After years of working in real estate in Dubai, a man found himself drawn to a life far removed from the pace and pressure of the city. He eventually left it behind, moved to the mountains of Uttarakhand and co-founded a cafe in Kasar Devi.
Ishan Grover, co-founder of Thoda Slow cafe, shared his story in a video posted by content creator Himanshu Khosla as part of his series Unfiltered Life. Himanshu spoke to Ishan while touring his aesthetic cafe in the mountains.
“I used to do real estate in Dubai and when I came here, I fell in love with this place and I stayed back,” Ishan said.
For Ishan, the cafe is more than a business as it represents the slower, quieter life he chose for himself.
“I am promoting slow life and I want to live a slow life. That is why I named it Thoda Slow,” he said.
Ishan said he wanted to leave behind the pressures and “hassle” of city life and move somewhere peaceful. His decision, however, was also shaped by a deeply personal experience.
He lost his father to cancer, and the experience of repeatedly visiting hospitals changed the way he viewed the life he had been living.
“I was just running around hospitals, and I saw what happens and what is going on and I started hating that life,” he said.
Over time, Ishan realised that his sense of peace lay in the mountains. He eventually chose to make them his home, trading the bustle of city life for a quieter existence in Kasar Devi.
“I find my peace in the mountains. So, I started living in the mountains,” he said.
His philosophy now is simple: if he has the means to choose a different way of life, he should follow it.
“I feel like if I can afford to do this, I should do it,” he said.
For Ishan Grover, that choice has taken shape in Thoda Slow – a cafe built around the idea of stepping away from the rush and embracing a slower pace of life in the mountains.
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