India: Stressed city dwellers can now live their rural dreams

An urban farmer, “Every time we visit the farm, walk around, drive the tractor, eat healthy, we come home rejuvenated and fall into a deep sleep,” says Rajiv, adding, “Such is the joy of simple pleasures and nature’s treasures.”

Written by Shubhangi Shah
Financial Express
Apr 7, 2024

Excerpt:

An hour and a half away from her home in Hyderabad, life coach and image consultant Priya Rajiv drives to Akshara Ananda, a ‘wellness farm community’, where she indulges in planting, tending to plants, vegetable plucking, animal feeding, etc, and enjoys the fresh produce too. “Every time we visit the farm we learn something new, either about crops, the soil, seasons, etc,” says Rajiv, a part of the growing tribe of city folks undertaking farming on the side.

Often urban settlers complain about the pressures of city life and contemplate leaving everything to take up farming. While farming itself is a harsh profession, the dream of city dwellers to take up farming is becoming a reality in a different way. Several projects on city outskirts offer a farming experience, to own or rent pieces of land devoted exclusively to farming. And these urban farmers get to experience organic produce, reconnect with their roots, and also to de-stress and rejuvenate.

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