing wherever I live

Wherever I have lived, I have found myself drawn to growing things.

Seattle - Even without a garden

Living in an apartment did not stop me from experimenting with plants and finding whatever space I could use.

Houston - More space, more experiments

With a house and a large lawn, my interest expanded into a much bigger growing setup, with indoor and outdoor experiments.

Juhu, Mumbai - A small garden in an apartment

When I moved to Mumbai, I started living with my paternal grandmother in her apartment, which is about 1,000 square feet. After a few months, I started thinking about how I could create a small place where I could grow plants.

I pushed her and pushed her until she finally gave in and gave me a very small space in the kitchen. I turned it into my own modest nursery, where I now grow things like ginger, mint leaves, curry leaves, basil and more.

Khetwadi, Mumbai - Growing together

I later spent a couple of weeks living with my maternal grandmother. After a few days, I spoke to her and convinced her to let me create a small growing space outside her window.

We created a garden bed that is about eight feet by two feet. I grow things like green tea, the leaves used to make patras, mint, curry leaves and other plants. I built it, grew it and nurtured it, and it has become another little part of our family.

I visit her about once a month and spend time cleaning it up and taking care of it. During the week, my grandmother has also become very fond of it and looks after the plants when I am not there.

“Why don't we grow it?”

That question has become characteristic of me. When something can potentially be grown, my instinct is often to wonder why it should simply be bought instead.

From natural living to healthy living

As my interest in natural living grew, it naturally expanded into healthy living. Cooking is another passion of mine, and over the last few years I have also created an Instagram channel with my mom where we share healthy recipes and dishes.

We focus primarily on healthy food and simple recipes, and the channel has become another way for me to explore my interest in food, cooking and healthy living.

See our healthy cooking channel →

Some of my favorite recipes

• Home-made Oatmilk - Easy to Make View recipe →
• Mango Salad View recipe →
• Pasta Salad View recipe →