Kasauling and Simlaing

Last weekend I went Kasauli-ing and Simla-ing, two activities I have enjoyed doing ever since I first undertook them way back in 2000. However, this trip was particularly memorable because it was a perfect marriage of great conversations and a lot of laughter.

First a bit about the people I went with.

1. Arup: An IIT-ian, Arup is a Motorola phone-hater, an enthusiastic photographer, fabulously sporting be it at his expense or someone else’s, affectionate, a real friend and a perfect sweetheart.
2. Rajarshi: Another IIT-ian. Additionally, he is a mountain-lover (the tougher the path to navigate the happier he is), and is the prototype of the strong, silent, reliable, balanced man one reads about in books. Has a super sexy singing voice that can sing in three languages with equal panache.
3. Ayan: The man with a brilliant sense of humor, gorgeous eyes, excellent manners, an inexhaustible stock of music, and a gorgeous girlfriend. He was the judge when we played Pictionary, the banker when we played Monopoly and the encourager every time the ladies fell behind while climbing a steep path.
4. Shweta: The baby of the group, and my favorite to boot. Sassy, smart, super intelligent, and endowed with a kickass-attitude that says I don’t give a damn about the world. (Sorry guys, she is not available!) I personally do not have a sister, but she makes me wish I had one, and that it was her.

We left on Thursday night for Kasauli, armed with our respective pieces of luggage, lots of music, a fair amount of snacks and oodles of enthusiasm. Stopped at Murthal for a quick dinner of paranthas and lassi and after driving almost non-stop we reached Kasauli just as dawn was breaking on Friday. Checked into the hotel (Hotel Anchal -- recommended only for the view it offers), slept for an hour or so, freshened up and stepped out for some crisp mountain air and much needed breakfast. I had told everyone about this restaurant in Kasauli that has the world’s best cheese omelets, but of course I had forgotten its name as well as location. However, by the time I mentioned cheese omelets for the 19^th time, everyone had been sold to the concept. So we marched up and down and all over till we located the shop and tucked in gratefully into the toast, omelet (yes, cheese ones) and coffee. Other notable highlights of Friday include attending a bit of the Good Friday service in the Kasauli church, driving down to Dagshai for walks around the quaint church and lots of photographs, tucking into an awesome lunch at Giani da dhaba in Dharampur, savoring pakoras at the Kasauli mall, an exciting evening/night walk in the hills with almost no artificial lights for company and moonlight filtering in through the pine trees, scaring the wits out of Shweta by talking about ghosts and monkeys alternately, and drinking plum wine in plastic glasses.

Saturday morning saw us rise and shine (ok not with the first ray of the sun), check out of the hotel and head towards Simla. En route we stopped at a very interesting dhaba for breakfast. Why interesting? Because it had a sumptuous terrace that provided a 360 degree, completely breathtaking view. Several songs and kilometers later we reached Simla, and checked into Spars Lodge, a lovely hotel that was recommended to me a couple of years ago and I have been its fan right from then. It rocks because it has wooden floors, clean and cozy rooms, perfect loos, and a fabulous cook who makes awesome pastas. Post lunch (at the hotel) we went to the Viceregal Lodge, presently known as the building that houses the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. It is the most beautiful building ever. Every frame looks straight out of a picture perfect movie. You could stand just about anywhere, aim in any direction and click. The resulting photograph could easily win you a competition or two. What amazes me every time I visit this Institute is that it was in this perfect a locale that the imperfect decision to partition the country was taken, which is why the historical relevance of the place. Our group spent several hours here, basking in the mist that was gradually sweeping over, listening to the wind blowing through the pines, soaking in the silence and the overwhelming beauty all around us, and playing the first of several rounds of Word Association.

From here our next destination was the Mall. We walked, pottered around an old books’ shop, reveled in the Saturday night atmosphere of Simla, admired the twinkling lights of the cities far away, ate gulab jamuns and pop corn (not at one go though!), and went quite crazy in one of the most well-known bakeries of the town, Trishul, and brought fresh fruits to last us a lifetime. Came back to the hotel and stayed up for quite a while playing one game after another. We died of laughter in the midst of Pictionary, later switched to Monopoly where I tried to cheat my way to success rather unsuccessfully. Arup’s business acumen side flashed to the surface and humbled the rest of us, although let me hasten to add that Shweta emerged the winner here.

Sunday arrived and brought with it awesome weather, cloudy skies and a bit of rain. After a grand, leisurely breakfast comprising sausages, toast, mushrooms, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, scrambled eggs and coffee, we went to Christ Church, Simla’s most identifiable landmark. It was heartening to see the Church being restored and revamped. Inside, the Easter service was on, so we just peeped in and peeped out. Another hour or so of gallivanting and then we started for Delhi/Gurgaon/Noida. Lunch was at Giani da dhaba, Dharampur, again, and for evening tea and pakoras it was my earlier regular haunt, Zhilmil at Karnal. We entered NCR at about 10 in the night after several rounds of Word Association, Antakshari, impromptu singing, story-telling and story-making sessions.

A memorable trip, made even more memorable thanks to Arup’s good naturedness, Rajarshi’s music, Ayan’s wit, Shweta’s charisma, and my (I am assuming) ghost-story-sessions. Fingers crossed for more such trips.