A folk rapper's account of eco-living in the Himalayan village of Chegra

When it comes to travel, I have a few ground rules, starting with the most important one - pack light. By that I don't just mean clothes, gadgets and accessories. Try and travel without your friends, so you can make new ones. Random encounters with strangers are often unforgettable. Turn your phone off as often as possible. Use your mind as your storage device instead - it breeds character. Try saying the word 'no' as few times as possible. The best experiences are the ones that are unmapped. Lastly, and I don't just say this because I'm a musician, but try keeping your music player within arms reach. Literally any experience is infinitely enhanced with the right background score.

My name is Vikramjit Sen but for most people I'm an award winning artiste called Feyago. I introduced the country to Folk Rap and in order to do so, I spent the better half of the last nine years on the road. At first, my music had only a few thousand views. This meant a lot of hitchhiking, night buses and general class trains. Over the years, I managed to allocate more and more of my savings towards travel. One of my most memorable escapades took place before the pandemic, when I spent almost eight months in a tiny village with a population of less than two thousand.
Chegra is a quaint village tucked away above the Teesta valley, an hour from Kalimpong, hidden by hills on both sides. I rented the only homestay there, Kartiyok Sougar, run by a family of Buddhist monks. People travel for many reasons. My stay in Chegra had three purposes. The first was dealing with anxiety and anger issues. The second was to write new music and incorporate folk instruments. Lastly, I wanted to learn organic farming and live a holistic lifestyle in solitude, far from the madding crowd. As it turns out, there was a fourth outcome. I managed to befriend the entire village and we keep in touch ever since.


Chegra taught me many things. We built a swimming pool made entirely from stone slabs. This is where I learn to swim, getting rid of hydrophobia once and for all. I also learnt how to catch river fish in three different ways, farm vegetables and fruits without the use of pesticides, build bamboo cottages, play Tibetan instruments and cook Lepcha and Tamang traditional recipes using whatever we grew according to the season. The hosts were extremely friendly, to the point where we are almost like family.

Before my extended stay in Chegra, I had no idea that I could manage to survive in a place with no nightlife, barely any people my age and almost no one who speaks English, apart from one of the owners of the homestay. I had no idea that a jar of pickled lemons stored for sixty years by a senior monk could cure indigestion in minutes. I had no idea that almost every tree has at least one or two components that could heal the body in some way. I had no idea that no matter what religion you follow, chanting and meditation in the morning could purify your mind for the rest of the day.


Chegra is not too high up in the mountains. This means that the temperature is pretty much ideal throughout the year. Occasionally, a few tourists would show up. Occasionally, I would go on tour to the big cities, consume my share of consumables, perform for large crowds and return to my tiny, humble, heavenly abode. My home was made entirely of bamboo with a beautiful patio where I spent many hours playing the ukulele, talking to the villagers or peeling seasonal fruit. There was zero use of plastic and there was zero food wastage. Every day was a lesson and I was the most eager student you would ever encounter.


Authored by Feyago. He is one of the pioneers in the Indian rap scene. Having won the Vh1 Soundnation Awards, this rapper-producer created the genre Folk Rap by infusing hip hop with folk sounds from the East. Feyago is also an avid traveller who promotes an organic, sustainable lifestyle through his music.