Rest, in peace

Monsoon had arrived in Delhi earlier than ever before. And it wasn’t in its usual scorching self. But the sticky humidity was nonetheless keeping up with its good work. That’s when I heard of my destination — Shilon Bagh. Being a Cancerian, water is what my inner self seeks. But given the sweaty conditions here, a ‘place near Shimla’ was music to the ears.

Interesting India

Having travelled quite a lot in the eastern Himalayas, especially Sikkim and West Bengal, the mystic beauty of Himachal Pradesh was still unknown to me. And Shimla any day is a good bet. So, I embarked on what later turned out to be a nine-hour journey to a small hilltop hamlet 10 kilometres before Kufri.
For someone who loves driving, it was tough to be just seated. Although the long drive may sound tiring at times, I engaged myself in discovering northern India’s heartland as I crossed three states — Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, finally. Though you might be getting impatient to reach Shilon Bagh, there’s one interesting observation I would like to mention here. Apart from the nice highway drive and the lush green-and-yellow mustard fields on the either sides, I noticed colonies after colonies of hatcheries, and in them millions of hens along with billions of eggs. But all through stretch all I got see was ‘Pure Vegetarian Hotels’!

Abode of peace

The misty hills had long taken over from the suburb-bustle, and I moved along the toy-train track towards my destination. And when I bifurcated from Kandaghat, keeping Shimla to my left, towards Chail, I realised a sense of peace seeping within — which was to be my soulmate for a long time to come.
Shilon Bagh has nothing to boast off if you search materialistically, or historically. It has no sunset points or heritage bakeries. What is in abundance here, is peace. Morning walks through the pine forests, trek trails to local temples, foggy evening brushing your cheeks while you listen to the chatter of ladies from a village hut from the opposite hill — yes, it’s that quite here — if these are what you crave for, Shilon Bagh is the perfect weekend getaway. A more paisa vasool Indian tourist has every right to question: “Why Shilon Bagh?” And believe me, I wont have the answer. Just as I didn’t have any when I questioned myself: “Why shouldn’t I go to Shimla, a place I have heard so much about?” The answer probably was, I just wanted to be at peace. I wanted to be with myself. Just wanted to be at Shilon Bagh.