Rural Tourism

Whenever I go to the rural parts of India I am amazed at its beauty and then wonder why India does not promote rural tourism as a destination in a big way. As it is India has a minuscule share in world tourism.

Beautiful reflection of sunset on water body

I had gone for a few days to stay at Goad-Balawa which is at the border of Haryana and Rajasthan and is about 175 kms from Delhi. The closest town to this place is Narnaul. During evening walks I saw this pond with beautiful reflection of the setting sun and the clouds.

Mustard Fields

My mornings were greeted with fog and the mustard fields unlike the smog of the cities. The air had the freshness to it and you don't have to worry about getting cough and cold which one catches in the winters of polluted cities.

Tree Art

Even the kikar trees looked lovely surrounded by the mustard crop. The rural areas still have lots of old houses where one can see the work of the artisans which is sadly lacking in the modern houses of the cities as well as the villages.

Carved Door Frames

 In fact now a days one can see such wooden carved door frames being displayed in the living rooms of the houses of some rich people and I have heard there is a whole industry at work in Rajasthan that produces such work and then season it in such a way that the stuff looks old!

Old Cenotaph

I saw some old cenotaphs or chattris also  - some in ruins and others still part of the tube-well structure in fields. They look beautiful under the setting sun.

Beautiful Sunset

And at end of the day the sunset that you get is unbelievable. What more could one ask for if one is looking at having a relaxed tension-free holiday.

There is a huge potential that can be tapped by encouraging rural tourism that will bring in much needed foreign exchange to India and also provide much needed employment and money to people in their villages. This will also stop, to some extent, the mad mush of people to migrate to cities due to paucity of jobs in the hinterland.