My name is Anay Tripathi. I am passionate about music, graphic designing, and photography. I was born in Gorakhpur, brought up in Delhi NCR, pursued engineering, and worked with TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) for three years. I quit because I wanted to move out of the digital web and into a world where I could have real-life interactions with people and nature.

I am someone who profoundly believes in the lines from the novel, The Alchemist: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

My Entrepreneurial Journey – Anay Tripathi

My entrepreneurial journey started to save a rare, ancient, and aromatic variety of rice called Kalanamak rice from extinction. This rice was once the most popular and prestigious rice of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and my grandfather’s and my father’s favorite.

It so happened that one day my grandfather was sharing his childhood memories when the topic of Kalanamak rice came up. He told me how excellent, aromatic and palatable this rice was and how he witnessed the decline of this rice during his lifetime. It aroused my interest, and I started researching this rice. 

To my surprise, I discovered that this wasn’t just any ordinary rice but rice blessed by Lord Buddha. Even today, it still grows in the area that was the ancient Kapilvastu. I took it upon myself to do whatever was in my power to revive this rice. Though it seemed impossible to do it all by myself, I still wanted to do whatever little I could.

I arranged for seeds and tied up with a few farmers in Siddharth Nagar who were willing to grow this rice.

Anay Tripathi – Founder Buddha Rice

I created a firm called Pali Farms and branded the rice as Buddha Rice. I chose the name “Pali” because it was the ancient language used during the Buddhist era. I ordered good-quality pouches, designed the stickers for the product, and made 1kg of rice packs. I got all the licenses in order and signed up on Amazon as a seller. As the product went live on Amazon, I wondered if I’d ever get an order and would anyone even search for this rare rice variety online. 

And to my surprise, I got my first order in 15 mins of it going live, and that too from Bangalore. It was a moment of divine joy that I can’t forget.

I have been receiving orders from all over India since then. I also then created a Wikipedia page for this rice with all the information and pictures as there was no reliable source of information that existed till then.  

I was invited by Shri Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, to his office in Lucknow in 2019, where he complimented me for my work on Kalanamak Rice and discussed how the Government could make policies to promote this rare rice variety.

I was sent to a couple of exhibitions by the UP Govt including India International Trade Fair 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

ABOUT THE RICE

Buddha Rice is a rare, ancient, and aromatic rice variety from the land of Land Buddha: Kapilvastu (currently Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India). The aroma of this rice is said to be a gift of Lord Buddha.

Popularly known as Kalanamak Rice in Northern India, it is one of India’s rarest scented kinds of rice with its distinctive short grain and unique black husk, which derives its name (‘Kala’ in the Hindi language means black).

Kalanamak Rice was awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2013 to define its minimal geographical area of origin stretching roughly 64 km along the Indo-Nepal border.

Pali farms crop of Kalanamak Rice

The Glycemic Index (GI), a relative ranking of carbohydrates in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels, is 50 for Kalanamak rice, making it Diabetes-friendly rice. Foods with a low GI value (55 or less) are more slowly digested, absorbed, and metabolized, causing a lower and slower rise in blood glucose.

Amylose content in Kalanamak rice is around 20% compared to 24% basmati which makes cooked Kalanamak soft and fluffy. Higher Amylose content tends to make the rice firm and dry when cooked.

Kalanamak rice is sweet. It is also rich in nutrients like Zinc and Iron. Regular intake of this rice is said to prevent Alzheimer’s disease in old age.

Kalanamak rice’s cultivation dates back to 600 BC, and grains similar to Kalanamak rice have been excavated at Aligarhwa, Siddharthnagar – identified as the territory of Buddha’s father, King Shuddodhan.

Fa-Hsein, a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to Ancient India to acquire Buddhist texts during the 5th Century BC, notes in his travelogues about Kalanamak rice. According to him, Gautama Buddha visited Kapilvastu for the first time after attaining ‘enlightenment,’ he was stopped by villagers who asked him for ‘prasad.’

Lord Buddha blessed the villagers of Kapilvastu with grains of Kalanamak rice, asking them to sow it in a marshy place. “The rice will have a typical aroma which will always remind people of me,” he said. This rice variety, if sown elsewhere, loses its aroma and quality.

Farmers with Kalanamak Rice at Pali farms

The British East India Company so coveted Kalanamak that they built four reservoirs at Baja, Marathi, Moti, and Majhauli to produce Kalanamak in a large quantity and transported it to England from Uska-Bazar mandi, passing through Dhaka via sea route.

