For many people caught in the fast pace of corporate life, moving to the mountains and choosing a slower way of living can feel like an impossible dream. But for Garima and Aditya, that dream became a reality when they left behind their life in Singapore and moved to a quiet village in Uttarakhand to raise their son, Vedas. A video shared on Instagram by the account @lifeofmaai highlights their unconventional approach to parenting and their decision to step away from the traditional path of school, homework, exams and report cards. Instead, the couple wanted their son to grow up surrounded by nature, with the freedom to explore, play, ask questions and learn at his own pace.
Because of Aditya’s work, in 2015, the couple got married and eventually moved to Singapore. Aditya, who was born and raised in a middle-class family in Shimla, had once believed that professional success meant climbing the corporate ladder. He moved to Delhi for college to study fashion management, where he met Garima. After completing her studies, Garima took up a high-paying job that also gave her opportunities to travel abroad for training. However, the demands of corporate life eventually began to take a toll. Garima left her job and started studying child psychology, which changed the way the couple looked at childhood, education and parenting.
At 33, Aditya eventually quit his job and moved to Uttarakhand with Garima, who was expecting their child at the time.
Lifeofmaai, Aditya and Garima spent nearly eight years planning and researching before taking the leap, according to their Instagram account. The decision to leave Singapore was not sudden. The couple became increasingly interested in nature-based living, traditional knowledge, herbs and alternative approaches to education. They wanted to create an environment where their child could experience childhood without being pushed too early into the pressures associated with conventional schooling. Their new home in Basgaon, Uttarakhand, became the setting for this experiment in slow living.