I was raised in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana. My parents were never rich but they managed to put food on the table, after covering all expenses. All my life I was pursuing a quest to find something meaningful. But I was clueless. This lack of knowledge created fear, this fear created doubts, these doubts created a mountain of false symptoms and these symptoms led to stress. Seeking knowledge builds courage. A seeker always finds what he seeks by perseverance. I wanted to be free of society, yet I didn’t want to be a loner.
I had spent 17 years in different roles in the IT industry: Sales & Marketing, Analyst and head of Human Resources. My career had been a roller coaster ride, threatened constantly with layoffs due to global slow-down, worried that my performance hadn’t been up to the company’s expectations. Wanting to ensure financial security for my family, I spent years of my life addicted to work-related stress and busy-ness. Forever trying to push things to get to the bottom of a to-do list. I wanted to move away from this mainstream lifestyle. I didn’t want to live a life where struggle is inevitable. Wondered if there would be a day where I wouldn’t have to slog so hard to put food on the table.
For a long time we have thought of work as an agreement between a single person and an employer. We were free to pick up whatever job we liked, as long as the employer was happy to have us on their payroll. But inside of me, I had this dislike for this nomenclature, work. I considered it the opposite of enjoyment. In 2011, I resigned from work and the rat race of the corporate world. I was confused if I had made the right decision. To comfort my insecurities and EMIs, I took up small time low paying jobs. But, things started changing.
It is my wife Banu, who has made me realize the bigger purpose of our life. She was born in Bangalore, but raised in Hosur, Tamilnadu. She quit her IT job when our son, Aarush was born. Banu has always been a travel enthusiast. 3 years ago, she suggested that we get onto the road and see the country. Live a life of nomads. And I said: ‘Why Not?’ We gave up our rented house in Bangalore. Disposed off most of our possessions. Got ourselves a tent. Loaded the tent and what we thought was essential into our car – and joined the gang of the homeless. The more sophisticated folks call us minimal naturalists. My mom and the in-laws were not too happy with our decision. Mom thought I had got laid off. She got together with my relatives and collectively they began bombarding me with interview calls. Took some time for her to realise that what I do is also a job. Mom has got around to our PoV, but my in-laws are still worried. And they should be – after all their daughter’s wellbeing is at stake.
A destiny change was bumping into an old friend of mine, Sailesh, who introduced me to bioenzymes. Bio Enzymes for us was a small home affair until 2016-17. But beginning 2017, we started creating spaces to share our knowledge of Bio Enzymes. My friends helped me to introduce this concept in platforms such as IDEC, LSUC and helped me travel to different forest farms. We stay at these forest farms for a few months, conducting. workshops on healthy eating, bio enzymes, and frugal lifestyles. Our needs are minimal, so we survive easily in this gift culture. Our friends have been a great help for this transition. Ganeshram,; a botanist, was instrumental in opening spaces in different alternative networks. Harshitha, an eco constructor and a natural dye expert, is a team member with whom we have been conducting summer camps & workshops for kids. Dinesh & Gopi introduced us to community networks and community exchange. In 2018, we organized a big event when we invited a renowned motivational speaker, Thiru Healer Baskar who speaks on subjects such as healthy body, healthy mind, healthy family; healthy education and sustainability.
One of the popular programs that we do is on bio enzymes. The term Bio Enzyme is a misnomer, as it may not contain the actual enzymes in technical terms. However, the terms Garbage Enzyme, Fruit Enzyme, Kitchen Waste Enzyme, Fermented Fruit Juice and Bio Enzyme have become part of popular lingo. Since the process of making a Bio Enzyme is similar to that of making vinegar, we can also call these natural cleaning vinegars. Vinegar is an alcoholic liquid in initial fermentation that has been allowed to sour further to stabilize. It is primarily used to flavor and preserve foods and as an ingredient in salad dressings and marinades. Vinegar is also known for its deep cleansing properties and has been used as a natural cleaning agent. The word’s origins are from the French vin (wine) and aigre (sour). That’s how we got this term called Vinegar. A vinegar-based cleaner is a super effective DIY (Do it yourself) green cleaning product. Bio Enzymes are great at multitasking. With their super-powerful cleaning and disinfectant-surfactant properties, these natural cleaners rival any commercial cleaner for effectiveness and can be used for cleaning all-around your home.
Our son, Aarush, is being unschooled (I also like to refer to it as road schooled) You can define unschooling as a curiosity-led approach to learning. Passing off information to children from grown up adults or printed books may not always help the purpose of learning. Information is just data until we process it, apply it, experience it and gain knowledge from it. Aarush decides the pace and curriculum of his education. He has been part of conventional schooling earlier. And he is enjoying this stint much more than what he would have done in a regular school. He has thousands of friends across the country now. It’s been 3.5 years of nomadic life. I have learnt to go with the flow. I am currently in Coimbatore where we have organised a mandala program along with an old friend DR R Padayal Siva Kumar who is a natural food enthusiast. The person who taught us more than 1000 No Oil and No Boil Fireless Cooking recipes. Where is my next destination going to be? I don’t know. When someone invites us, we go. We have learnt to live with nature. The outdoors is our home now – the living room, the bedroom, the bathroom. All we need is an open area.
Excerpted from ‘My Experience with Bio Enzymes: The Earth Friendly Magical Cleaners’ by Shrekanth RG and Banu R
Blogs by Shrekanth RG