FARM TO FACE

Unhindered by the rapid industrialisation of the state, the RAS Luxury Farms in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, celebrates natur in its truest form, much like its skincare products.

- BAYAR JAIN

RUNNING ACROSS THE massive airport in New Delhi at seven in the morning isn’t the ideal way to kick-start a two-day detox vacation. Then again, my destination, Raipur, isn’t exactly considered a wellness hotspot. Little do I know that I’m in for a relaxing surprise.

After a short drive from the Swami Vivekananda Airport, I find myself surrounded by bright yellow calendulas and towering palm trees. The RAS farms—my two-day pill for a city detox—looks cheery. As I inhale the crisp fresh air, Shubhika Jain, Founder of RAS Luxuries Pvt Ltd, greets me—as merrily as the flowers around us. Her mother and co-founder, Sangeeta Jain, and her younger sister, Suramya, exudes the same warmth. Embracing me in heartfelt hugs, they hand me a fresh coconut with a bamboo straw to jumpstart the rejuvenation. Instantly, I know that both, sustainability and wellness, will make appearances throughout my stay.

Proving my hunch right, Shubhika explains how RAS strives and succeeds in being fully organic, and au naturel. This ‘farm to face’ venture—first of its kind in the country—imbibes a vertically integrated process where cultivation, harvesting, extraction, and research take place in-house, she elaborates. A look around the sprawling greens corroborates this. There are fields of chamomile flowers interspersed with amaranth blooms, each shadowed by palm trees and dotted with butterflies. As with every farm experience, though, a full stomach is ideal to get on with the day’s work.