Landour is a beautiful small (cantonment) town, tucked a few kilometers ahead of Mussoorie and away from its hustle-bustle. I got to know about this place from an article in a newspaper that was about Mr. Bond (Ruskin Bond) living in Landour and visiting Cambridge bookstore every Friday/Saturday for the book signing. The name stayed with me, and I wanted to visit the place since then. Not just visit this place but also to stay at Doma’s which is an old hotel in the vicinity and is next to Mr. Bond’s home. And not just that. Vishal Bhardwaj Sir’s home is just above it. So, you know, Doma’s is a perfect place to stay at Landour. Na na! Don’t go to search about it now. Stay with me for some time and let me walk you through the roads of Landour.
Landour, an old town that once served as a cool summer destination in the British India. And, as one walks through its roads, its colonial style architecture reminds of the bygone days of the British Raj. We were there in the monsoon and the mist played hide and seek with us. It was like watching all the seasons in a day. We were welcomed to Landour with a blanket of mist over it, soon after it started drizzling, followed by the music of the downpour on the tin roofs, and the sun playing peek-a-boo with the clouds making the valley glow like a newly wed bride. No, I’m not exaggerating it. It looked very stunning under the mountain sun. Well, before we explore it more, here’s a piece of advice for you; Do Not…absolutely do not plan to go there on weekends if you are coming for a peaceful time in the mountains. It’s full of people, cars, honks, and more honks. I think hill stations should put a sign for weekends and long weekends – BEWARE! Beware of people, you people. No, I’m not Christopher McCandless from Into the Wild who will sing “Society you are a crazy breed”, but yeah, we are definitely a crazy breed in many ways. I would love to listen to your thoughts on it!
Okay, coming back to my Punjabi roots, let’s dive in to exploring food, umm…I mean, its cafes 😊
Chaar Dukaan – The very first in the list goes Chaar Dukaan for obvious reasons. If you have ever searched about Landour or things to do in Landour, visiting chaar dukaan tops the list. So, chaar dukaan is an area in the Landour where there were four shops, and it has served the foodies since time immemorial. Well, now there are five shops because of some family dispute but it continues to be called as chaar dukaan. Visit this place early in the morning before tourists start coming in. The cool breeze, smell of the deodars and rustling of the pine are perfect to start the day, along with the beautiful view of the Himalayas, pahadon vali Maggie, aur chai (tea). I’m longing to go back here.
Café De Landour – It is just opposite to the chaar dukaan area. The café offers great food with even greater views. I think the view has more weightage than the food for me. It looks gorgeous at night with all the lights lit up. They also have musical performances often. Though we didn’t get a chance to experience one there.
Landour Bakehouse – It’s a bakery and cake shop in the Sisters Bazaar. Sisters Bazaar is an old market with few shops to buy souvenirs from. There is also Prakash & Co store, famous for its fresh jams and different kinds of cheese. Okay, so a piece of advice again, go here early in the morning. It’s a small quaint café in the morning but after that one must wait to get into the café. Gorge on their delicious, lip-smacking cakes and enjoy the charm of the history of the café.
Doma’s Inn – Doma’s inn is everything about Tibetan culture, food, history, architecture, and is run by a Tibetan family. This was also the place where we stayed. The walls are done nicely with vibrant colors and posters of old movies. The staff at Doma’s is young boys mostly from Uttarakhand. They are very polite, helpful, and courteous. Head here to relinquish the authentic Tibetan food.
Lotte’s home baked Goods and Café – This quaint little café is quite a new café in the town and so you will not find it in recommendations. It’s kind of a hidden café, situated on your way to Landour Gurdwara…a must go for coffee lovers. They serve best coffee in the town. They have their own blends and serve freshly brewed coffee. They have plethora of coffee options with their delicious cookies and cakes. This place is run by a couple from Holland and the name of the café is on the wife’s name. You can also devour on Dutch Stroop waffles here.
Paprika Restro & Café – This was closest to Doma’s where we were staying. We happened to visit this place after hearing someone performing live and then most of the nights we spent here listening to the melodies of a young performer and overlooking the valley lit at night. You may also get to see magnificent sunset from here. Food was also good.
Emily’s – Emily’s is not just an old but a very famous restaurant in Landour. It’s in Rokeby Manor, a luxurious accommodation in the town. It’s surrounded by tall deodars and pine trees, overlooking Doon Valley. It has colonial style architecture and has an old-world charm. The seating in the balcony under the open sky is beautiful and highly recommended. We ordered North Indian. I’m not a huge fan of North Indian and so food was okayish for me as compared to its prize. However, the quantity was good. We were too tired to try the cakes here, but I have heard cakes are lip-smacking here.
Café Ivy by Devdar Woods – Devdar woods is a hotel just before the Sister’s Bazaar. And café Ivy is now shifted here. It’s a little café serving really good food. Everything we ordered was good here. Head to this place if you are a fan of Hot chocolate.
