India Is

My Home-Stay
Prabha
Prabha &
& Harsha
Harsha Koda
Koda

India Is My Home-Stay
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 Blue, red n purple
country cottages along
a road lined with
pretty pink flowers; his
powder blue tshirt
stands out against the
orange n yellow
painted store. Didn't
think travelling down
South in midsummer
can be so colorful :)

Dindukal -
literally pillow
rock - the hill
that gave the
place it’s name

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India is my Home-Stay
... a desi drive
We are off on one huge trip to experience
India from the eyes of the 'every-day',
local, desi, son-of-the-soil Indian.
We have been driving across India for
over 10 years now and we have almost
always stayed at resorts or hotels (except
in towns where we have had a chance to
shack up with friends and family). We
have never experienced the Home-Stay
hospitality.
The reasons are many... we did not know
where to find them... or what to expect in
a home-stay... are they clean... will it be
like a 'paying guest' thing... will we share
a room with others... what will the food
be like... and the toilets?... oh so many
questions.
It's not like we have always stayed at 5
star hotels... just that we expect a little bit
of cleanliness and privacy... especially
when you are on the road half the time.
We love to experiment with local food...
but we also love our thayir-saadam (curd
rice).
Lot of the home-stays we Googled have
nice websites... but being in the website
business ourselves, we know that a good
website does not always mean a great
product/service... it just means a good
web-designer was hired.
We chanced upon the Mahindra
Homestays website a while ago... having
been Club Mahindra members for a while
now, we know that they are 'good' at their
job and we could expect a certain quality
if we looked at homestays associated
with them.
We spoke to some people at Mahindra
India Is My Home-Stay
Homestays and learnt that unlike their
'time share' holiday products (Club
Mahindra and Zest) this was not a
membership driven venture of the
Mahindras... this was purely aimed at
introducing a centralised homestay
repository of quality 'mom-and-pop'
operations.
This trip is dedicated to live that
experience.
Also, this was going to be our first really
looooong trip in our new Xylo -
Haliaetus, christened after the brown-n-
white sea eagle that lives in the coastal
regions. Now, our white Xylo with brown
interiors lives in Chennai with us and
glides like an eagle on the Indian
highways. Can't call it a car... feels like
one, drives like one... but it is a MUV/
SUV hybrid... love the space, love the
clearance... just love Haliaetus.
Also love the fact that it is white... we get
right of way on most roads... people/cops
think that we have some 'political
connection'... helps us get to our
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We love to
experiment with
local food... but
we also love our
thayir-saadam
(curd rice).
desination faster... :)
Day One... We drove from Chennai to
Thekkady. The road upto Trichy is
fabulous (NH45) but after that to
Dindukal and beyond needs some work...
4-laning is going on so the road is
patchy... good and bad in sectors... more
bad than good. Probably have to wait till
end of the year to be finished.
Night One... Shacked out at Club
Mahindra Tusker Trails, Thekkady. We
had to experience the Club Mahindra
hospitality before we started on this trip...
after all it was Club M that introduced us
to the Homestays concept.
Tomorrow we move on to Kodianthara,
in Kumarakom, Kerala.
3
 The heavy sky is grey, overladen with
monsoon clouds playing hide and seek
and spilling on to the tall, green
Vagamon hills. Green is the color of the
day. God's own tourist destination is
known to have an abundance of green,
but in this summer heat... the look is
cool, man! Kerala and monsoons, here
we come! Gold jewellery, rubber
chappals, dhotis and saree hoardings,
tea plantations, coconuts, bananas and
girls with big eyes and oiled, long,
black hair... here we come!

Green is the color

of the day!

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Kodianthara
... heritage and hospitality
Thanks to a suggestion by a friend, we
drove from Thekkady (Kumily) to
Kumarakom via the Vagamon route -
unlike the usual Kanjirapally route which
is a National highway (NH220).
The road is very picturesque and the
view compensated for the extra hour that
it took us to get to our first Mahindra
Homestays destination, Crispin and
Soni's homestay - Kodianthara.
Kodianthara is located behind the St.
John's Knanaya Church (not the
Atamangalam church) and a little tricky
to find if you do not follow precise
directions. There are no sign boards but
our MapMyIndia GPS brought us to the
vicinity and with a combination of
telephonic directions and intuitive
guesswork we made it to the gate of the
church.
There are no sign boards because Crispin
believes that he does not want walk-in
guests - "you can never be sure these
days... I prefer people who come by
India Is My Home-Stay
reference, at least you have something
to evaluate them by... after all we are
letting them into our home... this is not a
hotel or a guest house we need to be
careful about who comes and goes", he
says.
Thankfully the all-in-one house help
Rahul came up to the main road to guide
us through the maze of canals, canal bank
homes and bridges (Haliaetus, our Xylo
did a brave job of going on these roads
and bridges which were just about an
inch wider than him). Apparently 'tipper
trucks' (used to remove the dredged
shells and mud from the canals) navigate The 150 year old traditional
these narrow roads quite easily! Kerala Tharavadu home,
The '150 year old traditional Kerala that has been in the family
Tharavadu home, that has been in the for over 5 generations
family for over 5 generations' is one of
only 16 homes certified by the local govt.
as a 'heritage home'. The Tharavadu maintain our unique identity as long as
house had a unique architecture with an we can” according to Crispin. Soni's
inner courtyard enclosed within the father has written/edited a complete
several large buildings built in the history of his branch of the family... the
traditional Kerala style. book is so extensive that it covers some
1000 pages and has detailed photos of
Crispin's ancestors are Knanaya
each member of the family.
Christians - he gives us a detailed history
lesson on how 72 Syriac families Crispin's large family of 10 siblings used
migrated from the modern-day region near to visit the ancestral home till a few years
Iraq to the Malabar coast in AD 345, ago - “when my mother was alive,
under the leadership of a prominent weekends were always spent here - and
merchant Thomas of Cana (also known during that time I felt the need for more
as Knanaya Thommen). They built a space, so we built the extra bedrooms”,
town in Kodungalloor with a church and says Crispin. But after her death, the
72 houses and soon spead to other parts brothers and sisters got busy and hardly
of Kerala over the next few decades. visited the Tharavadu. So, Crispin
opened up the place to a homestay
Apparently the community is very well
experience - “this way we don't miss
linked with lots of “inter family marriages
meeting people and the house is like a
- very similar to the Parsis - trying to
home once again”, say Soni.
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The old house has been very tastefully
restored and extended to accommodate
the modern amenities like clean western
toilets, air-cons and reading lamps while
retaining the traditional sit-outs and
central courtyards. There are elements
from every era, the ceramic tiles, the
earthenware, the brass-ware, the wooden
furniture... even the old dining table that
has interestingly been decorated with a
large coin collection.
With his extensive experience in the
Merchant navy, Crispin has many stories
to tell - from pirates attacking ships to
the experiences of living on an oil tanker,
from the politics of Kerala to the culture
of his people, from the recipe of the beef
fry to the taste of the various types of
banana chips, and where to buy them.
The place is a true homestay - we lived in
one of the rooms next to the master
bedroom, the hosts ate their meals with
us. In fact one meal was so authentically
traditional we even had it on a fresh
plantain leaf (cut from the back yard).
The beautiful part of the stay was the
constant 'music in the air' - Soni, her
daughter Midhila and all the house help
are constantly playing music, either form
the radio, the CD player or their mobile
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phones... melodious music from Kishore
Kumar to the latest Malayalam and Tamil Kumarakom island - also
hits... a wide variety of songs! known as Vembanad Bird
One morning Midhila was busy cleaning
Sanctuary, is just 3kms
the book shelf so we got to discuss the from Kodianthara.
writings of Enid Blyton, mysteries of
Nancy Drew, Christian fiction of Dan
Brown and the philosophies of Paulo
Coelho... Soni, who is a literature graduate
and Midhila, who plans to follow suit,
are always ready to read new books and
discuss literature.
Crispin also owns a houseboat that he
rents out to people who want to be a part
of the famous experience that is unique
to the backwaters of Kerala. In fact there
is a channel of water that flows through
the property and Crispin recalls the days
was the only activity we chose to do.
when he used to go to school “in a
canoe... you can still use this route and The best part of the stay at Kodianthara
reach the lake” he adds. was the monsoon. The day we were
leaving it poured... and it poured... and it
We should mention here the playful Tipu
poured... we were really lucky to
(Sultan?) - the family's friendly
experience the famous Kerala monsoon
Dachshund, and the many other farm
on its way in... and my! what a sight!
animals that roamed around the three
acres of rubber plantation... geese, goats With our bellies full from the great 'puttu
and what not! In fact, watching young and kadala curry' breakfast, we took leave
goats play around and observing the of the Crispins and were now on our way
geese as they traversed the path from the to Kochi - to the Riverside Homestay at
front porchto the backwaters of the house Vyttila.
Riverside
... city slickers
If you are a true blood Malayali you
should have spent a considerable time in
the 'middle east', also known as 'the gulf',
also known as 'foreign', also known as
'the other Kerala'. Almost every second
person you meet in Kerala has at some
point of time been employed there.
This is true of Mathew too. After a good
25 years in Etisalat (the telecom giant
based out of UAE), he and Mary are back
in India and discovered the best way to
combine suburban life with 'living on the
backwaters'... Riverside Homestay is a
perfect mix.
When the house was built, its 3 bedrooms
were meant for their two daughters who
are now 'settled abroad'. So they decided
to turn the place into a homestay to 'meet
new people'.
Located just a km off the National
highway, Riverside Homestay is pretty
easy to find... also because of Mathew's
precise directions.
India Is My Home-Stay
The modern home is well equipped with
all the amenities we would want in a city
homestay. It is very well connected by
public transport and also has some
restaurants close-by. The restaurants
come in useful as Mathew and Mary offer
only 'bed-and-breakfast'... we had to look
for places to eat lunch and dinner... the
restaurant next door (MJM International)
can 'deliver' food sometimes, but that
depends on the availability of staff.
Mathew was all praise for the Xylo. They
had apparently just returned from a week-
A look at the Kochi
long trip to Munnar with some friends
riverside skyscrapers.
and had driven the entire way in a rented
Xylo - “good choice to buy this car,” he
told me!
not sure how to handle this - they are
The telecom background and corporate hoping to find a solution “before he
experience that Mathew has had in the starts asking” :)
Gulf shows... the place is wi-fi enabled
Mathew takes the effort to attend regular
and they even have monogrammed bed
'contact programs' that the Kerala tourism
linen! Incidentally, M&J stands for the
ministry have for homestay owners to
initials of his first 2 grandchildren - now
help them handle their guests better.
there is a third grandson and they are
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 ... the best way to
combine suburban
life with 'living on
the backwaters'...

