What does it take to leave behind the noise, the rush, and the endless grind of city life, and choose instead the steady pulse of the land? For Neil and Momo, this was not just a question. It was a calling.

Located in the misty hills of Mahabaleshwar, their farm is a world apart from the hectic streets and towering offices they once knew. Here, mornings begin with the soft chorus of birdsong, not honking traffic. Days are shaped by the rising sun, the turning seasons, and the hands-on work of tending soil, trees, and animals. It is in this rugged beauty that Swapnil Rao and Mrunmayee Deshpande Rao, known to most as Neil and Momo, chose to build a new kind of life.

Neil’s path to this life began with a rigorous education in engineering, followed by business management. His city years were filled with building startups and strategic growth. “I was chasing success, but somehow I felt disconnected from people, purpose, and the world around me,” he tells The Better India.

On the other hand, Momo’s upbringing in Pune was woven with the colourful threads of art and culture. From childhood, she indulged in the world of theatre and film, pouring her heart into performances that captivated audiences and brought stories to life. Her success as an actor and director in the Marathi industry brought her recognition and the thrill of creative expression.

But beneath the applause and the bright lights, she felt a yearning that went beyond the stage. The fast pace of the entertainment world, with its relentless schedules and endless demands, left little room for stillness or introspection. She longed for a life uncluttered by noise, where she could find space to breathe freely and reconnect with something more enduring and true.

“It was not that I wanted to leave my passion behind,” she reflects, “but I needed to find balance, a life where creativity could flow naturally, alongside peace and simplicity.”

A meeting of minds (and hearts) online

Neil and Momo’s meeting in 2015, through a matrimonial website, brought these shared longings into focus. “We realised we wanted something different,” Momo recalls. “A life that was slower, more meaningful, and strongly connected to the earth.”

So, they made the daring decision to walk away from the noise and pace of city life, not to escape, but to live in nature’s lap. The choice to move to the hills was not romanticised; it was the result of constant questioning, reflection, and a desire to reconnect with something real. Life on the land came with its share of challenges, like erratic weather, unfamiliar terrain, and the unrelenting demands of farm work. But each day brought them closer to understanding what they were looking for in this new way of life.

By 2019, those questions had become a clear vision. But they knew that desire alone was not enough. Neil enrolled in formal permaculture training, immersing himself in the principles of regenerative agriculture, learning how to design systems that restore soil health, conserve water, and support biodiversity.

Alongside this, the couple chose to live and work on farms run by friends and mentors, spending time in different rural settings to observe, ask questions, and understand the realities of land-based living. They took their time researching, listening, and learning at every step.

Choosing a broken piece of land on purpose

In 2020, they finally took the leap and sold everything they had in Mumbai and purchased a piece of land in Malusar, a small village tucked in monsoon-fed hills of Mahabaleshwar. But the land they chose was not a picture-perfect plot; it was barren in places, stripped of nutrients, and in need of healing. That is exactly why they chose it.

“We spent the whole of 2021 just observing,” the couple explains. “In the first year of shifting to the land, you are not supposed to touch anything; you just watch, listen, and try to understand what the land needs.”

In 2022, they built a small one-room studio on the farm and began the work of establishing their food forest. “We wanted to move in quickly, so the house was designed to be simple but very scientific,” explains Neil. “Its alignment is east-west, which allows us to make the most of the natural wind flow to keep it cool.”

The materials they chose were rooted in the local landscape. “There is no plaster on the outside; the walls are made of laterite, a native Mahabaleshwar stone. Inside, we avoided cement completely and used lime instead. We built the entire house ourselves, just the two of us, with our own hands,” says Momo.

Their home is entirely solar-powered. “We are net zero in terms of electricity,” they explain. “It is a tiny house, so it does not take up too much space, and everything was designed using passive solar principles,” she adds.

Rainwater harvesting plays a crucial role. “All the runoff from the roof is captured and stored in tanks, then........

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