BENGALURU: Work can get stressful, especially when you work odd hours and clients’ conference-call surprises on a weekend don’t help either. It is tough being a techie, but hey! You love coding and building cool system applications no matter how frustrating it gets.
So, how does a techie beat stress? Well, a few techies in the city have the answer -- getting downright dirty to relieve stress. These Bengalureans have ventured into workplace farming.
Nidhi Singh, 28, used to look forward to coffee breaks at work, have a shot of her daily dose of caffeine, but now, it is all about the greens. “I have stopped those coffee breaks now and spend time with my plants instead,” says the Nokia employee.
Freshers on the Farm
Nidhi grows her favourite vegetables fenugreek and baby corn at a farming plot near her office. Since she has no experience in agriculture, she relies on the Internet to research on what to grow and how. It has been a great experience so far, says the techie who holds a Masters in Computer Application.
“I had never grown vegetables before. I didn’t think I would be able to grow as many vegetables as I have in this small plot,” she says. She has reaped her first harvest and says it feels “awesome”. “I harvested spinach and baby corn recently, but I still see it growing well with each passing day as I walk by to work,” adds Nidhi.
For the Love of Palak Paneer
Naveen Kumar T’s love for palak paneer might be one of his inspirations behind growing spinach near his workspace. The IBM employee, who has no prior farming experiences, is also growing ladies finger along with spinach.
For Naveen, it is all about building a green consciousness. As pollution takes a toll and with trees being chopped down to make way for concrete structures, he is more than willing to help the environment however he can. “I am happy that I have contributed in some way,” he says.
Savithri Radhakrishnan, a software professional at IBM, believes farming to be a great stress buster. “It is not just about work stress, but in general there’s a lot going on in everyone’s life and there’s no denying that seeing something grow productively that you have sown makes you feel content and there’s a joy in that,” she says.
Dirt to Destress
Manikanta G, an employee at Kinapse Ltd, agrees. He recently finished harvesting his produce that he grew outside his office. “ I am really happy with my harvest. I got a good yield,” says the 28-year-old who works as a regulatory affairs associate.
He distributed his produce among colleagues. While he is new to farming, he had always wanted to venture into its organic side.
“It has been a great journey so far,” he says, adding “It relaxes me”. So, has it brought down the work stress? “Yes, a 100 per cent,” says Manikanta.
Nidhi, who made methi paratha and aloo curry out of her harvest and shared it with colleagues, also credits organic farming at work for relieving her stress. The activity has impacted positively on her emotional health too, she says.
Change in Perspective
“My perspective towards food has changed ever since I started this. I now respect the process of growing food and comprehend the struggle that farmers go through,” she adds. Through lessons from her workplace farming, Nidhi now grows saplings in her apartment.
Naveen, who has completed his first harvest cycle and is awaiting the next, calls the practice an “excellent stress buster”. “My stress levels have plummeted since I started,” he says.
Spread across three blocks at Manyata Embassy Business Park, this agricultural land has become a stress buster for employees working in the tech park. The “Urban Green” initiative was introduced to techies to relieve them of work stress and help them learn about agricultural practices. “The primary idea behind this initiative is to provide a low-cost way to give our office parks’ users the opportunity to go back to the land and incentivise the growing of safe food,” says Pradeep Lala, CEO, Embassy Services.
So far the employees have harvested spinach, chakotha, coriander, amaranthus, fenugreek, baby corn, brinjal, green chilli, ladies finger and tomato. The project is set to be extended to 250 more plots of 30 sq ft each. The intiative is the brainchild of horticulture manager Kiran DT.
Farming Breaks
Bengaluru-based programmer Shashi, 25 finds going to the fields relaxing. “Whenever I go home, I make sure I go to our farm and work there. We grow rice, sugarcane and vegetables,” he says.
While his breaks for farming aren’t as frequent as coffee breaks, Shashi does make it a point to have a brief stint at the farm twice a month.
Vasanth Kaje, 35, a former senior project manager at Infosys, has now turned a big plot of land back home into farm. He calls it “Kaje Vrukshalaya”. He took up farming while still working for another IT firm, but quit the job when the balance tilted more towards farming.
“All tech jobs are aimed at selling better conveniences to humans at the cost of Nature’s and employees’ own health. But this comes in various disguises and some are hard to make out. I realised it over a period of time and opted for a return journey to the farmland where I grew up,” he says.
While Vasanth acknowledges that farming helps him relax he says that it is the duty of every human to grow his or her food. “A large section of society leaching a few farmers will eventually lead to the collapse of the system,” he adds.