Sometimes the local police also attend

these meetings to help them understand
signs to identify people who might be
potential thieves.

The drive to Fort Kochi and its many

heritage places is quite simply 'one
straight road' from here and is a great
place to catch the sunset - especially near
the Dutch Cemetery. After watching the
best sunset of the season and a
sumptous dinner at a Kochi hotel, we
rested peacefully that night to continue
Fort Kochi is a great
our journey further into Kerala the next
morning.
place to catch the
sunset - especially near
Next stop Olives Homestay, Kalpetta, the Dutch Cemetery.
Wayanad

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Olives Homestay
... wild and evergreen
Driving to Wayanad was an experience.
The road till Calicut was pretty much the
irritating NH 17 - with hardly space to
overtake - sometimes you can't even
overtake a bicycle!
Also, Kerala towns, villages never end...
they just merge one into the other. The
down side is that you never get a moment
to park the car on the side of the road
and stretch your legs without the fear of
being run down by a 'town bus'.
After we hit the ghats (NH 212) and
entered the fringes of the ‘12,000 Acre
forest’ we were pretty safe from the traffic
- and the weather became cooler. The
Xylo took to the hills like a charm...
prancing away with ease.
Because we were driving one day ahead
of the monsoon... we just had to look over
our shoulder and we could see the rains
coming right at us.
India Is My Home-Stay
The Olives homestay is located in the
heart of Wayanad... but just a stones
throw from the main Kalpetta town. When
you get to Biju and Raji's home you will
not believe that you are just 1km or so
from the town.... so silent!
Biju, like any good son-of-the-soil did his
stint in 'the gulf' and “came to India for a
holiday and never went back. Just felt I
had had enough of that life... wanted to
be home!” he says.
Raji is a great cook and can dish out veg
and non-veg dishes with equal mastery.
The only thing that hindered the meal
experience was that she and Biju did not
join us at the dining table and insisted
they would “serve now and eat later”.
This meant we had to eat in a hurry to
keep pace with their overpowering
hospitality... something that brought back
memories from childhood of
http://www.waitforside.com/2010/06/olives-homestay.html
Great advertising
on the way
grandmothers and aunts 'feeding us’
during summer holidays.
That night we sat in the balcony and
watched the moon rise... full moon at that.
The next morning Biju suggested a trip
to Edakkal caves.
Biju gave us precise driving directions
to the caves from his place. But what he
did not tell us was that there was going
to be a very, very, very, steep climb.
There are two stages to the climb at
Edakkal... there is a steep jeep ride (costs
Rs.70 for a round trip) and the 200-300
step steep climb to the caves. The caves
are very beautiful and really worth the
effort. With rock carvings that are over
8000 years old, they are a great revelation
as to what people were thinking in the
'Indus-vally-civilization-times'.
Though there was nobody there to
explain how or why the place got it's name
as Edakkal - Prabha's logic was that the
Eda-kal (literally meaning the middle
stone) that got embedded between the
other two stones saved these carvings
from erosion. Sounds logical.
at Edakal caves
...
9
We were there on a sunday and the
crowds enjoying the last weekend before
schools re-opened were all jostling for
space in the narrow passages and this
was more exhausting than the climb itself.

We did not bargain for all that exercise,

but the climb helped us digest the
breakfast... and we got back to the town
hungry... for lunch.

