Tuesday, February 13, 2007

New Year in Kasauli

Hellos to all and sundry…
Been a while…as usual huh?
Well, where to begin? This is my first post in 2007…
Spent New Year at Kasauli with Neha and Shriya at Shriya’s house.
Shriya left one day before us since she had an extra holiday. The journey began with Neha and me traveling to the station in a taxi that took aeons to reach…at one point, we thought we’d miss the train…got stuck just outside the station in a traffic jam so jumped out of the taxi with bag and baggage and barely managed to catch the train in time. It was a shatabdi from Delhi to Kalka. Like schoolgirls, Neha and I bought mushy books to read on the way…food on the train was usual nonsense. When we reached Chandigarh, everyone from our bogie disembarked and only the 2 of us were left in that chair car…with some 4 policemen…I think their presence scared us more than their absence would have! We were wondering how Shriya travels alone in this train. We even called her up to check if we haven’t missed getting off at the right station!

Anyhow, an hour and some goosebumps later, we reached Kalka…were picked up and were driven to Kasauli…it was the WORST hill drive of my life. For one, I hate sitting on the backseats of gypsies…and second, the driver was a maniac! By the time we reached home, Neha and I were giddy and sick…didn’t want to eat for a long time but eventually gave in to aunty pampering us with mushroom pie, fruitcake and what not :)

Next morning, we got dressed and sat in the ‘havan’ that aunty had kept for ‘grihashanti’ (home peace)…who was to know it’s only the beginning of a very religious day :) Then we went to the AFWWA shop and bought some woollen caps and pickles for home. I always buy pickles/jams/juices/oils from hill stations….(read Nainital, Manali)…Neha and I bought similar caps, Shriya already had one…so throughout the trip we looked like a set of triplets!

Next we climbed up a hill to reach a Hanuman temple…don’t know what it is with all temples being located on hill tops in hill stations for some reason…anyhow, the treks are always good…enjoyed it…everyone went barring uncle and aunty…Agrim and Priya had also come over for new year’s…
So we reached the top…I always enjoy making wishes so I did…and well, when you’re trekking up all the way, you might as well wish just to make it more worthwhile…no offence meant dear God!! :)
We had maggi and coffee at this little cafetaria near the temple…funny how maggi lands up in all corners of the country…tasted heavenly on that freezing morning…

Don’t know why but just didn’t like the Kasauli cold…see, as it is I feel extra cold…but Kasauli had that ‘biting’cold, unlike Delhi…gets freezing in Delhi as well but somehow I don’t mind it so much…not so painful! By the end of it, I was of the opinion that 2 days were more than enough in this weather…I couldn’t have survived another one!
So anyway, later that evening after delicious ‘chhola bhaturas’, we walked down to Mall Road…encountered some hooting and cat-calling on the way…followed by a couple who’d lost their way. We first went to this 205-year-old church…(religious day, remember?)…it was simply beauuuuuuuuu-ti-fulllll!!! I love churches…they give me a sense of calm and serenity…we lit candles, wished for some things yet again – third time in the day and then asked Father if we could indulge in photography…he allowed us to and even told us that the church features in ‘Golu ki Goggles’ – a weekly show on Star Plus!!! Click click click we went…

Next we walked down mall road, inspecting shops…Shriya bought a gift for Agrim…then we continued and went gaga over some hand-knit shawls…and the shopping freaks that Neha and I are…we bought 2 each (that after Shriya refused to let me buy more than 2!). One was for Ruchi anyway, so in essence I bought only one :)

Now we proceeded to a coffee shop – loud music, bonfire et al. The coffee and french-fries next to the bonfire were simply awesome! Then we walked back uphill, clicked a snap outside Rahul Bose’s dad’s house…just for kicks…and then huffed and puffed our way up…thankfully, uncle came half way to pick us up…it was just getting way toooooooo cold! Reached home, snuggled up in bed for 2 hours, sent new year messages to friends and then got ready to go for the new year party.

We all first went to Kasauli resort…danced there for a while and had some snacks…Uncle aunty were invited elsewhere as well so they took us along. Now this place was someone’s house…mansion, rather! We reached and commandos were all over the place – their security apparently…these people are the manufacturers of some jams, pickles, juices etc…stinking rich! But the party was such a boreeeeeeeeeeeee…the music was awful – some ghazal guy who couldn’t sing to save his life and sang sad songs to top it all! Neha, Shriya and I were wondering why we didn’t stay back at the Kasauli resort and continue having fun? We were so so bored…even the people were boring…we’d have had more fun just being at home together! Anyways, the house was beautiful and the food was delicious…everywhere there were snaps of the man with Rajiv Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi!

There was cake and champagne at midnight...no I don't drink...
Made phone calls at midnight...wished ma, pa, bhai....bhai was celebrating New Year in Venice...awesome fun!

Anyhow, we left around 2:00 am and went home and cut Agrim’s birthday cake…I was too full to eat more cake…had eaten so much all day!
The next day, we went back to the AFWWA shop as Neha wanted to shop…came back, lunched and sat on the garden swing…these guys were going back to climb the mountain upto the temple but this time I didn’t accompany them. Had a terrible headache, was shivering and feeling feverish. So I stayed at home, lay in bed and watched tv. Had missed news for the last 2 days so caught up with it…learnt there was stone pelting and mob rage happening in Nithari over the skeletons found at D-5, learnt Chandralekha died…felt bad…I’ve been to her house and met her once while we were studying at ACJ. We had our Art and Culture get together there…
Anyways, so these guys got back and we walked over to the mess – nothing unusual about it – another regular Air Force mess! Later in the night we packed and went off to sleep, got up at 3:30 am to drive down to Kalka and catch the train back to Delhi. The journey back was gone in the slumber…reached home, all rushed for baths one by one and hit office by noon…back to square one – in the new year with some new beginnings :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

ur have waoo brains..
shit i had forgotten all this !!

Unknown said...

next time You visit kasauli do not forget to stop at PINEKONEZ the souvenir shop with exclusive souvenirs ok kasauli and sanawar

Unknown said...

next time You visit kasauli do not forget to stop at PINEKONEZ the souvenir shop with exclusive souvenirs of kasauli and SANAWAR.
Pine Konez specializes in beautiful coffee mugs, wall hangings and lots more