India is famend for its wealthy tapestry of numerous cultures, and one among its most vibrant states is Rajasthan. Located within the northwestern area of the nation, Rajasthan stands as a testomony to the opulent and vibrant life-style of its rulers all through historical past. Adorned with majestic palaces, vibrant markets, and timeless traditions, every metropolis inside the state weaves collectively a tapestry of music, dance, artwork, and delicacies.

When you’ve got not visited this excellent instance of India’s wealthy tradition and heritage but, then that is your signal! Each area of interest and nook of the state has one thing distinctive to supply.

Amidst the cultural splendour, there may be an array of resorts and lodges that supply guests the quintessential Rajasthani expertise, however there may be one you can not miss. Among the many myriad high-end institutions of the state stands a labour of affection – Apani Dhani.

Apani Dhani is the manifestation of Ramesh Chandra Jangid’s two passions – serving folks and preserving nature. “I’m deeply dedicated to the preservation of nature whereas concurrently supporting native communities and offering our friends with probably the most genuine expertise attainable,” he shares with The Higher India.

Labour of affection and keenness

Situated in Nawalgarh, a metropolis within the coronary heart of the Shekhawati area of Rajasthan, the eco-stay is run by Ramesh and his household. Nevertheless, this family-run keep just isn’t Ramesh’s first strive on the hospitality trade and likewise not his first dream.

Ramesh shares that as a younger boy, he harboured a dream of turning into a pilot and seeing the world.

“Born right into a carpenter’s household in 1952, with meagre monetary assets, I harboured a dream of turning into a pilot. In 1972, I used to be chosen for a Gliding Instructors course in Pune. Reaching my Gliding Teacher score in 1973, I served because the Teacher In-Cost on the Agra Gliding Membership from 1975 to 1979,” he recollects.

Set on his path, he travelled throughout Germany and Europe to pursue his ardour and participate in worldwide gliding competitions and races.

“It was on visits to Germany that I met with some environmentalists and activists who harboured in me a ardour for setting preservation,” he recollects.

Ramesh studied the assorted unwell results of mass tourism on a given area. “This was again within the 80s when phrases like sustainability and eco-tourism had been unknown to many. After attaining a lot in my gliding profession, I began to really feel that I needed to do one thing again house,” he says.

By this time, his ardour for nature conservation was at a peak and he needed to strive his hand at eco-friendly tourism.

“Within the Eighties, my imaginative and prescient of a ‘totally different sort of tourism’ started to take root. Impressed and motivated by varied elements, I launched into this enterprise.” he says.

He provides, “The monopoly and inequitable distribution of tourism revenue in our state served because the strongest catalyst, propelling me to provoke a new strategy to tourism in Rajasthan.”

Initially, he began a small homestay after which a journey firm earlier than venturing on to Apani Dhani. “In 1990, I established Apani Dhani with a triple goal: to advertise and protect native constructed and intangible heritage, minimise the environmental influence of tourism on pure assets, and foster socially and economically accountable tourism practices.”

A real style of Rajasthan

Reflecting on the early levels of constructing the keep, Ramesh recollects, “My belonging to a special part of society stirred unease among the many native barons, who collectively sought to hinder my path to success. The time belonged to a special period; now, we boast among the highest scores in international journey guidebooks, but sadly, we’re not featured within the brochure of the Division of Tourism.”

After we seek advice from Apani Dhani as a labour of Ramesh’s love, it epitomises how he invested all his financial savings into his dream eco-stay.

“Apani Dhani has been conceived and designed by me in response to my very own desires and monetary assets, with none exterior assist for its growth. I reinvested the advantages to gas its progress, leading to a sluggish however natural development.”

Discussing among the distinctive experiences {that a} visitor receives on the keep, he says, “We provide quite a lot of actions to our friends, geared toward offering them with a complete exploration of our tradition and the possibility to work together with members of the area people, all whereas making certain honest supplementary revenue for them. These actions embody varied elements of our heritage and traditions, with out compromising on authenticity.”

Company can take pleasure in craft workshops together with tie-dye, bangle making, pottery, Mandala drawing, and handmade recycled paper, together with cookery courses.

“We even have guided excursions to discover Shekhawati’s distinctive heritage, countryside outings similar to bicycle excursions and camel cart strolls, and stay music packages,” he provides.

Sustainability at its very core

In 2013, Apani Dhani Ecolodge received the Accountable Tourism Award from Wild Asia within the class Finest in Cultural Preservation.

Explaining how the constructing in itself embodies sustainability, Ramesh says, “We initially used locally-acquired clay for the partitions and pampas grass for the roofs in our preliminary huts, whereas our yoga corridor, eating room, and household room characteristic rammed earth partitions. For the 2 new rooms constructed in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, we utilised AAC blocks for the partitions and stone slabs for the roofs.”

Apart from, the eco-stay follows a plethora of sustainable practices to maintain the character round it intact.

He says, “My dedication to ecotourism and sustainable journey predates its world buzzword standing. Sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices have lengthy been ingrained in our every day operations.”

The friends are guided in the direction of sustainable private use of water assets in our semi-arid setting, with practices similar to rainwater harvesting applied on the keep.

“Apart from utilizing photovoltaic panels and photo voltaic water heaters, all of the meals are served in disposable and compostable leaf plates, and we provide a sustainable and accountable laundry service,” he says.

Moreover, they compost all their moist waste which is later used of their fields.

“All of the meals that our friends eat is sourced from our natural fields, which domesticate greens, cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and extra. We chorus from utilizing chemical fertilisers, making certain that each one crops are grown naturally,” he shares.

“We encourage travellers, every time attainable, to take part in non-polluting actions similar to walks, biking and camel cart excursions,” he provides.

Moreover, in a bid to maintain their promotion actions in keeping with their philosophy, the eco-stay’s enterprise playing cards, cookery books, and brochures on hand-made recycled paper.

Because it opened its doorways, the eco-stay has hosted over 15,000 friends up to now. With a median of 4.4-star opinions on Google, the place has turn into a favorite of the friends. “The place has wonderful meals and is a superb place to expertise bangle making and tie-dyes amongst different actions. The hosts had been gracious and made our keep snug,” wrote Venkatesh Bhattaram who stayed on the eco-stay.

“The important thing to making sure our friends’ consolation lies within the involvement of my household. We attempt to make them really feel like part of our circle of relatives, attending to their each want. Moreover, the inclusion of home made regional cuisines enhances the homely expertise for our friends,” he states.

(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All Photos credit score: Apani Dhani)