{"id":30,"date":"2024-02-23T17:30:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/?p=30"},"modified":"2024-08-07T16:01:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T16:01:12","slug":"getting-back-to-my-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/travel\/getting-back-to-my-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Back to My Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I remember visiting my native place in Uttarakhand\u2019s Pauri Garhwal District in 1998 during my school days. It was my distant cousin\u2019s wedding. Since then, I never seriously thought of going there. Gradually, the cosy lifestyle of this city dweller overpowered that thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I always felt nostalgia for my village, which is near Srinagar in Uttarakhand. It was the place where I had lived many beautiful moments of my life. But the availability of very limited basic amenities there discouraged me from even considering the idea of visiting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was in November 2019 when I had to rush to my village due to my mother\u2019s sudden sickness. At that time, my parents were staying there for the reconstruction of our old house. Reaching my ancestral villages takes around 12 hours, and one has to cross Dev Prayag, the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The beautiful flowers seem to be welcoming me.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place brought me back to those wonderful days of my life. I could see many changes, but what actually struck me was the fresh air and clean sky, now a rarity in cities like Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mornings can never be as perfect as this one.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Morning bloom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still cherish those childhood memories when I, along with my siblings, used to roam around the entire village and have unlimited fun. Like other houses there, ours, too, bore a traditional look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My ancestral house in a dilapidated condition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It collapsed a few years ago, and now a new concrete house has replaced it. Still, there are traditionally built houses, but the signs of modernisation can be easily felt. The old-style houses built of mud, stone, clay, wood, and stones used to be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Now, villagers prefer concrete houses over traditional ones as they require less time, effort, and money. Moreover, they are easy to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The architecture of Uttarakhand state is based on locally and easily available materials like stone, clay, and wood. It represents the rich cultural heritage of the state. That\u2019s why this trend of concrete houses should be a matter of concern for everyone, considering Uttarakhand\u2019s distinctive architectural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A traditional house in the neighbourhood<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I reached there, I did not miss a single chance to explore things during this sudden village tour. After having tea at my uncle\u2019s house, I went on to discover the surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Farm animals are still an integral part of village life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On my way back, I met a lady who was returning after collecting fodder for her cattle from the fields. She invited me to her house. Both of us, along with her husband, had a fantastic conversation over tea. After some time, I took their leave and came back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The hospitable couple<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps I was not done yet. So I went on to meet people in my neighbourhood. The usual busy urban routine hardly allows us to think about life\u2019s other beautiful aspects. I had this realisation while visiting these simple people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Happy in their own world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The generosity of people touched me during my village trip. I found them to be simple and affable. It came as a big surprise to me that they are happy in their own world, caring little about superfluous things. One may think of them as complacent, but I will definitely call them contented people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can you feel her innocence?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple life of a village, however, comes with many challenges. Living in a rural area with few basic facilities is really tough. Water scarcity is still a huge challenge here. There are many households that have a piped water supply in their houses. Others fetch water from hand pumps or water tanks (locally called diggi<\/em>), which are almost one km from the place. Humongous task indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Migration is another huge problem here. Most of the houses here are either abandoned or occupied by older people. In my case, my grandfather and father left the place due to their respective jobs in Delhi. Eventually, they permanently settled there. Therefore, my siblings and I had our upbringing in Delhi only. So, we never really had that much connection to this place except for attending a few events and spending some school holidays there. But the love for my village always remained intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An abandoned house after its only occupant died a few years ago<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, farming used to be a major source of livelihood here. But with the passage of time, people moved to big cities, desiring a comfortable and prosperous life. Villagers here grow a few grains, vegetables, and fruits for their basic needs. But the constant threat of monkeys and langurs often results in the destruction of their crops. Today, almost all vegetables, fruits, etc. come here from other states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another challenge that I personally experienced here is the limited transport options. Usually, jeeps are easily available every 15-20 minutes, but getting them on public holidays can be an inconvenience. However, efforts towards the overall development of this village are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A government school<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place proved to be a perfect retreat for me from mundane city life. Summers here are hot, whereas winters are extra cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The nights here are equally amazing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mesmerising beauty of this place is something to be experienced. In addition, seeing people living such a simple life gave me many valuable life lessons. I can say that I have imbibed a little bit of their qualities towards leading a less complicated life. Happiness depends on our state of mind. No amount of money or luxurious things can ever replace it. I realised this on this village trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember visiting my native place in Uttarakhand\u2019s Pauri Garhwal District in 1998 during my school days. It was my distant cousin\u2019s wedding. Since then, I never seriously thought of going there. Gradually, the cosy lifestyle of this city dweller overpowered that thought. I always felt nostalgia for my village, which is near Srinagar in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[16,11,15,14,9,12,13],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-garhwal","tag-india","tag-pauri","tag-srinagar","tag-uttarakhand","tag-village","tag-village-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summannegi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}