Rapid urbanization and the eternal quest for better jobs in big cities has been taking the villagers out of villages for decades. To the city folk, at least in India, a “villager” conjures up an image of someone who is backward, unsophisticated and unworldly. But our recent visit to a tiny village nestled in the blue-green hills of Uttarakhand revealed a different story. With sweeping views of the
Himalayas to wake up to, a diet of organic, non-GMO produce and grains, gurgling rivers and streams in their backyards and an unhurried pace of life that gave you time to stop and smell the flowers- was it perhaps possible that these people we are so quick to brand as “villagers” were on to something? Was it possible that their way of life, in its simplicity and unencumbered state, had over the years become an ideal that people in other parts of the world strived for, and even coveted? Despite the natural resources available to the people in villages, there is a daily struggle to make ends meet. Most dishearteningly, there is a growing lack of pride in being a “villager” and embracing the lifestyle of a village that has over centuries proved to be a sustainable model for living across the world. Enraptured by the warmth of the village people and encouraged by the pride taken in European villages, we decided to share our philosophy with people like you (yes, you) and open up this forgotten, ignored world to people who have a desire for impact, a sense of adventure and the will to change.
