Mussoorie, one summer

All I remember is it was summer. The memory is not that sharp any more. It was customary in those days to spend a night in Mussorie when ever we guys got together, mostly either during summar vacation, and later during Diwali breaks. It wasn't that cold yet, so it must have been summer break, when we were still in college. It was Mayank, Dinu, and I to be exact; that much I am sure of.

That morning, we reached the Musoorie bus stand near Doon railway station early, and decided to take a cab. Not that we were rich those days; pocket money was limited, but they had the system of cab sharing both up and back from Doon to Mussoorie, so it didn't turn out that expensive. Buses were old and oveloaded. But newly weds enjoyed them since they got to get cozy naturally.

I am using past tense here, because it's been a while I have been up there, so I don't know if any of this has changed. We strolled and chilled along the Mall road the whole day. Arcade games were big attraction in those days. I think they still have those machines up there. We wasted away some money on those. And we did all the usual stuff -- check out shops, ate corn, ate softy, etc. Mussoorie’s softies were just way too good and a must have any time you went there.

By dusk, we decided to look for a place to spend the night. We coundn't afford fancy hotels on Mall road in those days, and decided to go for a cheaper alternative. I don't remember any more, but somehow I knew of a Jain dharamshala not too far from Mall road. We hunted it down, and I mustered enough courage to talk to the attendant there. I wasn't sure if he would allow non-jains to stay there. But he didn't complain and gave us a single room. The room wasn't all that great. It was a single bed where three of us could hardly fit on. The toilet was attached, but it smelt badly, and there was no light. We spent the first hour just trying to adjust on the bed. Mayank was the first one to start snoring.

We got up, next morning, fairly fresh. The window provided a nice view of the valley. It was chilly out. We sipped on hot tea, and looked down at the fog rising up. The morning sun shone bright on the green mountain peaks, and with our eyes feeling fresh from good sleep, we felt as if we were reborn in a new world that had no pollution or chaos. It felt perfect.

We left the dharamshala and started walking towards the taxi stand. But before we left, we decided to go for Chatpate Paranthe (spicy potato bread). These were the best at Mussorie. In fact they were so popular, that there was a restaurant on every block. They were perfectly and evenly filled up with spicy meshed potatos, fried just right, and round in shape like the morning sun was. Hungry as we were, we ate like dogs. A hot cup of tea served as a perfect companion.