Our story
Meet our members, the group of 8 families that have gathered together to develop this land into into a thriving living natural eco-system
Beena & Viinod
It all started with Beena and Viinod, the founders of Whispering Waters Ecovillage.
They left their city lives in Mumbai, to what eventually became an eco-friendly homestay in Vasunde village, called Banyan Bliss.
They bought the land in 2007 to build a weekend home for the family. But when Viinod suffered a heart attack, they decided to change their way of living - away from 18 hour work days, stressful and needlessly busy lives - and made the land their permanent home. One day their children asked them to put up the property as a homestay and that it became.
Running the eco-conscious homestay since 20xx, working through conscious architecture practices, food forests, regenerative spaces, they decided to jump into their next endeavour of building a community eco-village - creating an opportunity to be truly sustainable and working along with like minded and passionate nature lovers to make a dream into reality.
For this a beautiful piece of land was acquired, set in pristine nature adjoining Dokshet lake. The process began to create a community and eco-movement that recognised that people are not separate from nature. This community would work together to protect natural resources, promote biodiversity, have shared ideals and values, work for the good of the community and also commercially share the benefits of social enterprises and community programs and share the profit.
A 3KW solar power system setup for pumping water for our plants.
Over 2000 plants & trees planted, swales, trenches and ponds dug for water retention, composting and mulching.
A well for tapping groundwater was constructed.
A beautiful bathroom built with recycled tiles & a care-takers cottage.
Tilling the land to create a yearly harvest ofrice and vegetables.
A cobb oven for cooking pizzas and baked items.
Community meetings to plan and make decisions well as investing in learning more about sustainability and permaculture.
Plans laid out and construction started for the building of the community centre, guest stays and event spaces.
Our journey so far
It all began in August 2021 when our community planted the very first tree for the food forest. (Pictures below with MONTH and YEAR on it to show progression over the years
Meet our community members
Neha & Siddharth
Neha and Sid currently work in marketing in Sydney, Australia and have a keen interest in living a simple and sustainable life. Their love for travelling has given them an appreciation for nature and inspired them to have a future life away from cities immersed in nature.
What inspired me to join WW?
Neha: Despite spending much of my childhood in Delhi, nature was always close to me in the green sprawl of army cantonment life, and Ialways felt an inherent pull to it. Later, seeing theage old connections and harmony people hadwith nature when traveling, it reiterated mypassion to respect, protect and create a symbiotic relationship with that which hasalways given unconditionally. And Whispering Waters gives me the life to do that.
Sid: Seeing my parents Beena and Viinod uproot their city life in Mumbai and move to Banyan Bliss, and experiencing the joys of a simple life immersed in nature made it clear that the modern day-to-day rat race and crowded city life was not fulfilling. Besides this I witnessed how this barren land was transformed into a home and a spot where people longed to spend weekends and escape city life and I saw WhisperingWaters as a similar home. The ideal part of being part of a community like this is the support and solidarity to work towards this together.
What excites me about WW?
Neha: Living in nature, land conservation and regeneration, permaculture, composting, bee keeping and a herbal tea garden.
Sid: Learning more about nature, hiking nearby mountains and trails, working remotely in nature, preserving natural habitats and co-existing with plant and animal life.
Mayur & Pinali
Mayur and Pinali re-settled in Mumbai after spending a few years in London. The primary reason to comeback to India was to reconnect with their roots, people and culture. Being socially active, they yearn for new connections, prefer community living and desire a natural, healthy lifestyle. Mayur holds an engineering degree and is a tech professional having worked with multiple MNCs in the corporate world. Pinali is a commerce professional, currently working as a teacher inspiring primary students to excel in Mathematics. She is passionate about health, wellness and considers nature as the finest source of medicine and cure.
What inspired me to join WW?
Mayur: Nature is how I spell GOD. When I visited Whispering Waters for the first time, I was sure that this place was the closest that I can get to nature in this life. On the other hand, I saw the opportunity to make new friends with the community of wonderful people I met.
Pinali: When I was at Whispering Waters, I witnessed mountains on the horizon, a stream flowing through it and a lake on its edges. Being a poet-at-heart, my thoughts already composed a rhyme and I felt at the best of my health. The happy feeling was "I can finally grow my own food!"
What excites me about WW?
Mayur: With the Community at Whispering Waters, I see an excellent "opportunity to give" and serve Nature. I feel a sense of purpose and it is slowly, but surely becoming my primary source of happiness and fulfilment.
Pinali: Whispering Waters provides me an opportunity to learn, gain immense knowledge from such a diverse community of people who are best in their own subjects. It provides me a platform to create awareness about natural foods, medicines and healing techniques in my own special way.
Rajen & Jigna
Rajen and Jigna are a typical Mumbai family living with their parents & daughter. Into their 40's they both lean towards a simpler and low impact lifestyle. While they have mid-life obligations of work, kid, parents and of course the Gujarati social commitments constantly surrounding them, WW gives them a welcome respite to be in an environment they love to get their hands dirty on! In real life, Rajen is an electrical engineer by profession working to improve reliability and safety ofmission critical power networks through his award winning company Efficienergi, while Jigna juggles her role as a homemaker and founder of a fledgling eco-printing enterprise.
What inspired me to join WW?
Rajen: While a small para won't do justice to this question, a simple answer would bethat we had a vision and a dream which was similar in shape and form much before weever knew about WW. This made our decision to join WW much easier.
Jigna: It has been due to my husband's deep passion towards a concept such as WW. While I also enjoy being in nature and living sustainably that was the main reason along with the fact that our friends were also together in the journey.
What excites me about WW?
