I had forgotten about Ruskin Bond, that he lived in Mussourie but once there, others in the girl-gang remembered and took me to the shop he still visits every Saturday. We got some books autographed by him. I also ended up buying 'Eat, pray and love' that is now being made into a Hollywood film. It's an amazing book. Glad I bought it.
Btw, Amit Sengupta, my senior at Hardnews, made this trip possible for me. He said, "You have every right to take a break after a hard month's work", his kindness despite being 'boss' taking me by complete surprise. It is because he let me out of office that I could reach this quiet space inside of me, and unwind. But before any of that happened, I remember typing the women's reservation dharna story on my new mobile phone early morning while train travelling to reach Mussourie. This, within two days of having an animated argument in office about worthlessness of mobile technology in context of a magazine story :).
View outside our room in Mussourie
Of course when Amit had said 'after a month's hardwork,' I heard MONTHS in my head, not just 'a month'.
View outside our room in Mussourie
Of course when Amit had said 'after a month's hardwork,' I heard MONTHS in my head, not just 'a month'.
Anyway, this hill-station getaway (bless the boss and Indu for organising it) was very meaningful despite the non-exciting visit to heavily commercialised and noisy Kempty Falls, a quick taxi-ride to Dhanaulti in rain and limited sight-seeing along the Mall road.
Garden in Dhanaulti
The unexpected fun-part was eating out at different food joints everyday, especially at this Thai place called Kalsung (or something like that). We also went to 'Whispering Windows' restaurant on a request made by Indu's mother. The soup there was delicious.
Tasty food, oxygen and lack of honking cars and deadlines were making me high effortlessly. As if that wasn't enough, the million pasty shops at Mall road made us all go nearly berserk over the warm chocolate coating on any piece of cake. Not satiated with having one or two of them, we got some more pastries packed to the hotel room for mindless consumption through mindless, but pleasurable midnight chatter.
Protecting the pastry box from rain
Yummy!!!
Anyway, the weekend ended soon and we were on our way back to Delhi... :(
Hmmm....Kalsang ,my dear .The mushroom salad was simply outstanding !!However ,people really need to learn to keep their environs clean .Lot of litter and trash strewn around was bothersome .
ReplyDeleteMindless midnight chatter and giggles kept the adrenalin rush high !!!! Way to go gals .
Anyone to Mussourie ,do go to Kalsang ,the Thai and Chinese restaurant ,you wont be disappointed .And there's Ruskin Bond ,as well .Ahem !!!