I don’t advise anyone to move from a city to a village. Moving physically comes much later. One has to first mentally move to a village; and that, in my opinion, is very tough for people with the best intentions. First reason is that in cities, people are too used to being served; servants and maids in house, drivers, plumbers, electricians, cook (may be wife or mother), laundry, milkman, grocer…the list just goes on. Village life is a lot about independence and being able to take up any role, when required. Secondly, the physical strength and stamina required is much more than in a city. Thirdly, the notions of cleanliness, security, education and many more aspects need fundamental questioning; these are not as in cities, but they don’t seem to compromise on the quality of life at all. Fourthly, the notion of being ‘so and so’, which is applicable in a city, almost always is irrelevant in a village. This is a big blow to one’s ego. Fifthly, one’s self assessment of his capabilities is also not relevant. A village unveils many facets of one’s own personality and abilities, but only and only if one is willing to give it a shot. Lastly (as I can think of now), most people (including villagers) tend to think that urbanites are intellectually superior to villagers. That I think is a very big myth. But since both sides are absolutely convinced about this one, the journey often takes a wrong route. This is clearly reflected in lot of urbanites regarding the village lifestyle as primitive and lot of villagers aping the lifestyle of their urban counterparts, without giving it an objective thought. I think an average villager is intellectually significantly ahead of an average urbanite, simply because of the fact that his level of alertness is far higher. Once someone has made the move mentally, advice is not required.
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