To Live & Work at Vaatalya

COMMUNITY LIVING

“To live and work at Vaatalya, requires one to move away from the norms of conventional social-economic systems and enter into a more "giving" space where personal needs and desires are secondary to the collective good."

To give you better insight and perspective, we are sending you information on how to live and work together as a community when at Vaatalya. Read the information given below:

The Collective life

Relations in Vaatalya are based on sincere collaboration and fraternity. Respect for nature and the environment is expected from all.

Morning and Evening Routines

We move our routines in the mountains as per the sun. We wake up to the sunrise and close our day at a reasonable time.

In the mornings, we prefer taking out our yoga mats, a silent mountain hike in the forests, doing Surya namaskar to the rising sun, or simply feeling gratitude, seeing the colours in the sky. We have a small callisthenics park for exercise.

We compile our day together, talking about our learnings and close our day by journaling or chanting.

You don’t have to necessarily be a part of this routine, each one on its own. But we recommend you to stick with 03 basic principles for a sane healthy life when at Vaatalya: Sleep on time | Eat on time | Be Active

Meals Timings | Washing Utensils | Voluntarism

Here are the approximate timings of the meals

Breakfast Time: 0930 AM

Lunch Time: 0200 PM

Dinner Time: 0800 PM

A bell will ring 10 minutes prior to the food being served down in the common dining space. The meal will start only start once everyone is seated. All meals start and end together for everyone. We tend to pray before meals in gratitude, but that's absolutely up to you. Once we are done, carry your used utensils and wash them in the designated area in a systematic way, that will be explained to you at the retreat.

DIY Laundry

Washing clothes and undergarments inside the rooms is strictly not allowed due to the distribution of the water supply in the community retreat. Please dont do this. In case you want to wash anything urgently ask us where to do so. Else we have 02 laundry days at Vaatalya in the entire duration of 15 days where we will all get our clothes together and wash them collectively in the semi-automatic washing machine at Vaatalya. The charges for washing clothes are around INR 150/per kg clothes.

Towels  | Soaps | Shampoo | Toiletries

It's mandatory for all long-stay travellers/community members/ work exchange travellers & interns to get their own towels and toiletry kits like soaps, shampoo, toothbrushes etc. You can dry your towels in the designated areas at the community retreat.

Medical Kit

It's mandatory for all to carry a basic medical kit. There is no medical store around the vicinity, so if you are on medication or have a medical condition ensure you carry a backup.

Room Cleaning

If you need to clean your room ask us for jharu/pocha | dusting cloth and a broom. We will hand it over to you. You can clean your room and return it back. Please keep the room tidy. It is mandatory for all to clean your room once in 02 days.

Waste Management

The waste gets segregated into food/biodegradable waste & non-biodegradable waste here at Vaatalya. There is one small dustbin placed in your room and a few garbage bags.

Every 48 hrs there will be 02 dustbins placed at the designated areas, where you can throw your segregated waste. Carry an extra bag or ask us for one, for your plastic/non-biodegradable waste. Collect it and you can take it back by the end of the trip. The biodegradable waste is moved to our manure units for composting.

We follow the Leave No Trace policy: This means you take back all your non-biodegradable waste with you while leaving. Always leave the land in as good if not better condition than you found it. You can leave Bio-Degradable waste at Vaatalya as it is organically decomposed in our waste units.

Extras Bills

For any experiences or extras that you might avail of like snacks, tea, etc we have a small menu in the dining space. You will be required to clear your bill when it hits the amount of INR 500. Considering you are staying for long, it's easier to keep track like that for everyone.

Door Closed

There are no automatic locks here at Vaatalya. So ensure you MANUALLY keep the door closed and bolted at all times. It can get windy leading to breakage. This is also to prevent insects entering from the room. You are living away from Urban Landscape in the wild.

VERY IMPORTANT: Water Usage

VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE especially for travellers coming in summer months i.e April to June. We live on a mountain top and our water supply is fixed and limited. Water is available for BASIC NEEDS but NOT AS LUXURY. Use water very wisely. Once you arrive we will give you insights on how to productively use water.

Be Delicate

We live and work in a disconnected space far away from urban landscapes. So ensure you use everything delicately. Starting from the opening and closing taps to opening and closing the doors. Things are slightly old school.

Work Exchange | Voluntarism | Internships

The retreat is based on the principles of co-existence, unity, and working harmoniously with each other. There is no segregation of work on the basis of economics & there is no monetary transaction involved in any kind of work exchange. We all do everything together, whatever we can, wherever we think our expertise fits best. People who are not part of the community are guided by community members or community heads at the retreat, depending on the project or work we are executing on that given day. Our work revolves around the operations, innovation & research around Vaatalya Community Retreat.

Hope this information helps. In case you have any doubts please reach out to us. In our mountain top retreat, we say sorry, we like to have fun, we like to say please and thank you, we give big hugs, we chase dreams, we forgive, we make mistakes, we give second chances and we say I Love you often.

See you later! Alligator ;)