Unfortunately there are very few food

options in small town Kerala after 2pm
and you have to be very lucky to get
good food. We called Biju and he
suggested Hotel Haritagiri (where he also
As we were heading to Goa over the next have a good couple of hours or
works as the GM), where we got some
couple of days we decided to go to 'wandering in the wilderness' - with a
egg curry and rice... but nothing
Kuruva Island - an old bird sanctuary, good guide at hand to tell us about the
compared to Raji's cooking. Wish we had
now just a 'nature spot' on the banks of various trees, orchids and few birds that
decided to go back home.
the Kabini river. The place has a good we encountered.
That night Biju suggested we go for a deal of birds (in the nov - feb season)
Tomorrow we move on the Goa - but
“night drive to try and see some and orchids. Nothing much to say in
before that we have another day to drive
elephants”. So after dinner we all left... words... just a great place to see...
thru kerala.
Biju, Raji and the kids, all comfortably
Couple of pointers - Wear shorts... lots
seated in the Xylo and off looking for
of wading in the water... wear a good
adventure. We spotted a lone tusker...
walking chappal (shoes will not do - they
that meant trouble, but we stayed clear
of him and just watched... what a sight!
get very wet). Kuruva Island is just a
We also saw lots of deer, wild boar and Though there is nothing much in terms
'nature spot' on the banks
what not... but the elephant was the best. of wildlife to see there we were able to of the Kabini river

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Road of Kerala
... narrow & crowded

The roads and even highways in Kerala

are so narrow... it takes ages to overtake
even a bike.

There is no 'nature' it is just one town to

another village to another hamlet... On
and on it goes.

We found milestones (technically

kilometer-stones) that were written in
fractions... maybe they should be called
meter-stones ???!!???

We found hotels and

shops that had
interesting names... but
finally it was time to say
goodbye to pretty girls
selling hawai chappal...
goodbye to macho
heroes selling gold...
goodbye to bollywood
queens selling sarees...
goodbye to the
colourful hoardings
that dot the lush green
hillsides... goodbye
Kerala.
The road from Kerala to Goa passes very close to the sea
at times and in someplace we had the river on one side
We now head to Stain Glass Cottage, and the Arabian sea on the other.
Margoa, Goa

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 Kerala churches - an
amalgamation of
cultures

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Stain Glass Cottage
... modern Razzmatazz

After two days of driving thru Kerala, If you overshoot this right and reach the
Karnataka and finally reaching Goa we Our Lady of Merces Church turn back.
had to negotiate the way to Maria Vaz's
Once you are inside the Morais Colony
Stain Glass Cottage in Margoa. the colours in the stain glass windows,
take the first right and go to the end of
the well maintained AC, the WiFi in all
We got (what seemed to be) very precise the road... Stain Glass Cottage is on the
rooms, and the staff who knew when to
instructions on our travel voucher... but left.
give us privacy... everything was just
unfortunately Goa is full of 'foreigners'
When we finally go there we were right... however the one this missing was
and tourists that it is almost impossible
pleasantly surprised to see a modern the host. In our opinion Stain Glass
to ask for directions. One lady took the
building designed in a very traditional Cottage cannot be called a 'real homestay'
time to give us such precise directions
way. All the elements of a traditional Goan as the host lived away from the place...
that we thought she knew what we were
house were there... the tiled roof... the even if it was just a couple of streets away!
talking about... but we ended up in the
large well... the large sit-outs...
middle of a coconut field. Damn! Incidentally, Maria had been “a police
Maria Vaz was there to welcome us and officer in Dubai” - looks like the gulf
We then navigated to the Colva beach
she introduced us to the staff and after between us and the 'gulf returned' people
on our GPS and worked backwards... with
exchanging a few pleasantries was on her had been bridged again! Her law-
some telephonic help from Maria Vaz.
way. She did not stay here... “there is enforcement experience probably
There is a simple way to get here... and some work going on at my place... just a explained how she was able to manage
for all those who travel by car here are few streets away” she said. the place.
the precise instructions.
Every thing about the place was spic and Except for the fact that the place was
You have to come by NH17 (either from span - the themed rooms - named after actually owned by Maria's daughter (who
the north or south) - at the Margoa
District Court junction (which has a nice
fountain now) take the west road,
towards the Colva beach and after
passing under the railway line take a right
after the Colva Plaza Hotel. This right turn
is about 2.5 kms from the fountains. Even
if the Colva hotel changes it's name... look
out for the BSNL exchange on the opp
side.

A modern building
designed in a
traditional way...

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 Even the well was
well decorated

Everything was so
spic and span...

is somewhere abroad), and the family is

also in the “process of setting up some
more properties in the area”, which meant
that the place was more like a guest
house, and less like a homestay... the Stain
Glass cottage was very homely in it's
decor and comforts.

The next day we got to meet Ashley

Gregory - the new Manager, who is also
set to manage all the properties owned
by the Vaz family. Over the last month or
so, since he had moved to Goa from
Mumbai, he had brushed up on his
konkni and was able to interact with the
locals and got a lot of “inside info”... he
was very helpful in suggesting a lot of
“happening places, hangouts and
restaurants in the area”.

It turns out that Ashley has some tam-

bhram (as Tamil Brahmin's are called)
genes in him... his grand father had
converted to Christianity while all his
other grand aunts and uncles had made the perfect host. day' - toast, eggs and lovely jams and
remained Srinivasans and Ramans ... in marmalades.
Even though we did not get to savor the
an alternative universe he might be
Goan specialties at Stain Glass Cottage Tomorrow we take a short drive up north
speaking tamil for all we know! If only he
(we opted to eat-out all the major meals) and move on the Nandan Farms,
was staying in the place he would have
we had some 'real English breakfast every Sindhudurgh, Maharashtra.

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Nandan Farms
... naturally rural

Driving to Sindhudurgh, in Sawantwadi speacialities. Sandeep first took us to a

district of Maharashtra was a great
experience... as you see the commercial-
ness of Goa disappear.. you get to see
and experience the raw nature of rural
Maharashtra! Our Xylo, Haliaetus
enjoyed the rural outing.
Thought Nandan Farms is owned/
managed by Amrita Padgaonkar, we did
not get to meet her. She was apparently
holidaying in the Haimalayas... only crazy
people like us would holiday in the heat
of rural Maharashtra in the middle of the
summer heat. Her brother, Madan and
Sandeep Sawant who works with Culture
Aangan, the same NGO that Amrita is
involved with were around and made sure
we did not miss her. Culture Aangan
supports the arts and crafts of
Sindhudurg.
We were glad we had planned for only
one night there as the heat was too much
- though the nights were very cool... I’ll
get to that in a little while.
cashew factory where we learn the
various ways that cashews are extracted
from the fruit... by boiling and roasting...
and all this work was done by women...
some of them were self-help-groups... and
some co-operatives. Need less to say we
bought some great cashews... and ate a
lot of them too.
We then went to a Alphanso pulp
extraction factory - unfortnately the
“season was over” so all we could do
was pick up some bottles of pulp... which
Sunset at Vengurla
we later enjoyed with some phulkas...
yummy!
We could not visit the local toy-factories ‘local’ beach... that was really beautiful...
that were so famous... but we were very natural... untouched... pictures are better
dissapointed to see that the local stores than words.
only stocked wooden toys these days
Our cottage at Nandan Farms was a
are ‘painted’... with chemical paints...
restored outhouse with some ancient
instead of the traditionally lacquered
solid wood beams supporting the sloping
technique.
tiled roof, along with a large covered
Sandeep took us to a Vengurla... a very verandah that we used as a sitout.

The drive from Margoa was only a couple

of hours...so we reached Nandan Farms
by lunch - and were treated to some great
food, cooked from fresh organic veggies
picked from the farms all around us.

