After a long night of travelling, we all were craving for a bed to lie down straight, we all knew Jannat se kam nahi hoga yeh.
Par abhi to Welcome baaki tha, room ki keys leni baaki thi, room tak jaana baaki tha.
After waiting for 5 mins we finally got our room keys. I was staying with Mr. Bharath from Sterling Holidays Marketing Department. He was travelling in Bus No. 1.
The room allotted to us was 230 and the way to our room was by a lift down and then a flight of around 42 stairs down. Urri baba!
I didn’t want to wait for a hotel staff to take my luggage and hence picked it up myself.
And raaste mein it slipped and gaya niche ulta seedha hokar for around 12 steps, bilkul jaisa movies mein dikhate hai.
It was my new Laal Rang ka American Tourister that I had also carried to Namah last week and somehow was relaxed ki yeh tootega nahi. Woh to room mein jaakar yaad aaya ki isme mera laptop bhi hai and jab tak ON nahi hua, meri jaan mein jaan atakk si gayi thi.
Reached the room, very spacious, entrance par pantry slab thi with a Microwave and other kitchen stuff, green upholstery ka sofa and aage khuli balcony.
Himmat to thi nahi, so I just laid flat on my bed. Sahi mein jannat hi laga.
Roughly 5 mins baad utha and went to balcony. Ab issue yeh tha ki room mein ya aas paas phone connection nahi aa raha tha.
I hoped that it will be fine in a while and started niharoing the View.
Far away I could see track roads, a huge ground, some parallel bars. It was an indication ki ya to yeh koi school hai ya fir koi Military Practice area. And on enquiring got to know this is Indo Tibetan Border Police Campus. We were also informed that our phones might not work this side as ITBP has placed some jammers here. And achanak shooting practice ki awaaz aane lagi. It brought me to my senses ki bhaiya room change karna paregga.
And after an hour of rest I moved to the reception area for breakfast and briefing session of the hotel by the General Manager – Amarnath Bakshi.
Sach kahu, The walk to the reception made my heart beat so fast, ki laga bahar hi nikal aayega.
Before heading for the breakfast, I requested at the reception to change my room near to the reception.
Bas fir khana khaya, accha laga, briefing mein baithe and got to know how vast is the Sterling Group and how they have been into the business for so many years and how they have unveiled a new Logo and Outlook to step into the future and give world class hospitality to their guests.
We were briefed on how our next 2 days would look like. Sterling had created some great experiences for us, but all was dependent on weather conditions and hum log. Aakhir asaan nahi hai 20 Shaitaan baccho ka same time par same kaam karna. Sabke apne nakkhre hote hai.
So sabse pehle was Mall Road ka Experience.
And we got down at Library chowk. I have shared details of LIBRARY CHOWK in last blog.
So humne Library ko dekha, uske baare mein Parra, suna and headed to Laxmi Misthaan Bhandar. This is the Oldest Mithai Shop here and we had the usual speciality of this area ie. Bal Mithai.
Somehow, uske uppar sugar balls ko mein hamesha Homeopathic pills ke saath compare karta hoon. Thori Medicine waali feeling aati hai woh khakar.
The Laddos were good too, Sau takka Desi.
And one unusual Mithai that I saw there was LAUKI LAUJ, ab Pista lauj to suna tha par Lauki ki Mithai pehli baar suni and dekhi.
I Remember till a few years back yahaan haath se chalne waale Rickshaw chalte the. People would drag the passenger rickshaw. Inhuman bhi lagta tha par koi chaara bhi nahi tha. Now they have stopped but I think Kolkata mein abhi bhi chalte hai.
Par one can still have a glimpse of that Rickshaw, as one of them has been Installed at the Mall road.
Sabse pehle meri nazar unn cycle rickshaws par parri that were lined together and ek Bauji dikhe, alag sa noor tha chehre par and I said “Namaste Baujee” and asked if I could click him.
He agreed Smilingly.His name was Mohar Singh and earlier he used to hand pull the Rickshaws.
Now, since the Tourist season is gone he was relaxing in the mast mausam.
