Rice and Shine

If you’re looking for a stick shift this Navratri, stop going around in circles and sign up for a rice harvesting trip instead. Random? Not really. For tribal villages in Maharashtra, the harvest festival coincides with Navratri, resulting in a joint celebration with plenty of food and fun. You get to reap these festivities courtesy Grassroutes, a community based tourism company that’s organising two-day  (Oct 9 to 10 and Oct 16 to 17) rice harvesting trips to Purushwadi, a tribal village in Maharashtra.

From Husk to Dawn

So here’s how your weekend will pan out: A train to Kasara and then a jeep will get you to Purushwadi (220 kms from Mumbai), where you can choose to live in either a cottage or a tent.  Each traveller is assigned a rural family whose kitchen churns out yum home-cooked meals. The day’s intenrary will include exploring local arts, trekking and rapelling, chopping wood, going down to the river to catch crabs for dinner and of course, a 20-odd minute rice harvest lesson. Whether you want to milk cows at the crack of drawn depends entirely on your enthusiasm.

The best part of the trip according to Grassroutes co-founder Darren Lobo, is the village celebration of Navratri. "Tribal gods are revered and a big feast is prepared. You can even join in the local lezim dance routine," he says. But what bpb loves about this holiday is that 60% of all proceeds go directly into Purushwadi’s homes and to the village tourism fund. 

The coolest rendition of (a) Hamlet we’ve seen in a while!

Getting there: Rice harvesting festival by Grassroutes, call Darren on 8108133016, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or log on to www.grassroutes.co.in, Rs 2,000 for a two-day trip including travel, food and accommodation.