My Father always told us ,”you are as good as what the plaque on your gravestone reads”. We have based our lives on this principle. 

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DEOGARH'S foundation  stone was laid in 1670 AD by our ancestor - DWARKA Dasji . The Palace remained as the residence of my  family till late 1900’s. . My Grand Father opted to move out  to teach at Mayo College, a British style public school initially designed to educate the young princes . Both my Brother and me went to that school - a family tradition.. Our parents insisted on us  working on our IQ,EQ and SQ  alongwith health Quotient . While we were at school we were taken to a Guru to practice yoga , meditation and spiritualism as well . We played sport and particpated in cultural activities  too.  

At  Devshree we spent time on learning the values  that were passed down through generations on how an erstwhile family member should come across to the people . Deogarh is a traditional village in Rajasthan(near Udaipur-earlier the state of Mewar). We are expected to dress, behave, and speak in a particular fashion and our   elders and family retainers assist us in this excercise. We are expected to adhere to the principles and our  behaviour ,conduct, discipline lifestyle are to be in keeping with the  values of swaraj (self rule) as practiced by Lord Ram. A practice of self- discipline, hardwork, perseverance and the knowledge that  he had captivated the hearts of the people and knew public opinion by intuition .

The Dev Shree Trust was formed  to continue the work of helping the poor and educating the children from the  backward sections of society .We have assisted school children with uniform, books, sweater, slippers and we have formed a body of Government school teachers to help us with the same. One of our benefactors has helped us with arranging motivational training camps for these teachers. We have also set up state-of –art basketball(a popuar sport in Deogarh) courts for the village. This has taught us the joy and  importance of giving –my Mother always says”it is in giving that we receive”. 
In our Farms too, we introduced  drip irrigation and use only solar energy in all our Farms. The idea is to set up model farms. We work with local farmers and share the practices with them.

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When we built  Devshree, it was with the guidance of our Guru. We engaged local artisans to carve pillars from local stone and the building is built following the  Hindu guidelines of Vastu Shastra. The rooms and interiors are designed keeping in mind the needs of the  discerning  traveller. The experience of the lifestyle ,the meals (which have a few traditional dishes incorporated into the menu) and the fact that they  are part of the family and included in the festivals and celebrations as per the season, is what sets Dev Shree apart from the other places . Both of us brothers also enjoy being with the guests and their questions and queries helps us learn more about our own history. 

Today both us brothers are learning the art and science of hospitality and business management . We chose an Indian Institute so the foundation of our training is based on our Indian style. Although we are introduced to all facets of the business –Indian and Western. Even during vacations we work at home and hope we can infuse some new age ideas and concepts to grow the brand of Dev Shree.

We have grown up treating our guests as friends , learning to cook , serve  and take care of their needs since we were children . Each guest  is personally received by one of us on arrival . We share our time showing them the rural life , farm activity , social upliftment  schemes , rural train experience , cycling to the homes of local Thakurs . In all we like to showcase our area, its people, flora and fauna to the peope who visit us. The idea is to create lasting memories,something unique and something different for each traveller. 

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During the  lockdown we have spent a lot of time with my mother baking cakes , making pickles and other traditional dishes . My mother learned these recipes from her mother while growing up in the tea estates of Eastern India . After marriage my mother came under the tutelage of her Mother-In-Law and learnt how to prepare the local delicacies. We are spending time experimenting and documenting these recipes.