Farm in Chennai transforms into a learning centre

Even while working as an innovation consultant in Amsterdam taking home a fat paycheck, Shammy Jacob was longing to return to Chennai and lead a sustainable life. After quitting his corporate job, Shammy along with his wife Charlotte Van’t Klooster and two children shifted their base to Tamil Nadu. Through sheer determination, the duo transformed their three-acre farm in Thalambur into a learning space where they started teaching various topics like design innovation, organic farming methods, and reptile management classes.

“This farmland belongs to my family. So, when we decided to move to Chennai, we wanted to transcend our ideas into the farmland. We understood that this would hold many challenges and growing pains, but we were positive about the output. We started off by planting veggies in a quarter acre and fruit trees in one and a half-acre. We also have eight cows and seven calves and we personally deliver milks to 13 houses in the village. We also have 25 chickens and hope to deliver fresh eggs in a month or so. At the man-made pond on the farm, you can spot 20 ducks,” says Shammy.

After setting up the farm called Jacob & Klooster Farms, the duo transformed the place into a learning centre. “We wanted to make our farm a hub for innovative design, healthy living, personal development, co-working space, and organic farming. We have hosted three global children’s designathon workshops where 120 children worked with us to come up with their ideas on how to achieve some of the UN Sustainability Development Goals. In addition, we organise scientific training on reptile management workshops conducted by herpetologist Gowri Shankar. Our goal is to make our place for adults, children, animals and plants to live, work and learn from one another in harmony. Anyone from the city can visit our farm and learn about agriculture, poultry, farming, etc.,” he tells us.

The husband-wife duo has also partnered with organisations to rejuvenate lakes around Thalambur and Siruseri. After creating awareness on the importance of protecting the lakes, schools and residents staying near the area have started taking responsibility to watch over these natural resources.

Recently, Shammy travelled to north India and during the journey, he understood that we are eating in the wrong sequence. “Most of us follow a wrong eating pattern. In the coming days, I wanted to teach people the right way to cook with local ingredients. This would definitely create a huge impact on our lives,” he says on a parting note.