Due to the increasing demand for Kalanamak rice, they later captured the land around Kapilvastu and established Birdpur and Alidapur states for Kalanamak rice production. After independence, the Uska-Bazar mandi became nonfunctional due to negligence. It led to a fall in the production of Kalanamak rice, and it became the famously lost rice of India.

SUPERFOOD LATTES

Many people often told me that I didn’t have a brand. I just had a product, and that I should have a range of products to build a brand. So then I started searching for the following product. I didn’t want to offer products that everyone was already selling.

So one day, I read an article in The Guardian regarding how Turmeric Latte was the new buzz in the US, Europe, and Australia. It was voted as the “drink of choice” in France. I had no idea what Turmeric Latte was, so I started searching the recipe for this drink. I was shocked to realize that it was the “haldi doodh” that my grandmother made us have when we were kids. 

I was convinced that this had to be my following product. I experimented for three months with all the spices and ayurvedic herbs, mixing them in different ratios and getting a decent-tasting concoction. I used my family members as guinea pigs to identify the best combination. Everyone got so petrified whenever I was in the kitchen doing my experiments that they used to lock the rooms pretending that they were asleep. 

Work at pali farms

Finally, three months later, I came up with a fantastic combination of Turmeric, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Ashwagandha, and Liquorice which was decent in taste. I finalized this recipe because it had a beautiful color, the incredible fragrance of the spices, and a good taste. I then wanted to create similar drinks in a different color. After another three months of experiments, I came up with two more exciting drinks: Beetroot Latte and Spinach Latte.

I listed these products on Amazon in December 2019, but I hardly got any sales. I was busy figuring out how to promote my Latte blends, and then three months later, Covid happened. Immunity boosters and Turmeric Lattes were recommended by everyone and even the Ministry of Ayush. All of a sudden, the Turmeric Latte started selling like hotcakes and became a great commercial success. That is the reason why I am so inspired by the Alchemist quote I mentioned in the beginning.

SPICED JAGGERY

To get new product ideas, I turned to rural areas in and around Gorakhpur. I discovered that this area was also a sugarcane belt, and there were several small jaggery manufacturing setups. When I searched for jaggery online, I realized there were already too many brands selling jaggery. I concentrated on adding nutritional value to jaggery, and the answer was quite apparent to me. 

Add some of the spices that I use in the Latte to jaggery as well. So two flavors of jaggery, i.e., Spiced Jaggery with Ginger–Ashwagandha and Spiced Jaggery with Cardamom–Ashwagandha, were finalized in the next two days.

I tied up with a rural jaggery-making unit in Sukrauli village in Kushinagar district, UP which was 20 km from Gorakhpur. I gave them the raw materials, the recipe and got it made from them.

Pali Farms products Spiced Jaggery

I got an overwhelming response for jaggery online as well as offline. I later came up with another flavor of Jaggery with Cocoa and Cinnamon.

WHAT IS NEXT?

We are now introducing more rice varieties such as Gobindobhog Rice from West Bengal, Black Rice from Manipur, and Komal Rice from Assam. We are also coming up with Sattu, which is a mix of chana and barley flour.

FARMER COLLABORATIONS

We believe in collaborations that benefit not just one person/ organization but everyone associated with it. Most of the items/ingredients are procured through a network of marginal farmers. Buying directly from farmers ensures that we get the highest quality products, and on the other hand, the farmers also get a fair market price as there is no middle man.

We provide training and support to farmers, most of whom are rural smallholders in eastern Uttar Pradesh. We have also employed family members of the farmers for tasks like quality checks and packaging to help them with extra income.

ABOUT PALI FARMS

Pali Farms focuses on delivering Ancient Indian Superfoods that provide holistic and rejuvenating nourishment for the mind and body.

Our vision is to revive the ancient Indian wisdom of traditional foods, herbs & spices, and nutritional habits. We aim to create a completely natural range of products for health-conscious and socially conscientious individuals.

We are inspired by the famous quote by Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” We thrive on devoting the power of nutrition to healing the body and its functions, the mind, and its thoughts.

Team Buddha Rice

Like us on FB, if you find our content interesting: https://www.facebook.com/hatkestoryofficial/

Do you have an interesting incident or experience to share with the world? Write to us, and together we can discuss how to weave your story and present it to the world. Would you mind sending us your story?