Unke saath the Sundar Laal Tamta jee, unki Mooche aur Daari kuch X sa bana rahi thi and I asked him if I can take his pic too and he readily agreed. And then I gave him my phone and asked him to take a selfie. As soon as he saw his face on phone, he said “Ruk jaao, Toppi Seedhi karne do” yeh Shaan hai humari”
And then we clicked a Selfie.
Aage chalta gaya, kabhi Dhundh aati to kabhi dhoop.
It was good to be back on this familiar Mall Road after a long time.
Kahi par kuch Jaani pehchani dukaanein dikhi to kahi par kuch jaane pehchane purane khel. Jaise ki Hoopla, Shoot the Balloon types 🙂
It was good to see “NEKI KI DEEWAR” aka “The Wall of Goodwill” at Mall Road too. It said, “Pick up what you need, leave here that you want to give”
Arre yaad hai in the earlier blog I had mentioned that I had left my Goggles at home only.
So I was actually facing a problem and socha ki wahi se ek khareed loonga.
And I did, on a street side stall got a beautiful replica of RayBan Aviators and mera kaam ho gaya tha jee 🙂
Rs. 99 is all it costed. I paid Rs 100 and he gave me back a packet with 2 Sweets in it. Packet to keep the glasses in and toffee for the 1 Re balance he owed me.
Then we moved to Christ Church. Normally it is closed on Thursday, but then Mr. Deepak from Sterling Resorts who takes care of #SterlingExperiences had a talk with the caretaker and in no time the gates were opened and we were able to witness the Majestic Place.
We spent some good 15 minutes inside the church to soak in the experience. And then chal parre. Mood toh Ropeway se Gun Hill Point jaane ka bhi tha, par koi fayda nahi laga as mall road par hi itni fog thi, na raaste mein kuch dikhta na hi uppar jaakar.
But it was really chilly and saamne dikh gaye Gulab Jamun. Ab itna barra gunah to kar nahi sakte the ki saamne Gulab jamun ho and hum na khaaye.
So we just ordered one plate amongst us and shared.
Basically the lunch at Sterling Resort was ready for us but then market bhi ghoomni thi and baaki jagah bhi try karni thi.
Somehow with a heavy heart, I gave Kalsang a miss and moved to Chic Chocolate. There too I did not order anything, but then jab Drishti jee ne Hot Chocolate Fudge li to samjho aadhi maine hi kha li.
Always good to see Chic Chocolate waale uncle. With his knowledge, passion and hard work it has now become a BIG brand and something not to be missed in Mussoorie.
Ab aage chale to super mash-hoor Lovely Omelette aa gaya.
A Tiny shop running for over 100 years and 5 generations.
We were in a hurry so asked him ki kitna time lagega. And he answered 25 minutes. We knew this is a LOT, but then did not want to miss this chance and Karan Sehgal Bhai too insisted ki khake hi chalte hai. Bas fir khakar hi chale.
Inn Bhai ka haath chalta rehta hai, ya to egg fent-te hue ya fir omellette flip karte hue.
And the omelette that we had was amazing, means bahut pyaar se bana hua, mast sa Omelette and uppar se unke saath Angrezi mein conversations added to the experience.
Uske baad baarish shuru hone lagi, but I couldn’t leave the mall road before visiting Baujee ki Chai ki Dukaan. Agar aapko nahi pata Baujee ke baare mein then read this. One of my best clicked portrait and poem.
Baujee to shop par nahi the so I headed towards the bus and pata chala some friends were still behind. We were standing in front of a Junk Jewelery kind of shop and achanak niche se nazar parri on a Red Bracelet, been finding a good red one for 2 years, this was not perfect but close to perfect so le liya 🙂
Now we were waiting for our bus to arrive and same moment I heard a bus honking repeatedly as if signalling some one.
I was not wrong, in a moment I saw that it was honking toward a girl who was busy buying some food item from a street vendor and before she could pay the money, pick the food packet and come towards the bus, It was gone. All just happened in a Minute.
The girl in her school uniform ran towards the bus, but it was gone till then.
