Landour Diaries - 1

 After watching Musafir Café, while everyone is busy doing postmortem of the interpersonal relationships between the characters, I was revisiting, albeit not physically, to one of my most favourite hill stations — another queen of the hills alongside our very own Darjeeling — Mussoorie-Landour. 

If you have ever visited Mussoorie and Landour, you will find an 'alone' self of yours which you probably haven’t met before. 'Alone' in the sense, the solitude of being solitary, and not loneliness. 

Life is not much busy here. Despite the traffic around the traffic chowki on the Mall road, or around the Landour Bazaar, it never gets much busy. You'd often find yourself taking a stroll around the bustling Landour Bazaar and reaching the Lal Tibba point — a small walk from the iconic clock tower, the melodious slow bell of which reminds the hill station every single hour that time is ticking, but you needn't hurry. The ~3 km road stretch that takes a detour from the Kellogg's Church and goes past the Landour Bakehouse. 

Here, you must make a stop. The sweet smell of freshly-baked confectioneries, the aroma of a good cup of coffee will not let you go past it until you push through the wooden doors of the café. 

As soon as you enter the café, you'll feel like time has stopped here. The creaking sound of the century-old wooden floors, the 'lumiére et ombre' ambience, the antique furniture — everything screams vintage. Just opposite the main entrance, a signboard is bound to catch your attention, which reads — 'We do not have WiFi here, please enjoy each other's company.' 

You'll probably take out your phone — and surprisingly, you'll notice that the network signal on the top of your mobile screen has gone blank. You are detached from the real world, at least for the next half-an-hour. 

After enjoying one of the finest coffees that they grow and roast themselves along with your favourite dessert, you'll take their leave. However, before taking a leave, you are requested to buy something as a token for the band of monkeys that is going to surround you en route. 

You again step out in the alley. Beside the café, there’s a small curio shop. You'll likely pay a visit, and get something of your choice, or just simply chat with the octagenerian amicable owner. 

After bidding him adieu, you'll walk straight along the road that leads to one of the famous spots of the town — Char Dukan. You'll be greeted by overenthusiastic monkeys on your way, who'll happily let you go after collecting their cake-tax from you. 

Char Dukan used to be four roadside cafés set up side-by-side. Now there are six shops, although the nomenclature of yore still remains, like the remnants of bygone colonial days. Since you have just stuffed yourself with desserts, you'll probably go for just another cup of coffee from one of the 'dukans'. The coffee, besides being affordable, is quite great, although not as great as the cup of coffee you've had 15-20 minutes ago. 

After sitting there for a while and cherishing the cup of coffee, you'll start walking towards the Landour Bazaar again, but now you're taking the shortcut, keeping the St. Paul's Church on your left. 

After walking for a kilometre or so, almost near the Landour Bazaar, there's a downhill slope that you need to take. If you take right, you'll reach Mussoorie Mall road, and to your left, there's a large, white 3-storeyed house. The house needs no introduction. Any Tom Dick and Harry knows Rusty's house here.

You will make a stop, again. You want to meet him, but you know he doesn’t entertain anyone now. He's extremely aged and ill most of the time. Hence, with a heavy heart, you turn towards the Mall road. 

That's all for now. Shall write more about Mussoorie later on. Thanks for reading! 🙂