After a very successful Industrial Expo and accolades coming in from all quarters, it was time for the entire team to unwind. Somewhere during the period prior to the expo I had become a part of the team, sort of accepted, either that or the guys were just being nice to me or may be there is some other vested interest that I have not yet imagined. Whatever the reason, I was invited to join the team on a week end holiday.
I must confess to planting the seed for the holiday. All I did was suggest to my colleagues that since the expo is done with and very little to do immediately, that we take his opportunity and the available weekend to check out Dehradun’s first and only multiplex. The guys were not too interested as no good movies were on. It dawned on them that they hadn’t taken their families together for an outing in a while and so it was decided that a weekend overnight trip was due.
After much deliberations as to the appropriate choice for the holiday, Asan Barrage was decided. Considering that we considered at least 5 different locations and even checked up on availability, the fact that the deliberations lasted all but 30 minutes is quite amazing. I like that about men, decisions are taken fast and things go quick once it has been decided what has to be done (although many women will agree that this also tends to be their undoing many times). Mussourrie had been visited one too many times, Dhanaulti had nothing to be done and no charm since there would be no snow at this time of the year, according to my pals, Kempty falls had no tourist activities (contrary to my claim that I had recently visited and seen hotels, cable cars, swimming pools and boating opportunities there) and so on and so forth until asan barrage was finalised. I think Asan was also selected cause there were rooms available at the local government rest house.
Phone calls were made, strings pulled, people disturbed, coaxed, bullied and blackmailed till finally we had 3 deluxe double room reservations at Asan Barrage. This was on Friday 11 March 2011 and the bookings were for 12 March. One of my colleagues immediately rushed to the nearest tourism office to pay the rent in advance and confirm the reservations (Strange customs these govt guys have, they need the entire amount in advance, but when it comes to refunds or giving money out…. alas!)
Initially, the plan was to leave late in the morning at around 10 am and reach Asan Barrage by Lunch and check into our rooms, stay there for the night and return on Sunday evening. As the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men tend to go awry and ours did exactly that. My colleague’s wife could not get leave from work (yes the poor thing works Saturdays too he he) and we could not leave on Saturday. But like most women, she pulled off a miracle and got herself a half day (I am sure it involved some amount of the special persuasion skills all women seem to be blessed with along with a very good boss I am sure). Finally after picking up some snacks, 4 cans of Haywards 10000(technically it cant be called beer.. not by a long shot, but still marketed as one), 2 bottles of Smirnoff and a 2 bottles of Carlsberg (man its difficult to lay hands on decent beer in Dehradun), not to mention half a dozen cup noodles we were finally off. The group consisted of 5 adults and 2 kids, 2 of my colleagues with their wives and kids aged 4 and 1 and me, alone as my wife was in Bangalore
Asan being just 35 kms away was hailed in 90 minutes and by nightfall we were checked in. I know I said that my colleagues wife had managed to pull off a half day, but do not forget she had to come and change :P, not to mention the shopping we did after wards.
Without delving into a geography and history lesson of Asan Barrage, I shall continue my narration here. The government has made a half hearted effort in putting some cottages here on the edge of the lake formed by the barrage across a local river. There are 4 cottages and 1 dormitory built out of plywood and cardboard. I was afraid to even lean on the walls for fear of them falling out. I was sure my colleagues 4 year old was going to successfully crash through it Rajnikant style any moment. Thankfully, the event was contained.
That evening was spent drowning our sorrows (of the expo and everything else) in alcohol. Luckily for us the small kitchen at the place closed at 9:30 pm, forcing us to finish our drinking early and sit down to a limited menu simply cooked home style dinner of roti, dal, and paneer. The weather was still cold at night and the vodka kept us company. After 2 hours of chatting, spilled drinks, trodden blankets, floor strewn with snacks, complaining and discussion about the overall quality of the accommodation, complimenting the food and a small war over the TV remote (yes, the cursed idiot box has become omnipresent these days) we finally retired to our quarters by 1 am. Maybe a result of the fresh clean air, I was up at 6 the next day, went for a stroll, observed some birds flitting about, sat and stared at the lake (a popular bird watching locale if I may add here) and even had a few cups of tea (I naturally went for tea instead of coffee, somehow the relaxing mood warranted tea) and all this in just 90 minutes. Truly time stops when you are with nature. It was days since I had such a slow and idyllic morning. Thoroughly refreshing.
Again, a morning spent leisurely, followed by a beautiful boat ride in the barrage waters. Yes there is provision for boating too. And since summer had not et set in, even the late morning sun was just warm enough. After an hour of pedalling the camp was moved to another location not far off, downstream of the barrage. Here too the govt has taken efforts to develop the area into a tourist spot, with slightly better luck ( I guess it has something to do with the dept. the place where we spent the night, developed by the Tourism dept was shabby compared to this area by the forest dept.) Under usual circumstances, the river water is quite inviting and refreshing, but the cool weather had made us all lethargic, plus the kids were liable to fall sick.
In the end, we found ourselves a nice little gazebo over looking the river, nice shade, cool breeze. The lonely and singular dhaba wala there was kind enough to chill our remaining stocks of alcohol and provide us with hot water to cook our cup noodles. (Of course he made sure he got something out of it, by selling us biscuits and chips at inflated prices). this time though time decided to go faster and before we knew it, it was time to go home. Back to our schedules and deadlines, and assignments, papers, meetings etc.
All in all it was a very relaxing weekend, one which I hope I will take often, and with my wife. I think she deserves to unwind too. Makes me wonder, all this work, effort, long hours, deadlines … one must have the opportunity to let go and just let time overtake you once in a while. It was the most refreshing time I have ever had, 36 hours without a TV, internet, hell even my cell phone had no range, no newspapers, no fancy food, no noise, traffic nothing. Just a simple downright holiday!
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