The Adventure continues...

Remember the village scene from Sholay when the dacoits are about to come a lively village turns into a deserted one? That’s the feeling we got once we stepped of the bus. Hardly anyone on the streets, most shops closed, nay padlocked except for a few solitary ones that looked ready to pull the shutter any moment.It was a strange sight especially since all the other settlements we had crossed on the way had a lively bustle. Infact at a few the bus passengers had been made targets of water balloons to the complete glee of the children.

We walked up to one of the shopkeepers and asked him what was up and more importantly what could we do about accommodation since unlike the main road in most other hill stations this didn’t seem to have any hotels. The man explained that the town shuts down for two days for holi and that’s what we were witnessing. We were taken aback, holidays in schools and offices was one thing but the entire town shutting shop for Holi that seemed something very unique to this place. Anyways after asking directions to a respectable hotel which the man said was a kilometer away we began our trudge since no taxis were around either….it was holi you see!!!!
Fortunately what he said was a kilometer away was not really so and we found the hotel at the end of a steep but short climb.Just when we began to allow a little smile to come across our face at the thought of having made it we realized to our horror that even the hotel bore a deserted look and its shutters were firmly closed. It’s a difficult task to dampen my spirits on a holiday, infact I have remained cheerful through what others would possibly declare nightmares but the sight of the closed hotel sobered me up. We looked around hoping to find an alternative and stood there not knowing what to do next.

When miracle of miracles one of the shutters opened a bit and a young boy slipped out of the hotel. With hope renewed we walked up to him and asked if it was possible to get any rooms. He looked us up and down and then after a few excruciating seconds said yes and we slipped under the shutters with him. he room was decent and with a nice view of the valley below and quite a stretch of the town as well. We finally had a roof over our head and felt relaxed. As we refreshed ourselves the boy came back with some drinking water and purely by chance I asked him if it was possible to have food delivered to the room or did we need to walk down to the restaurant. That’s when the next problem revealed itself.

The very picture of nonchalance the boy said that the restaurant was closing down and therefore we should order right away. I assumed the restaurant was closing for the afternoon like they do in many places, only to have my eyes opened to the fact that it wasn’t closing for a few hours but for the next few days. Its Holi you see, he said.

I was in a panic what were we to do for food at night and then the day after? We thought it best to tuck into whatever we could and then explore the possibilities in the evening. A lunch and siesta later we were trekking our way through a partially deserted town foraging for food. Almost when we despaired to find a single restaurant, dhaba or even chai stall open we found a small grocery shop. All he could offer us were biscuits since he had not ordered even bread. Its holi you see was the explanation given. The man however was atleast sympathetic to our predicament and guided us towards the main market of the town and said perhaps with some luck we might find some shops open there.

We continued our hunt and finally after trekking around for more than an hour found bread, butter, biscuits, namkeen and some dry fruits. These were to be our sustenance for roughly the next twenty four hours.We returned to our room and saw a beautiful sunset over the distant hills. As the stars began to peep out we made ourselves a dinner of bread butter and sweets. The thought that we were in it together and it was nothing but a new experience and we had promised ourselves adventures put us in a good mood.

Soon after the sun rose and bathed the township in its radiant rays the people were on the streets playing holi, singing songs and bantering good naturedly with the old women who looked down from the safety of neighboring balconies.We spread out a quilt on our balcony and had a picnic there watching the town celebrate below us.


The quantities of biscuit I consumed on this holiday is something I will not forget in a hurry nor the combinations we made out of our meager rations. We spend the day in the room with no one to disturb us and talked about things ranging from the inane to the sublime. Finally around four in the afternoon we walked out of our self imposed house arrest and went in search of food. Our guide book spoke about a good hotel and we went searching for it hoping that atleast that would have its restaurant open. On our almost ten kilometer trek we witnessed a traditional holi celebration, the menfolk dancing to music while the women looked on. The men in their everyday clothes seemed to know the steps in their very being and danced effortlessly and you just needed to see them in action to know that this probably was something that was as much a part of their genes as their upbringing.

There onwards through a beautiful valley and far away from any other establishment we found the hotel we seeked and had a hot meal after twenty four hours. The waiters were curious about us and when we told them how we had found the place. They told us to wait a while since the Manager was going to take his car into town and could surely give us a ride back. The manager it turned out was the very same man whose number I had tried innumerous times when in Delhi in trying to get a booking but his line had been forever busy. He said he has been very busy after all Holi hai!

We returned to our hotel and next morning caught a jeep to Almora and after a short stop there to look around and have brunch we moved on to Haldwani crossing the beautiful Bhimtal on the way.From Haldwani we got onto a Delhi bound bus and just when we had started to count our adventures over and home less a hundred kilometers away. The bus got hauled up by the UP Police for stopping at an authorized place. Inspite of the protests of the passengers the police took the bus into custody and we had to look for fresh alternatives. We didn’t even wait to collect our fare from the conductor and found another bus. It stopped at every mound on the road and finally brought us home past midnight where we had planned to be in by eight in the evening.Exhausted, exhilarated we were back from yet another getaway to the hills. Bone tired but already planning the next one.