The summers were very harsh this year in bangalore and we were longing to get away to the mountains. Ever since I visited Himalayas with my family when i was a lil girl I have been in love and in awe of this magnificent mountains and want to visit them again and again. 

Husband had some work in Delhi and we quickly tagged along. Also, bro in law incidentally had a pressing matter to attend in Delhi and a great opportunity has presented itself. So, we made plans  to go to the nearest hill station from Delhi and Nanital seemed like a good choice. It was going to be family trip and my darling daughters first trip with the entire family and also her first to the mountains. Dadi and Dadu were to join us in Delhi from hometown too. The entire plan depended on us getting tickets to the train as all tickets were booked in advance and we were actually quite  late. But thank god and indian railways for tatkal. We did consider travelling by car but trains are so much more convenient and fun. Additionally overnight journey with family and the daughter was full excited. She loves trains btw....this would be her third train ride. 

Landed in Delhi and finished work while the grand daughter bonded with grandparents. She was basking in all the love and attention showered on her. She was happily eating the home made snack that her dadi had so lovingly prepared for her.  Reached the train station which was a hub of so many activities. Trains kept pulling into and going away and the daughter had a mango and homemade gurpara(traditional indian sweet chunks prepared with wheat flour sweeten with jaggery and flavoured with aniseed) at the station and finally our train pulled up and she squealed in delight. The train was so neat and all our seats were together and i just wanted to fell asleep. However, the toddler had other plans. She inquisitively looked underneath seats where we kept our luggages. Climbed on the upper berths of the train and came down and waved good bye to the station and the waiting passengers as the train chugged slowly.  

We reached Nanital in wee hours of morning and the toddler could not contain her excitement, The weather was cold… oh the respite it gave to our body. We were to travel further two hours to reach SonaPani, our stay for 3 days. Its in a small scenic himalayan village named Satoli far from the touristy Nanital and right in the lap of mountains. The end ride in the dirt path while reaching there gave us quite a scare.  

There are many beautiful places in the world but sonapani is like a careless beauty. Lush green forest, tall trees, beautiful wildflowers just casually peeking everywhere on the path, the smell of woods, trees, flowers soon to turn into fruits is intoxicating. The majestic snow covered Himalayas at a distance keep playing hide and seek with the clouds. As we walk through the numerous trails from sona pani…..Its so peaceful ...all you see is an odd villager carrying on with his daily life and nature in all its abundance... all one hears is the leaves and pine cones crushing beneath us, the chirp and twitter of the birds...All we smell is wood and forest and a lone chullah(mud stove made from clay used for cooking food) smoke somewhere down in the village. Its a treat to all the senses. 

The daughter loves the outdoors and being with the family so much.  Not once did she complain about the long journey. She was always ready to go for a walk in mountains or just sit and watch the sunset with everyone. And one day when it rained while elders chatted and played peek a boo with her.. she happily munched on her roasted chana, drank soup (nettle leaf soup prepared so deliciously at sonaPani) and goofed around.  Our days were spent ....taking walks... .. eating the soul satiating homecooked meals...soaking in the smell of forest and fresh air........sitting and chatting under the trees or the wooden benches overlooking the snowy himalayas, reading books.......watching the numerous birds as they kept cheeping from trees above and then teased us as they came down and roamed about.... I am so glad we took the toddlers bird book as the spotted the Warbler, Hermit thrush and others (whose names i was told by a bird watcher enthusiast guest but forgot now).

I love that my child loves nature. She had lots of fun and was very inquisitive during our walks. I have been to mountains multiple times but never felt so up, close and personal with mountains like I did during this trip. Learnt a lot from my darling daughter. ...she enjoyed the journey rather than reaching a particular destination . She used to take her own time during the walks. Picking up pinecones , sweeping the mountains with the pine needle. smelling the flowers. plucking the leaves, throwing the dried leaves in air, looking at that bug and bee, spending hours opening, closing, hanging, swinging on that iron door she was so fascinated about and one day she just sat on this rock like buddha and kept gazing at the sunset . She taught me how to enjoy and just be in the moment... All these activities would tire her out and babywearing came in handy so much. It was like our secret superpower. When the baby got tired one of us mostly the dad would just scoop her up and like a kangaroo put her in our pouch (read baby carrier) and off she slept and we continued with our walk. If she was hungry we she would either breastfeed (yes up in the mountains ) or eat something from the tiffin we carried for her consisting of dried fruits, roasted peanuts, foxnuts or a occasional laddu. Yes we always carry homemade snacks and sweets for trips. 

I want to share this conversation with my lil one. This observation by her stunned me... she has been asking me about the green velvety clumps on tress and mountains on our walks. I erroneously referred them as algae instead of moss. She asked me several times during our walks and I repeated the same. While we descended to Nanaital from Satoli - 

Darling daughter  looking at the mountains from the car window…

Me - Isn't the mountains beautiful... What are you looking at...are u looking at trees on the mountains…?

