How a 100-year-old Naga Sadhu inspired a young boy to Startup

Guru Maharaj with Swapnil Shrivastava

100 years old Naga Sadhu inspires this boy to take up Organic Farming
Thousands of Startup stories exist in India. But this one is a first-of-its-kind. While you may have heard about mentors, coaches and evangelists, who help startups to succeed; this real story finds its roots in the villages of Madhya Pradesh. Back in 2013 this young boy in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh, could have celebrated on passing his 12th Standard Board exams. Before taking his next step for future, he visited the ashram of his Guru- "Shri Shri 1008 Shri Dada Dharam Dhurandhar Daas Mahatyagi Maharaj Ji" of Digamber Akhada of Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Never in his life could he have thought about this exact moment when meeting his Guru Maharaj would gift his life a new vision.

NEW SPARKS IN A YOUNG MIND
It's here in this ashram that young Swapnil requested blessings and guidance. Guru Maharaj ji pondered for a few moments and expressed about people's problems that he encountered while travelling all across India for the past 80+ years. On top of all issues were the plight of hard-working farmers of our country. Although they are called as "ANNDAATA" in India, but the issues concerning them lay unaddressed and are growing.

As a curious youngster Swapnil went on to ask so many in-depth questions and gained consciousness about the gravity and seriousness of issues related to farming, agriculture, health and eating habits of our citizens. This discussion brought an upside-down change in his world and now he was ready to see this world with a new lens. What happened ahead will give more inspiration to all those youngsters and changemakers who aspire to devote themselves for the benefit of society. Let's hear about the journey, right from Mr. Swapnil Shrivastava.

FROM VILLAGES TO STARTUP
"Gives me immense pleasure to share that the inspiration to start Organic MP, comes from an extraordinary vision of the highly respected Guru Maharaj ji of Narsinghpur, MP.

I feel blessed to gain knowledge from the sea of his wisdom and it's him, who taught me the importance of our Indian culture that pays highest respect to our farmers, also called as "Anndaata" in our country. His teachings are the sole reason why I undertook grassroots level research, right in 2013 to uncover the real issues of agriculture and the farming community.

I did extensive travelling across so many villages of MP and saw how farmers never got the fair price for their own produce. Arranging logistics and storage was another unsolved issue. But bigger issues were awaiting me.

From 2015 to 2017, I met a lot of researchers, horticulturists and consultants who revealed about alarming issues like:

● Depleting water table
● Soil Infertility due to high usage of harmful chemicals
● Lack of Market Access
● Absence of research facilities
● No knowledge about new methods of farming

And so many more issues.

So, I made this decision to dedicate myself to supporting farmers with a one-stop solution. Right after receiving my Post Graduation from EDII-Gandhinagar in June, 2018, I came back to my hometown to make Guruji's vision a reality.

In August, 2018 we laid the foundation of Organic MP to promote organic farming as the foremost solution to solving all the on-ground issues faced by the farmers community.

With a team that's available 24'7 and 365 days, we are reaching to as many farmers as possible and making them self-reliant through the model of co-operatives and assisting them in supplying their organic produce to different countries.

Our organisation is committed to supporting over 1,000 farmers by 2023. Since day one, we believe in a simple mantra: "It all starts from small changes that become bigger with time. So, let's start wherever we are, with whatever resources we have"."

STAND UP TO START UP
Well now it seems, every reader must have received oodles of inspiration from this story of Mr. Swapnil Shrivastava, Founder of Organic MP. And he has rightly proven that famous saying, "The real talent comes from the gaons and gullies of India."

To learn more about Organic MP and Mr. Swapnil Shrivastava, you can reach out to them on:
Contact No.: +91 9713374455,9713364455
Website: https://organicmp.com
Email id.: contact@organicmp.com