Mujhe laga shayad bus ruk jayegi but It did not.
She slowly started walking towards the bus stop and had to cross me before reaching there and when she was close to me, I asked her “So, Missed the Bus?” I know it was foolish to ask this as I DID see her missing it. She replied with yes and then I casually asked, so when is the next bus and she said after 30 Minutes. It was 4 pm already and I was concerned. But at the same time I was cautious that someone might be watching me and may object to my conversation with a local girl and might think otherwise.
But she was relaxed and kept munching the nuts she had purchased from the cart which were responsible for her missing the bus.
Somehow I was mesmerised by her innocence and the red school sweater enhanced her noor even more.
After thinking for 5 times, I requested her if I can click her. To my delight, she agreed and believe me this is one of the best pics I have ever clicked.
She mentioned that she has an Instagram account and I promised to send her the pics on Instagram Message.
Believe me aaj 4 days ho gaye and her Innocence, her Charm, her Perfect hair, her Red Sweater, her Tie, her Ear Studs, her Smile is still fresh in my mind. I wish her the best in whatever she does and I’m sure she shall get all she seeks 🙂
Abhi yeh sab chal raha tha, boonda baandi ho rahi thi, har taraf fog thi and bus aa gayi humari.
Bhaag ke charre and bas 30 mins mein Sterling Resorts pahunch kar hamla kar diya khaane par.
The food at Sterling was good, though I think with some extra effort it can be the best. Somehow they have a dish of Chicken and Fish in all the meals, but on asking about mutton we were told that the quality of mutton in this area is not very good.
There were a variety of desserts and they were good too, I particularly liked the Gajar ka Halwa, Bread Butter Pudding and small dry cakes.
Ab thakawat bhi bahut thi and good to know ki jab tak mein wapas aaya they had already allotted me a new room just a level below the reception. Room size was big and I had a big viewing angle as this was a corner room.
Niche wala room was more like a service apartment with kitchen ka samaan, this was more like a Hotel Room and I was happy ki uppar hai, barra hai, View accha hai 🙂 Waise view to niche se bhi bahut accha tha 🙂
Kuch der araam kiya, Kuch kaam kiya and then received a call ki niche Bon Fire ka arrangement hai and masti maarne aa jaao 🙂
Somehow, mera mann tha Insta par LIVE jaane ka and I decided jaldi se Live chale jaata hu and kuch gupshup maarkar will head to Amphitheatre for masti with friends.
Went Live on 8:35 and pata hi nahi chala ki kab 9:15 ho gaye.
Bas uske baad bhaaga and by the time I reached niche, sab gaana bajana khatam ho chuka tha. But I was still happy. It’s always good to chat with your friends and answer their queries Live.
Tabhi I was told ki sabne gaana gaya and aapko bhi gaana paregga. And humne kaunsa sharam karni thi…. Biwi to ghar par thi par unko yaad karte hue kuch lines suna di
“चाँदी जैसा रंग है तेरा सोने जैसे बाल
एक तूही धनवान है गोरी बाकी सब कंगाल
जिस रस्ते से तू गुज़रे वो फूलों से भर जाये
तेरे पैर की कोमल आहट सोते भाग जगाये
जो पत्थर छू ले गोरी तू वो हीरा बन जाये
तू जिसको मिल जाए वो, हो जाये मालामाल
एक तूही धनवान है गोरी, बाकी सब कंगाल”
Bas fir chal diye Dinner karne ke liye and mast sa khaana khaaya, Gappe Maari and agle din ka plan pata chala.
Plan was to go to a Trek to Mine/Mountain where many people had lost their lives when it was in operation and now it is a haunted place. Also on Agenda was visit to Corn Village, Landour Bakery, Cycle Tour on Circular Road.
And Trek ke liye subah 6:30 am milna tha at the hotel reception.
So bas jaldi se room mein gaya, and kab so gaya pata hi nahi chala.
Ab kal bhi bahut kuch interesting hua. Do you want to know kya? Chalo kal wala Blog dekhna jee 🙂
