New beginnings: How we started and where we are

Mid-life crises or mid-life opportunity? How do you know what your mid-life is anyway? Would you do something that you feel is very important, but does not align with your “career goals”, today or when you have “achieved them all”? How do you know if you are even going to make it to the next moment? These are the kind of questions that jostled my mind, through the phases of the pandemic induced lockdown, as I reflected on my life. I realized no matter how many short-term gains I make, unless I disconnect from a gratification oriented life, I will not be able to take the leap into what’s really important. If there was ever a good time, that time was right now. So I took the leap.

After spending more than 10 years in the tech industry working as a Software Engineer, I decided to expand my horizon and build towards a sustainable future connected with nature and espousing healthy practices. COVID lockdowns catalyzed the understanding how a sedentary lifestyle was both unsustainable and unhealthy.

At a personal level, health and nutrition has always been very important to me, given the alarming ubiquity of toxins found in our environment. As many people have realized during the pandemic, immunity supporting healthy nutritious food is important not only for vitality and longevity but also for survival itself. Optimal physical, mental (and spiritual) health and well-being has been put in the limelight front and center finally.

It’s difficult to comprehend how we have totally disconnected from our civilizational roots, which promotes holistic health and well-being, when we live in our own bubble. In fact, sustainable stewardship of natural resources, supporting local food systems and practices like Yoga, meditation and pranayama have been integral to our Indian cultural ethos. I wanted to not only adopt but also promote these ideas. I felt as a whole its our generational responsibility to carry forward this cultural heritage. The idea of setting up a farm sanctuary to provide a platform to these ideas was thus born.

I setup Gurukripa Farms and Gaushala, a modern farm sanctuary near Seattle in Washington, USA with the mission to inculcate holistic physical, mental and spiritual well-being by promoting healthy practices and lifestyle. We shelter and protect native Indian cow species, produce cow based products and spread cultural awareness about their importance. We are also building a no-chemical organic farm to produce nutrient dense fruits, vegetables and herbs using cow based products. We host events and workshops on Yoga, Pranayama and gau-seva(native Indian cow-care) to promote healthy and balanced living.

It’s an understatement to say it’s been challenging. Quitting a good paying job and coming out of the comfort zone was the first of many hurdles. After crossing that, it became clear that it was a rather small hurdle and the life ahead was more rocky than I ever imagined- physically, mentally, emotionally and financially! Bigger challenges in that journey were finding a farm property, setting up an enterprise, operating the farm and my limited ability of building non-code based structures!

My spouse Chiti Bansal has been my strength all through this process. I am no where close to where I want to be, but I feel energized with the support and encouragement of friends and local community engagement. Gauri and Vaishnavi, the two desi cows we take care of, inspire me everyday to do more. I am hoping someday, I will be where I aspire to be in my endeavor. In the meanwhile, life is all about crossing the hurdles!