Techies Arpit Maheshwari and Sakshi Bhatia gave up their high-paying jobs in the US to buy a 1.5-acre plot in Madhya Pradesh and begin farming. The couple, who were inspired to make the move after they went backpacking through South America, said that earlier they felt disconnected from nature and that farming was a way to give back to the environment.
Maheshwari, a 2010 IIT Bombay graduate, told news agency ANI that he felt that life in US cities was one-dimensional. “One thing we did not like about city life was that it was one-dimensional. We felt very disconnected from nature in that lifestyle.”
Bhatia, an IIT Delhi graduate added that because they were feeling the disconnect, the couple decided to go on a backpacking tour to South America. “Our motive was to just explore and spend a lot of time in nature because we were longing for it. There we became aware of how humans were exploiting the environment. Then there was a deep desire to return to India and work with nature.”
So, in 2018, the couple bought a piece of land on the outskirts of Ujjain and decided to try an alternative lifestyle — one in harmony with the environment.
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