Kritika Batra and Ayush Saran came to Fort Kochi on their honeymoon in 2017 and just stayed on. They asked for their belongings to be sent across from Mumbai and quickly set up home here.
Though the two had visited the city a couple of times before and had a unique 11-day tryst in 2016, it was on their honeymoon that they discovered purpose and decided to live here.
The decision had to do with their lifestyle, which is about mindfulness, slow travel and keeping calm.
“We are globetrotters but for the last eight years we have lived in different parts of India in different cities. Kochi is part of our journey,” says Kritika sitting on the couch of their bright and sunny stor
The calm mantra
Kritika runs a travel service Wanderbug that curates customised travels. Ayush is from the IT field and specialises in interactive design. The products he designs, a combination of art and technology, are retailed under the Kingdom of Calm label.
Beyond the artistic and cheerful vibes of their products and store is a lifestyle philosophy that the duo practices. “The key to us is that we spread the message of mindfulness and calm . Whatever we make, whether it be a travel itinerary or a product for the store it will remind the person to be calm, that things are fine. All is well.”
Ayush talks gently of their guiding principle. He says, “I define my philosophy thus: ‘not the absence of chaos but the ability to deal with it is calm’. This is fundamental even in my design.”
His sketch of the Buddha, a symbol of peace, is surrounded by chaotic images.
“This is the sixth year of running Kingdom of Calm. I ran it online for five years but now we have a store and we are offline. We need to detoxify digitally.”
Kritika and Ayush met on a beach in Goa and began their ventures in 2011. They lived in Mumbai for a couple of years before they moved to Pune. There too they changed residence moving from the hip part to one closer to the mountains, for the sake of calm. After they got married in 2016, they moved into their apartment which they got as a gift and felt that it was the end of their journeys.
“But we had not come to Kochi, yet...” says a beaming Kritika.
On their honeymoon, in Kochi, in December 2017, the two were swept away by the spirit of the season and while helping their friends at a café, waiting tables and attending to guests, the two sensed a purpose for their being here.
“We don’t have desk jobs, we do our work from anywhere and hence this idea dawned on us. We are adventurous and instinctive, we felt this was the place we could live and love. We really believe it is the magic of Kochi that things have worked out for us.”
At the heart of Ayush’s retail idea is therapy. He believes in keeping prices low so that every walk-in can pick up and take back a small curio and experience the joy of owning something distinctive, however small. There are things for ₹ 50, the costliest item is the hoodie for ₹ 1,000.
His products— key chains, paper wallets, bookmarks, prayer flags, t-shirts (for infants made of organic fabric from Tirupur), book marks, wooden spoons and forks, badges and such— are playful, stamped with his design philosophy.
Kritika’s travel ethos comes from the need for less materialism and a passion for experiencing cultures. Combining the two she realised that there was a market for destinations that promoted her philosophy. In 2012, when she began, she says, the concept was new.
“I always look for secret places in India...places that will blow one’s mind.” So she seeks out independently-run boutiques properties, well-done home stays and mindful ecological properties.
“My speciality is in finding these beautiful places to stay across India The USP is that I have been to these places myself and experienced them,” says Kritika who has a big clientèle of solo women travellers.
The two have now settled into their lives in Fort Kochi. While Kritika is learning Malayalam, Ayush seems most at home creating and retailing his products to the stream of visitors who step into their cosy little kingdom of calm.
