In the era of house-sitters and pet-sitters, a quieter but equally essential revolution has taken root in India: farm sitting. For farmers who practice natural methods but cannot leave their land untended, a new breed of wanderer has emerged to cover for them so they can finally take a holiday.
At the forefront of this unique vocation is Urmila Krishnan, a 21-year-old (as of 2019) who has turned managing other people’s farmland into a way of life .
From Gap Year to Green Thumb
Urmila’s journey into the soil began by chance during a gap year from college in 2017. She landed at Solitude, a six-acre farm in Auroville, Puducherry, where she immersed herself in natural farming and Permaculture techniques .
“I love working with soil. I have grown roots and am grounded,” she says of her transformation .
Her education did not stop at the border of the farm. She traveled to the arid interiors of Madhya Pradesh for a reforestation project, where she worked long hours in 50°C heat, planting saplings alongside children from a local ashram school. Later, a trip to Kainchi Dham in the Himalayas further altered her perspective on community and identity .
What Does a Farm Sitter Do?
The job title is self-explanatory but demanding. When organic farmers need a break to travel—whether to Canada or across India—Urmila steps in.
“I cover for farmers so they can go on holiday,” she explains.
Her duties are not just about watering plants. At Karuna Dham in the forests of Kodaikanal, she worked on Prayogshala, a project transforming a conventional banana farm into a natural farm using Permaculture principles . Her goal is deeply rooted: “One of the most important visions…is to help local farmers get out of the vicious cycle of using chemicals, which not only affects the soil but also the produce and the consumer,” she says .
A Life Stripped of Convenience
Choosing this path meant stepping away from a sheltered background entirely. Urmila, whose father is a dentist, has lived in container houses where her bed would get wet when it rained and her room would fill with water. She has used compost toilets and faced the heat of remote villages where child marriage and caste systems are still practiced .
“This life pushes you to the limit. You feel you will burst into tears but these are challenges and you deal with it,” she told The Hindu .
Urmila has also embraced a gender-neutral style, dressing in a lungi and turban, explaining that it gives her the “required freedom of identity” .
‘The Only Option is to Save the Soil’
For Urmila, farm sitting is not just a nomadic job; it is a philosophy. Having discovered a community of men and women living close to nature, she defines wealth not by bank balances but by experience.
“We farm hands may be pretty broke materially but we are rich in experience. This is how people should measure wealth,” she concludes .
At a time when the exodus from agriculture is a national concern, farm sitters like Urmila offer a counter-narrative: one where the youth are not running away from the land, but running toward it—even if it belongs to someone else.
