Village Tourism
-Susan Sharma
Surjivan is a village approved for "village tourism" by the Haryana Government. Here is a resort which makes a valiant effort to connect with the 21st century
mall city of Gurgaon.
About 40kms from Gurgaon driving through the Jaipur highway for about 15kms and then through metaled roads, one can reach the village. For just Rs 950/-
per person, you can enjoy the ambiance of the 50 acres, take guided tours and partake in an organic lunch cooked the traditional way. All the ingredients used for cooking are grown organically in the 40 acre organic farm, which also boasts of a chicken farm
and milch cows.
While sipping the welcome drink of masala lassi, we watched a large group of young families walk in. Children were frolicking all over in no time leaving
parents to chat and enjoy their drinks and music. It was a Sunday-a well reserved holiday for these back office employees. Yet no one seemed to be complaining. " I am glad to escape the claustrophobia of....." , I overheard a young smartly dressed lady
remarking.
The manager, offered to show us around. We have all the facilities for adventure games, he started and insisted that we first take a look at these. The
last part of "Survivor Series" on Television was shot here, he proudly proclaimed.
Where are the herbal gardens? In the very next plot, our guide answered. Also the main ground has many local trees and ancient plants.
Kalpavriksh or Wish Tree
We were informed that the big "Kalpavriksh tree" the resort had earlier grown, died, suffocated by the red threads tied by believers!
As we watched village artisans giving the final touches to a motif, drongos and parakeets announced their roosting time and we realized that we need to drive
back to Gurgaon before the highway gets choked by office commuters.
The resort has twelve mud huts complete with cow-dung plaster on floor and mud beds and seats- also equipped with fans, air conditioners and attached baths
with geysers. All these come at a price though. The solar panels support lights and fans but geysers and a.cs are run in winter and summer using Diesel generators.
Surjivan is a bold attempt to connect Maximum City dwellers with nature- Spend a day there and you realize what it is that we miss in Big Cities