After a brief siesta we took a drive around

the area... in search or cashews, kokum
and alphanso mangoes - all local

The restored
outhouse was well
furnished

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The doors were made of sold wood... and The Malvani food at Nandan Farms was
the door stoppers were shaped like fish. great - though it is very similar to the
In the daytime the heat was quite bad, konkan cuisine it had the unique taste of
but the star lit sky and the cool breeze kokum, dried kokum (amsul) and dried
made the nights a great treat. Thanks to mango (kairi) in all the dishes.
the absence of any lights in the vicinity
The bread fruit bajji, the cluster beans
we were able to look at a quite a few
curry, and everything with it’s unique
constellations.
taste - ending with the Sol kadi (made
We also learnt that the fruit known as from kokum juice and coconut milk) for
mangostein (one of Prabha’s favourites digestion.
and referred to as the ‘king of fruits’ by
The next day we moved on to Castle Bera
Prabha’s dad - an eminent horticuturist)
in Rajasthan via Maharashtra, Gujarat...
was locally known as kokum. Kokum
a journey that would take us 5 days.
juice... very popular all the way from
Managalore to Mumbai... is ‘cooling’ to
the body, and also makes for a great
substitute to tamarind in rasam.

Haliaetus enjoyed the rural outing

Red, blue & green

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The Maha-Guj-Raj
... on the desert road
Driving from Nandan farms of
Sindhudurg in Maharashtra to Castle
Bera near Pali in Rajasthan was an
interesting journey of 5 days... not that a
non-stop drive should take that long.. we
planned it that way.
We first drove 380kms to Prabha's sister's
place in Pune to do some laundry and
relax for 2 days... and the drive on the
Amboli Ghats was a delight. Being a part
of the Deccan plateau and the western
ghats whole area was beautiful and
apparently it receives the highest rainfall
in the western ghats.
We then drove to Nashik, relatively a
short drive of 220kms, to visit the
Mahindra Xylo plant - to see the place
where our car was born. The road was
being four laned in parts and so the drive
took us almost 6 hours. The Ghat section
just before Sangamner was very beautiful.
The visit to the Mahindra Xylo factory
was very enlightening and we learnt that
India Is My Home-Stay
some 600 (colour, specifications and
export special) variants of the Xylo and
Scorpio are manufactured on the same
conveyor belt. One brown Xylo rolls
out... and right behind it is a white
Scorpio... the precision with which the
people work here is amazing.
Also the engineers at Mahindra have
modified the software that drives the
imported robots making them more
efficient and as a result every 4 and half
minutes one of these amazing vehicles
comes off the conveyor belt.
We had the evening free so we took a
trip to the Sula Vineyard. Got a look at
the place were some of the best wines in
india are made and got to taste a great
wine made by their master winemaker
Kerry Damskey called RaSa (named after
Sula founder Rajeev Samant).
Incidentally Rasa in sanskrit means juice
or essence.
Sunset on the balcony with a beautiful
Oye bubbly!
view of the vineyards and the Gangapur
lake in the distance made a great day even
more romantic.
The next day we were off to Ahmedabad.
The 500km drive took about 9 hours, but
the beautiful part was that the roads
improved tremendously as soon as we
crossed the border from Maharashtra...
almost instantly. At Valsad we joined the
Golden Quadrilateral and then the road
got even better... but the real treat was
still to come...
It was too bloody hot to get out of the
car and even think of eating lunch - so
we decided to get some food from a dhaba
parcelled and eat it in the car - hopefully
under a tree if we could find one. The
dhaba we found was just outside Surat
and as I went in to order I noticed that it
was run by some Muslims... and
interestingly served pure vegetarian
food.
I wonder if Chief Minister Narendra Modi
had succeeded in converting Muslims to
vegetarians or was it just business
economics that had determined that the
17
demand for non-veg food was not great
in these areas.
When we reached Vadodra (Baroda) my
hands started to itch... could not wait to
drive on National Express-way #1 - the
best road in the country.
We have driven on this road a couple of
times before and each time the experience
had been really great - total adrenaline
rush. On this 100km stretch an average
speed of 120+ was easily achievable -
average speed... not top speed!
But when we entered Amdavad
(Ahmedabad) we were in for a rude shock.
The cops stopped us and insisted that
to drive in Amdavad, or anywhere in
Gujrat for that matter, we should have a
'patti' on our headlight and if we did not
have that we should pay a fine of 200
bucks. We tried explaining to them that
we were tourists and we would be out of
18
the city the next morning... no luck.
Finally we told him that we would get the
great 'patti' (a anti-glare sticker on the
right headlight) if he could point us to
the closest sticker shop... and the
enterprising cop Mr. H R Solanki pulled
the 'patti' (sticker) out of a concealed
pocket in this shirt and stuck it on our
car... not before he collected 200 bucks
for it.
Consoling ourselves that the 'speed-
money' 200 bucks was worth it, because
we hoped that, for the next 24 hrs that we
were going the spend in Gujarat, we were
not going to waste time arguing with
cops.
Getting to Bera from Ahmedabad was a
challenge in itself... normal everyday
Gujratis would know that the best road
to get here (from Ahmedabad) was the
Mount Abu Road (via Mehsana-Sidhpur-
Palanpur).
But we South Indians like us did not have
any idea... we took the GQ (Golden
Quadrilateral - NH 8) route and half way
(at Himatnagar) had to deviate to the
Ambaji road (SH 9) - consequently we
got to drive thru a nice bit of rural Gujarat
and Rajasthan, via Idar, Ambaji and Abu
Road where we hit the nicely 4-laned NH
14.
Ambaji, as the name suggests is a 'holi
place' and had all the ingredients of
religious town... crowds of devotees, taxis
and touts... but this also meant that we
got some great food - a full fledged
Gujrati Thali... theplas, kadi and kichdi
included.
With the sun overhear scorching away
at a merry 48+ deg we were headed to our
sixth Mahindra Homestays destination,
Castle Bera.
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Castle Bera
... royal safari

After coming to the four lane Highway

near Mount Abu, we cut off to SH 62 at
Pindwara. Ask for the road to Binani
cement factory and follow it for about 40
kms and you will reach Bera.

Baljeet, the cheerful owner of Castle

Bera, and his brother have inherited this
ancient heritage property known as “The
Rawala”. Baljeet has air conditioned 5
rooms in his part of the castle and invites
people “to experience the royal life in rural
Rajasthan”.
Castle Bera has been playing host to
“royalty, dignitaries from foreign
countries and world renowned
photographers” for a long time now... and
as a homestay for 2-3 years now... but we
were the first to come there from Mahindra
Homestays.
Baljeet Singh is so detached, by choice,
from the world here... he rarely watches
the news... he probably reads the
newspaper only for the cartoons. His
only contact with the outside world is
his cell phone.
But, how can one do business like this
we ask him... “my son-in-law in Bangalore,
reads and replies to my emails... so I get a
call every time that there is a booking -
works well for me!”
We reached Castle Bera after our drive
thru rural Rajastan... filled with goats/
sheep and shepherds with their brightly
coloured turbans, at about 4pm and after
a quick wash and some great chai... were
off on our first drive - at that point we did
not know it was a wildlife safari.
This safari was not in the middle of a
reserve forest or anything... no wildlife
warden... no permissions... no red-tape.
The entire area is “revenue land -
basically, agricultural land that may not
be used for industrial or residential
purposes".
Castle Bera is near the Jawai bandh
(Dam). Built by Maharaja Umaid Singh of
Jodhpur the dam covers an area of 500
sq. km and is the biggest dam in western
Rajasthan.
This place is really in the middle of
nowhere... the nearest town is probably
Pali - some 30 kms away.
The safari started off with pleasantries
and chatter as we drove thru the village...
everyone in the village was getting up
from their work... bowing, saluting our
dear Baljeet Singh... and because we were
in the same jeep with him, made us feel
like royalty too!

