The Rural
Tourism in India: Earthy
Endeavours through Rich Village Tradition
In a land with 7 billion villages and 330 million Gods,
there is much more off the map than there is on it. But now a days slowly Rural
tourism initiatives in India are connecting the present to the past and
aspiring a bright future, the avenues to the gallis,
gaons and people to people, making history, rituals, culture, craft and
tradition relevant in a contemporary context, explore some less-travelled roads
Travelling to a far outside from so called town rural environment with the intention of
experiencing the culture, traditions and lifestyle- way of life situation of
its inhabitants is too amusing. It really what connects a daily routine busy
life beyond the concrete jungle, meeting the heritage and a calm society of
nature and its people which is a different realistic chapter from the city
life. The rural side in our India seems to be a wonderland that gives insights
to a lot of mysteries. It’s not only about a ride on a bullock cart but it goes
to a deep worship of nature and beauty of life, an Earthy Endeavors is Rural
Tourism with agro tour.
Not only go through milking a goat, ploughing a field,
harvesting rice, learning a few life tricks, building a greenhouse, watching
the flora and fauna of sunrise and sunset time, fireflies outshine each other
in the mating game, or simply sleeping under the stars, under bare sky, rural
tourism initiatives are not just giving a taste of life on the other side of
the farm hedge; they are creating sustainable eco-systems, which provide
alternate sources of income for village dwellers without straining their
existing resources.
India will always be torn between the urban and rural, yes about the two
prodigals -the more used so busy city life and the lesser explored countryside.
As a traveller I’ll always try to escape from the day to day schedule to a no
zone of comfort and far from mobile networks conjunction, rush shopping malls,
traffic jams and last but not the least official duty. Wearing a gamocha
(traditional cotton towel) and bathing
in water drawn from a nalkoop (hand pump)
sometimes in rainy water under the open sunlight and sky, taking rest in
hot summer under the banyan tree than wide at a conference meeting, in a clay
walled and thatched roof hut instead of lavishly artificially painted brick
walls and compressed plastered ceilings. So the traveller in me dreams of a
rural scape in India and Odisha that
leads to discover how silkworms turned to smooth and flowing drapes, how
turmeric roots and Multan soil became
face cream,taking the fragnance of sugandharaj and ketaki flower, medicated tulsi benefits, how Neem Patta (Nimtree leaves) became a component
to high preserve the shine of our teeth in the form of Neem tooth paste, how
sowing of seeds develop into vegetables and care as a baby and these seeds are
later served as a palatable dish far best than cold stored colourful belated collections.