BENGALURU: For a doctor who is treating one of the most dreaded diseases, cancer, finding time off from work is quite challenging. However, Dr Narasimhaiah Srinivasaiah is a person who wants to be close to ‘Mother Earth’. An individual who likes to see, smell, and live amidst nature, Srinivasaiah believes this to be the cure of all ailments. When is off medical work, Srinivasaiah is a horticulturist, florist and agriculturist. Following his extensive travel around US and Europe during the early 2000s, he realised the untapped horticultural space in India. Thus gave birth to Nandi Nisarga Dhama (NaNidam), an eco-museum situated on the foothills of Nandi Hills, in Chikkaballapura.
Srinivasaiah calls this place, a region carved out of the ‘Mother Earth’ where one can visit and attain solace, peace, and stay connected to nature. Growing up in a farmer’s family, Srinivasaiah was raised amidst hardship that comes along in a farmer’s life. However, his vision for farming was something beyond.
Started 20 years ago with the sapling of a wild mango, the five-acre land came into its full potential only in 2020. The eco-museum is nothing short of a mini forest that is home to a wide range of seeds, fruits, vegetables, herbs, pond, peacocks and even some monkeys. “This eco-musuem was curated to drive education to the people, especially kids about mother nature. From talking about the diverse set of seeds we cultivate to knowing the rivers that originate from Nandi Hills, this eco-musuem should ignite young minds about environmental concerns,” says Srinivasaiah, who is also a laparoscopic and robotic surgeon.
Srinivasaiah has also created five sizable water bodies named after the five rivers originating from the hills. “I have adapted the age-old traditional method of water conservation with the Rajakaluve model. I believe in preserving the nativity of agriculture rather than giving room for modernity,” adds Srinivasaiah, who wants children to explore his farm and hone their agricultural skills early-on.
He also calls this eco-museum an amalgamation of tropical flowering forestry and wild forestry. “I have cultivated all this because it brings life to nature. When I am in the hospital, I wear a white coat, while I am on the farm I wear my shorts and become an absolute farmer. This is my sort of individual social responsibility where I am giving back,” says Srinivasaiah, who adds the eco-museum has moulded him to be a better person. “Farming has an immense psychological and physiological impact. As a doctor, it has made me more diligent, patient and I realised that even small things made me very happy. My winding down from medical work comes when I am soaked completely in Mother Nature,” says the 46-year-old.
On the Farm
For kids
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