“I consider Kumaon as my 'spiritual homeland'. A farmland at Dunagiri, near Ranikhet in Almora district owns me…” says Piyush Kumar of Dunagiri Nature Retreat. It must have been the calling of a spiritual homeland that brought him back to India from Washington DC where he had been working for almost ten years with The World Bank. That was in 1997, when “reverse migration” to India was a phenomenon still unheard of.

In response to my puzzled look - after all, not many are known to quit a plum job at World Bank in their prime (he was 34) to create a Nature Retreat in the wilderness of Himalayas - Piyush says, “the place was Chicago, year was 1987. I had come to Illinois Institute of Technology for Master’s program in Science and Engineering. As a group of friends were discussing what each of us wanted to 'be' and to ‘achieve’, I found myself revealing my dream of having a chai-shop... somewhere... anywhere... in the solitudes of the Indian Himalayas, complete with a library of my favourite books. The only catch to this dream was... at that time I also wanted a helicopter to be able to fly into the city whenever I so desired.”

It took many years of business and many mountains. Travel, books, yoga and spirituality helped in untangling the personal chopper from the ‘Hermitage in Himalayas’ Piyush had dreamt of. Choosing the road less traveled by, he chanced upon the mystical Dunagiri in 2005. Dunagiri has been known over centuries to be a place where “things effortlessly unfold themselves”, and so it was for him as well.

Dunagiri Nature Retreat is an attempt in giving a glimpse of what life can be without some of the madness and pressures that modern life imposes on us. The guiding vision is to offer a space where reflection and refreshment of the soul take place as people leave their busy routines behind. Meant for nature lovers who value peace, quiet and appreciate the natural grandeur of their surroundings, it is certain to give you a glimpse into eternity.

The following quotes further illuminate the spirit and the philosophy of Dunagiri Nature Retreat:

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free to care.
As the peach blossom flows down the stream and is gone
into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is among no one.
-- Li Po, Chinese poet of 8th Century

“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on -have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? Nature remains.” -- Walt Whitman

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler,
…
And I—I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference!”
                                    --Robert Frost

You can view more photos of Dunagiri on Flickr. Or send a mail directly to Piyush.