Urban Pind

When we planned a weekend at the Westin at Sohna I was mighty apprehensive. You see, I am the type who cannot understand why people would want to spend their free time at a resort in one’s backyard and enjoy room-service when there are millions of beautiful places to go away to. And I don’t think I would have agreed to this weekend either if by some quirk of fate we were just not able to go away, yet were hankering for a getaway which all three of us are used to taking every 3-4 months. So there we were, after having cancelled a trip to Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram, headed for Haryana.

After crossing the dust-covered skyscrapers of Gurgaon we landed onto the Sohna road and as we crossed garish little malls and Hill View apartments which essentially looked onto a mound I was sadly contemplating the state of urban development in suburban Delhi. After a pretty bumpy ride when we finally arrived at the Westin the temperature was about 43 deg and a scorching breeze pretty much paralyzed all the senses. I was trying to recall the road to Rudraprayag to counter the effect of the loo-winds, as the golf cart ferried us to our cottage.

Despite all my misgivings, it turned out to be a pretty pleasant weekend. Pia used the pool to her heart’s content and spent the rest of her waking hours at the kid’s club. We spent the day in the living room of the resort sampling off-the-menu starters prepared by an enthusiastic chef and lounging on the sofas. Occasionally we made polite conversation with other guests – either expatriate foreigners trying to have a good time despite the heat or Punjabi residents from West Delhi treating themselves to a day of luxury. In the mornings before the heat set in, Pia patiently went around collecting dry leaves and raw mangoes all of which we carted back home. When the time came to leave we had managed to relax and spend the weekend outside of our usual routine.

At the risk of sounding like a yuppie, I can see now, why so many Punjabi families flock to these resorts in the middle of dry and barren fields with no beauty in sight. It does rejuvenate to an extent. I just wish my suburb was the Kulu valley or the Puri beach.