3 posts tagged “ekta”

Interesting architecture...views to die for...and time enough to waste it as I liked....My diwali gift to myself. This Diwali, since we are not celebrating, we decided to head out of town to Kothgarh. A friend has houses and orchards there. It is truly the back of beyond and the edge of existance!

I took time to play my fill of scrabble thanks to the new internet pluggie. Irfan, Amit & Saaz played cards to their hearts content. Everyday, we would get up arond 10. Make interesting breakfasts...pancakes, paranthas and gorge on them sitting in the sun! And everyday I got one more more treat...the chance to explore a couple of hill houses. I always thought they were charming...but never really knew how charming!

We found one perched at the edge of a cliff...on Saazid's land. My favourite. It was made in 1926! The fire stains on the cieling, the remains of a fire out front and the texture of the wooden beams...all had stories to tell. If you sat down and opened your ears. We did! We had a great time eating oranges by the dozen..soaking in the evening sun and talking about the ghost who haunts the house since the time the owner had an affair with someone else! The entire structure was made of wood and it seemed like the sun, the rain and all the elements have had their way with it. AND we could feel that there was a story linked to it. Untold. Unheard!

Then there was this charming little guest house that we found, which had a garden overlooking eternity. Next to a man made lake...A tiny little garden with a white picket fence. And views that imprint themselves on your mind and your heart!

One day we had lunch at Haatu...a huge hotel (by kotgarh standards) and really the only place to eat out where you can find a decent meal in that side of the hills. But the sun was shining...and trees were blooming and we had nothing better to do!

Then there was this new house getting made...Saazid's masi's house...Balconies that looked out into the valleys below. Rooms that had picture windows the size of my house and a garden to die for! But then I liked the old house better which had a porch overlooking the valley but was compact and cosy inside. And their son had a bedroom in the attic which truly looked out into the sky!

I have left the best for last. Saazid's own house! The house that we stay in and have stayed in ever since we started going to kothgarh in the 90s. It is a beautiful 3 story stone stucture which opens out into flat land on ever floor (like most hill houses do). So the ground floor has accss to the front courtyard...the first floor where most of the activity happens has a back porch nestled against the side of a mountain and the 2nd floor which has all the cosy bedrooms opens out into the level just below the servant huts. The view from every floor is beyond awesome. And the house itself is airy and light filled without compromising the cosiness of it. Books littered everywhere from bookcases to beds to floors to tables..and little reading corners in every corner of the house. I especially love my perch in the balcony overlooking the valley and the sitting room window which again overlooks the valley below.

I forgot the mention the many many unknown houses which I saw silouhetted agianst the sky on my walks through kothgarh market (a collection of 5 shops that sell vegetables and general stuff). Interesting shapes, sizes, people, hills. A varied eclectic collection each more delightful than the last one. I love the hills. And my promise to myself is that I will get one to retire in, whenever I do retire!

  

Come long weekends, we all head out in the rush to make the most of the snippets of time that work affords us. That is exactly what we all did when we headed for the hills on the April 6th weekend. We had 4 days on our hands and nowhere to go!! In retrospect, I think that was the best thing to ever happen to us.

We took an eicher map, a subscription to MapMyIndia.com on AirTel Live, a car and 4 willing souls who just wanted to get out of there. To see the green hills, smell the pine, feel the chill etc etc.

So we took out the map and marked the road, which is marked here on the left, and headed towards Kasol. Till Dharampur it was a normal, everyday simla trip. But the moment we crossed the turn, the roads grew emptier and narrower, the scenary grew more beautiful and the villagers grew friendlier. We crossed amazing territory, untouched valleys which had nothing in them.

It was a journey of discovery. Of finding that there are still untouched places in the himalayas if you just take the path less taken. Did you know that there are at least a hundred national parks in the Himachal belt? It was a time to take your time and smell the pine, to pee by the roadside supposedly hidden by the car doors. To stop where you want to stop and discover places that you had never heard of.

We discovered a ruined fortress. The kingdom of Arki. We felt like Columbus! Stayed at a palace. We met a real live Raja. And we felt like the raja must have felt every morning when he looked into his small little kingdom tucked away in the valley below the palace.

It was the perfect opportunity to explore the ruins of the ancient Deewan-e-khas and stables. Of meeting the King and hearing of days long gone. We too have stories to tell. Stories of moonlight walks and slick roads on a rainy night. Stories of how a king is struggling to restore his palace in its former glory.

We have cameras and phones full of pictures which cannot hope to capture the magnitude of the beauty we saw sprawled before us. The private gardens of the king with trees whose names we had never heard. the history that hung on the walls of each room in that house. The paintings on the walls of the Deewan-e-khas, on each arch! How can you hope to capture at least 50 different paintings, each as intricate as the next one? How can you even hope to do justice to the pictures when each angle through the ruins looks just as enchanting as the other.

It was a trip back in time. To hear a raja boast that he never had to hang anyone in his time. To hear the talks of long walks with Sardar Patel and the indian freedom struggle. To feel the dampness and darkness of the karagaar, so dark that the darkness seems to settle around you even on the brightest of days. I almost missed the open sky in the few moments that I was inside!

It was a journey of excitement, of grabbing the opportunity when it was found. Of plummetting toward the centre of a rope strung across the river and then pulling your way back to the shore. Hanging on for dear life above a river which sped under you. To feel the world slipping away. To repent the time when you found the bridge and convinced the others of the wisdom of 'Trying it out'. And then the victory of managing to pull yourself back to the ledge and to dear life!

