Going Back To Nature

A close brush with nature, in an ashram in Thailand, revitalised Smriti Kharb Magoo, resulting in her permanently adopting a naturefriendly lifestyle

- Smriti Kharb Magoo

Touched by the fast-changing trends of modern urban life, Pulitzer prize winner Ellen Goodman once remarked, “Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for in order to get to a job you need to pay for the clothes, the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”

It resonates with you, right? Well, me too. Most of us living the urban dream are living through this rat race. And we have become so entangled in this web of accumulation that we have forgotten how to live life. We don’t care about our health and environment and have dragged the world to a stage where our natural resources are depleting. The air around us is not breathable, our rivers are dying, and so many species are near extinction. God’s finest creation has, in fact, become a curse for all of nature, heading towards a bleak future.

What we today refer to as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ is the way to live a normal life. A life where we care for each other, for animals, for the environment, and for our resources, leading to optimal health, happiness, and harmony. Seems tough? I guess, initially, it won’t be easy. But nothing worthwhile has ever been easy. Well, there are some individuals and societies that have already embraced this kind of lifestyle. Now, they eloquently confirm they had never been happier and healthier.

A tryst with nature