Flying peacocks - straight

out of Jurassic Park

India Is My Home-Stay 19

The safari itself started with a fair amount
of dirt-tracking and off-roading... and we
got very excited with the few peacocks
and peahens we saw flying as they tried
to cross the road... Baljeet was not
impressed... he was nonchalantly
nodding his head... hmmmmm!!!
As we stopped next to a rocky hillock we
realised why... the place was infested with
peacocks and peahens... hundreds of
them... all trying to walk up the hillside...
to get to the peak... only to glide down...
what a sight - felt like we were watching a
scene from Jurassic Park!
The best part of the safari was yet to
come... the man who was seated in the
back of our jeep pulled out a searchlight
and in 5 minutes pointed to a small pair
of glowing eyes... a leopard. In the course
of the next hour and half we watched
open mouthed as the leopard yawned,
stretched, walked... straight... towards
us... coming close to 10 feet of our jeep!
20
Baljeet Singh’s regular safaris in this area
have prevented poaching to a great
extent. “They all know that I drive these
roads almost everyday and any hanky-
panky will not go un-noticed”, he said.
The next day, morning and evening
safaris were just as exciting... flying
Peacocks, herds of Nilgai, Pelicans,
Crocodile, Geese, Storks, Robins,
Cranes... and the usual spotted deer.
Interestingly, the Nilgai (blue-cow in
Hindi) is not a cow/bull, but actually an
antelope, the biggest in Asia. For some
reason the locals believe it is a “distant
cousin of the holy cow” and that has
helped in conservation. Good for us!
Another interesting feature was the
landscape itself - though these hills are a
part of the Aravali range we could not
help but notice that the smooth shape of
the rocks looked like they were ‘carved’
by ocean currents. 15 minutes on Google
and I found that there were enough
theories and scientific proof that the
entire Thar desert was believed to have
been under water - during the Jurassic
era. We had seen very similar caves near
Bhopal, Madhyapradesh on our trip to
Bhimbatika a few years ago.
Back at Castle Bera we were treated like
royalty all the time... the rooms were
plush, comfortable and well air
conditioned... our large bathroom even
had a fresco painting on the ceiling.
Because we were there in the middle of
summer when the average afternoon
temperature was 49 Deg plus... we left the
A/C “on” at all times on Baljeet's advice.
All the rooms were decorated with
memorabilia and pictures from all over...
of royalty... and everyone is related to
everyone. When we stand in front of a
picture (among the hundreds that dote
the walls) we are introduced to everyone
- “His Higness of Somewhere... or His
Highness’ brother... or the present His
Highness’ father....”.
I truly can’t remember the details of the
interlinked family tree but I can tell you
one thing... somehow they are all realated
to (or decendents from) the one-and-only
Maharana Pratap.
The food at Castle Bera was simple and
royal... though we decided to have
vegetarian food for most of our stay we
were cajoled by Baljeet to “taste the local
chicken - not the fake broiler chicken that
you get in your cities... this is really tasty”
- and he was right - it was the non-veg
equivalent of organic vegetables!
Armed with precise directions from
Baljeet, on how to get to Delhi (en route
to our next stay at The Hive, Nainital) we
head out to brave the heat of Rajasthan.
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Crossing Delhi
... blow hot - blow cold
The road to Nainital (via Delhi) was hot...
hotter... hottest.
With 2 days to cover the distance we
decided to get an early start, but, the roads
were not in favour of this... the road from
Bera to Pali was a combination of SH 16
and NH14 - both equally good (or bad).
The road was bad after a while and did
not improve till we reached Kishangarh
(near Ajmer). The 100kms from
Kishangarh to Jaipur was the best on that
day. After Jaipur the 6-laning work was
in progress and it greatly reduced speeds
due to the deep excavations. Between
that and the traffic as we neared Manesar
& Gurgaon we made it to Delhi exhausted
after 14 hours on the road.
But the rasam and curd rice waiting at my
India Is My Home-Stay
cousin Sharmila's place kept the spirits
high. Sharmila and Nisudan run
Ciocollato, making the best Finnish
chocolates we have ever tasted. naturally
the dessert that night was a collection of
their best.
The next morning we took the road to
Nainital and it passes thru the entire city
of Delhi before exiting the NCR at
where they can fix a flat tyre or oil leak.
Ghaziabad. Driving in Delhi is really
We had been here before, when we had
'capital punishment'.
to change some clutch plates on the Swift
The weather was very, very hot... and during our 2007 trip.
being the weekend there were hundreds
We got a call from Radhika (sister of the
of people heading to Nainital just as we
home owner) at The Hive and she said it
were... so every hotel and dhaba was
would take us 2-3 hours form Haldwani
packed for lunch. We found Apni Haveli
to get to Nainital, because of the heavy
on the outskirts of Moradabad which
rains all over the hills. We stopped over
served us a decent meal and we were on
at a Cafe Coffee Day and picked up a hot
the way.
cup of coffee and headed for the hills.
The road (NH 24) wasn not much of a
As we ascended the ghats we found the
highway and was bad in some parts,
temperature magically dropping... clearly
considerably impairing our speed...
stated on the bold display in our Xylo’s
taking us till 4pm to reach Haldwani - the
DDIS... from high 40s to low 20s... in a
base of the Himalayas. Haldwani is
span of 20kms... we were actually feeling
known as the "Gateway of Kumaon" and
a bit chill. Between enjoying the sunset
the name literally "forest (vana) of Haldu
over the mountains, navigating thru the
trees".
weekend rush all over Nainital and
Haldwani is also the last place that you enjoying the first rain in two weeks we
can attend to any major problems in your made it to our 7th Mahindra Homestay
vehicle... after this, the entire Himalaya destination Dr. Ranjit Bhargava's “The
range has only small mechanic shops Hive”
21
22 www.WaitForSide.com
The Hive
... where everyone is a busy bee

Dr. Ranjit Bhargava's “The Hive” our 7th Our room was on the first floor right next
Mahindra Homestay destination, is a very to Shruti and Rajit Bhargava's room from
nice heritage cottage on the Ayarpatta where we got a good view of the Nainital
slopes that used to Christopher Corbett's hillside. A short walk from the cottage and fighting for the bird feed.
house - father of the world renowned Jim we got a birds eye view of the Naini-lake...
Corbett, hunter, conservationist and
Dr. Bhargava is a noted environmentalist
naturalist, famous for slaying a large
who has been very active in lake Though we did not get much time to
number of man-eating tigers and leopards
conservation activity. He was awarded interact and chat with him on the
in India.
the Padma Shri recently for his activities environmental impact of all the tourist
Getting here is pretty simple actually, and we got to see the private side of this activity in Uttarakhand we saw him
mainly because they have 'one-way-ed' public icon. walking around the gardens putting bird-
most of the roads in Nainital. Follow the
mall road upto Jama Masjid, then ask
someone for Mannu Maharani hotel and
follow the signs to The Hive (or Silent
Trail Luxury Villa) from there.

