Such young and sporting minds I have ever met in Dehene. Teenagers of this village are just not working as a guide to earn for their families but they are highly ambitious with full of the spirit of learning new things.

I spent my two days in this beautiful, hidden village in Maharashtra, a small hamlet nestled in the lap of the Sahyadri range. Dehene is still untouched by commercialization where you actually find the serenity and peace of village life while staying there. This village is located 120 km far from Mumbai and easily accessible from other states as well.

Monsoon is the best time to experience the incredible and rustic charm of Dehene. Treat your eyes to the bounty of nature, meet long forgotten tribes, live with local families, have their authentic dishes, spent time at the riverside, and rejuvenate your soul here with fresh air.

I traveled to Dehene during the monsoon. Such a beautiful rural experience has been made possible by Mumbai-based social enterprise and responsible travel company – Grassroutes. Thanks to Grassroutes, Raksha, a remarkable young girl who greeted me in the village, and my special guide, my brother Nilu, a cricket-lover, who led me to the unexplored spot in this beautiful village in India, which was truly amazing and made my journey a worth-remembering.

This small village consists of only 1,124 populations largely dependent on agriculture and labor work. This award-winning social enterprise, Grassroutes is running their rural tourism program to offer training to village people and mostly teenagers like (Raksha and Nilu) as a guide and give them the opportunity to enhance their life skills and improve the livelihood of the villagers to expand the rural and responsible tourism in the villages of Maharashtra while keeping the basic attraction of the village intact.

I opted for two night stay in this village to have an offbeat experience and lived closely with the harmony. Once I reached the village, Raksha welcomed me in a traditional Maharashtra style with a tikka and white toppi. This is a great act of respect shown towards guests ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ followed for ages in India. Mostly, I interacted with Raksha and Nilu while staying there and really was impressed with how they were showing their interest in learning English, new skills, and sharing knowledge of the various resources in and around their village. Raksha was brilliant like how she was trying to articulate some words in English which she grabbed while interacting with foreign guests and she was so curious to do a job in her future. I wondered to hear how this late teen girl manages time for her household work and study, and eagerly takes part of soft-skill session when it gets conducted by any institute or association in their village. Another boy Nilu is pursuing a college now, and shared that he has a dream of becoming a cricketer. He is still in touch with me and this teen boy is a gem of a person.

I really wished that these young minds could get their wings to their dreams.

Besides interacting with the locals, there are many things in this village to explore.

After I reached the village in the late afternoon, locals welcomed me. I stayed there with Nilu’s family. They offered me some snacks and then Nilu took me around his small, beautiful village and explained their village lifestyle, and daily work routine, he had immense knowledge about treks and sports activities which he shared with me. As we talked, we moved towards the riverside. There I spent some quality time with the serenity of nature and the place has just a spectacular view all around. In the evening, we came back to his home. His mother offered me a hot cup of tea and poha. Raksha, Nilu, and their friends, a few local people gathered, all sat together, chatted a lot while sipping hot tea and the weather outside was just overwhelming. It sounds to me just like a great evening I ever had.

The next day, we decided to go nature hiking toward Ajobakad, a famous trekking destination in Maharashtra. I took my raincoat as it was heavily pouring there. We started climbing the hill and reached the Valmiki Ashram in the next 2 hrs. From the top of the hill, it has a beautiful and mesmerizing view. There was a small waterfall close to the ashram, where we sat and took some rest and a little water stream furnished us with spotless water.

Valmiki Ashram

From the base village, it was 2-3 hrs hiking with stunning and beautiful surroundings. While hiking, Nilu guided me well with the trekking trails and explained the history of Ajobakad. He also shared his past experience in regards to this trek.

It was really heartwarming for me to see people living up close to nature, getting a chance to taste the local organic meal and spent time with the locals, and know how their culture, and lifestyle.

After back to the village, we went to the tribal village which was 5 mins' walking distance from the main village. As it was continuously raining, didn’t get that privileged to interact with the tribes and see their belongings but the thing which I enjoyed the most, was the beauty of the village in abundance. It was a very different but amazing experience to see the people still follow their traditions, culture, and handicraft skills, in this technological era, and very much cut out from the entire world.

Along with my guide, I also explored the village trails and discovered hidden waterfalls, various species of birds, small ponds, and much more.

On my way back to Mumbai, I went to the Chonda dam; it was 5km far from Dehene but a truly amazing spot that must be on your itinerary.

I really enjoyed this scenic drive all my way from Mumbai and the village beauty, especially during the monsoon. It was overall a memorable solo journey for me on my birthday in 2019 and would love to meet with the lovely village people again.