{"id":4970,"date":"2008-01-15T19:44:02","date_gmt":"2008-01-16T00:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=4970"},"modified":"2008-01-15T16:47:04","modified_gmt":"2008-01-15T21:47:04","slug":"back_to_nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/15\/back_to_nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you know, we like the rustic life out here in our bunker in North Dakota. We’re off the grid, we get our internet via satellite and we generate half our electricity by making Abhi run on a treadmill. We find our lifestyle … bracing, especially at this time of year.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

However, my relatives in India share little nostalgia for simpler times, so I was surprised to read that just as Bangalore is transforming itself into a replica of Silicon Valley (traffic jams and all), a village just outside of Bangalore is selling the experience of rural life to harried city dwellers:<\/p>\n\n

Some of India’s richest people are paying $150 a night to live like peasants at a “native village” in the southern state of Karnataka. The village, Hessargatta – just outside India’s IT capital, Bangalore – is designed to encourage the preservation of some of India’s rural traditions. It offers visitors the chance to qualify in tasks like milking cows and looking after the other animals. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

Like Tom Sawyer<\/a>, they manage to sell the arduous tasks of daily life as a privilege rather than a hindrance:<\/p>\n\n

Transport around the village is by bullock cart ride – “probably the slowest ride you’ll ever go on”. …Because of the slow pace, you notice so much more of life. It’s quite philosophical in my view,” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

That’s right – the antidote to the aggravation of travelling slowly in traffic jams is … travelling slowly in a bullock.<\/p>\n\n

This sort of idealization of rural life is nothing new, either in India or elsewhere. Gandhians have long argued for the “greater purity of rural life<\/a>“, modern Americans have dude ranches, and Marie Antoinette had the Petit hameau de la Reine<\/a> where she played at being a milk maid. Still, it’s a bit jarring to see rich Indians shell out big bucks (far more than the poor make in a month) for a Disneyfied version of the very life that the poor are trying to escape. <\/p>\n\n

Still, if this floats your boat, you can book your vacation here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you know, we like the rustic life out here in our bunker in North Dakota. We’re off the grid, we get our internet via satellite and we generate half our electricity by making Abhi run on a treadmill. We … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4970"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}