Rajen: Topmost is the fact that all of the idealistic dreams I had about a model way of living keeping nature & sustainability at its core, surrounded by like-minded people, is now a possibility. And the hope to inspire many who are lost in the quagmire of the urban concrete jungle life & yearn to do something similar & ultimately make a significant impact to this wonderful planet of ours.
Jigna: The community & the learning it offers me as an individual as well as being closer to nature & family along with, is always exciting. Further, being a creative person atheart, the immense possibilities that WW presents to experiment with truly sustainableart of various forms is something I am also very excited about.
Lata & Venkat
Lata and Venkat are both passionate about giving, whether it be through teaching or nature. Having lived in various cities of India and with a few stints abroad, they have now decided to make a home in the lap of nature. Venkat, a corporate professional, has been part of senior leadership teams in several companies globally. Lata is a homemaker, with an interest in holistic healing, yoga and meditation. She has had agreen thumb from childhood and has continued with that passion throughout.
What inspired me to join WW?
Lata: For me my dream home was a cosy house amidst nature, surrounded by trees big and small, cultivating my own food and living a simple life. And WW is an answer to that dream and the added bonus is a community with the same passion!
Venkat: I have worked with farmers in Kurnool district of AP for cultivation of chilies and other plants and in the process developed a passion towards permaculture and organic farming. The WW community share the same passion and Beena and Vinod inspire me with their way of life.
What excites me about WW?
Lata: The fulfilment of my dream, an opportunity to 'give', 'grow' in terms of knowledge and experiences with nature and living a sustainable way of life.
Venkat: Watching flowers bloom and fruits growing on the trees we have planted.And also the thought of eating mangoes, jamuns and other fruits fresh off the trees and cultivating most of the food we eat.
Alice & Rajesh
Alice and Rajesh are empty nesters who live inPanvel Navi Mumbai. Rajesh is an HR consultantspecialising in Learning & Development,Developmental coaching and HR Technology; whileAlice is a homemaker who's passionate aboutgrowing & cooking chemical free healthy food forher family. All thing nature have a special place inher heart & she is awestruck by the natural world &its Creator and daily finds more reasons to be so.
What inspired me to join WW?
Rajesh: Alice's passion, my project. The inspiration isnothing more than to see the joy on my wife's faceas she works on the land and pursues her passion.
Alice: I deeply desired to have a house with a little bit of space around it where I couldgrown enough food for my family to eat healthy and I could indulge my new foundand growing love for organic kitchen gardening. On our search for a decent sized plotwhere these dreams could be fulfilled, we met Anushree who pointed us to Viinod andBeena Nair. On hearing their vision for WW, it felt like I would be part of something thatexponentially larger than what I had imagined for my family. I was hooked :-) :-)
What excites me about about WW?
Rajesh: The opportunity to make a dent and a difference, however small, in helpingour earth recover from the destruction we humans, however well-intentioned, haveheaped upon it.
Alice: Seeing land that had been left alone for an unknown duration, overgrown withthickets of weeds, being gradually transformed into one where water is allowed toseep into the ground, soil and water is not washed away, becoming a place where thebutterflies, the birds have begun visiting is very exciting. The progressive developmentof an ecosystem, with more elements joining in is also heartwarming to watch! Theicing on the cake is that soon I will live there !!
Mayur & Ankita
Mayur and Ankita are both engineers and work inPune in the manufacturing industry. They are explorers and enjoy being close to nature in all forms.
What inspired me to join WW?
Ankita: Almost five years back, for the first time we experienced the homestay 'Banyan Bliss'. Since then Viinod & Beena were my inspirations to live a simple life close to nature & with the local community to create a difference. While looking for like minded people to start this journey, I found WW. I wish to have a lifestyle at WW which is innate, full of experiences being close to nature. The aim of WW to be self sufficient in all the aspects of life, following natural practices, inspires me the most.
Mayur: At WW, I am always close to nature - I can go swimming in the lake in evening, admire the beauty of dark sky as night falls & trek to the waterfalls that we have nearby. I believe growing own food is a life-skill that everyone should learn; I'm taking my classes at WW. Also, I'm excited to be a part of the the diverse community at WW, there is always something to learn from everyone here.
What excites me about WW?
Ankita: Being outdoors, learning new skills (permaculture, sustainable architecture),keep experimenting (composting, brewing, forest foods), knowing the local community.
Mayur: Being a scientist, WW is the best laboratory for my DIY experiments. In a village you have to identify unconventional resources and solutions to problems, so 'jugaad' comes handy.
Our permaculture team
Anushree & Ankan
The permaculture designer and landscape architect duo met at and completed theirMasters in Landscape Architecture from CEPT,Ahmedabad. While wild and edible landscapes are Anushree's design forte, Ankan brings his sense of wonder by sharing his love for birds, insects and orchids through his lenses and amazing captures.
Their design practice in landscape and permaculture design ranges from residential landscapes, schools, resorts, community farms, farm house designs, where they earnestly bring in the wild element as an important node, balancing it well with the utilitarian requirements of the project. Their diverse approach to their work makes their sites an interesting niche not just for humans, but also all kinds of birds, bees and all other beings in the landscape, happy to coexist with each other.
Water harvesting, soil conservation, biodiversity studies are few of the important design practices that form a core of their process. Occasionally they also delve into their first love - architecture design for small scale structures in their projects. Art forms an equally important expression of their creativity and each has their own style of artworks with different media for paintings, murals and crafts.
Their work has been presented across multiple platforms and forums and published. While Anushree is a nascent yoga practitioner, Ankan loves his morning cycling and treks. Home composting, growing something edible in smallest of the spaces, making homemade cleansers, upcycling waste etc. are an extension of their philosophy in their personal life. Both love birding trips! Follow them on Instagram: @anushree_la and @ankanpmandal_sketch