“Dharamshala” A Travelogue........ 

 

When we  were planning our next holiday, it had to be Dharamshala, the Mecca for the Buddhists where The Dalai Lama resides.

 We quickly chalked out  a  3 day trip to Dharamshala, McLeodganj and Naddi via Chandigarh, we packed our bags and headed  towards our destination and decided to spend our  Diwali away from the maddening crowd.

Day 1 – We started on a Saturday, took the Shatabdi to Chandigarh . We spent the entire day in local sightseeing. Chandigarh’s famous Rockgarden and Sukhna Lake and a short trip around the different sectors in Chandigarh. It is a lovely city indeed, very planned and organized and people are very disciplined. Surprisinly I did not find the food very interesting . We managed to have food in Sector 22, Kalimirch Chicken with assorted naan and paranthas. We took a quick round in the local market relishing candy floss. The shops were all looking so colourful, all stocked for Diwali. There were buyers stacked with money shopping for the most grand festival of the year. The entire town was bustling with happy faces all gearing up for the festival of lights. We then started our drive towards our cottage that was booked at Naddi further uphill from Mc Leodganj.

   It was a 5 hour journey from Chandigarh to Dharamshala with beautiful landscapes that constantly accompanied us through out our drive. The mountains itseems were never ending, we were continuously climbing up as if we were about to reach heaven……I felt like capturing every moment in my camera,  nature’s myriad colours. It was quite late by the time we reached  Dharamshala, we lost our way  enroute the cottage and it was pitch dark all around, not a single person to be seen neither a sign board or a milestone which read Naddi…..my mobile battery had already drained out and Anindya’s cell was blinking it’s last few seconds of battery life. We were trying to get in touch with  our hostess at the cottage , but every time the call connected the battery conked off. We could only see the stars above us and the headlight of the car that we had parked on the narrow serpentine road in the mountains. We went a little further ahead insearch of  a shop, a human being, little light, but it was of no use.  We had almost decided to spend the night in our car when Anindya decided to try to awaken his technical skills. He took out  the battery from his mobile and rubbed it against his sleeves to charge the lithium battery and then tried calling up the Cottage. Fortunately the call went through and our hostess from Udechee  Huts helped us with directions . We were happily traversing the mountain range onceagain and at last reached our destination. Around midnight we found the owner of the cottage with a battalion of dogs waiting for us at the entrance. There was no dinner for us, so we checked in to our cottage which was in a remote location crossing the garden, at the other end of the property.  I had after thoughts of shifting to some other hotel at a prominent place as the surrounding was too spooky for one to spend even a single night. A small cottage enveloped by darkness everywhere….The stars above the sky gave a ray of hope,  we bravely checked in and hit the bed and were fast asleep.

Day 2 – Day 1 was very hectic, thus we decided to chillout the next day and woke up late only to find that we were surrounded by mountains on all 4 sides. i drew the curtain to find the snow capped Dhauladhar range, i had a mysterious smile on my face... I was so thrilled for last night’s decision of staying back in this cottage, I was sure one could have had the best view of the ranges from here. The Dhauladhar changed colours every hour with the sun rays reflecting on the snow capped mountains. It changed from a pristine white to a shimmery silver to a glittery golden…….Our cottage was at the end of the valley as if hanging from a cliff. There was a beautiful manicured garden with the most colourful  flowers I had ever seen. We could not resist ourselves , thus got ready for the day in a jiffy,  grabbed a quick breakfast in the dining Hall  overlooking the beautiful orchid  garden on one side and valley on the other side. We packed our rucksacks  and made our way to conquer the mountains.

