"Born and brought up in the smallholder farming community of Yavatmal district in Maharashtra, both Pankaj and I, experienced the struggles of this community since childhood. And these are the struggles that have left deep imprints in our hearts which continue to shape our work today.

I remember as a 12-years old, there was nothing left year after year from our traditional farming business and the loans kept piling up. My family had no choice but to migrate to a different town, where ironically my father worked as a labourer to feed us, despite coming from the community that feeds the world. These memories haunted me till I decided to devote my life to make farming a profitable venture.

Festivals like Diwali brought hopes of new clothes and festivities which would soon be snatched away by the moneylenders’ grabbing of their produce. These hopes remained mere hopes. But now, Pankaj has resolved to transform these hopes into reality not only for himself, but for millions of other farmers by building a system for them where they can rightfully own the harvest that they grow.

It was only after graduation that we met whilst working for Kastkar—a youth movement for advocacy of farmers’ rights. In the 4 years of our extensive work in Yavatmal, we realised that the complex problems of farmers can’t be solved in silos, and a holistic and robust approach is required. Having decided to become partners in life in 2015, we also partnered to sow the seeds of GramHeet in 2020 to cultivate prosperity for all farmers."