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A little over 1,500 days ago, Ankit Arora set out on his bicycle to experience wanderlust and discover the real culture of India. Today, he has built a self-sustaining village in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. A former journalist, Ankit has now worked with different rural communities, making sustainable mud and plastic recycled homes, practising organic farming, and simply meeting new people each day. On the road, he discovered a new face of India—where kindness is a way of life.
On 27 August 2017, Ankit decided to tour India on his cycle and discover the real beauty of the subcontinent by immersing himself in rural communities and their way of life. He had a plan—to come home after his journey. It has been four years since. For 1,500 days, Ankit traversed the length and breadth of the country without money, relying on the kindness of locals who welcomed him into their homes and taught him their craft. From making wooden sculptures in Maharashtra and Bengaluru to learning how to create coconut shell cutlery and jewellery in Tamil Nadu, and from mastering Madhubani and tribal art to actually carving a veena in Thanjavur—Ankit has dabbled in many of India’s varied crafts.
After covering 15 states in North, West, South, and Central India, along with 8 Union Territories, Ankit found a new calling—sustainability. In October 2020, he started building a community village where anyone could come to practice various arts and crafts, engage in organic farming, and construct natural mud houses. His aim is to connect with communities and share the knowledge he has gained from farmers, tribals, weavers, potters, artists, sculptors, musicians, and labourers. Inspired by his vision, his friend Sreedevi and her husband, who hosted him in Bengaluru, left city life to begin work on this village—a two-acre plot in Krishnagiri near Bengaluru.
“I started organic farming and began building mud houses using organic materials like locally available red and brown mud, jaggery, honey, and egg yolk, employing an ancient tribal technique of house construction. The homes provide cost-efficient thermal insulation and natural malleability while reducing their carbon footprint. All this I have learned during my journey and experiences with tribals,” says Ankit, who named this village Innisfree Farm after being inspired by William Butler Yeats’ poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
At Innisfree, plastic waste recycling techniques were employed in building mud houses and sofas. Bottle bricks were created using plastic bottles stuffed with packet wrappers, resembling traditional bricks. He also collected alcohol bottles from nearby rivers, and those from the Hogenakkal waterfalls were used in the construction. Natural termite repellents were made by combining water with holistic herbs like neem leaves, kadukkai seeds, green chillies, garlic, turmeric, and lime.
Over a year later, Innisfree Farm now reuses 100% of its waste to power eco-toilets, kitchens, electricity, and even fodder for local animals. Ankit also educates the local community, many of whom were organic farmers to begin with before moving to chemical fertilisers. At the natural farm in Krishnagiri, he trains and teaches people traditional arts such as Madhubani, Gond, Pichwai, and wall paintings. Sreedevi and her family assist in making organic soaps and kitchen compost. "I also learned how to make kokedama, the Japanese art of growing a plant. We are also crafting wooden cutlery, kitchen items, and furniture from waste coconut shells and leftover wood from the villages. We started organic farming, and young, curious villagers now visit the farm regularly to learn more," Ankit tells us.
Ankit says he wishes to collaborate with other local communities to build more integrated sustainable villages across the country. He believes that there is an urgent need for a greater focus on rural, sustainable practices and crafts. “In Karnataka’s Belgaum, I met a group of single mothers and divorcees from a slum area during my journey. I taught them basic wood sculpting that I had learned from my time in rural areas. This has made these women self-sufficient. This is the kind of work that needs to be done for various communities across India,” he adds.
Note: This is an older story that has been republished.
