In our #BoutecoWorldStories, postcard no 62 is from travel writer Shivya Nath in India — @Shivya @Girl.Eats.Globe @voicesofruralindia
When people think of India, they imagine crowded cities, bustling markets and packed trains. This reality often overshadows the other – some of the world’s most remote, isolated and sparsely populated mountain settlements in the Himalayas; 7,500 km of coastline dotted with fishing villages; forest-dwelling communities and much more.
I grew up in a valley at the base of the Himalayas, but it was only when I began to travel solo and write about my adventures that I realised what an incredible diversity India harbours within its borders. Every few hundred kilometres, everything changes: the culture, language, way of dressing, food, traditions, festivals, landscape.
It was almost impossible to believe on that evening in March 2020 that an entire country of 1.3 billion could be locked down! Such quick, decisive action was perhaps one way to tackle the spread of Covid in densely packed cities – but it also gave rise to a shocking migrant crisis.
All of a sudden, with no prior notice, all businesses and public transport shut down, and people found themselves stuck far from home. While the privileged were able to temporarily settle down wherever they were stranded, millions of daily-wage workers found themselves out of work, money and food, forced to WALK incredibly long distances home in rural parts of the country.
This gaping urban-rural divide forced many of us out of our comfort zones. A travel writer like me could easily pivot in the digital space, but for many guides, homestay hosts and others in rural parts of the country, opportunities were limited by lack of connectivity and skills. A few months ago, I joined forces with a village sarpanch (village-elected decision-maker) and a digital foundation to launch @voicesofruralindia – a curated platform for rural storytellers, which aims to upgrade digital storytelling skills and offer an alternate source of livelihood.
Covid peaked in Autumn 2020 but has mostly been on a downward curve since. We saw our first glimpse of revenge spending in December 2020 when domestic travellers thronged in large numbers to popular destinations like Goa and Himachal Pradesh.
Still, I’m hopeful that this great pause has made at least some of us look inward and reconsider our life and travel choices. With offices still in WFH mode, many millennials have traded their busy work routines in the cities for a slower life on the countryside. The sustainable tourism conversation is slowly becoming more mainstream. There’s hope that at least part of our tourism industry – responsible for 12.5% of all employment in India – will pivot towards a greener, socially responsible path by the time international borders open. And when that happens, Incredible India will be ready to welcome travellers with open arms, with all its beauty and craziness thrown in, of course.