JWM Magazine - Summer 2015

have fond memories of driving from
Delhi to Mussoorie in my father’s old
Ambassador car as a teenager. It was a
six-hour trip, or a little under 300 kilo-
meters, from Delhi to the foothills of
the Himalayan mountain range. We were
escaping the brutal summers of North
India, just as the British did when they built several
resorts, or hill stations, in and around the Himalayas.

Nearly four decades later, I went back.
A lot has changed since my teenage years. Mussoorie,
or the Queen of the Hills, is now a bustling—at times
even crowded—city. And it is still a popular destination
for India’s middle and wealthier classes.

But on the outskirts of the Himalayan Mountains, there is enough quietude for a vacation away from other vacations in North India. If one is looking for cool weather, meditative serenity in the hills, quiet walks, and a taste of creative local and Western foods, then a few days in this iconic Indian destination is highly recommended.

A COLONIAL HISTORY
Established in the early 1800s by the British, Mussoorie
has touches of old colonial India: churches, cemeteries
and neighborhoods that still carry Western names.

The main thoroughfare is a shopping strip called Mall Road. It runs through the heart of town, and in order to encourage foot traffic, cars are not allowed along it from afternoon through evening. In the British colonial period, Mall Road had a sign that forbade the local population to walk on the street: “Indians and Dogs Not Allowed.” Generations later, as a teenager, I took evening strolls with my parents there, window-shopping and stopping to eat. There was a small-town feel to the street. Today, Mall Road is packed with young Indians enjoying economic freedom, shopping at stores that sell international brand-name products. Western tourists and backpackers frequent its antique stores.

Chick Chocolate is a busy coffee shop, serving cappuccino and dessert that includes a good New York-style cheesecake. More important, though: Chick Chocolate has free Wi-Fi. Also on Mall Road is the Tibetan-run Little Llama Café, a popular hangout for the students and American instructors of India’s best-known private boarding school, Woodstock.

Woodstock is located in Landour, perhaps the pretti-
est and most interesting suburb of Mussoorie. Founded
in 1854, Woodstock’s early graduates were children of
Christian missionaries and diplomats. Today most of
the students belong to wealthy, elite Indian families.

Named after Llanddowror, a small town in Wales,
Landour has neatly laid out, quiet streets, but it also
tells a story about the dark days of the British period.
In the early 1800s Landour was a convalescent center
for British soldiers suffering from malaria and other
tropical diseases. Many died there and are buried in the
town’s old cemeteries.
A TRIP TO LANDOUR

Nearly two centuries later, Landour’s prime real estate and natural beauty has attracted Bollywood celebrities and writers, who build country homes there. Landour was a new experience to me. I imagine it was too quiet and serene for my father, who liked being surrounded by the commercial hustle and bustle of Mussoorie.

On the day I visited Landour, I spotted the house of Sachin Tendulkar, considered one of the world’s best cricket players. Ruskin Bond, a British writer of children’s books who was born in India in 1934, has also made Landour his home. Author Anita Desai, who has been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times, was born here.

Among the spots I visited during my day in Landour was Sisters’ Bazaar, a quaint street named after the British nurses who once lived along the road and which now houses a single shop—A. Prakash & Co. As I walked in, the store had a rich aroma of freshly baked banana bread.

Prakash is renowned for its jars of homemade peanut but-
ter and orange and ginger marmalade, which hint at the
American and British influences that have remained since
the store opened in 1928.
Down just a couple of blocks along the winding
streets is an area referred to as Char Dukan, or
“Four Shops.” Established in 1910, the site now com-
prises six eateries, each offering street food such as

parathas, fried Indian flatbread stuffed with potatoes or other vegetables. Though the restaurants are simple, the food is excellent. Char Dukan’s Tip Top Tea Shop makes chocolate pancakes, waffles, pizzas and milkshakes. It is even better to take your food to go and enjoy it on the sunny benches of the park across the street.

For more elegant dining, Emily’s is a quaint restaurant serving both Western and Indian cuisine. The inviting space is filled with the aroma of fresh bread, and the apple pie—rich, warm and flavorful, with large chunks of apple slices—is a real treat. Doma’s is a colorfully