As you walk up and down this town lined with apple trees, you find lovely breakaway spots with meadows for carpets and snow-capped mountains for your walls. Red-yellow apples hang about like colourful lanterns just waiting to catch your attention. Brahmani Devi is just an hour's leisurely walk away. A ideal place for lunching out in the nature. All along the way you come across happy villagers who stop to bid you good day.
Looking down the valley, you can see the terraces come to life in their varied shades of green. Nature's green that you wont ever see on your computerised colour palette. Across that lies the community flour mill powered by a small stream that ripples behind. No money is exchanged. Nature helped to set this up, people assist each other in getting their produce powdered.
Almost in the centre of the town is chaurasi, a compound said to consist of 84 temples. It comes to life with a myriad of sadhus in orange-red, hawkers, students and everyone wanting a share of spice in this forgotten town. Bells in the temple compound keep chiming all through the day announcing the entrance and exit of Shiva's army. Softie ice-creams leave their cream on everyone with a sweet tooth. The pregnant walnut trees will keep anyone with a naughty streak busy too.
As I sit on one of the many stone walls, life changes before me every second. It's a new jigsaw puzzle.
After you soak in life with all its quaint mysticism, you are ready to quieten your hunger pangs. On the temple road are many shops selling anything from mutton to noodles to sticky-syrupy jalebis. And right there is the old man with his sizzling pakoras. You might mistake him for just another hawker, but don't ever do that.
Buy a plate of paneer pakoras from him and sink your teeth into the most delicately spiced, crispy, fresh pakoras ever. They land on your plate even before the sizzle ends. You could twang the taste a bit with his chutneys. And you are hooked. Pakoras elsewhere will never again hold the same allure. He sells vegetable pakoras as well, just for the paneer naysayers.
Non-vegetarians... fret not!! Peppery fish fry and deep-fried crispy chicken can be found downhill just around the corner. And you will come back for more.
Come float in pakora land and I could accompany you to share it!!
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| Apple lanterns for dessert... ( Pictures courtesy Cara Tejpal) |
