MYSURU: With an increase in the number of corona-positive cases and the fear of its spread, people in metros and other urban pockets have hit the path of reverse migration, keen to be back in their villages.
A rethink of their urban lifestyle and a keen interest to get back to their hometowns and back to their roots is evident. Many netas, businessmen, bureaucrats and officers have moved out of Bengaluru, Mysuru and other cities, and are living in their farmhouses.
The farmhouse that they visited once or twice a month has now become their safe haven. Vinodh, an engineer, and his family have moved to their farmhouse near HD Kote, which he claims is “safe from any infection and crowding”. They struggled to settle down for a couple of days. But the children are now trying their hand at farming and are spending “quality” time together.
A senior bureaucrat has shifted his family along with his pets to their farm near Kanakapura-Malavalli. “I am staying alone in Bengaluru and want my family to be in isolation so that psychological pressure on me is reduced,” he said.
Farms in the foothills of BR Hills are flooded with high-end vehicles and so is the case in estates of Kodagu, as many have returned to their hometowns. Lower-middle-class families that had settled in cities looking for jobs and children’s education have returned to their villages, as they are in “no mood to take risk”.Boregowda, an employee of a private firm in Mysuru, said he has returned to his village near Maddur and will go back only if the situation returns to normal.
This has also turned out to be an occasion for family gatherings as members spread in different places have come together to stay in farms. The coronavirus has made people prefer villages to towns and cities, for urbanities have begun to feel cities are no longer safe.“If the government provides better telecommunication and internet services, it would help many work from home – even if it is farms,” said Nanjunda Murthy, an IT professional. The lockdown has made him feel it is better to work from a farm than be locked up by four walls.