When I was seven, I lived in Manali for a year and a half. My favorite memories from that time are of seeing my first snowfall and getting our first dog. Apart from that, we had only experienced all the usual spots on a tourist’s checklist—the Hadimba temple, Manikaran hot springs and the Rohtang pass. When I got a chance to revisit this place from my childhood, after a gap of 23 years, I naturally jumped at the opportunity!
Going back to this picturesque town was indeed a trip down memory lane. The Mall road in downtown Manali looked bustling as before, but still seemed small— just as I remembered it. I visited my old school—Day Star Academy. The school seemed much smaller than what I remembered (perhaps because I was a lot younger when I was a student there!).
The most special trip down memory lane was reserved for a visit to Span Resorts. This was the hotel property situated on the rocky banks of the River Beas that my father had run earlier and this is where I had lived. But the property had expanded a lot since I last saw it—new deluxe rooms, a therapeutic spa, and now even boasted of a private helipad! I ran into old acquaintances at the hotel and at an idyllic family-run restaurant called Fat Plate. Using ingredients from their in-house garden, the restaurant was a real find for anyone longing for delectable home style food and this further added to the nostalgic appeal.
In many ways, I found that despite the fact that two decades had gone by, Manali still managed to retain its untouched serenity—a rare quality not found in most north Indian hill stations. Certainly, there has been change, but it’s mostly positive.
この記事は India Currents の December 2016 - January 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は India Currents の December 2016 - January 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Elephant and Donkey Tribes of Politics
The Motorcycle Guru Speaks.
On Feminism
It has been eight months since I started my MFA at Bennington College. In the last eight months I have cooked half a dozen meals. I pack my children lunches and I clean up the kitchen after my husband when he makes dinner for the family after he comes home from working in a Silicon Valley tech company. Cooking has never moved me. Motherhood has—but not the baggage of social dos and don'ts that accompanied it. I have done fewer play dates than the meals I have cooked in the past few months, and I rarely go to a birthday party. My husband takes the children to their social engagements. “But is this fair?” you might ask and I answer, “It is not about fairness, it is about what moves you as a person and how to keep that flame of what keeps you alive, burning within you, while negotiating roles in an adult world that still largely favors men over women.”
Of Wedding Bells And Hospital Bills
Not another invite,” I groaned, picking up a thick cream and red colored envelope.
A New Lease Of Life
How an Indian grandmother started making heart-healthy choices.
A Mother Loses Her Child: Fact And Fiction Coalesce
LUCKY BOY by Shanthi Sekaran. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York. 472 pages. Hardcover. $27.00
From The Hood Without A Loo
TOILET: A LOVE STORY. Director Shree Narayan Singh. Players: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Padnekar, Anupam Kher, Sudhir Pandey, Divyendu Sharma, Subha Khote. Hindi w/ Eng. Sub-tit. (Viacom).
Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness
A LIFE OF ADVENTURE AND DE- LIGHT by Akhil Sharma. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York. 202 pages. wwnorton.com $24.95 hardcover.
Who Was Enid Blyton?
Raised in and out of India, I don’t remember reading too many Enid Blyton novels—barring those from the Noddy series. I knew, though, they were all the rage among girls—mostly girls. They’d spend hours reading them and like fish in a school, prattle over what they’d read over their lunchboxes.
Victoria And Abdul: It Looks A Lot Like Love
VICTORIA AND ABDUL. Director: Stephen Frears. Screenwriter: Lee Hall, based on book by Shrabani Basu. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith and Michael Gambon. Focus Features, 2017. MPAA Rating: PG-13
Looters, Schemers And A Curse
Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond.
