A visit to a tiny Himalayan village in Almora opens an enchanting dream-like world of deodar-studded slopes, leaving writer-poet TISHANI DOSHI haunted by the memory of beatniks and mystics past
Come, I was told by a hotelier friend, to experience a luxurious new property. Modern in its design and traditional in its culinary ambitions, The Kumaon is a quiet sanctuary tucked away in the mountains. He described it as a place to walk and write in a village called Kasar Devi. I knew little about the village when I first heard of it. I had to consult a map of Uttarakhand to see where the town of Almora lay, and even as I traced my finger southward, a clear geographical picture refused to emerge. I had not heard of the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone where electronically charged cosmic rays supposedly filter down from the sky. When I stood under the arch of bells at the temple of Kasar Devi, I was told few such gateways exist. Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Ayers Rock and this place, wherein the 1890s Swami Vivekananda meditated in a cave. It was a gift. To explore a town that had attracted all kinds of seekers.
A WRITER’S SANCTUARY
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