Our Visits to India
Lauren and Chris visit India at least once a year to share time with Pintu and the people we serve. We also take some time to visit sacred places and soak in the holy vibes that are everywhere in this glorious country.
Our Visit to India – 2022
Early in 2022, Baba’s Feed Project Founders Lauren Jayne and Chris Whitehead visited India to spend time with Indian Founder Pintu Kumar and to visit the villages of the people we serve. We also were lucky enough to travel to a number of sacred locations, and to experience Holi, a festival celebrating the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and harvests to come. It’s a joyous holiday, filled with laughter and lots of color.
Here’s a look at some of the things we experienced in India.
Lauren Jayne
Finally made it to Rishikesh. That’s a big item checked off my bucket list! Pintu, Chris and I enjoyed the view looking over the Ganga. Once again, since being in beautiful India, I am fighting back tears of joy.
I have looked longingly at pictures and videos of this area for years. What a pleasure it is to finally be here.
Later, I got to wade in holy Ganga Ma. It was an overwhelmingly sweet moment for me.
A day earlier, delivering kits with Pintu was an amazingly joyful and gut-wrenching experience. I’ve seen hundreds of pics of Pintu delivering kits, but being there in person is a different thing entirely. Wow!
Laxman Juhla, Rishikesh
I finally get to wade in Ganga Ma.
Without the ability to converse, we instantly resorted to the universal language of laughter.
At a temple in Narnaul.
With Pintu’s wife Annu at their home.
Chris Whitehead
What an experience being with Pintu K. Kumar and his family in Raghunathpura, Haryana the past two weeks. They’ve welcomed us into their home with open arms and shown us real life in an Indian village.Thank you, Annu, for your kindness. I’ll miss it very much.
We spent Holi there, and this beautiful art was made with Holi powder by the family in the entryway of Pintu’s home.
Rishikesh is beautiful. I dipped my feet into the Ganga. Am I really here, is this real? Dream come true.
How exciting to be here as Baba’s Feed Project delivered our One Millionth meal! What a huge achievement and it’s all thanks to YOU and all your help and support! We look forward to a million more.
Holi decoration outside Pintu’s home.
With Pintu’s wife, Annu.
Visiting with a street musician in Jaipur.
With village kids after sharing cookies.
At the Ganga, Rishikesh.
Pintu K. Kumar
Pintu’s radiant smile and joyous calls of Ram Ram! say more than words ever could.
As Operations Manager of Baba’s Feed Project, Pintu sources the items for the kits, packs them with his family’s help, and distributes them once a week.
He also works as an independent travel guide, sharing the sacred spots of India with spiritual travelers from around the world.
Pintu is known for his love of taking photographs, and many of the images on this site are his work. He shoots only with his phone camera.
On the day the millionth meal was delivered.
Sharing food and warmth kits with a sadhu.
With Chris, Lauren and Hanuman.
At Vrindavan, on the Yamuna River.
Sunset after millionth meal distribution.
Our Visit to India – 2023
The trip from New Zealand to India is LONG. About 24 hours all up! It starts in my home town of Wellington then to Sydney, Australia, then to Singapore and the last leg to India, so I always arrive extremely exhausted but always so very excited for the trip to come.
The first order of our trip is always to feed people.
We head to Pintu’s home village of Narnaul, Haryana where we help to put together the food kits with Pintus family and wife Annu. Then we load the food kits up and hit the road, to an area always chosen by Pintu as he has identified a spot where we are needed the most at that time.
We are always greeted with happiness and smiles, a little apprehension sometimes from the little ones wondering what all the fuss is about! Firstly, This time we handed out school back packs full of supplies, pens, paper, colouring pens and English-Hindi text books. The children got straight down to business colouring and inspecting their gifts! We handed out food kits to the adults and always they seem to be so happy, relieved that the next weeks meals are sorted for them. I love chatting with the families, thanking them for letting us come into their space.
As a team we normally drop off about 50 kits or more at a time. Pintu organises everything on our visits and also puts a small team together to help him out on a regular basis. I say it many times, my life changed when Neem Karoli baba came into my life and Baba’s Feed Project was born. I don’t know what I was even doing before any of this started!
He said “feed people” so we do our best to feed as many people as donations allow. I can’t wait to visit India again and get right back into the communities that really need help.
All love
Chris
Distributing school kits to the childern
Pintu and the team
Festival of colors and joy with Chris, Lauren and others.
Playing Holi in Narnaul
Meeting people of Narnaul village, Haryana
Alex’s Visit to India – 2025
In 2025, Alex traveled to India to be with the communities Baba’s Feed Project serves — not to observe from a distance, but to participate, listen, and share in the rhythm of daily life. What unfolded was a series of moments that, taken together, revealed the heart of this work.
The journey began in the village of Neem Karori, following a Bhandara that fed more than 1,000 people. After the meal, children gathered nearby — full, smiling, and alive with energy. Their laughter carried through the village, a quiet reminder that nourishment extends beyond food. It creates space for joy, connection, and dignity.
On Hanuman’s day, food was served at the temple in Neem Karori. The atmosphere was both celebratory and reverent. Service and devotion moved together seamlessly — hands offering meals, hearts offering gratitude. There was a deep sense that this was exactly where one was meant to be.
In between these moments of organized seva, there were spontaneous connections — like dancing with a young girl, laughing without sharing a common language, yet understanding one another completely. These small, unscripted moments often carry the greatest meaning.
Time was also spent along the banks of the holy Yamuna River in Vrindavan. Standing there brought stillness. The river, the prayers, the ancient devotion woven into the land — all of it offered perspective. This work is not new. It is part of something much older, carried forward through love and service.
The journey continued into Haryana State, near Pintu’s village, where food was distributed to families. Here, the reality of daily life came into clearer focus. These were not abstract needs or distant statistics, but real people — parents, children, elders — receiving support with grace and humility.
Beyond food, there were days spent distributing clothes, toys, and supplies. But just as important as what was given was the time shared. Sitting together, talking, laughing, and simply being present with the children and families transformed each distribution into something more relational, more human.
One of the most moving moments came when Alex was invited to personally hand out backpacks filled with school supplies. Watching children receive them — holding them close, already imagining what they would carry inside — was a powerful reminder that education is hope in motion. Each backpack represented possibility.
This journey was not about witnessing charity. It was about participating in community. It reaffirmed that Baba’s Feed Project is built not only on providing food, clothing, and resources, but on showing up — consistently, humbly, and with love.
The work continues because of the people who believe in it, support it, and carry it forward — one shared moment at a time.
Distributing clothes, toys and other supplies
Sharing food and warmth kits.
Serving food at the temple in Neem Karori.
At the Bhandara in the temple.
Heart filled with gratitude