Our Story

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your life. The questions you ask yourself or get asked of you drive your focus. Questions have an uncanny ability to help you find your true purpose in life.

Ramaubramanian Thiyagarajan, an IT professional hailing from Tirunelveli, was asked many questions when he signed up as a volunteer for the Vishwa Mangal Gou Gram Yatra in 2009, the largest cow protection movement in India.

Ram signed up as a volunteer, not for religious or political reasons. He had experienced that cows were integral to the cultural, social, and economic life of rural India. Ram believed that cows play a critical role in creating a sustainable lifestyle in rural India.

Given the declining importance of cows, Ram wanted to do his bit and assisted in a signature campaign to prevent cow slaughter. As Ram boarded electric trains around Chennai to collect signatures, he faced a barrage of questions - How can a signature save a cow? Are cows important for India? Ram then had few answers to these questions. But these questions ended up defining Ram's journey for the next few decades.

In a few years, Ram met an individual who would inspire him to find answers to these many questions. Ram met Venkatesh Murthy, the founder of Youth For Seva. That meeting with Venkatesh Murthy ignited the spark within Ram to serve society. Ram was then not sure where to start and what to do. The only thing Ram was clear on was to work with Venkatesh Murthy.

Ram started his journey by volunteering for Youth For Seva. He encouraged his colleagues to contribute school kits to distribute to children in rural India. The IT multinational company that Ram was working for decided to match the contribution of employees.

As Ram spent time distributing the school kits in rural India, he once again got to experience the role of cows in the daily life of Indians. The questions from the electric trains in Chennai were now demanding answers.

Ram thought that if people could experience the benefits of cow products, they would value the animal. He decided to focus on the A2 milk of desi cows, the nutritional value of which was well-proven. A2 milk was then in short supply with a weak distribution chain. Ram partnered with an A2 milk supplier. He would get up at 4 am every morning and distribute the milk before heading to work. In the evening, he would collect the milk bottles, clean them and hand them over to the supplier to refill for the next day. This continued for 6 months.

Consumerism got the better of Ram's efforts. People appreciated the product but did not care for the cows. Ram now realized that he now needed to take people from society to be with cows to realize its value.

Ram again tied up with Youth For Seva and organized a trip to a gou-shala. When he socialized the idea with his peers at the IT multi-national company, he was met with ridicule and skepticism. Not the one to give up easily, Ram organized a meeting of interested volunteers who were ready to go to a gou-shala and plant saplings. No one, including Ram, was expecting a good response. When Ram walked into the meeting room where volunteers were asked to assemble, he was surprised to find the room full of 45+ volunteers. Seeing the enthusiastic response, Ram's company agreed to sponsor a bus to ferry the volunteers to and fro from the gou-shala.

The hundreds of questions hurled at Ram many years ago had now found an answer. Ram went on to start GoPals along with his close friends Keshav Modi and Mukesh Gupta - an organization whose purpose is to create awareness and serve desi cows with the goal of promoting sustainable and eco-friendly living.

GoPals organizes events for families in gou-shalas. It is half a day picnic where families gather at gou-shalas to plant trees, clean the gou-shalas, learn about the different breeds of cows, manufacture products, and play games. The trip ends with a bullock cart ride and flying kites. This way, urban families will appreciate the value of a cow in Indian society. When these families return, they take inspiration from the trip and adopt cow-based products in their daily lives. GoPals has chapters in Gurugram, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mysore, and Hyderabad. GoPals is also working with the farmer's community to spread awareness of natural farming practices that revolve around the desi cow.

The two values that Ram learned from Youth For Seva, which were critical in his journey, were - Take Responsibility and Be Accountable.

Looking ahead, Ram is now grappling with more questions - As cities digitize and become smart, how can India's villages become sustainable?

Ram remembers the words of Mahatma Gandhi - "The soul of India lives in its villages". Ram also remembers Sardar Patel, who was once asked -"What is our culture?". Sardar replied, " I know only one culture, and that is agriculture."

Desi cows are critical for both - sustaining India's soul and culture. How to do this for at least 100 villages is the question Ram is now trying to answer.