SLICE OF VILLAGE LIFE: A Portuguese tourist trying his hand at a zaata in Kule

The sun hasn't even risen when a motley bunch of five Whirlpool employees, two journalists and two Portuguese 20-something students is shepherded into a Tata Sumo for a day tour. But it's not to a scenic spot or an amusement park. The group is travelling to villages in the Kolvan Valley at the foot of the Western Ghats, around 50 km from Pune. Guiding the group is Jessica Van Bossum, a Dutch volunteer working with the Gomukh Trust, a rural development NGO.

The tour is part of a minuscule but fast-growing tourism initiative that pushes the rural Indian countryside as an offbeat destination for Indian city-dwellers as well as foreign tourists. The picturesque countryside and unusual experiences undoubtedly make for an effective tourism bait. But the objective is bigger. The Kolvan Valley Rustic Tour-conceived by the then Pune Zila Parishad CEO Radha Rao, Bossum and Gomukh Trust founder Vijay Paranjpye-aims at leveraging the advantages of the newly developed water resources for tangible socio-economic benefits for the villagers. (Last year, National Watershed Development Programme projects were completed in 12 of the 16 villages in Kolvan Valley.)

After touring Mulshi and Mawal talukas and gazing at the Pauna dam from atop a fort, it's time to halt at Kule village. Lunch is authentic rural fare: jawar ki roti, gawar, rajgirah, dal, papad, curd and pickle at villagers' homes. The visitors also try their hand at the zaata, a traditional grindstone. The women who cook the food are members of the Swayam Sahayat Bachat Gath, a self-help group. Though they are paid small amounts, it seems to contribute to their sense of self-worth. After the meal there are things to pick up. In a dingy room, a couple squat on the floor making patraulis (banyan leaf plates) and drons (bowls). These soon join beautifully woven baskets in the Tata Sumo. That's another benefit for the villagers-the visitors serve as a test market for their wares.

Under a tree a blacksmith couple works on metal heated red hot. The couple travel from village to village, carrying with them a bhata, on which they sharpen farm and household instruments as well as fashion new ones. The visitors watch fascinated. Even the Indians in the group feel sheepish that Bossum, despite being Dutch, knows much more about village life than they do. She spouts folk stories and talks about the region's history, its natural features, agricultural practices and rural development programmes. She tells them how most villagers employ primitive irrigation methods and were only recently introduced to continuous contour trenches; how age-old occupations, like those of the goldsmith and water-carrier, are dwindling; how lack of employment and low crop yields have caused villagers to move to cities like Pune; and how NGOs like Jeevan Sanstha are helping stem the exodus by introducing more effective irrigation and soil and water conservation methods.

At around Rs 350 per person, a taste of agrarian life seems like a good deal for tourists, but what do the villagers think? Balasu Shinde, 32, of Jawan village in Mawal, is hopeful. "I think such trips could lead to development of the areas visited, which in turn means employment opportunity," he says. Dusk falls, and it's time to head back to the neon-lit city and think about whether tours like this will help bridge the yawning gap between two diverse Indias.