India, Sept. 11 -- Many dream of abandoning the daily corporate grind to build something of their own, but a few actually have the courage to plan and pull it off. At 33, Tarana Chauhan did just that when she traded a Rs.24 lakh annual salary to restore her century-old ancestral home in Rohru, Himachal Pradesh. In a conversation with hindustantimes.com, she detailed how her lockdown side hustle blossomed into a boutique retreat.

Chauhan told hindustantimes.com, "I started my career through campus placement at Tata Consultancy Services as a Senior Business Analyst. 2 years later, I moved to Anheuser-Busch, where I eventually became a Product Manager."

She recalled, "I spent almost six years in the corporate world, going from a package of...