Darling Daughter -  No mumma, look its algae. 

and in the world of lateral thinking… Guess what, it did look like algae/moss covered mountains from a distance.

The visit wouldn't have been complete without a mandatory boat ride in Naini Lake and some photo opportunities in tradition komaoni dress....our little bundle was a sport and we enjoyed dressing her and clicking memories...Mom also wore a white and red handwoven sambulpuri silk saree the entire day in Nainital and was seen sareeing like a total pro in her sneakers and a backpack.  

I am still longing for the mountains when we always felt so fresh and happy. Our skin covered in sunshine and cold crisp air ....our tummies filled with warm heavenly food and a feeling of gratefulness that wrapped around us. 

Note - I want to take a moment and deeply thank Mr Ashish and his beautiful wife Deepa and his dedicated staff for taking such good care of us and making this place so amazing. This thing that they do is nothing short of astounding and requires a whole lot of passion. I want to mention the soul touching food here and thank the chef for sharing the recipes with me. The food was so healthy, freshly prepared and I didn't have to worry even for a second about what the toddler would eat. The last day was the best local food I have ever had. Even though I have been in kumao range earlier during my childhood and later as well…. I was tasting the fabulous kumaoni food for the first time. Madua roti, alloo gutka, kumanoni raita, kale that ki churkani, single (sweet semolina and aniseed dumplings)  and was just wow.  I could eat heaps of it everyday, Not surprising that i filled my tiffin with raita and ate it the next day in Nainital. Also, Filled up the sone wala pani in our bottles.

Our little one was turning two in may and our joy knew no bounds. How did she grow up so fast. Just the other day she would fit easily in our arms and now she is a walking talking individual with a personality of her own. I was a big pile of emotions.  We wanted to celebrate her birthday. She has also been to a few birthdays and is aware that the  a cake is cut and the friends meet up and play and all. So, in our excitement we keep telling her that her birthday is fast approaching and we will call all her friends. I am pretty sure one day she did give me a look as its just a birthday ...what are you so excited about.

We wanted the birthday to be simple, fun and eco-friendly. As a gift to my little one and the future generations we wanted the event to a be a no plastic waste event. We wanted to celebrate the birthday outdoors in a park or something like that but then decided to do it near the play-area where she meets her friends everyday. There is a pergola near the play-area surrounded by beautiful trees and few benches to sit. It would be a good location to spend a summery evening. Also, it would be so convenient for everyone as mostly all her friends were from the apartment and meet everyday in the same area. Once venue was decided we thought about the food. I wanted it to be a simple home cooked fare. Its summers so  aamras (mango and milk shake) toh banta hai. And its super healthy and loved by adults and children both. Another item was aaloo tikki(potato croquettes) topped with chole (garbanzo beans curry) and a dash of sweet tamarind chutney and a dollop of curd. We made all of this at home on the same day. The menu was kept simple and easily doable without lot of stress. Our house-help and husband both pitched in. I believe both the items were healthy and fresh and one indulgence was the chocolate cake. Cake was ordered to a home baker who did a good job. Steel utensils were rented out at a nominal price. It was also a no gift party as honestly we are still overwhelmed with gifts from the first birthday and unable to use them all.

it was a nice summery evening with cool breeze. Friends and family arrived for last minute preps and help. The birthday girl wore a beautiful yellow cotton dress with chikankari details from fabindia. She looked so adorable... Mommy dearest twinned in yellow handwoven cotton dress as well. Dad really didn't bother much and looked dapper in his last minute choices. As we waited for everyone to arrive..  the children played, the moms chatted away and dads did their thing ...We also laid out this activity where the children created  art on reused papers by collecting fallen leaves, twigs, flowers and sand. They also went on nature walk looking for roots, flowers, bees, caterpillar, spider etc. The darling daughter made me very proud by cutting the cake herself using her knife. The first slice i mean not the entire cake. She uses this knife to cut veggies and boiled eggs at home. The Montessori mom in me did a happy dance.

Serving in steel was the best  decision. We didn't have to worry about food getting soggy and food taste so much better and easy to eat in steel. Our good old caravan provided for some peppy music. The aamras was a big hit with everyone. The guests were pleasantly surprised and appreciated that we took the effort to make everything at home.

However, i did buckle under the pressure and ordered peanut butter cookie for taking home from cafe marzipan thinking that the food wont be enough. But the food was enough to fill the small tummies  and even for adults. We didn't really have dinner after having this in evening. There was very little leftovers after everyone had eaten. We made some yummy mango popsicles(only one got made actually) with the leftover aamras and aaloo tikkis were promptly made into aaloo parathas next morning. The washing of utensils took time tough and everyone chipped in.

We were very satisfied with the simplistic, relaxed, easy going, fun and  eco-friendly birthday that we celebrated. And I was most satisfied  about doing it a lil old school way by cooking food at home and not adding any plastic waste for the future generations.  Maybe drew a lil inspiration from my mom and how she celebrated our birthdays.