Paneer Village of India

THE PANEER VILLAGE OF INDIA

Saying Paneer brings a natural smile to your face, and residents in village “Rautu ki Beli” , a small village in Uttarakhand around 18kms from Mussorie have a reason to cheer up daily due to Paneer.

This Village is also called “The Paneer Village”. A self sustained village, where every villager is an entrepreneur and around 70% of them are engaged in commercial paneer making in their homes. The paneer of “Rautu ki Beli” is available in the nearby markets only at a premium price. The Paneer has a distinct smoky flavour, which comes when it is boiled on Chulhas of village in traditional way.

We met Mr. Bhag Singh Bhandari, The youth village Pradhan who made us feel “Atithi Devo Bhava” (guest is god) is still a concept in Indian villages.

We were offered one of the tastiest meals, we ever had, which obviously we could not resist due to the fact that We had to walk 2-3 Km straight uphill to meet Pradhan at Danda,

Pradhan Mr. Bhag Singh Bhandari offered us to wash our hands before meals in their traditional way of welcoming guests, with b brass Lota on a brass plate .

The Hospitality of the Village was unlike anything and the fresh paneer even tasted better. We discussed with him about life in mountains.

For us, the urban city dweller life in the mountains is often presented as a Romantic ideal. But truth is far from that perception, Here people have to suffer daily for something as basic as roads and running waters. The people in the Danda (the hill top area of “Rautu Ki Beli”) have to drop down every winters because, the place becomes inhabitable in winters due to snow and unavailability of water and Roads transport.

The youth from the villages have taken keen interest in entrepreneurship and have started their own businesses beyond Paneer making.

Organic Farming, homestay business, and Dairy products is bringing about a change in the rural income.

After meeting the villagers of “Rautu Ki Beli” , I believe that real wealth of India is in the villages, not in the cities. On one hand there are us, burning the hydrocarbon, going to gym in 1900cc SUV , with a thick carbon footprint and earning a six digit income, yet we spend our lives in an illusion of living a good life.

On the Other hand there is Rural Population, with low income, low carbon footprint, walking miles in search of fodder for their livestock and away from a false illusion of a good life.

This story is important because as an Urban City Dweller, We have some responsibility towards our Rural population who feed us.

“They will survive without us, We Cannot.”

Rautu ki Beli distance from Dehradun- 40KM

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