After fighting many battles for more than 6 years, some that were fought in court rooms, some in police stations, some in hospitals & doctors cabins & some inside my head & some behind closed doors of what I called home, it was time to finally retreat...! I was finally free from some & in a somewhat peaceful zone after what seemed like eternity! I had lost many pieces of myself in these battles & I desperately wanted a holiday to gather & integrate myself piece by piece...
I had lost almost all my companions on the way, I still had my close friends but I wanted to come in my strength & start discovering the power of Solo-tude! Discover self love, learn to enjoy life alone, maybe also do something as scary for me as travel alone for the first time! Something which was on my bucket list since long!
There was reluctance in my heart about will I not get bored, will it not be awkward to sit for food alone & then there was fear in my mind about what if I get robbed or something worst happened! Somehow overcoming all that I took a 15 day break from work. I choose Himachal. Dal Lake in Naddi kept calling me back, haunting me in my meditations & I had avoided this call for more than a decade now! So I left Mumbai for Delhi and landed in Mclo soon after!
Tourist Tourist everywhere! Mcleodganj!
With my one leg still in wanting to do touristy stuff and another wanting to run away from it, I settled on a compromise with 1st night in Mclo near the market, which was enough to drive me crazy enough to leave for this village nearby the very next morning but before I left in just one day I satisfied my touristy side & covered everything possible, from Dalai Lama temple, to Norbulinga art school of Tibetian Art forms to Dal Lake Naddi (which had dried up, so don't know what was I imagining all these years ;)) did shopping in the main market too! Visited the famous Illiterati Cafe and every famous cafe mentioned online. It was exhausting! Next day early morning I left for a village above Mcleodganj.
One big observation was the silent war between Locals who never accepted Tibetians and Tibetians who didn't care much!
If you love art & Architecture, then must visit this place, they have a free guided tour of artiste making various form Tibetian art, which is so colorful & facinating. It's on the way to Mcleothganj from Airport, so you can save money by stoping by for an hour or so, rather than coming back for it all the way for 45 min or see it while leaving.
Dharamkot - My stay here will never be forgotten! For reasons u will know soon!
Dharamkot is a peaceful hippie village! Home to many Israilie people, who have been visiting here since decades! No wonder many locals speak their language & cafes serve their local Israilie food! They even have their House of worship in the village. I was loving my progression from Madness of Mumbai to Mcleodganj which was lil better, to Dharamkot, which was so so quiet that I could hear my thoughts...it was unnerving at first :)
I choose to stay in a Homestay instead of a hotel (I doubt there is any) & on the spot found one with a huge balcony overlooking the entire valley! Just for 600 RS a day!
Almost every house in the village lets out a part of their house to tourist, runs a laundry, cab service or a runs a Cafe! So you have access to everything possible & still be away from the crowd! That's luxury in true sense, isn't it!?
As soon as I had checked in, I ran to have breakfast at Bodhi tree Organic Cafe (yes I am a big sucker for Organic food nowadays) and then walked around this lane full of cafes and shops, only to realise, I was probably the only Indian tourist there! Later my Homestays owner confirmed this when I nagged about lack of cleanliness in the room! (Guess Indian tourist are famous for being nagging). I did feel awkward that day, eating in cafes alone, surrounded by alien language, spoken by many blue eyes...
In last three days, I had forced myself to be as Solo as possible! Walking around in the mist, rain, surouded by trees & Tibetian flags! I avoided any attempts from anyone to get to know me! I would return travellers a friendly smile & quickly look away. It was as if I was scared of them or was I scared of myself!?
This morning too, as usual, I was waiting for my breakfast, trying to Capture myself with this beautiful view from the only cafe with the valley view in Dharamkot - Radha Krishna cafe, when a man opposite me, seeing me struggle, offered to click my picture, i politely refused but as a habit, right when I was about to look away, I happen to look into his eyes, they were eyes of a saint, etched in a calm soothing face. never in my life had I seen such eyes, they looked familiar, as if of a very very old friend from some life, his calmness almost engulfed me & put me at ease.