A birds eye view

of Naini-tal - a.k.a. the
lesser Manasarovar lake

feed out for all the pigeons and sparrows.

All that free bird-feed was good for us,
we go to take pictures of the birds.

Shruti, who was very busy with her son's

music class and her INTACH (The Indian
National Trust For Art and Cultural
Heritage) work was keen to point out that
only in the last few years they have been
spotting sparrows in Nainital. “this is all
a result of climate change... it's getting
hotter every year”, she said.

All the deforestation was evident right

from our room... making way for modern
concrete hotels. We hope that Bhargava
and his friends are able to stop this

India Is My Home-Stay 23
 irresponsible growth in the region.

There were over a dozen staff members

catering to these guests and close to a
dozen cars parked in the driveway... really
the busiest homestay we had been to till
now.

Though the first floor feels like a home-

stay the ground floor rooms and lobby
feel more like a hotel. There were atleast
30 walk-in customers every day asking
for rooms. Going to show how busy the
place was... but apparently in Nainital
White-eared Bulbul
“every rooms sells” according to
Radhika, who “manages the hotel part of
the homestay”.

The rooms were very comfortable, with

TV, DTH, a modern heater and multi
functional shower - the kind of stuff you
see in the Kohler ads.

We had WiFi in the lobby area and

between bird-watching the pigeons, man-
watching the other guests and reading
books on Jim Corbett, we caught up on
email over cups and cups of nice hot tea
while we 'chilled out' for 2 days.

We were ready to go from Corbett’s

father’s house to Corbett’s house at
Kaladhungi (aka Choti Haldwani) to stay
at our 8th Mahindra Homestay, Suman
and Ome Anand’s Camp Corbett.
The resident
(stuffed) tiger

We were totally
‘booked’

24 www.WaitForSide.com
Camp Corbett
... naturally eco & friendly
Driving to 8th Mahindra Homestay
destination Camp Corbett at Kaladhungi
from Nainital was a mistake... after
enjoying the cool weather at an elevation
of 2000+ mts... we drove down the hills
to Kaladhungi (at just over 400+ mts)...
the heat was unbearable. In a way the
mistake was from our part... we should
not have been there during the hot
summer days.
The drive itself was great. These Sivalik
Hills are the southernmost mountain
chain of the Himalayan System... and
probably the youngest. We stopped for
some tender 'butta' (corn-on-the-cob) on
the way and enjoyed the drive along the
‘long and winding roads’ in the hills
passing the many lakes that dot the hills...
this one called Khurpa taal really looked
like a big emerald!
Ome and Suman's Camp Corbett is
located right on the mail road... can’t miss
Khurpa taal
India Is My Home-Stay
it... there is a nice small board that points
to the place. Suman had told us that she
would be busy “doing our bit for the
community”, by organising a free medical
camp for the local villagers at the Corbett
museum... so after a quick wash we went
to see what that was all about.
At the Corbett Museum, we got a quick
history lesson in the man the world
knows as the greatest British-Indian
hunter, conservationist and naturalist,
famous for slaying a large number of man-
eating tigers and leopards in India. Fresh
from all our reading on Corbett at “The
Hive”, we were able to identify the
incidents referred to here. Like any good
tourist we picked up a lot of Corbett
souvenirs... and pickles by the locals.
The Neema doll - made from Saan fibre (a
type of hemp) - is the result of a project
by Frederike from France who is working
with villagers from the nearby Ringora
Bonnet
Macaque,
Sambar,
Wild boar and
Chital
25
 village. This project helps the locat Back at Camp Corbett we had a full
villagers earn money and keeps them fledged Kumauni lunch with Churkani (a
away from the forest thereby reducing soup like preparation of bhatt pulses),
the man-animal conflict. Jambu gaderni mutton (mutton marinated
with jambu and Arbi - seppankizhangu
The rooms at Camp Corbett are pretty
in tamil), Alu Gutka (fried Potatoes),
comfortable. The cottages are like a
Kaapa (spinach leaves crushed into a
resort... few and far apart giving us the
paste and cooked with other
privacy that we need but at the same time
condiments), Jholi (a curry seasoned with
the dining area and kitchen are away from
curd and curry leaves) and Bhang ki
the rooms. “We already have so much
Chutney (roasted Bhang (Hemp) and
wild life, we don't want pests to come here
cumin seeds (Sauf), mixed with Lemon
too... that is why we prefer not to offer
juice).
room service”, says Suman.
After the heavy lunch we decided to bid
All the rooms have air-coolers which kept
adeiu to the wild life and venture into the
the heat off marginally... but the whole
Himalayas while we took the back-roads
place cooled down tremendously at
into Himachal to reach our 9th Mahindra
night... got quiet chill actually.
Homestay, Krish Rauni at Matiana.
We spotted the beautiful Crimson Sunbird
near the central lobby-hut and several
other lovely birds... may the pictures Peacock - the national icon
speak for themselves.

The next morning we were booked for a

safari at the most famous tiger reserve in
the country - Corbett. We spent 4 hours
in the park but did not see any tigers -
not that we were very disappointed... we
got to see a lots of other wildlife -
Lapwing, Scaly-bellied green
woodpecker, white rumped shama, and
hoards of other wildlife... spotted deer,
barking deer, sambar, wild boars and lots
of monkeys . The highlight however was
the beautiful Great Pied Hornbill and
Indian Grey hornbill - and my guess was
that we saw them because we were
staying in the cottage (at Camp Corbett)
called Hornbill!,

Crimson Sunbird,
Great Pied Hornbill
Blue-eared King Fisher
White Rumped Shama

26 www.WaitForSide.com
The hills are alive...
... but the roads could kill you!
There are many roads from Uttarakhand
to Himachal... and we decided to take the
most difficult of the lot to reach our 9th
Mahindra Homestay, Krish Rauni at
Matiana.
We left Camp Corbett at Kaladhungi after
lunch and thanks to a board I saw at the
Ramnagar entrance to Corbett National
Park we took a road that was on the
southern fringe of the park (via kashipura,
Afzalgarh, Nagina and Najibabad). We
got fleeting glimpses of some birds and
wildlife as we drove to Haridwar for the
night. After finding that the rooms at
Ginger were dirty we stayed at a very
decent Hari Heritage.
The next morning we continued on NH
72 to Dehradun, and beyond. In Dehradun
we took a break to pick up some wildlife
The landscape...
India Is My Home-Stay
books at The English Book Depot on
Rajpur road, and some great hindi MP3
cds in the market near the GPO.
From Dehradun we could have taken the
'plains' road to Chandigarh (via
Herbertpura and Narayangarh) and
reached Shimla via Parvanoo. But we
chose to climb the Himalayas (again) and
Herbertpur and head north on NH 123 up Asian Paradise
to Kalsi and then took the road to Tuni (a Flycatcher
small non-descript town near the
Uttarakhand-Himachal border on the
Tons river) via Chakrata.
A good part of the last leg of the day was
done in pitch darkness. Thank goodness
for that.. the narrow roads and the cliffs
were beginning to scare me... in the dark
all I could see was the white marker
stones on the cliff side of the hill roads
... and the land slide
27
 Yellow-billed
Blue Magpie

