On a busy stretch of road in suburban Mumbai lies a patch of land that’s secluded yet familiar to most residents of Chembur Postal Colony. This writer faced some trouble finding the exact location, but after asking a few local shop owners, we were shown the way to the lush farm.

Dhanraj Chauhan, 27, who is studying to appear for the MPSC exam, is the owner. “This property has been around since 1935 and I’m the third generation in my family to be working on it,” he says. His grandfather, followed by his father and now him, along with his cousins, all contribute to its upkeep. Chauhan usually sticks to vegetables that take around a month to grow. His produce includes spinach, fenugreek, radish, chavli (black-eyed bean) and lal chavli (red kidney bean/lobia).