Villages are becoming old age homes, this is a common complaint now. Youngsters getting educated and leaving villages for jobs in cities have been a phenomenon for quite some time. Continuing the family tradition of farming, or other traditional trades is getting rarer by the day. There are many reasons for this migration to cities. Farming is not lucrative. Erratic monsoons, crop failure, and market prices for crops being erratic are a few of the crop-related reasons. The attraction of the city is another reason. Many youngsters get bored of the dull life in the villages and hope to escape from the drudgery and hard physical work that a farming life has to offer.

With easier access to education nowadays, many people feel that only white-collar or blue-collar jobs can do justice to the education they have had after much sacrifice and effort. A question they ask is what need is there for a degree if they have to go back to their villages, and do the same work their fathers did.

But we can see that the situation is reversing for good. We hear stories of well-paid corporate executives, software engineers, and city folks chucking their comfortable jobs and heading back to villages, and starting organic farming, animal-friendly dairy, manufacturing eco-friendly products, or starting self-help groups to help the rural community. Sustainable farming using environmentally friendly practices is gaining more attention, which is a welcome trend. Finding alternate ways of doing the same thing, and creating innovative products, are helping create the typical rags-to-riches stories, and generate income for the community.

Let us look at one such inspiring story.