With the emergence of issues like climate change and food/grain tampering by companies like Monsanto, a lot of people in the cities all around the world, dealing with excessive consumerism, have somehow expressed a desire to go back to the simpler way of living.

But knowing what is in the packaged food we eat, and scaling back on   global warming - when more cars hit the streets and wars are being fought for oil/petrol – has never been tougher than for this current generation of the world's inhabitants.

So it's interesting to see potential change- that I'm witness to at least in terms of discussions- in the cities where mostly these are the dominant factors that matter:

1)    Education Matters - to get a job. Not necessarily to follow your life's passion, but to get a job that is socially acceptable and will support a credit card, a car loan, a house loan, a personal loan, household expenses and salad lunches.

2)    Gadgets Matter – It's got to be Nokia for a phone, and Apple for a music player and hopefully a laptop.

3)    Accessories Matter – No matter what you are wearing in terms of clothes, you gottahave a very expensive designer's name stuck on your handbag and shoes.

4)    Attitude Matters – MOST. The business tip is that you have to dress and behave not according to your current position at work, but according to the position you aspire to reach.

I got a chance and a perfect haven to help me get to my goal of simple living. All the perks of a village - big house with a big garden, greenery, a lake nearby, being in a mainly agricultural society…

I thought this also meant that I'd get to be at ease without having to deal with the demands of consumerism and keeping carbon footprints to the minimum; be in a worn pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt; garden, to make fresh produce which can end up on beautiful earthen plates and cups; cats, dog and an assorted family of choice to make it perfect.

Sounds simple right? I went about it in a typically city girl way though. Starting with buying an insane amount of t-shirts and new, worn out looking denims, then buying everything that had either organic or herbal written on it. I hired a gardener and the services of the tuk-tuk. Finally I bought a cycle, glanced at it in passing while walking towards the gate and back while I left and came back in my new found brother's rickshaw – and then sold the cycle to the round-the- corner-shop owner.

Sounds like me being an ultimate silly, but the issue here was that I had a picture in my head, but no idea how to translate it into reality. This, despite me having a perfect setting! Then what of the people who continue to live in the cities? They have a right to their share of nature and a wholesome, healthy lifestyle as well.

Here's where people like Devi come into play. She is one of the key people at Thanal – Zero Waste Management. This organization promotes the nature lover in all of us. (Find out more about them at www.thanal.co.in.) I met her when she came to give a talk to our participants. She and I spoke a little bit about the issue and I was surprised to hear that she has created a simple, wholesome lifestyle with kitchen gardens, coordinating with organic farm producers and is working out incredible waste management solutions even in a flat in Mumbai. For those not familiar with the space restraints in Mumbai, they don't even have open verandas where they can sit out and enjoy the sun. I am talking about our kind of middle class households. Seeing my interest in this topic, she said that if I contact Thanal, people from there can come out to my place and advise me on how to best utilize my place and probably plant herbs in my kitchen garden. Because people, if it can be done in Mumbai, it can be done anywhere.