They left Singapore for a village in Uttarakhand to give their son a slower childhood; Why this corporate couple chose unschooling and what their child has gained from learning without exams, report cards or a fixed syllabus

For many people caught in the fast pace of corporate life, moving to the mountains and choosing a slower way of living can feel like an impossible dream. But for Garima and Aditya, that dream became a reality when they left behind their life in Singapore and moved to a quiet village in Uttarakhand to raise their son, Vedas. A video shared on Instagram by the account @lifeofmaai highlights their unconventional approach to parenting and their decision to step away from the traditional path of school, homework, exams and report cards. Instead, the couple wanted their son to grow up surrounded by nature, with the freedom to explore, play, ask questions and learn at his own pace.

When corporate life began to take a toll

Aditya, who was born and raised in a middle-class family in Shimla, had once believed that professional success meant climbing the corporate ladder. He moved to Delhi for college to study fashion management, where he met Garima. After completing her studies, Garima took up a high-paying job that also gave her opportunities to travel abroad for training. In 2015, the couple got married and eventually moved to Singapore because of Aditya’s work. However, the demands of corporate life eventually began to take a toll. Garima left her job and started studying child psychology, which changed the way the couple looked at childhood, education and parenting. As she explored the subject further, the couple began questioning whether the conventional definition of success was right for their family.

An eight-year plan to leave it all behind

The decision to leave Singapore was not sudden. According to their Instagram account, lifeofmaai, Aditya and Garima spent nearly eight years planning and researching before taking the leap. At 33, Aditya eventually quit his job and moved to Uttarakhand with Garima, who was expecting their child at the time. The couple became increasingly interested in nature-based living, traditional knowledge, herbs and alternative approaches to education. They wanted to create an environment where their child could experience childhood without being pushed too early into the pressures associated with conventional schooling. Their new home in Basgaon, Uttarakhand, became the setting for this experiment in slow living.

No uniforms, report cards or fixed syllabus

According to The Better India, their son Vedas has never attended a traditional school. For him, learning does not begin and end inside a classroom. His days are shaped by the natural world around him. He wakes with the sun, listens to birds, watches the rain and explores his surroundings. He climbs, plays with stones, observes insects and plants, invents his own games and helps make compost. He even paints with mud. What may appear to be simple play is, for his parents, an opportunity for discovery and learning. Instead of following a fixed syllabus, Vedas is encouraged to remain curious and understand the world through direct experience.

The couple calls it ‘unschooling’

Garima and Aditya describe their approach as ‘unschooling’, a form of learning that places greater emphasis on a child’s interests, curiosity and pace rather than following a rigid academic structure. However, the couple is not against textbooks, examinations or formal education altogether. “We’re just against forcing them too early, too often, and too blindly,” they said, as quoted by The Better India. For them, the idea is not to keep their son away from education but to give him the freedom to develop a natural interest in learning before imposing conventional academic pressure.

Choosing a slower childhood

The family’s journey has also sparked conversations online, with many people praising their decision to step away from the corporate race and build a life around nature and family. For some, their story represents a lifestyle many secretly dream about, leaving behind long working hours, constant pressure and the rush of city life for fresh air, open spaces and more meaningful everyday experiences. Garima and Aditya’s choices may not be suitable for every family, but their journey raises an important question: does childhood always need to be structured around classrooms, screens, exams and deadlines, or can children also learn through curiosity, play and the world around them? For Vedas, at least for now, the mountains are his classroom, nature is his playground and everyday life is part of the lesson.