A CHILDHOOD DRAWING-NAINITAL

LAKE FROM THE HILLTOP

I had visited Nainital a couple of times and had always liked being there. The beautiful lake of Nainital is virtually in the vale between two hills. One just needs to go down memory lane and remember one's drawing class in school. Every child learns to draw a typical picture of hills and the sun rising from behind the hills, a water body near the hills,  a few birds flying and a few plants with flowers in the forefront. Well, Nainital is actually that picture come alive in front of my eyes.

A few days back our small circle of friends decided to make a short trip to Nainital. Train tickets were booked, our stay arrangements were made and we left for Nainital for a monsoon vacation in the hills. Everyone else thought that we were crazy because we were heading for the hills in the rainy season!

The day arrived and we left for Kathgodam by the Shatabdi Express at six a.m. We were a group of friends who had studied in Ranchi but had our homes in Delhi. Our journey now was partly on the same route that we used to take to go to Ranchi, way back in the Nineteen Sixties.  In those days we travelled in a train which was pulled by a steam engine. The sound of the train was fascinating, the whistle of the engine was appealing and the motion of the train was relaxing.

There was a certain romance in that train journey. The steam engine would blow its whistle long and clear and then the train would slowly move with a gentle pull, it would gather momentum and we sitting on the window seat would look at the stalls on the platform pass by and also at a whole lot of people standing on the platform waving goodbye to their relatives, family members or guests who were leaving by that train. Now, the Shatabdi Express simply moved away from the station on time, there was no whistle, no chug, no pull. An air conditioned train does not allow you the liberty to put your head out of the window and get your eyes filed with coal particles and your face covered with soot from the smoke bellowing out of the steam engine which keeps on blowing its melodious whistle every now and then.

WATER ATM at a station. Modern India.

Shatabdi Express kept us busy with receiving a water bottle, a tetra pack of juice and then the service for tea and snacks began.  By the time one finished the second cup of tea, the breakfast started being served. 

In good old days, which was about half a century ago we, sitting on the window seat would crane our neck out of the compartment window and look out for the next approaching station. In the Shatabdi the familiar stations went by in quick succession, Shivaji Bridge, Tilak Bridge, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Amroha, Babugarh all went past quickly and quietly. 

PADDY FIELDS

The familiar scenery of paddy fields filled with water and transplanted paddy went past, just as the beautiful bridge over the Ganges also went past without the familiar clanging sound of a train going over a railway bridge on a beautiful river.

I missed the train stopping at every town. In the olden days as a station approached every one would wait for the familiar refrain from a distance, "Chai, Chai, chai, chai, chai bolo chai,". How we waited eagerly for the person with that voice to make an appearance with an aluminium kettle in one hand and a bucket in the other hand filled with earthenware cups. Steaming hot tea would be poured into the cup and handed out to all those who were clamouring for it. Only after the tea was dispensed would the chaiwallah come back for his money. The tea was very sweet and yet quite tasty and the earthenware cup was always thrown out of the window once the tea was finished. Those were eco friendly clean cups, which were never reused. Those were the days when litter did not collect all over the place as plastic was neither used nor thrown anywhere carelessly.

The clouds descend.

Soon enough we reached Kathgodam, the station at the foothills of the Kumaon valley. We were transported by a car waiting for us, which took us to our resort via  Bheemtaal. The food en route was very delicious as freshly made food brought to your table piping hot, normally is. The lovely lake in front and the fresh cool air of the hills, thick with pine trees added to the taste of the food, I am sure. Our resort was beautifully located on the side of a hill and our rooms had balconies facing a lovely range of the Himalayas, where one could see the winding road leading up to Nainital. Our welcome drink was the famous Buransh, made from the fresh red flowers called by the same name. This drink is supposed to be a very healthy drink.

BURANSH FLOWER

The next day dawned bright and clear and we took off for Ranikhet. On the way we crossed Bhowali which has the famous  TB Sanitorium where Kamala Nehru had spent a part of her life. The landscape changed as we approached the plains of Ranikhet which is an Army cantonment with a lovely golf course which is not open to civilians.

BELLS/BELLES GALORE

 We then visited a fascinating temple a little away from the town which had numerous bells hung at every conceivable place. The windows, doors, walls were all filled with bells of all sizes. It is called the Jhoola Devi temple and is about 700 years old.

