The founder of an award-winning organic farm in Hassan, Karnataka, Hema Ananth earns lakhs through a unique farm-to-folk model. But she is far more famous for her ‘Shop without a Shopkeeper’ that runs entirely on goodwill and trust.
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For the last 10 years, Hema Anant’s daily routine has remained unaltered. At the break of dawn, while her husband is sound asleep, she travels 11 kilometres to her farm in Gowripura village, near Hassan district, Karnataka. There, she assists farm labourers (whom she refers to as co-workers) in milking 50 litres of milk from 20 odd cows. Taking the fresh and unadulterated milk, she heads back home in Hassan and puts the milk outside her house for her customers.
The 56-year-old has neither kept any staff nor fixed a CCTV camera to ensure people are paying for the milk and not stealing it. An hour later, she goes to the stall and takes…