Software developer from Guntur ditches US job for farming
GUNTUR: While many young software developers in India dream of making it big in the USA, Mantena Lakshmi Narayana Raju of Buddham village at Bapatla Mandal in Guntur district has set an example that has fascinated even the youths in his village. He quit his 10-year-old software developer’s job in the USA, to respond to his heart’s call of becoming a farmer in his native village.
Seeing his interest in farming, his friends in the USA asked him to take up farming there, but he refused to pay heed to their suggestion and came back to India to take up farming here. He has already become an example in his village as he has inspired many other farmers to take up organic farming. His motto is to produce poison less food products and make it available to the customers at nominal prices. He has managed to convince his fellow farmers, most of whom were a dejected lot, to take up organic farming as it could greatly reduce their hospital and medical bills if they stopped using pesticides and chemicals in their fields. Also, he is happy to see youngsters, who used to ask him about the possibility of getting a job in the USA, hurdling around him to discuss natural farming.
“My parents and relatives and most of my friends were very happy with my job. But my heart remained in farming,” he said. “Moreover, whenever I would come back to my village, there were youngsters who kept asking me if I could find a job for them in the US,” he said.“They were ready to leave their village in search of a job but they were surprised when I came back to my native place and opted to become a farmer. Later, they also supported my experiments on paddy to produce greater quality in the fields,” he added.