This young woman is enlightening Corbett #girlboss Ayu Tripathi
Have you ever met a woman who at a young age decided a village needs her a lot more than our usual selfish Instagram worthy lives? Well when we headed to Aahana in Jim Corbett little did we know the beauty of the place shall be over-shadowed by the beauty of this pretty owner. In her early twenties Ayu Triphati, a Sociology graduate from Sri Venkateswara College, has far more vision about future of Corbett and how she plans to rectify the man animal conflicts!
What is exactly Jim Corbett for you?
This is the place of my father picked, we settled in Nanital because education was better and so were the opportunities. But over the years we came to Corbett and saw our father make this resort and that is when I decided that I could settle and handle the resort myself.
How do you maintain the harmony with the villagers?
The village people are an integral part of Aahana, our staff is made up of 90 per cent locals who are trained here. Most of them have been with us since we opened doors. In fact the masseuses at the spa are village woman who we got trained to equip them with knowledge. The women here need to learn financial stability and we try to empower them.
Around you are jungles (Ahaana shares a wall with Bijrani gate) how do you make sure the animals do not have a conflict with population?
Often as we breach jungles, the animal-man conflicts arise; usually it is the farmers who with their meager earnings are also caught in these. Fields and crops are often destroyed, cattle are picked by animals, this in turn makes villagers voracious hunters and we try settling these disputes. We try to reimburse the villagers if we find animals have attacked. This is our way to pacify the villagers and not to let them destroy wildlife. The villagers are now guards of the wildlife, knowing that we shall help them.
What about education for villagers?
The villagers need education more so with the influx of tourists and resorts which use them during peak season and then dismiss them. We promote education for the kids of the village with the support of Long View Public School, Nanital which my mother helped establish. There are ambitious plans to start our hotel management institute soon so that the youth can seek permanent employment.
How has Jim Corbett changed over the years?
Jim Corbett with its rich wildlife history and peaceful locale used to draw a lot of foreign interest but over the years its proximity to Delhi has changed things. Many hotels have gotten louder with blasting music in the night which disturbs the wildlife and makes them flee. Till the time these people are not educated about how important peace is for animals, the number of sightings will dwindle. In fact most expat crowd is slowly moving towards Madhya Pradesh, Tadoba to be precise. We need to cherish what we have and not go against nature.
We also went with Ayu for a cleanliness drive the hotel arranges with the school children every month and they inculcate them to understand the Swatch Bharat Abhiyan and possibly a cleaner future for Corbett. They all including the young woman, pick up plastic scraps and collect them. the children are rewarded with books, stationary and chocolate. The staff gets celebratory chai at a nearby dhaba while the roads look spic and span.
