I am Rahul Dayalu, an IT engineer turned farmer and writer. I have been associated with FSL-India to host volunteers in our project since November, 2016.

I was looking at pictures of our project just received from Miriam, a volunteer from FSL-India, who worked with us for few months. I cannot believe it’s been more than a year we started this project in my village S Hoskote near Mysore, Karnataka, India. Those photos speak more than words on our initial efforts, planning and fun-filled work. I wanted to share the experience with all of you, and that’s when I decided to write this blog about my experience on our first year in this project.

I was just out of my IT job, full of dreams and wishes to work for Society. Being lost in the world of a corporate for more than 9 years, it was as new as it was for a baby who came out of its mother’s womb. Not having contacts in any of the social fields and with many friends from college and a few colleagues, it was not easy to find a way to start my work.

The first year after I quit my job was not very fruitful. It was never easy when your family does not support you as you expected. It is more difficult when mutual expectations differed. They expected me to quit this project and go back to my IT job. It would have been disastrous for a starter like me if I had not used the failures and setbacks as stepping stone to grow personally and socially. Every opportunity which came my way looked promising, and every person who wanted my collaboration seemed to be a mentor. The world of perceptions and false projection crashed within a year. This pushed me to start a project on my own. A project which would be rural oriented, environmental friendly and a job creator.

 I did not take more time to choose farming to work on, and spent a few months on research, having been in training sessions and seminars. Also started searching for a piece of land which would suit our ideas and plans. Raising funds was never easy to initiate the project. Everything needed to start a natural farming project fell onto our plate, and we started our project on a land of 10 acres, in my village.

 I met Tim Hafner from FSL-India when he came to work in an NGO I was associated with. I shared my plans and he told me to approach FSL-India for volunteers to support my project. He came to our farm a few times and learnt the aims, objectives and impact of our project in the long run. We had just got the land on lease and were preparing to start natural farming.  I put a word to FSL-India via email, and they readily agreed to place 2 volunteers with me. I was bit surprised at their quick response, and it also made me nervous, since we were not prepared to host volunteers. I was expecting them to join us a few months after we kicked off our project.

Miriam Nass and Thomas Hassler were the first to join us. At first look, Thomas looked like a plumpy, red faced cartoon under the piercing sun and Miriam looked like an urban college girl who had lost her way back home. And our land looked like a man-made dirty forest full of bushes, plastic and domestic dumps. It seemed like pushing someone into a river who was afraid to see their reflection in a pool. The biggest challenge for me was to plan continuous work, closely observe their progress and act fast during their difficulties. It was never like a walk on a smooth pavement for a starter like me. My physical presence in the project was way too minimal, as I had to put my head in every corner of the project. The workers in our project were illiterate and were not able to communicate in English. My concerns and fear soon disappeared when Thomas and Miriam got adjusted and worked seamlessly in our project.

I still remember the day when Miriam came to me and said ‘Don’t underestimate me because I am a girl. I am a tough girl, and I can adapt to any situation. I will work hard to meet your expectations and help your project’. I confirm now she lived up to her words in every means. She did not stop work even after her hands were bleeding and we had only turmeric powder to apply on her wounds as disinfectant. She surprised not only me, but all of us. She soon earned a nickname for her work in our village. People called her ‘Maryamma’ which means ‘Mother Mary’ in Kannada.  Her elegance and charm soon earned respect and love from people.

Thomas was someone who has the capacity to suck your worries up with his fun filled stories. We would sit for hours to listen to his stories every time he came back from a trip. He is a person who can make stones talk. He is like a back bencher who surprises you with his grades. When everything looked ugly during the process, he would bring cuteness with his red cartoon face. He earned the nick name ‘Walky-Talky’ from me.

Both of them worked with us when the farm did not even have basic facilities like toilets and clean drinking water, but they never complained. They never made us feel uncomfortable. Pretty soon, the farm started taking shape. The dirty forest turned into a perfect red field. It got a new fence. A new drip irrigation system was placed. All types of standing trees got enough organic fertiliser. Volunteers painted limestone white on the trunk of every tree in our farm. We planted different types of bananas, mulberry plants, sowed turmeric, vegetables and greens. We laid drip pipes on the crops. We cleared the weed plants and covered the land with dry sugarcane hay.

Then came the summer. Miriam and Thomas were traveling. FSL-India placed short term volunteers with us for the summer. When we were still getting the hangover of Miriam and when we were reluctant to get a girl volunteer who would work as hard as Miriam, Anja Bitter came like dynamite and proved us wrong. You assign a work to her and you expect her to complete in 2 days. She would astonish you with her skills and complete the work within half a day. She was an electrifying country girl, perfect for the farm. Even though her stay with us was short, her influence on us is something to be remembered for long. Anja ‘Bitter’ soon turned ‘very sweet’ with everyone. She never complained and would read books in her free time.

Phillis Sunny Day was like a grandma. She worked to match her name. She was bright, caring and concerned at the same time. Lea Corinth was like a spiritual guru. Her eyes and expressions talked more than her words.

All of them shared everything which came our way. They were part of our problems, they were in our celebrations. They shared the darkness in the night, and faced the brightness on the day. They enjoyed the food and hospitality of our family. They brought their families to us. They played with my daughter and had fun with our workers. They painted on our walls and left their imprints on our hearts. They learnt from us and taught many things to us. They inspired us. They challenged us. They pushed boundaries for us. They extended their generous hands to help us. It seems always less and not enough if I try to put it into my words. So, I take this opportunity to thank FSL-India and all the volunteers who worked with us in the year 2016-2017. The changes you brought in our project are appreciated and commendable. I wish the tree of volunteers you planted would grow into a EYWA (of Avatar movie) and keep the ecosystem of our farm in perfect equilibrium. I hope to meet you all very soon. Good luck, and stay in touch.