Kairos Café – This café serves Naga and Korean food. We didn’t get chance to visit this café, but we heard that it serves good and authentic Naga and Korean food.
I had no reasons to join this language course except for the fact that I was free and so was this course. Hell yeah! Sounds weird? Of course in today’s time a free language course sounds fishy. Why would they do that? Don’t they have enough students to learn their language? Or maybe nobody wants to learn Hungarian. Questions like this were banging in my head when a friend of mine helped me in getting enrolled for the course. My stars can’t thank him enough for this gesture of him. I hope he reads this. 🙂 Okay, so my first class which happened after around five days of the commencement of the course. Sigh! I hope you understand the pain of missing a language class, that too the elementary part, like missing Ka,Kha,Ga of Hindi class. Chuck! I was trying to be funny. Okay, so coming back to my first class, as I entered the class, I was shocked to see around hundred students (of all age group). Like students more than my father’s age. I liked it instantly. Prior to this, and I must admit that to my reluctance, my father and I learned Italian together. He somehow couldn’t give his exam but this made me know him better and his zeal for learning something new along with his struggles of remembering things. Anyway, coming back to the first class again (I have this habit of deviating from main topic) 😛 So, amidst all the students who were attending class from first day, I found myself lost in the pronunciation of the ‘magyar ábécé’ (Hungarian ABC). After that I wasn’t very regular with the classes but I kept trying learning it, missing some part, and then again picking it up from the next lesson. I didn’t made much friends at that time, I didn’t talk to anybody much. I came, attended the class, and went home. I don’t know that even after all this irregularity what kept me glued to this class.
So apart from my irregularities of classes, I was always regular at least with the events organized by Hungarian Cultural Centre. I hope the cultural people don’t read it. hiding face in palms I love exploring places, meeting new people, knowing about their culture. So attending events was like satiating my soul by knowing about their culture through powerpoint presentations, their music, songs and dance. And then of course snacks followed by events was like ‘icing on the cake’. Food makes a Punjabi happy! 😀 I have been to many events organized by various embassies but I found people here at this embassy very grounded and humble. Always smiling, talking to everybody, clicking pictures together and yes how can I forget mentioning Mr.Wilhelm’s (the director) wife preparing finger licking Hungarian delicacies for us. I mean who does that?
When everything got settled at my home, I rejoined the classes. Everything was changed this time. From hundred students to just fifteen were left. Now, I started talking to fellow students. They helped me in coping up with the syllabus. Tanár (teacher) helped me in understanding the lessons that I missed. Events were not happening much but this time I became almost (I was still missing some classes) regular with the classes. I now knew what kept me glued to this course and not leave it in between. It was because of our professor Ms.Margit Köves. Her patience and sweetness encouraged me to keep attending the classes. Wondering how? Well, as I said that I wasn’t regular with the classes so I didn’t know much of the things in the class but then she was always patient and never scolded me for not knowing the things. This motivated me to put more efforts to understand the things. She is from Hungary. No, I absolutely didn’t want to point out that she is not an Indian teacher. winks 😀 You got my point right! Right?
Finally, they met at a restaurant in CP. No holding hands, no hugs, no kisses; just a formal hello. Hiding her tears behind her smile, she asked him about his family and he asked her about her parents. There was an awkward silence. She still thought that Kabir would hold her hand and say “Zafu, let’s run away. Everything will be alright after some time”. This was just her thought. Kabir then broke the silence by saying that “I’m sorry. I feel guilty”. His voice wasn’t trembling. There were no tears rolling down from his eyes. Her mind drifted to his words which he said few weeks back with tears filled in his eyes. She was confused. Her heart was in a dilemma of trusting to what he said earlier or what he was saying now. She had been a good listener always. She kept listening to him. He just had one thing to say that we started on a condition. Condition, that if our parents will agree then only we will get married. She had lot to say but she wasn’t able to bring words out of her mouth. She kept listening. When Kabir was done saying whatever he wanted to say. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, “But ma never met me, Kabi. My age cannot make me less good or less kind. My age cannot make me a bad person. You could have at least made her meet me. This way I would have thought that you made efforts to keep the relationship. You moved on very easily. I once told you that I was like a bridge on the river that stayed and you were like a passenger who crossed that bridge. My words were true. I loved you, Kabi. And a part of me will always love you.”
Lately, I’ve learned that everything we do is an art. There’s art in sleeping, talking, speaking, walking and in every action that we do. I’ve also come to believe that each of us as a human being is a piece of art in itself, created by the Supreme power. And we all are beautiful in our own way, irrespective of our shape, color and caste.
When Zafirah was small, under the winter sun of every 26th of the January month, her father use to take her to the terrace of the house and show her flying planes, the fighter ones. Since then the flying planes in the open blue sky and sound of it has always fascinated her. She smiles whenever she sees the one in sky!
The Traveller Kaur 