WHO
WE ARE
Founders Letter
Life isn’t meant to be rushed. It’s meant to be lived.
From Delhi’s hustle to Himachal’s valleys, ELivingProjects was born out of one belief: that community is stronger than walls, and that travel can change lives.
In 2017, Rahul — a techie turned filmmaker turned entrepreneur, who left behind the city noise of Delhi started a mud-and-wood house in Jibhi, long before it was a destination. It wasn’t about business, it was about belonging. People cooked together, shared silence, and found home in a valley no one had heard of. That spirit has carried through every project since
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What We’ve Seen
More than stays. Transformations.
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Corporate workers arriving burnt out, leaving with mountain calm.
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Guests who came for “a weekend” later opening their own stays.
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Strangers who met at our tables now running brands together.
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Villages finding new life as cafés, taxis, and shops sprouted around our spaces.
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Even today, we meet people in Delhi, Bombay, even Chicago, who say: “I’ve been to Mudhouse… or Fika.” And suddenly, we’re not strangers anymore - we’re part of the same circle.
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What We Believe
Our principles are simple.
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Community > Walls – A property is just walls; the people inside make it alive.
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Hospitality is human – Not seasonal profits, but moments of care that stay forever.
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Experiments create ripples – From mud-home workshops to writing fellowships, we’ve always built formats that transform, not entertain.
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Legacy is impact – Dozens of volunteers, fellows, and guests have gone on to create their own soulful projects — that’s our real success.
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Where We Are Now
From one mudhouse to a living movement.
Today, ELivingProjects isn’t just a hostel or a homestay. It’s an ecosystem:
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Fika Homes – soulful homes in Himachal & Goa.
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YouFinder Retreats – intimate gatherings for reflection and connection.
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Fellowships & Workshops – training dreamers to build their own stays.
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Consultancy – helping others avoid costly mistakes and create spaces that last.
But underneath all these names, the vision remains the same: spaces where the good ones find each other.
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Invitation
This isn’t a startup. This isn’t just travel. This is living.
ELivingProjects is messy, human, and alive — just like life itself.
Born from one house in Jibhi, it has grown into a network of dreamers, creators, and seekers.
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If you’re here, maybe you’re not just looking for a stay. Maybe you’re also looking for a pause, a shift, a new story.
👉 Welcome to ELivingProjects. Let’s live, together.
The Timeline
2017 – The First Leap: Jibhi
In 2017, Jibhi wasn’t on the tourist map. It was a hidden valley, visited by a few backpackers who stumbled in by mistake. That’s where I started a simple mud-and-wood house that became a hostel, long before Jibhi was “discovered.”
We didn’t call it a business. It was a place where people gathered. Dinners cooked together, fireside conversations, community kitchens, that was the real magic. That year, I also hosted Alternate Living -a 15-day experience where people learned to build mud homes, grow their own food, and practice mindful living.
Soon after, we began Festivals of Nothingness, weekends where the agenda was silence, reflection, and being human without distraction.
Guests arrived as travelers and left as family. Many still message me today saying that house in Jibhi shaped who they became.
2018 – The Himalayan Cabins, Sojha
In 2018, the dream grew. We started creating Himalayan Cabins in Sojha, traditional Himachali-style wooden homes, built to be rentals but designed with soul. These weren’t hotels; they were shelters for solitude seekers.
That same year, I co-hosted Writing Fellowships in Jibhi. Four writers at a time would live at my home for weeks, drawing inspiration from mountains, streams, and silence. Some of them went on to finish long-form novels and manuscripts they had been stuck with for years.
2019 – Karyashaala, Bir
2019 was the year of Karyashaala , a creative coworking and community hub in Bir. It wasn’t just about desks and Wi-Fi. It was about fair collaboration - freelancers, locals, and creators sitting together, sharing skills, and building projects.
Karyashaala attracted designers, coders, filmmakers, and artists. It became a hub where rural Himachal met the digital world.
But in 2021, COVID forced us to shut it down. Even though it closed, it left behind memories of what’s possible when people come together.
2021 – Fika Homes, Gadagusain
By 2021, I had moved deeper into Himachal, to a village called Gadagusain. That’s where I built Fika Homes.
Fika wasn’t just a homestay. It was an invitation to slow down. Guests woke up to misty mornings, drank filter coffee in silence, hiked to hidden meadows, cooked together in a community kitchen, and rediscovered what it means to pause.
It wasn’t about volume or crowds. It was about the right people, the right pace.
2022 – A Pause
2022 was a year of reflection. No new projects. Just sitting with everything I had built, asking myself: What’s next? How do I want this story to continue?
2023 – Expansion: Goa & YouFinder
By 2023, the next chapter unfolded.
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Fika Goa was born by the sea, carrying the same spirit of slow, soulful living , but in a different rhythm. Here, hammocks, salt air, and sunsets replaced deodar trees, but the ethos remained the same: connection, simplicity, community.
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In the same year, we started YouFinder - intimate retreats for 10–15 people in offbeat places. These weren’t tourist packages. They were journeys of reflection, creativity, and connection. Guests unplugged, shared meals, wrote, hiked, healed - and left lighter than when they came.
The Experiments in Between
Across all these years, ELivingProjects wasn’t just about properties. It was about experiments.
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Alternate Living (2017): Building mud homes, farming, practicing mindful living.
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Festivals of Nothingness: Weekends with no agenda except to slow down.
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Writing Fellowships (2018–19): Hosting writers in Jibhi to complete books and long-form projects.
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Community Kitchens: Guests cooking together, breaking bread as family.
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Mindful Gatherings: Events rooted not in loud music and parties, but in silence, reflection, and human connection.
Each of these left ripples. People still write to me about how these experiences shaped them, how they carry the lessons into their lives.
The Heart of It All
Looking back from 2017 to today, the projects may look different -a house in Jibhi, a cabin in Sojha, a creative hub in Bir, Fika Homes in the mountains and Goa, retreats with YouFinder.
But the heart has always been the same:
👉 To create soulful spaces and experiences where people feel at home , with themselves, with others, and with the world around them.
The Vision Ahead
Today, ELivingProjects is not just one property or one retreat. It’s an ecosystem.
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Properties that invite slow, soulful living (like Fika).
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Retreats that help people reflect and connect (like YouFinder).
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Fellowships and experiments that inspire creators and dreamers.
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Consultancy that helps others build their own soulful stays and avoid costly mistakes.
The work continues, not louder, but deeper.
This
This is the story of ELivingProjects.
Born in a forgotten valley, carried through cabins, homes, retreats, festivals, and fellowships.
It has been messy, beautiful, exhausting, inspiring like life itself.
And maybe, as you read this, you realize this isn’t just my story. It’s also an invitation to yours.
👉 Welcome to ELivingProjects. Where living is not just seen, but felt.
Our Team Members
Rahul Kumar
Founder & CEO
Dipti Deswal
Board Member