and I felt secure... what you can't see can't
scare you... right?
We found a small hotel (3 rooms only) in
Tuni, who served us some rajma, roti and
chaval for the night and gave us a decent
room to rest our backs in... amazing that
we actually found that place in the dark.
Uttarakahand has a lot of power problems
and sometimes in these remote villages
there is no electricity for at least 3 days.
The next day between landslides,
dangerous cliffs and lovely birds we took
off to Matiana. A few meters after we
crossed the Tons river, which is the
largest tributary of the Yamuna, we were
in Himachal Pradesh.
apples as you want and nobody cares!
We stopped for a breakfast of samosa
and chai and one small village... probalby
just a few hundred people. Two young
boys were staring at our car... the number
plate... us... and wondering “where the
hell have they come from”. Finally they
asked us and when we said Chennai...
they had no idea where that was!
We tried to explain, Chennai also known
as Madras, samandar (sea), south india...
nothing seemed to ring a bell... and then
all of a sudden his face lit us - “Chennai
Super Kings” he yelled.
Wow! The first real good and useful thing
that has come out of the IPL... it has
improved the general knowledge of the
kids in these remote places.
Because it was not yet apple season we
decided to eat apricots - hundreds of
them... little did we know that when we
reached our 9th Mahindra Homestay,
Krish Rauni at Matiana, we would have
Apricots for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The roads got better (but still had it's

share of landlsides)... so we reached
Matiana (via Hatkoti, Jubbaland &
Theog).

In Himachal, the best part is that you get

to see apple orchard on the road sides
and... in season... you can pick as many

28 www.WaitForSide.com
Krish Rauni
... apple of my eye
Our 9th Mahindra Homestay, Krish Rauni
at Matiana, is located just off the highway
(NH22 - a.k.a. the old Hindustan-Tibet
road) and has a beautiful view of the
valley.
The first thing Kishore asks us when we
call him to ask for directions is “Do you
want to climb 100 steps or walk 100 steps
on plain ground... from the car park...”.
Needless to say, after the exhausted drive
from Corbett we opted for the plain
ground walk, we were not taking chances
at 8000 ft. above sea level. But what
thrilled us even more was the fact that
we were going to be staying in the middle
of an apple orchard.
Krish Rauni was among the busiest
homestays that we had been to so far.
Kishore and Shobana are great hosts and
despite having 3 other rooms booked
when we were there took good care of
... for the high
stakes game!
India Is My Home-Stay
everyone. Everyone got their privacy
and everyone got their attention. Kishore
is great fun and has a very interesting
humorous story to tell every few minutes.
Shobana is a great cook and her paneer
is among the best that I have tasted...
fresh, soft and cooked just right.
We reached Krish Rauni in the middle of
the biggest annual event of the little
village... the local deity was being
escorted back to the temple in the next
village after spending the last 24 hrs a
temple just outside gate - where we had
parked our Xylo. We were lucky enough
to get a glimpse of the deiety - “very
auspicious” we were told.
The rooms are very comfortable and even
had a balcony that overlooked the
valley... better than and LCD screen for
entertainment I must say. There was a TV
in the rec-room but we did not even
... and the bulbul
enjoys an apricot
29
switch it on... we were too busy playing
carom.
Most of the meals were served on the
terrace which over looked the apple
orchard and was arms length from a nice
apricot tree. We got to eat apricots for
breakfast lunch and dinner. The terrace
was also the centre stage for most of the
activity here. We spent most of our time
and Kishore and Shobana made it a point
to introduce each of their guests to each
other and made sure every one was
chatting up like one big family.
One excursion we went on was to Hatu
peak - the highest peak in that area. at
11152ft it was supposed to “quite a
dangerous drive... but for you folks it will
be nothing... you have driven all the way
from Chennai... and across the Chakrata,
30
Tuni road... this is nothing... “ said Needless to say the area is also famous
Kishore as he explained the sights around for the apples... that keep the doctors
the place. Our Xylo took the narrow road away.
in its stride with ample room to help other
With a belly full of a great breakfast and
cars pass too!
a basket full of fresh apricots we headed
He also had a very interesting story to off to our 10th Mahindra Homestay, Om
tell of a certain dentist in the nearby town Mahal in kangra valley near
of Theog Padma Shri Dr. Rajinder Singh. Dharmanshala.
Apparently Dr. Singh had been awarded
the Padma Shri for his skills in speed
typewriting and not in dentisry... “Good
thing I got to know of that fact before I
opened my mouth to him... my wisdom
and wisdom tooth... both are safe today”
jokes Kishore.
Matiana is also the place where the
various Indian sports teams come for
high altitude fitness training before they
head off to international competitions.
Ultramarine Flycatcher
... know any doctors?
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Om Mahal
... spiritual royalty
Our 10th Mahindra Homestay was
Jaishree & Vijay Mankotia's Om Mahal
in Kangra valley near Dharmanshala.
Crossing Shimla is such a pain. The traffic
is unbearable and despite helpful cops
standing at every turn we took a good
one hour to get out of the maze. Since we
were 'inside Shimla' now, we decided to
pay a visit the dear old Peterhoff Hotel.
In 2004 we had come to this heritage hotel
to get flagged off on the Raid de
Himalaya.
From Shimla the road is pretty straight to
Gaggal... just stay on NH 88. We took a
couple of detours because of landslides
(yes... even in the summer these things
happen) and sometimes because we felt
the off-road was more picturesque than
the highway. We finally reached Gaggal
(via Bilaspur, Hamirpur. Jwalamikhi and
Kangra).
Om Mahal is pretty easy to navigate to.
When you drive from Gaggal town
towards the airport (a.k.a. Pathankot road)
take the left that points to Masroor
monolithic rock-cut temples and keep
going for about 5 kms. There are no
India Is My Home-Stay
boards so if you request Jaishree
Mankotia she will send someone to the
main gate to guide you into the estate.
where he is remembered as one of the
When we entered the mango estate the
most versatile Tourism Ministers of
trees were full of ripe mangoes, ready for
Himachal Pradesh. Unable to fight the
harvest. And hidden between them were
deep rooted corruption in the system for
some Lychee trees.
long he has today “quit active politics
So, you ask... were the next 3 days spent and decided to relax, catch up on my
eating mangoes and lychees? Yes... and reading and meet interesting people like
many more nice things... all while we you...” he says.
looked at the Dhauladhar range of the
The atmosphere at Om Mahal is spiritual
Himalayas.
- there are pictures of the Dalai Lama and
We asked Jaishree to prepare simple dal- Swami Chinmayananda all over the house
chaval type of meals but she would sneak - some of the pictures are with the
in one of her specialities in to the menu Mankotias... “our family has been
and we ended up over eating - as usual! associated with all things spiritual for
generations and we continue the
Major Vijay Singh Mankotia, is an officer,
tradition” says Jaishree.
and gentleman... not to forget his roots
in royalty and politics. There are certain advantages of being the
guests of the former Tourism minister -
Mankotia is a member of one of the
you get to know of the off-roads to take
princely families of Himachal Pradesh. At
and the best places to see, especially if
the Indian Military Academy he was
awarded the coveted "Sword of Honour",
and served in the Gorkha Regiment with
distinction. After a premature retirement Dhauladhar range
from the army he entered active politics,
31
you are short on time.
The next day we took a quick drive to
Norbulingka, a school of Tibetian art and
craft, dedicated to preserving Tibetan
cultural heritage, located in small village
Sidhpur near Dharamsala. Mankotia
charted us of a “nice forest road” that
was really beautiful... especially because
the entire dharamsala - McLeodGanj area
is crowded with Tibetans and tourists.
The art and craft on sale at the
Norbulingka store is prohibitively
expensive, but I guess you have to
consider the fact that they are trying to
support about 1,50,000 refugees and run
a government in exile... so we did our part
for the cause and picked up a few
souvenirs. Incidentally the original town
of Norbulingka is in Tibet (now under
Chinese rule) and used to be the summer
palace of the Dalai Lama.
While the Tibetians are very strict about
the teaching of the traditional wood and
metal carving techniques, they have
given in to the western influences as far
as the music their younger generation
listens to - the Norbulingka class rooms
were echoing with Britney Spears and
Shakira.
The 6 o clock aarti and bhajan at the
Swami Chinmayananda samadhi was our
next stop. Memories of my first school in
Kurnool came to mind as I joined in the
bhajans, remembering a verse here and a
phrase there. Some of the bhajans prayed
to the gods to give the parched lands
some rains. After the aarti, as we prepared
to take the prasaadam it started raining,
a fabulous hail storm.
Everyone was overjoyed, some started
collecting the large ice cubes and eating
them. A few of the devotees stayed back
to chat with us and we also had the
honour to meet Dr. Kshama Metre,
32
Director of Chinmaya Organisation for
Rural Development who was recently
awarded the Padma Shri Award for Social
Service.
The next day we decided to go to
Dharamsala and McLeodGanj to see the
Dalai Lama's personal Namgyal
Monastery. The main teaching room of
the Dalai Lama is located here and
because he was out of the county the
palace was not crowded.
We had lunch at the small Namgyal cafe
which served some tibetian soups and
italian pizzas. There were many monks
wandering about in their dark maroon
robes and shaven heads. Unless you
paid close attention to what they were
saying you could not tell if they Tibetin,
American or Indian.
Thanks to Richerd Gere and the his charm
in the western world a lot of Americans
and Europians are actively involved in
the support of the Tibetans... some of Tibetian
them have even taken to the robes. infliences
The narrow mountain roads all the way
from Gaggal to McLeodganj and back
were a breeze for the Xylo... drives like a
several bulbuls and treepies all over the
car, climbs like a SUV.
place. True bird wathcers paradise.
Back at Mankotia's place (or Palace if you
The silverware is actually made of silver
like) the rooms were very comfortable and
(... not stainless steel), truly royal. The
thanks to global warming they had just
behaviour of the staff and the
added their “first set of Air conditioners...
presentation of the meals, even if it is a
just this year... it has never been this hot!”
simple chai with biscuits, is just as royal.
according to Jaishree.
We were the first Mahindra Homestay
The house is filled with family pictures customers to come here, maybe the first
and memorabilia from Vijay Singh's many ever guests they have had since they
travels. The library boasts of books from started the homestay so we felt we were
Archies digest to Enid Blyton to the treated morel like family than guests.
teachings of the Dalai Lama or the
“If all the guests we get are like you, I
collectors edition of the Encyclopaedia
would be very happy” said Jaishree as
Britannica if you like!
we left the next day on our way to
Wandering about the estate, we spotted Hoshiarpur to stay at our 11th Mahindra
the elusive Yellow billed blue magpie, Homestay location - Citrus County.
www.WaitForSide.com
Citrus County
... all things King size

