Everything Organic About This 'Industrial Ashram'

Hindustan Times,
April 18, 2003
Pankaj Jaiswal
Chinhat (Lucknow)

ALL THE walls are painted in geru. Bhajans and shlokas waft through the speakers mounted even on outer walls. The entire place has fragrance of Tulsi and Ashwagandha.

There are two temples on the premises though it's no ashram in the real' sense, but an 'industrial ashram' headed by some foreigners, from Israel, Germany and USA. It is a company launched last year that makes herbal medicines. All its medicines have their raw material organically grown.

The concept of non-vegetarianism is so extreme here that it became the first company in India to sell its medicines in 'vegetarian' (cellulose) capsules. All other capsules in the market are of gelatin, an animal product.

This is first herbal-organic industry in India that has got Codex Alimentations HACCP compliant SGS certification (just about ten organizations in India have this certification so far, that is mandatory under the new WTO regime).

This is ORGANIC INDIA, located 13 kms from the heart of Lucknow. Yoav Lev, the President of the company Indo Israel Trading Corporation (IITC) ORGANIC INDIA Pvt. Ltd., is an Israeli who came here more than a decade back searching for moksha (liberation) under Punjaji, a spiritual leader. He fell in love with Ayurveda, became an Indophile, and took an Indian name for himself - Bharat Mitra.

But why the temples, bhajans, shlokas? "By this we simulate the kind of atmosphere in which rishis /yogis used to make medicines. We work in such a manner to preserve shakti and prana of herbs," he said.

The company has five products in the market so far - Tulsi Tea, Women's Well-Being, Flexibility, Immunity and Liver - Kidney Care. They are from the total 23 formulas that the company has, all of which have been developed by a Lucknow doctor Narendra Singh.

For the raw material the company enters into contract with farmers. Under the contract farming has to be done accord ing to the company's standards. In return the farmer gets buy-back guarantee at high rates. Through the same farmers the company has plans to bring organic food too.

Mitra's dream is to "position India globally in herbal medicine, to provide dignity to the wisdom of ayurveda."