3 Days with Ragu, Nisha & Aum

It was sheer coincidence (or call it Grand Design), that I met Ragunath and Nisha, a couple who returned to India after spending 9 years in the US of A. For the last 4.5 years, they’re living on their 2.5 acre farm approx 20 km off Coimbatore. I bumped into them a few weeks after we’d decided to quit urban life and move to a village. That time we were exploring if it is ok not to send our children to school. Ragu & Nisha said that they too don’t send Aum (their 6 yr old son) to school. We met once again in Mumbai and we’d decided then that we will visit their farm one day. The day happened to be June 27, 2013.

Ragu and Nisha are living a life closest to what we’d like to live. They have a beautiful farm and a thoughtfully built house. We were welcomed into their house as though we’ve known each other for years and we settled almost immediately. I told Ragu that I did not have a specific agenda or any question to ask. I just wanted to live with them for a few days - and that is what we did. We cooked, worked in their farm, played and went for an outing. We had a few long conversations. It was a lovely time spent. 

Both of them are quite social and they have a very wide network of people who keep meeting, visiting and communicating with them regularly. They learnt Naturopathy and host these courses at their farm quite frequently. I am amazed at their ability to host people. Their genuine love is visible in every act.

Ragu and Nisha live what can be termed as an alternate life. They grow some food, barter some of what they grow for what they need instead of buying with money, home-educate their child, do their own work (not employed a maid servant), they don’t have a TV, car, refrigerator and most modern gadgets. They are attempting to be vegans (not eat any animal produce including milk and milk derivatives). What is striking that the absence of any of the so called ‘fun’ activities in a typical urban life does not come in the way of being truly happy. Ragu is connected with a lot of people who think alike and is also part of an initiative called ‘Service Space’. He has successfully made an influence on many of his immediate family (parents, siblings, etc) with Naturopathy. 

One of the natural consequences of my moving out of the mainstream was that my circle of friends shrunk significantly, almost completely. It is not an unpleasant consequence at all because the other side I get friends in Ragu and Nisha. The trade-off still works in my favour.