The idea of holiday is in itself absolutely incredible! Days of recreation and adventure are an integral part of one's day to day life. We, humans keep pushing and working consistently until we finally take our break. It could be a few days, a week, a month or maybe a year long sabbatical. It is beautiful how the human mind can make it’s own mental checklist and get all excited as soon as the only task left is, ‘take a break away from your monotonous everyday life.’
Did you know, the word holiday has been derived from the old English word ‘hāligdæg’, meaning holy day. This word was first recorded in the year 940AD and was used to refer to special religious day. In the present times, holiday is that time of the year when a human leaves all worries and spends quality time with friends, family and oneself. To add a little bit about my favourite personal vacation, I’ll like to take you to a virtual ride through an amazing property. For me, vacations are for relaxing, talking and making no sense at all. When on vacation, don’t think about anything twice. Just do it. There is nothing that could go wrong. I love to pick places and locations for my holiday at random. A package inclusive of sports, nature and comfort sounds like perfection. This randomness and no second thoughts policy took me to the prettiest property in Sitapur, about a 100km from Lucknow, called Vintage Village.
Vintage Village is a family-owned farm and is spread over twenty acres of land. When I reached the farm I was instantly bewitched and I’m not even exaggerating. It is the best place for you to reconnect with nature and let it’s serenity and calmness fill you up and touch your soul. The environment and atmosphere is soothing and therapeutic. It offers not only a glimpse to the rural landscape of India but also opens the door of local food, beverages and fresh vegetables and fruits.
Vocal for local, a very popular campaign promoting the consumption of local produce for both economical and health concerns, has done a wonderful job of spending awareness and made most of us conscious about what we eat and drink. Going food hunting and trying all types of food offered by the city is usually a part of the holiday itinerary, which leads me to the exquisite variety of local, homemade food offered at vintage village. Even while writing this, I can feel the aroma and flavours stimulate my mind.
The people were courteous and devoid of friction. Meeting and interacting with new people, though not my forte, wasn’t hard at all. They gave us space, and told us tales of other visitors as well. While in conversation with the owner, he mentioned,
“It has been made possible by my father’s hard work, vision, and most importantly patience. He took over this land at a very young age at that time the land was barren, uncultivated and deserted, though he was determined to transform the uncultivated land into cultivated agricultural land and after years of his persistent hard work, gradually vision transformed into a beautiful reality. Today, this vision is a habitat for variety of plants, trees and other agricultural based products.”
Fascinating, don’t you think. A farm for us to stop by and enjoy our vacations.
Hoping on to the brilliant tree house, something we had only fantasized , stood in front of our eyes, ready for exploration. Climbing on was a little frightening for us as first timers, but, by the end of the day we had become accustomed to it. The house was filled with the aroma of fresh leaves. On a philosophical level, it seemed as though we had made a pure connection with nature when in the tree house.
What vacation is complete without adding to it the story of some sports and games. Swimming, being the favourite sport of most of the guests we did a race. We splashed around with timers and stopwatch beeping making new friends and memories for a lifetime.
Vintage village is a perfect example of amalgamation of integrated farming and nature, balance between the modern technology and primitive methods. Vintage Village, has set an example to inspire other farmers and thought them how practicing integrated farming along with bee keeping, fisheries can extend their reach. They also successfully cultivated interest in our minds for agriculture and educated us about the perks and tricks of agriculture to help us on a daily basis.
This is the story of the transformation of deserted land into lush green land. Vintage Village is a valuable heritage, an escape from the hustle bustle of city, an opportunity to taste mouth-watering local cuisines, and probably the best twist to a regular holiday!
