Still, many others who’ve isolated themselves, who’ve become solitary citizens, are reassessing whether a life cut-off is a deep-down human impulse.īut the concept of “far from the madding crowd” holds a persuasive sway over our collective psyche. That might’ve once been an ideal in people’s heads, and still is for some and, of course, a lot of people have sought this ideal out, fled cities for what they perceive as the relative safety and harmony of smaller towns and countryside, to say nothing about its affordability. After months of lockdowns and isolations, I know I’m not the only one, that a lot of other people miss other people, too, miss diversity and colors, shapes and faces, movement and dynamism, stuff that kindles our imagination, that challenges us, that makes modern life tick, worth living many friends have told me likewise, and many people have told my friends likewise as well.įar from the madding crowd? I’m not so sure. I miss being amongst people, lots of them.

> Read More.There’s something about urban crowds, about hordes of people in the city, in public.

Long before organic farming entered the mainstream vocabulary, a young couple from Delhi packed their bags and left for H.D. Now, works as Estate manager at Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. Stephens College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sugandha has worked as a mountain guide, copy editor and a social media manager. A year later, he came back to Shillong as a school teacher. He gave up his promising sports journalism career and went to study graphic design. > Read More.įive years ago, a top-ranking executive in a shipping company and an IIT-IIM graduate quit their lives in Bombay to take up farming. > Read More.įreelance artist Nachiappan Ramanathan used to make sculptures and design interactive art installations before he chose to return to his family’s farmland. Now, she teaches conversational English to adults and has also adopted a school where she teaches children. On the other, more and more people are growing sick at heart of the urban rat race and leaving for the hills and verdant countryside.įor six years, Puja Anand was CEO of a learning solutions company in Singapore. On one side, malls are getting bigger, pubs slicker, and cars faster. And now he says, by next year, he will quit the city altogether and move to a remote village in the Konkan hills. He first began to volunteer for Gandhi Ashram then quit his job to head an NGO in Mumbai. You would have thought life couldn’t get better. A few years ago, Vineeth Iyer, 36, was living with his wife and twins in a four-bedroom bungalow with a chauffeured car.

Far from the maddening crowds