At a time when organic seems to be the order of the day, a resort tucked between the Aravali hills barely 6 km off the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway, is scripting a successful story of sustainability by hiring local artisans to give local taste to its guests visiting here from far off areas of the world.
Local artisans from nearby villages have been hired here for farming, cooking, pottery making, lac art, among many others.
The resort serves local-inspired food for the guests which is made by locals, who are staying around. They are hired and trained by us to make sure our guests get a local taste while earning a sustainable income, says Binny Sebastian, General Manager, Bishangarh’s Alila Fort heritage hotel.
This heritage property has also engaged villagers in tasks like organic farming and its association with locals is quite strong.
Guests love watching them making beautiful pottery and weaving colourful carpets. They visit village houses and sip aromatic tea (masala chai) with villagers watching them engage in handmade artistry. Locals are also being paid for giving time to guests to ensure they earn something from guests visiting them.
The property has engaged bangle makers engaged in lak art, pottery makers, farmers, cooks, and many alike. There is no plastic being used in the resort since last many months but a handmade bag has replaced it. Paper made straws have replaced plastic straws.
Now, you must be interested to know the history of this report. It once was a warrior fort which is now creating successful sustainability stories following the theory of co-creation.
Alila Fort Bishangarh is easily accessible from both Delhi and Jaipur. Situated in Bishangarh Village in the Jaipur District, Alila Fort Bishangarh is 180 km (3 hours) from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi while it is 55 km (1 hour) from Jaipur Airport.
The locals in Alila Fort are engaged in diverse tasks from garden landscaping to housekeeping, driving to kitchen, dish making to local pickle making.
Our property is situated on the outskirts and we have surrounding villages with people engaged in farming. Hence, we train them in diverse tasks to make them stand on their own. With villagers earning decent amount, our surroundings have changed as there are many shops and businesses coming around, he adds.
Our guests are taken token to a local barber shop where they are given a head massage called as ‘Champi’ in local language. Villagers are getting a decent price for it.
We have been running zero mile cuisine system under which food produced within the vicinity of one mile is being served to guests. This again boosts local economy, Sebastian says.
Last Diwali, paper bag made from newspapers with an earthen pot having tulsi plant grown in our garden were gifted to our guests. Again local services were taken to make bags and pots, he adds.