Meet Roli Thapar (11142), a woman connected to the earth, finding comfort and purpose in her close relationship with nature through farming and sustainable living.
Roli’s journey has been one of transformation. Armed with an MBA, a PhD in HR, and a degree in data science-based learning, she initially worked with MNCs in her early career and then as a guest faculty teacher at Amity University.
Roli shifted her focus to farming during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seeing her passion, her family invested in half an acre of land along the Yamuna flood banks in 2021.
This decision was not only about producing food, but also contributing to the ecosystem. Roli saw the flood banks as the lungs of Noida, protecting humans against calamities, with good soil for farming.
For Roli, farming is not just a pastime; it’s a commitment to a cause. As a first-generation farmer, her family is involved. “While my spouse & daughter support my endeavour, my in-laws actually bring back trees for planting from their travels!”
Practising permaculture for ecosystem balance, Roli spends three to four hours, a few times a week, at her farm, where she works alongside a part-time helper, growing native trees like arjuna, jamun, golar, and sheesham and vegetables using open-pollinated seeds, producing broccoli, beets, carrots, squash, potatoes, peas, and flaxseed.
Roli finds strength in manual labour and takes pride in her journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle. She finds joy in seeing plants and bees thrive and, in her words, loves to see how flax/ fennel seeds grow at her farm.
Roli’s dedication to a sustainable lifestyle extends beyond farming as she has been composting since 2019 and has used compost for the trees outside ATS on Janpath Road.
Roli is also a champion of waste reduction. By composting wet waste and recycling dry waste, she and almost 100 ATS residents have saved an impressive 18 metric tons of waste from landfills since January 2022.
Every Monday, waste is collected by the Green Dream Foundation, from ATS residents.
Despite the ecological challenges, especially the floods that devastated 90% of her farmland trees and plants, Roli remains optimistic. She believes education and awareness are key, particularly for the younger generation.
Her daughter, a student at Shiv Nadar in 8th grade, is a testament to this belief.
In a world where convenience often comes at the expense of the environment, Roli advocates for a change in mindset among the older generation. She believes that with time and knowledge, people can make a difference.
As she continues her journey as an urban farmer, Roli finds fulfilment in the simple pleasures of life and hopes for a more sustainable future for generations to come.
