nahan

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spent a night at a resort in Nahan. the journey was so awesome, the spiral hill ride with a dense forest on both sides of the road. as we had started from chandigarh quite late in the day, when we entered HP from Kala Amb in Haryana's Ambala district, fog had started to descend. mist enveloped everything lending an aura of mystery.

by the time we reached our hotel a slight chill had crept in the air. we changed and then got to the business of filling up our empty tummies. as navratras had set in and i had monika (a big relegious fanatic) for company i could not even dare suggest experimentation so we ordered the tomato soup- the only variant available on the menu.

it turned out to be a good choice because the somewhat-sweet-and-somewhat-spicy thick broth tasted heavenly. made of the local produce it had a certain authenticity that is not very common on restaurant menus. i went for another bowl of the soup and skipped the dinner which in any case was not worthy fare.

the night sky was a deep shade that i had not seen in a very long time. actually i realised i had not seen the sky at night since a very long time. in fact i had not looked skyward in ages. so after putting chunnu to sleep i came out to sit on the porch and listen to the night's melody. i remember thinking that the crickets were singing especially for me and the enthusiastic dogs barked in the down town area to welcome me. I dnt remember when i went to bed but i woke up quite early the next day. sunlight had not really flooded in to the room to wake me up but the unusual quite had.

it was eerie to sit in silence, a fallout of living in a city i think, but pleasant all the way.

the morning began to gather pace as chunnu and then S woke up. the day was consumed in getting ready, consuming a couple of katoris of aallu sabzi in rich and spicy tomato gravy, visiting the renuka jheel, an encounter with a monkey that entered our vehicle while we were passing through the reserved forest area of the jheel and ran away with our disposable glasses.

by the time we slowed down chnadigarh was approaching. the rushed days were to begin once gain but i had managed to carry some little calm of the thick foliage and the music of the night in my head.

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