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Managing Your Anxiety with the right food

When overall wellness is discussed, physical health is an obvious parameter to gauge well-being. However, physical health cannot be looked at in

Is Farm to Table Philosophy here to stay?

It is very commonly said that “You are what you eat.” Our bodily constitution and mental atmosphere are determined according to what we

Changing Your Lifestyle to the Tune of Nature: Embracing Winter Wellness and Serene Spring at Dharana

For thousands of years, man has lived harmoniously with their natural surroundings.

5 Holistic Practices for a Healthy Heart: Tackling Heart Failure Through Dharana at Shillim

The heart is one of, if not the most important organ in relation to a person’s wellness.

5 Ways to Effectively Prioritize Your Health in 2024!

As we usher in 2024, let us bid farewell to the conventional New Year’s resolutions that often induce stress and anxiety.

Setting Intentions for the New Year: A Wellness Guide

Ever wondered how to turn those New Year’s resolutions into a lasting, healthier lifestyle?

5 Tips To Make The Most of Your Winter Wellness Escape at Dharana Shillim

As winter whispers through the Shillim Valley, Dharana becomes an even more idealistic destination

Prevent & Manage Diabetes With Holistic Wellness

Diabetes is a persistent health risk for millions of people around the world with dire consequences in some cases.

The Green Path to Wellness: Sustainably Sourced Nutrition

In today’s fast-paced world, the importance of sustainable living and making conscious choices towards a healthier life

3 Ways to Develop a Focus on Sustainability in Kids

In the modern world, with environmental concerns looming larger than ever, developing

Embracing Wellness on World Heart Day with “Essence of Wellbeing”

In a world that ceaselessly leads a hectic lifestyle, where everyday demands often eclipse your needs,

How To Incorporate Mindfulness Into Your Cooking Routine

Consider your current relationship with food and cooking. Do you see it as a means to an end

About This Site

We are part of the earth and the earth is a part of us’ Chief Seattle

In 1985, two brothers William & Denzil acquired a family home in Khandala, a quiet forested hillside getaway located between Mumbai and Pune, very popular with residents of Mumbai. Spending long weekends away from the noisy bustle of Mumbai and even more so at the slightest hint of a wet spell during the monsoons, the getaway soon became a home away from home, a retreat from the heightened stress of everyday life.

Trekking in the adjoining forest and hilly areas, immersed in birdcall and monsoon waterfalls, picking wild fruit and listening to tales of wildlife – the Khandala getaway soon became a family favorite.The spectacular greenery, bird life, nearness to sky and stars, to descending clouds, at night a forest lit by a billion fireflies, the call from this hillside paradise slowly by slowly defined the brothers love for the wilderness.

Several years later they found themselves at the Shillim Valley – bowl shaped and ascending to the rangy mountain range of the Sayadri’s an eco hotspot. Struck by love at their first sight, they made what was then an investment into a 500 acre land. On frequent journeys to the valley they discovered that the adivasi’s or folks who live in the forests, were extensively indulging in what is called as “slash and burn” agriculture. Born out of a sheer necessity to live off the land this form of farming involved slashing down the trees of the forest and scorching the earth in the simmering hot months of April and May when the forest with dried out grass was tinder dry, slightly ahead of the monsoons, the resultant ashes being the fertilizer required to harvest their monsoon crop. This being a one season crop, every year a new part of the forest was identified and the process repeated.

On the journey from Khandala to Shillim, then an uncomfortable two hour four wheel drive trip over broken roads and mud tracks that often washed away in torrential rainfall, they witnessed the annual burning of virtually every forested hillside. The realization set in – the only way they could preserve the Shillim forests would be to buy and conserve it. By then roughly a third of the valley was already subjected to ‘scorched earth’ farming with the entire forested valley being at risk. The need to acquire and conserve turned critical. So began the journey of the brothers road to Shillim.

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