Visit to North with Children

I am today writing this blog after nearly a month. The month of May was spent in going home to the North visiting Mummy in Haldwani. Mummy is now alone but she is managing quite well with out Baooji. I think we get our inner strength from mummy who has always been a very strong person in her life. Going back to North today brought back many memories of visiting North India earlier with Somu, Bittu, Tarun and Varun. It was always fun and we would visit Haldwani, Nainital and Dehradoon. We would stop in small dhabas to have food. The vegetation was so different that the children would be very excited and find every thing new. Once we went to Rishikesh, Haridwar, Ranikhet and Nainital. The children loved Nainital and the lake but we enjoyed Ranikhet with all the beautiful trees of Cheed , Cedar, Deodar and the lovely smell of its leaves.

Somu is very much a nature lover and he made us walk in the deep jungles of Ranikhet. Ranikhet is a small town in the Kumaon region and the peace and tranquility here takes us to another world. As one enters this place the green and yellow gateway of the Kumaon Regiment Centre (KRC) stands out. Since the time the Britishers discovered this celestial piece of earth to the outside world, the ambience of the place seems almost unchanged. Norman Troupe, who built his homestead, Holm Farm, here, would probably agree. This estate, now converted into a heritage hotel, maintaining its old world charm, still stands atop a hill surrounded by coniferous forests. What strikes one about Ranikhet is that it has still not been commercialised and unlike the other hill stations there is no hustle-bustle and no one cajoling for a sightseeing tour. One is very close to nature and being close to nature one can feel being close to God. Here nature is at its best, in all its purity and grandeur. One can watch the sun, slowly turning orange, slipping from behind the clouds down towards the last leg of its journey for the day, saying goodbye with a splash of geometrical designs filled with different hues of orange and white colors across the sky. One can only thank God for having witnessed this great moment in all its glory. The pines, deodhars, oaks, tiny mountain flowers, the jungle shrubs, the undulating hills, the tree line, soothing breezes, and last but not the least the unpoluted air, all add to the magic of this place.