Jaivik Haat – best organic shop in Delhi!

Like Restore in Chennai or Adi Naturals in Bangalore, one can easily pick the best out of all the good organic shops in a city by applying a few parameters..

For me, it shud be genuinity, conviction, transparency and giving back to the organic movement.. The last one is very important and that brings the social angle and seriousness of one’s involvement in to cleaning the food system- production and consumption end..

That way Jaivik Haat tops the order in Delhi..

I was there last week and am happy I made it..Ashish Gupta also plays an active  role in the organic movement, being an active member of OFAI (organic Farmers Association of India) and so I have a soft corner for him..

He is (also) a farmer himself, trying to pursue more in to farming..he is also a part of a farmers cooperative that has been floated in the upper Himalayas..He wants to plan a ‘krishi ashram’ there which will be model farm of sorts show casing all sustainable practices..

Another of the IT guys in to organic farming:-) So what bug bit him I asked..he said the ‘bugs’ of IT was getting on him and he was not up to the rat race nor the life style imposed..
incidentally he has been scaling his lifestyle down so much and even has done away with the rented house he was living in Delhi..Interestingly when he mooted the idea of Joint family to his parents and in laws they laughed it down..very clearly they have all moved away so much from the old customs and are thinking this is so out of place..

Memory plays such convenient games, that they have even forgotten that it was their generation that lost the joint family, among many other things..No, Ashish didn’t try to argue or convince them..the intelligent operator that he is, he simply did away with his (rental) house and now alternates (living) between his parents and inlaws place..

This shop is in Rohini, middle class outskirts in North west of Delhi..packed with so many housing societies, this area is yet to realize the potential or benefits of Jaivik Haat..
I found his shop vey cute and packed with whole range.. though this shop has lots of ‘branded’ items, that is due to lack of labour availability he claims!  Wish he gets the right people soon and go about selling produce of farmers directly (packed by Jaivik Haat)..
Once that is done and if the locals start understanding the importance of such organic produce and shop, it will be self sustaining and Ashish will be able to pursue his farming interests and help more farmers in the upper Himalayas..

Like most good hearted organic shops across India, he is bleeding- spending his time, energy and money for a passion, for a cause..

Wishing him all the best and hoping he does breaks the shop operation even soon and gets going on his next bigger passion..

Way to go Ashish..we are all with you..