 A great trip. A great drive across the most sprawling valleys. Through the most amazing 3 km tunnel cut right across the belly of a mountain! On the slickest of roads and the bumpiest snakiest paths on which only one vehicle passes. Of finding settlements where the river runs and yummy treats on the menu. Of finding little cottages at the edge of a cliff. Of paying as little as Rs. 150 a night and still keeping a straight face while asking for a discount!! (Not me - Nupur!!)

Kasol is little settlement on the way to Manikaran where the Israelis have run off to after the Puppies took up Dharamshala! Right next to Malana with access to the best Malana cream you can get your hands on! Where you can take a walk through the quaint little eateries and little pathways sneaking next to the river. Where you can discover restaurants in the middle of nowhere. The forests have hand painted signs that lead you to Banofi Pie and Apple Strudle!!

And Kutteer Cottage is a beautiful set of 2 cottages set in a garden, perched at the end of a cliff. Here, you can come home to wood pannelled walls and a tiny little patio which shields you from the rain. You can ask for Aloo ka paranthas when you are sick of the pasta, and the baguettes dished out by the restaurants! You can cook in the kitchen set on one terrace of the three level garden! And you can pick gorgeously red blooms off trees!!

I came back with a soul full of memories. Memories of walks from Kuteer to kasol when I saw the sun tumble down a dry creek where water used to be and I saw a snow capped mountain framed perfectly by two green slopes! Of a walk in the forest looking for Malana cream and finding the perfect wading spot next to the gurgling river. Memories of the most elaborate breakfasts. One in the sun at a restaurant called Sasi - that served Snakes instead of Snacks and Brushkeeta isntead of bruschetta! One sheltered from the rain in our patio, sitting at the edge of a cliff. gorging aloo ka paranthas with amazing wild fruit achaar! And one on the terrace of the Arki palace with the moutains spread out before me instread of paranthas and sandwiches!

 Check out: http://hotelpalaceretreat.com/ for the Arki Palace

 

My husband is a Shia muslim from Lucknow. But his heart lies in Utraula, the village where his family actually came from...and where he went during every summer holiday in his childhood.

He's been so pampered and the family known so well that he can do anything in Utraula and get away with it! He can sleep anywhere, eat in any house. Enter any house and ask for tea or something to eat. Where everyone knows him! To him Utraula = Uotpia!

Neways, we go there every year for 10 days during Muharram. It is a journey into wonderland for me. Where each house looks like its out of a rural themed movie...and the people are so sweet! And they all roam around in a naqab. Naqab for them, fancy dress for me!

Utraula is the place where I get time to actually talk to my mother-in-law about the family, about traditions and about the culture. Where I Iearn what my responsibilities are, as a bahu of the Jafri Khandaan. Where I learn what happens on each day of the 10 days of muharram. Each day, the agenda is different!

One day we spend the entire day getting 2000 cups of tea made for about 900 people. When we clean the house, set it up and light it up with candles for the mourners. Men in a Juloos to stop for a welcome sip of tea on a cold evening! And then we dissappear into the back of the house and leave the stage for the men of the house to disribute the tea and to invite them to come and read Nauhas* in our Imambara*.

In fact the first day there is spent almost exclusively preparing ourselves and the Imambara for Muharrram. It houses objects of reverence, like a Taabut* & Alams*. They are decorated with gilt and bright cloths...attointed with perfumes and flowers...lit up with candles and other tiny bulbs. First we clean ourselves and become pure. Then we become creative with our hands. It comes out beautiful. And looks especially haunting in candle-light (In the evening, there is generaly no electricity)!

Every day women get together to read nauhas about the occurings of the day at Karbala. Every evening there are special dishes prepared to offer in a Nazar* to the ones who sacrificed their lives for the future of Islam.

For ten days, we essentially try to live the lives of the Shaheeds of Karbala*. We walk barefoot on glowing coals to simulate what the hot sand would feel like to the sensitive soles of children. We try not to eat or drink water throughout the 10th day to simulate what it was to stay without water for 3 days in the hot desert! Its a cultural revelation...no wonder Shias reach the heights of empathy during muharram!

 

Then there are those walks in the winter sun with a small cousin who is eager to get to know his 'Bhabi' from the city. He takes me for walks to his favourite places in the country side. Through the fields of mustard, discovering little Mazaars* tucked away in a bough of trees. Following our shadow though dirt tracks into the backyard of the village. I get to meet his goat, his friends, check out his house. And I get to see the lands that we supposedly own in the village.

Its a world away from reality (my reality at least!). Amazing...a little hectic...but an experience to treasure!

Glossary:
Nauha - A verse describing or mourning the events of Karbala set to a tune
Imambara - A corner of the house where the symbols of Karbala are decorated and kept during muharram
Taabut - A coffin to represent someone's life sacrifice
Alam - A weapon of war used by Hazrat Abbas in the battle of Karbala
Nazar - Food and other items are held in offering for the people who have passed away. They say if the naazar is consumed by the pure of heart, it reaches the ones its offered for!
Shaheeds of Karbala - People who sacrificed their lives in the battle of Karbala
Mazaar - A monument made for a saint's burial place when he/she dies