…and you should too.
I love the hills. I love the weather, the vibe and the people in the hills. I feel my skin takes on a special glow and my mind a rare calmness when I smell the hill air.
So it was only inevitable that I would take my parents for a vacation up in the hills. Although we are from the Uttrakhand hills, I haven’t spent much time there. But I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Nilgris. I was in Coonoor a couple of months ago to participate in a run. This past weekend Coonoor was colder, quieter, prettier.
We didn’t have many days and I wanted my parents to love the place as much as I did. So I wanted to do something different and memorable. Also, I have an affinity for all things weird, offbeat and quirky. So, without further ado, here are three offbeat things to do in Coonoor.
- Hit up a local and badger them for information. There’s no better way to really get the vibe of a place than by hanging out with a local. You end up hearing fascinating personal anecdotes and hopefully getting an interesting story or two. My favorite kind are the scary ones and I was #sorrynotsorry to find out that there aren’t any ghost stories in the hills around Coonoor. In fact, the lone deserted house that I was so sure was haunted was only up for sale…and not because it was haunted. We were lucky to meet Zubin Contractor, resident and Coonoor expert. From tea factories to how Eucalyptus oil is extracted. From the history of the five tribes of the Nilgris to scenic walks around town, Zubin had us covered.
- Visit Acres’ Wild, Mansoor Khan’s cheese making farm, complete with its own gowshala and geese in a pond. I had been to this property years ago on a cold and foggy day. This weekend it was nice and sunny and we were there to find out how cheese is made. We were given facts and figures, shown the apparatus and the equipment and had our questions patiently answered. We came away with a few packets of their delicious cheese. (You know what you’ll be served if you drop in for a visit.)
- Visit the cemeteries. We went to two cemeteries and they were beautiful. An old one with centuries old tombstones and a beautiful statue of an angel. The other one we visited had graves from World War 1 and was maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Commission. Although slightly creepy, its in cemeteries that you get a sense of an era long gone. Of the aesthetics and beliefs of the time. You actually get a sense of the individuals that lived and walked in the same pathways centuries ago. It brings history to life.
Also, we go on vacation to take a break from the frenzy of city life. A cozy little nook helps. It is important to find a comfortable home away from home to stay in. Coonoor has many options and when dusk falls all you feel like doing is putting on some comfortable socks and crawling under a soft blanket with a good book. Luckily, I had the home away from home, the socks and blankets, a good book and family.
Our days in Auroville were filled with cycling to the beach, eating at Bread and Chocolate (highly recommended) and lots and of pool time. We submerged ourselves in the pool every chance we got. I particularly loved the Krishna statue perched on one side of the pool. After seeing my pictures of the guest house a lot of people have asked me about it. 
everyone enjoying the sun and waves and thought…one day. Little did I know that the day would come so soon. If you’re in Auroville I highly recommend going to the 
Heritage Run. Spending time with the super fit sis is always amazing. She’s an enthusiastic member of the Hyderabad Runners (they actually helped in organizing the run). Since it’s difficult to find time to run daily, I try and get a run in 2-3 times a week and try to do
between 5-7 km. I’ve already waxed eloquent about the GHR initiative in 
sister actually goes for Bikram yoga a few times a month and while there I decided to give the style another go. I honestly didn’t think I would make it through the class. The first time I attended a Bikram yoga class, I lay down after the third asana and told the teacher that I would like to leave . This time I got through the class without collapsing, throwing up or passing out! We were famished post class and went to The Waffle House to stuff ourselves with many glorious waffles.
to the same effect.
forward to today because I wanted to catch up on some reading and just relax (I don’t practice on Sundays. I read late into the night yesterday and woke up without the alarm this morning.
and book browsing. There’s always something going on on Church Street. This time I noticed a bunch of new stores and new artwork! There are so many awesome places in and around Church Street but we decided to go for our usual India Coffee House. By the time we got there all the idli and wada batter was over and so we could only have masala dosas. The dosa was delicious and I had two :). Reluctant to have coffee at the India Coffee House (fyi – they don’t have filter coffee), we headed to Adigas (down the road) for my first filter coffee after my Pune sojourn. But before we headed over I quickly popped into Namdhari’s to pick up some stone ground organic whole grain wheat flour (Navadarshanam).
