Kasauli

- Priyasha Chawla

KASAULI…I wasn't very excited to spend three days of my summer vacations in just another prosaic resort in another prosaic hill station of this country. I had visited many hill stations in the past and the idea of going to Kasauli was like eating the same food every night; monotonous.

Travelling by road took us about seven hours to reach our resort. Travelling to hill stations by road kind of scares me, again not very exciting. I hate to look down but its hard to ignore the tranquility of the trees, the beauty of the mountains and the purity in the air. I suddenly felt that seventy two hours away from pollution , heat , unstoppable noise  cannot be that bad. In fact it can be amazing.

The resort was nice. We were welcomed by the staff with an offbeat drink( a mixture of strawberry and lemon). It’s purpose was  to rejuvenate every cell, every nerve in your body and so it did. It immediately helps you forget about the long and tiring drive from your place to the resort.  The view from my room was breathtakingly beautiful. After exploring the resort , the facilities it provided and satisfying my appetite I decided to spend some time in my room’s  balcony.

Few minutes with yourself: Something that you fail to get in your normal course of life. Something  that you crave for unknowingly all the time. I was lucky to get those few minutes. Icing on the cake was the weather and the view. Sitting there and thinking about everything that had happened in the past few months , that was happening and that was yet to come was like an epiphany; whatever happens, happens for good.  It’s funny how you need to stop , inhale and then take a few minutes to actually see around and realize that there is a lot going on in your life.

The mall roads of different hill stations are like platters; they have a little of everything to offer. Me and my cousins decided to walk instead of taking a taxi. He was charging 500 bucks for three kilometers! It was pleasant and the sun was setting. The sky was a medley of all colors that one can possibly think of. I was enjoying my walk with nature. I was walking with the pine trees, the crooked rocks and the birds. I had just taken a bite out of nature and happily swallowed the helping.

I saw many localites going back home from work. I wondered how they managed to walk such long distances . I also wondered where they lived! All I could see were resorts and guest houses!

The mall road was crowded with families and couples. The area smelled of shawls, fresh fruits, steamed momos , tea, corn ,vanilla ice-cream and everything else that was available. I am someone who spends a keen amount of energy and attention on the various kinds of eatables that are available and how each one of them tastes. In short , a foodie! I was drawn like a magnet to the small food stalls. I tried almost every possible dish that those stalls had to offer. The aroma of chicken momos is something you just cannot ignore. The maggi was so delicious that I was compelled to ask the recipe. A hot cup of ginger tea accompanied by pakoras is heavenly! Lastly two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a cone, also called softy by localites, is like a perfect conclusion to the journey of food.

I was so engrossed in the above mentioned dishes that I forgot to pay any attention to people around me and the other stalls and I don’t regret at all.

It was time to go back. The journey back home gives you time to recollect and relive the experiences you had during the trip before you get back into the dial of your normal life. Travelling is an expedition with different stages: expectations and anxiety, experience and lastly memories.

When I think back ,I realize how earlier it meant nothing more than a medium to escape and now it’s a bundle of emotions. That is exactly what travel gives you. It engraves a geographical area in your memory like an emotion which becomes a part of you.