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Local youth sets example by starting village resort

Friday 08, 2021 | Afzal Fauji | Nainital

While working from home for a Pune based IT firm during the Covid-19 pandemic, Haldwani resident Lalit Joshi has opened a resort near Nainital which also offers organic rustic experiences to its guests. He has provided employment to about 10 local youths in this enterprise. A native of Deepakot in Almora district, Joshi says that he has been working from home since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the nation. He noticed that the youths are forgetting their culture and many are migrating out mainly to earn money and ending up working in hotels and restaurants in other states. While working from home, he opened Royal Cliff resort at Pangot village near Nainital. He employed the local youths who had returned home during the pandemic. The guests at this resort are also made aware of Uttarakhand’s culture. Joshi said, “We get both Indian and foreigner guests. On their demand, they are informed about and taught chores like milking cows, collecting fodder and other activities of the village. When some of our guests feel cold, they themselves collect firewood from the woods and live according to Pahadi traditions here. We have also made a Pahadi kitchen here to conserve our culture and also attract visitors. The guests get traditional dishes cooked in this kitchen which has a Pahadi mud stove to cook the food. Tourists can use it themselves also to brew tea. The women of the village have also started earning from our enterprise as they supply vegetables, milk and other items. Earlier, the villagers used to go to Nainital to sell the vegetables they grow,” said Joshi.

At a time when migration and financial woes continue to cause problems especially in the rural and mountainous regions of the state, such enterprises can go a long way in addressing these issues while also capitalising on the state’s tourism potential and preserving the state’s native culture.

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