  We started with the Dal Lake, which was surrounded by monks in saffron robes  sitting on yellow coloured wooden benches all around  the lake trying to absorb the beauty of nature. We devoured some steaming hot mutton momos  and made our way to TCV, Tibetan Childen’s Village. TCV is very close the Dalai Lama’s heart, it seems  The Dalai Lama  had visited TCV just the day before, it was all decked up with colourful strips of clothes,  ballons and paintings on the road. The place was bubbling with energy as cute little kids were all over the place, water rolling from their eyes, nose and mouth. They were all smiling back at us every time we chuckled their red, apple cheeks. With eyes as tiny as a pea shining brightly, satin like hair , fair skin  pink nose , red lips and an innocent smile, they all looked like God’s own children in the valley…

  After a stroll at the TCV, we headed towards The Dalai Lama’s Temple at Mc.Leodganj. The main Shrine had 3 huge deities and many small and medium sized bronze figurines inside the glass cubicles. Dalai lama is being prayed like a deity in this part of  the world. The time was right, the weather pleasant and the mood just perfect, thus we settled inside the shrine against a huge pillar  and meditated for a while for peace and serenity for one and all. We came out of the shrine and the touched the holy  prayer  wheels which had prayers written in ancient Tibetan scripts. Monks from various places worldwide were paying their visit and were all over the Temple premises. They were all dressed in saffron robes, with beads in their hands,  heads shaven, walking slowly towards the shrine.  They all looked so happy and peaceful,  itseems they have found their ultimate source of happiness and mission in life. Overlooking the temple is Dalai Lama’s residence, a  modest two storied house with a garden and a tiny letter box and an instruction board at the entrance gate.

          It started raining heavily all of a sudden and we got stranded in the temple premise. Thus we utilized the time by exploring the museum next to the Dalai Lama’s Temple. The Museum was speaking aloud about the tumultous struggle that the Tibetans  are going through, to  free their motherland from the Chinese. It showcased how the Chinese invaded Tibet, the peace loving country and devasted the beauty and innocence of the land. How the Chinese tormented and destroyed the country which was so rich in Culture & spirituality. My heart pains every time I see the Tibetans struggling peacefully to free their homeland from the invaders . Even after so much destruction over so many years, the Tibetan refugees of Dharamshala are trying to keep their rich cultural heritage alive through intricate handicrafts, performing arts and spirituality. They all want to go back to their homeland which they left several years ago and do not want to be called as refugees any more. I agree  they can no more be called as refugees as they are a part of India which is their home for so many years.

   By the time the skyline was clear and the rain god happy with the shower, we were quite hungry, thus we headed to pacify our gastronomy. Jimmy’s Corner is said to be quite a popular bakery cum eatery in Mc. Leodganj, thus we gave it a try. They serve the best Italian gourmet. The place greeted us with freshly baked muffins. It had a cozy ambience, it has a mini library, a dias for live concerts,  knick knacks like T-shirts and coffee mugs which had, “Free Tibet” message on them, an open kitchen and a very lively and a colourful staff. The walls were adorned with old Hollywood classic posters. We ordered for a Pizza, Stuffed Potatoes with Chicken, soup and a sinful dark chocolate cake with dollops of vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce.

   After a sumptuous lunch we walked down the local flee market. There was so much to buy……..no wonder why there were so many tourists especially foreigners in the lanes and by lanes all busy shopping,  Masks,  colourful zardozi bags,  Herbal Agarbatti,  spices, brass and copper statues, semi precious stones , beads jewellery , junk silver, woollens, Retro outfits, curios and many more……

   After stacking our sacks with goodies, our driver recommended us that we visit TIPA, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. We found young girls and boys rehearsing their piece. Playing instruments, dancing and singing for an International performance. They were so agile, it looked like a Tibetan folklore in the form of a ballet . We chatted with a friendly old lady selling paintings of  Tibetan Gods and Goddesses from an outlet within TIPA.  I picked up a few paintings from her. She offered us some yellowish liquid in a glass which was herbal tea and is of high medicinal value. She was narrating how she fled her homeland as a young lady with her family in a day’s notice leaving all their belongings back home. She walked all the way from Tibet to Dharamshala traversing  the mountains, the rough weather with her two little hungry kids . Now that she has become old, she is desperate to go back to her motherland. She is longing to see her house where she came as a young bride but had to abandon her home. I just wish from the core of heart that Tibet becomes a free country very soon and may every Tibetan  go back to their home fearless and stay happily everafter. We also found a group of women tailoring colourful traditional Tibetan dresses for the students of TIPA who perform globally and spread the message of peace. TIPA also has an auditorium for screening their inhouse performances.