Because we enjoyed Vijay Singh and we had no clue what he was saying!
Mankotia’s knowledge of the off-roads
So between the MapMyIndia GPS, calls
we asked him to suggest the most
to his wife Jasveen (who was in
picteresque road to our 11th Mahindra
Chandigarh having just given birth to
Homestay location - Citrus County at
their second child) and some intuitive
Hoshiarpur and he chalked out a route
thinking we made it to the lovely citrus is known for its high juice content,
via the Maharana Pratap Sagar Dam.
farm. special flavour, and as a rich source of
The Siwaliks in this region are soft and vitamin C.
There was a choice to stay in tents in the
friable. These hills are composed mainly
lawn area or rooms in the main building... In Punjab, every this in King size... the
of clay sand, sand rocks and poorly
we chose the main building, for no rooms are big... the air conditioners are
bedded sandstones... and unless you go
particular reason. The tents were equally over 2tons, the tents are spacious, and
and touch the hard surface you would
plush and airconditioned! the TV in our room was 29 inches... no
think they are sand dunes.
wonder their IPL team is called Kings XI!
Despite the heat - the monsoon not
Harkreet Singh was among the first hosts
having arrived as yet, the place was We were joined that evening by Jaideep
to call us confirming our booking (over a
pretty cool, thanks to the powerful air and Pooja from Chandigarh who had just
month ago... before we left Chennai on
conditioners. The home is set in the returned from a trip to Australia and
this long Mahindra Homestays trip), and
middle of a Kinnow orange farm and in wanted to experience “Punjabi
was impatiently waiting to recieve us. He
the evenings it got pretty cool thanks to Homestay/farmstay before getting back
was so eager to make sure we got there
the large lawn and huge trees. to full fledged work”.
quickly that he sent his driver with his
cell phone to wait on the highway to The kinnow, a hybrid of two citrus Jaideep also happens to work with Indo-
guide us thru the village roads. But, he cultivated varieties, was introduced from Asian News Service (IANS) and decided
forgot that the driver only spoke punjabi California to the Punjab in the 1940s and to spend his weekend writing about us

Sand, Stone or
Sandstone?

India Is My Home-Stay 33
and our travels. The article was carried in
some 20 newspapers all over the country.
Jaideep, who had been here before, took
us around the area and showed us a
factory where they made sarson-ka-saag
(Curried mustard leaves) and makkai
(corn) flour for export to the millions of
punjabis who lived in UK.
We got to eat some great tandoori
chicken and paneer butter masala - the
34
signature dishes of punjab at the
airconditioned little tent called the Citrus
cafe.
Harki and his dad were always around to
tell us tales of Punjab, the politics, the
culture and the religion. Food and cars
were the other favourite subjects... and
Harki’s dad had a good joke up his sleve
all the time.
Rufus, the family pooch, is always around
to entertain and eager to play... when he
was not sticking his face in to the
swimming pool to cool off from the heat.
After 2 days of King size hospitality we
all headed to Chandigarh, Harki to see
his wife, Jaideep to get back to work and
Prabha and I to start the first leg of our
long drive back to Chennai.
- Prabha & Harsha Koda
www.WaitForSide.com
 Factoids
Distance - 11682kms

Days away from home - 49

Homestays visited - 11

Number of upset stomachs - NIL

Hottest place - Castle Bera - 50 deg. C

Highest point
Coolest Place - Krish Rauni - 10 deg. C
Hatu Peak
11152ft above sea level

States passed thru - 13

Longest drive - 639kms (Bera-Gurgaon)

Shortest drive - 61kms (kumarakom - Vytilla)

Best road - Amdavad to Vadodra - NE #1

Worst road - Chakrata to Tuni - SH#1 (Uttarakhand)

Number of flat tyres - NIL

Lowest point Number of vehicle breakdows - NIL

Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary

23ft below sea level Number of accidents - NIL

India Is My Home-Stay 35
36 www.WaitForSide.com