For the 1st time, I felt my heart opening up a little. As we got talking, we realised we had few common local friends in the area! I immediately safe. Soon over breakfast we got talking & i was like a child again in the company of this learner man. This half Turkish man as if sensing my fears, shared some invaluable advice on solo travel, on life & importance of leaving the fears behind. He has been traveling all his life! As my curiosity grew & I asked more & more questions, i felt I had hit a gold mine! An opportunity to peep into a world I only secretly fantasized about (don't many of us do!?) Of Becoming a world Traveller!
As I opened the locked door of my heart, let go of the fear of strangers & allowed myself to connect to people, in the next two days after meeting the half Turkish Saint, I was flooded by opportunities to grow, to expand, to experience! I met more people than I would meet in the whole year in Mumbai! I interacted with Locals, understood their struggles, met couples who were travelling with kids! An Indians designer, who had pressure from family to get married soon but he loved travelling & wasn't ready to loose his freedom! Met many Foreign travellers from various countries, female solo travellers too. I also met an ex-model friend form Delhi, who left the madness of Mumbai long back, now running a school in Naddi with his super talented wife! Met a local Gaddi couple who works in a Homestay, have a deaf & mute son, the brightest kid I have ever met! Who everyone adored! Saw how bravely they were fighting to give the best life possible to their son!
My dull life was suddenly full of Colors, experiences, of stories of faith, courage & breaking boundaries! I felt much richer & nourished! I had never trekked & thought I would be able to barely walk those rocky paths but I surprised myself, by walking for hours everyday! Trekking to surreal places in the mountains. Affirming the fact that all I needed to break was the barriers of my own mind! My body assisted & so did the universe!
The same evening a local family invited me for dinner & bon-fire under some million stars! How could I refuse! As I landed there with a pineapple as a gift I heard someone singing 'chura Liya hai tumne' in a strange accent I couldn't place. As I got closer to the fire, I saw the Half Turkish Saint with the same softness in his eyes, welcoming me with a warm shy smile to the most memorable night of my life! four of us were happily eating, singing Pahadi songs, exchanging stories, when a group of Israilies, who had lost their way into the jungle, attracted by the fire & singing joined us. I was surprised at how welcoming this local family was to them, absolute strangers! All this was totally new to me! Soon we all got singing & talking. I was impressed beyond my imagination, with one particular person from this group, who knew so much about Indian Mythology & at such deeper level, many Indians would not know it. I had in-depth discussion on spirituality with this Israilie guy, something I don't get to go very often, infact almost never! Surrounded by so much warmth, knowledge, comfort, I literally felt my closed heart bloom, I was radiating with energy, I had not felt since long!
The night turned into all of us riding on bikes all around Dharamkot, Bhagsu & Maclothganj! Dancing in a club (I had not imagined I would do that in the hills ever, I don't even party in Mumbai now), locals were shocked to see an Indian girl dancing with this firangi gang!
After a while, around midnight, we were all standing on road side watching the lit up town of Mcleodganj, when an Indian group, drinking & dancing next to their parked car, approched us to join them for a dance, fear overpowered me again & on instict I immediately refused them. My old & new friends were surprised at my reaction, they pointed out that THIS is the opportunity to let go of the fears, I realised yes what can go wrong, I have my friends with me, it's safe, I mustn't hold back, especially out of fear. I myself approched the group, turning that event onto the most memorable moment of that night! We Danced on Chaugada with me teaching Garbha to my firangi friends on the road side! And then one of them taught us some Greek dance moves on 'Zorba the Buddha'!
It was my last night in Dharamkot & everyone wanted my to enjoy as much as possible! I was pampered so much, I received so much love attention, care & acceptance by some almost strangers that night, That it healed a part of me, that was hurting for a long long time! I won't lie, I wanted to stay back & recreate that magic! But my next destination was waiting for me with open arms! With many promises & possibilities....
Biding goodbye to my super hosts & my new friends from different countries, I moved on, cherishing my new self, which was braver, brighter, shinier with sparkling eyes! That night i hardly slept, waking up again & again reveling in the magic of that night....
I will be forever be Grateful to the couple who offered me home cooked food when I got sick of cafe food, to the Israilie friend with whome I could have such deep spiritual talks, to the half Turkish friend, with whome the journey of opening up & letting go of fears began!
Ticking off "Solo Travel" from my bucket list had changed me forever for good!
I still had a week left! To expand my life a lil more...
My next destination?! Well let's see...
To be continued...
