In hindsight, a red flag should have shot up when the directions we received listed trees as landmarks. But, it didn’t. After coming across a “very tall lamppost” — we winded through a Warli settlement. Complete with beautifully festooned huts, wild fowl and cattle, we unexpectedly reached the Ganesh temple. After our obscure hunt for signs everyone seemed to know about “Daniel’s Farm” when asked for.

Slow, steady and strong
Daniel Uppendahl, co-founder of the organic lifestyle and green rural development centre, Saha Astitva, is an American with Dutch-German roots. He lived in Africa before he moved to India twelve years ago. Initiating our tour at the cowshed, he points towards the distance, “There’s a tank at the end of the shed, where we collect cow urine. We mix this with cow dung and jaggery and ferment it for three days to make Amrut Paani, a natural fertilizer.”

The process, which requires frequent stirring, yields a liquid, which need only be poured over dry leaves, wood and natural waste to enrich the soil, explains Kalyani (born Karen), Daniel’s British wife, showing us their bible, a book on organic-farming by 91-year-old Gujarat-based Bhaskar Save.