   After an emotional trip to TIPA we reached Bhagsunath. It is famous for the Bhagsunath temple and the water falls. By the time we reached it was quite dark, so we just heard the sound of water gushing from various sides  filling the water tank inside the temple premises. We ended the day by having a cup of hot cappuccino at a hill top coffee house, it  was placed atop a hill. The place was very dimly lit and had  tourists from every corner of the world.  We could see the beautiful nightscape of  Dharamshala. After relishing our cuppa we headed towards a pub to check out the night life in Dharamshala. We were quite surprised to find that the nightlife here can give any metro a run for their money. We had a quiet dinner amidst the 70’s music playing in the background and then decided to call it a hurricane day. We climbed uphill, crossed the Cantonment Area amidst the dark pine trees, the never ending gaut roads ultimately took us to our HUT. Dharamshala has the perfect combination of a spiritual destination, shopping, adventure sports, night life and  scenic beauty.

     

Day 3 – I woke up the next day to find the huge snow capped Dhauladhar range embracing us once again.  I had done a lot of homework before we booked our cottage, it  was very strategically placed amidst the valleys and the mountains in that location which gave the best  scenic view. It was an isolated resort in the valley with all the scenic beauties that was still virgin and not explored which formed the landscape aroud, backed with modern amenities and luxury as soon as  you enter the room. We started the day with a  lazy brunch and kept staring at the mountains for hours together, watched it changing colours from White, to Silver, to  Yellow and then Golden. The shepherds with their cattle made a good view of the valley suddenly turning from green to patchy white from a distance. There were  tiny water falls all along the mountain range.  Little children playing on the streets, women gathering wood from the forest, a group of men huddled together to  plan  for the evening as it was Diwali. In the evening we went to the Chamunda temple and the day coincided with Kali Puja, so we offered puja to the goddess as Anindya was born on the auspicious day of Kali Puja. The head priest  was offering arati while the other priests chanted vedic shloks . Enroute we also saw  Chinmayananda Mission and The Vidhansabha, but the attraction for the day was Norbulingka, which was created by the Tibetans in Dharamshala, it houses a Doll Museum , a Pagoda, a section selling Tibetan handicrafts  a guest house for the tourists and many more sections to showcase the Tibetan talent. While returning back to Naddi, we bought a lot of crackers and candles from the local market. As soon as we  reached our hut we covered ourselves with layers of woolens as by then it was freezing cold outside. We decorated the interioir and exterioir of our hut with colourful lights, candles, diyas and flowers. The diyas and the tiny colourful bulbs illuminated the virgin mountains. The colourful light from our crackers were looking magnificient with the dark Dhauladhar in the backgrounds , as if the Dhauladhar was quietly enjoying the festival of lights with us. We were the only one’s lighting crackers amidst the mountains there. It was a scenic beauty which I would remember for years to come.

Day 4 – This was our last day of our trip and we spent most of our time reminiscing the past 3 days of our trip glaring at the mountain range.  One could stare at the Dhauladhar for hours  together without getting bored or tired, that is the beauty of the mountains. Looking at the mountains I determined to spend my post retirement life in Dharmshala  in a tiny cottage amidst the valley. I promised the mountains to return back again and enjoy their company. We packed our bags  and returned  back to Chandigarh and spent the 2^nd day of Diwali with one of our close friends. We once again lit a lot  of crackers, though this time the experience was a little different as we were back in a city celebrating Diwali with hundred other people amidst the concrete jungles.  We had a sumptuous, home cooked dinner and then we marched towards Chandigarh railway station to board our train to Delhi…….back to the humdrum of a fast life, where everyone is running, everyone is busy, nobody has the time to spend an idle moment watching the sunset or watching little children play………..