Recognizing the PROBLEM

HEALTHIER, HAPPIER, BETTER

2021 is just over a year away. A new Census list will be released with mind-boggling numbers for India’s population and the dizzying pace at which it is increasing. We’ll all gasp at it for a day, make it our ‘chai-time’ talk for a week and maybe, just maybe for a fleeting moment, consider alternative ways of living other than in cramped spaces with a million more people mere spitting distance away from each other. Maybe we’ll think of quite nights in the mountains, or windy mornings on the beach, or reading a book in solitude, or playing with our family in the open. After the moment has passed, though, we’ll make ourselves believe that it’s way too fantastical a notion to actually go through with, and Census 2031 will see us doing this all over again.

But, what if we ran with the idea instead of shutting it down? What if there is a better way of living that we haven’t explored yet? Let’s take it to step by step. Most important and maybe the most difficult is the first step - recognising the problem and realising that there is a need for some change. Once we’ve accepted that living in a highly populated environment isn’t good for us, we’re halfway through towards something decidedly better. The second step is the information search. This is where we realise the shocking disparity amongst various places within India itself, both in terms of population and the lifestyle. Cities like Delhi (population: 1,87,49,992) and Mumbai (population: 1,24,42,373) have their population in 8-digit figures, whereas there are places like Lansdowne in the evergreen mountains of Uttarakhand, whose population is just 5,667 people. In this step, we also gather information as to how overpopulation affects us apart from the obvious.

For step three, we do the evaluation of the alternatives. If not the overpopulated cities, then what? We can go live in far off mountains in seclusion, but what will become of our careers and families and our day-to-day lives! So, maybe we don’t go there permanently. Maybe, we just seek these pristine places only once in a while, just enough to help us not forget them. Maybe, later in life, those serene places become our normal and the city lives become the fillers in between. This leads us to the next step of finally making a choice. We can live in individual Holiday Homes or we can be a part of big Estate Living concepts. We can be in our own green world but still connected to the city. We won’t have to give up on anything to be able to enjoy something else. Blue Umbrella Resorts & Estates (B.U.R.E.) is miles ahead of everyone else, in their development of such a concept in India, where we might start valuing quality rather than the quantity in our lives.

And the final step is the rest of our lives. What happens after we adopt this change in our lifestyle? Do we feel healthier, can we breathe easier, do we sleep calmly and wake up fresh? Being away from the hordes of people and everything that comes with it, has it created a positive impact in our lives? Mr Jaideep Kakkar, an eminent member of the society, having spent all his life in a metropolitan city, now has found a better way of living. Talking about Estate Living he says, “This is what I want my future to be –a home connected to nature, but never too far from the city. This is what I’m going to leave for my children.”

Theoretically, the answer to all the questions mentioned above is “yes”, but why not experience it and then decide.

Thanks