JHOOLA DEVI TEMPLE WITH BELLS

The next day we set out for the Saat Taal and the famous Naukuchia taal. Saat taal is supposed to consist of seven lakes, but we could count only five lakes, the remaining two are located a little away and are not joined to this vast lake. The boatman excitedly told us that the shooting of the movie, "Khoon Bhari Maang" was done here, as well as the picturisation of a song of the movie, "Kati patang" too took place here. 

The lake was beautiful and boating left us feeling very refreshed with the soothing sounds of the oars and the sight of a whole flock of beautiful swans floating around as if on a drill. On a hill near Saat Taal, E. Stanley Jones in the 1930's established a Christian Ashram and also had a tea estate.

After a cool morning spent boating, we soon left for the Naukuchia taal, which is a lake that is very close to the Kamal Taal or the lotus lake. The Kamal Taal was full of beautiful dark pink coloured lotus flowers. Boating on the Naukuchia taal was even better than Saat taal as there were larger shikaras which could accommodate all six of us together.

The temple of Shiva near the taal was quite nice and  we soon found a tea stall with a lovely balcony where we sat down to admire the beauty of the place over a cup of tea. Isn't it strange how long a cup of tea can last when one is at a beautiful place that one does not want to go away from? One could see modern para gliding also going on at a distance. 

Three days in Kumaon were delightful with clear weather which allowed us to walk about,  take boat rides and enjoy tea in the open fresh pine scented air.

UMBRELLAS ARE MEANT FOR POSING!

The next three days had been reserved for Nainital and to our consternation, we found that the clouds had decided to perform their rain dance. The way it poured, we were left with no alternative but to sit inside the Nainital Boat Club and watch the sky change its colour, watch the adventurous tourists go out boating on the beautiful lake, braving the rain and the wind. The brave tourists covered themselves with huge colourful umbrellas and made the most of the rains and the lake. We stuck to our staple diet of pakodas with hot chai, followed by a lovely lunch and kept our eyes  glued to the beauty of the Naini lake, waiting for the rain to subside so that we could walk across to the Naina Devi temple.

Going to the stately building of the State Bank of India on the mall was delightful. I cannot pass any city without looking at my beautiful bank!

As it is our sacred duty to contribute to the economy of the place that we visit, we had to go and buy the beautiful candles that are made in Nainital, and the  wonderful umbrellas also tempted us enough to spend a lot of time in umbrella shops.

FRIENDS ARE FOREVER

What is a holiday without a bit of adventure? We were very brave and tried to climb a little alcove holding our umbrellas in our hand and soon enough one of us slipped and gave us a shock, but actually remained unharmed. All this exercise was to enable us to get a pretty picture standing on the side of the hill! To calm our nerves we needed some more tea after which the brave amongst us walked up a small water fall to feel the lovely water on their faces and have fun going up and down rocks.

NAINI LAKE

The penultimate day dawned soon enough and although the clouds did not  relent,  we bravely ventured out to Nainital and what do we see? The clouds had given way and the sun shone brightly giving us a clear day at Nainital. We went up the ropeway and saw a breath taking view of the lake, then came down to the lake and took a boat ride on this most majestic and picturesque lake of all. The beauty of the hills surrounding the lake is enchanting. 

HAPPINESS

The green of the dense forest is very beautifully reflected in the lake and one is transported into a world where everything is peaceful, beautiful and serene. As the boats would accommodate only four passengers at a time, we took two boats.



The famous hunter and conservationist James Corbett popularly known as Jim Corbett who wrote,"The Man-eaters Of Kumaon" was born in Nainital on 25th July 1875, when his father worked in the Post Office at Nainital as Post master. Today the 25th of July 2017 is incidentally his 141st birthday.

All too soon our trip ended and we came back to good old Delhi with memories of pine trees, the fresh mountain air, clouds coming down the hills and enveloping us every day. The lovely walk on the roads every morning, filling our lungs with the pure and healthy air of the lovely Kumaon hills will surely keep us feeling healthy and rejuvenated for a long time to come. 
Some day I will come back again Nainital and rejuvenate myself once again.
Till then Adios.