In the shadow of a princely residence, in midst of a former Tea Garden and one of the oldest houses in Dehradun, Chitrakoot Home an exceptional property welcomes you with a charming, quiet smile.
Carefully preserving as much as possible of the original substance (doors, fittings, utility and decoration objects), the house has been brought to modern comfort and discrete elegance, mixing traditional Indian with more recent Anglo-Indian and even contemporary elements and giving so an overall feeling of serene timelessness.
The generous and well-tended garden, which includes a few trees and a part reserved for strictly biological vegetable culture, gives not only a beautiful surrounding and a leisurely space during the warm seasons, but improves also noticeably the quality of air, otherwise not really excellent so near the center of Dehradun.
Within walking distance of the legendary Doon School, its most recent addition offers an apartment which witnesses the present owner's wide experience in travelling and thoughtful reflections on a guest’s needs with its comfortable bedroom, its almost boudoir-like generous attached cabinet - walk-in cupboard, its studio-verandah (with a real fireplace for cold winter evenings) and its elegant bathroom, which all betray a taste of living shaped by a long experience of first-class travelling.
My first week in India has been a total whirlwind. We spent our first few days in Delhi touring the capital city, getting to take an exhilarating rickshaw ride through Old Delhi, and acclimating to the intense humidity. We saw the Lodi Temple and also got to spend some time walking around Gandhi Smriti, where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last days of his life. Although Delhi was a great introduction to India, the most memorable experience I had during my first week was being able to stay with an Indian family, and getting to connect and talk about what their experience has been like growing up in India.
From Delhi we traveled by train to Dehradun, a city north of Delhi located in state. In Dehradun we were introduced to relatives and family friends of our tour guide and friend Priyavrat (PV) who was born and raised in Dehradun. PV’s family owns a local hotel and restaurant and a couple shops specializing in Bengali sweets. We drove down a side road away from the bustle of the busy main streets to PV’s uncle’s home (Chitrakoot Home). Greeting us were dozens of relatives and friends who had come to spend time with us. As we walked in the door we were greeted by PV’s aunt and great aunt who gave us a traditional Hindu blessing and gave us Tikka on our foreheads. I immediately felt so welcomed, as family members gathered around us to talk and ask questions.
The best part of the night was getting all of PV’s younger cousins together to play soccer, and basketball.
After playing outdoors we all came inside to have dinner together, each relative made a dish native to their home so we enjoyed a wide variety of food from northern to southern Indian cuisine. I have never felt so full in my life as PV’s aunts came around spooning more onto our plates from poori, chana masala, and rice. I could tell that each family spend a lot of time preparing food for us and were eager to have us try everything. Not wanting to seem impolite we let them pile more food onto our plates. Just when I thought I couldn’t eat any more they brought out the best fresh mango I have ever eaten from their garden with kheer, a warm rice pudding. July is at the end of mango season in India and Prabodh’s fresh mango was perfectly ripe and juicy, it was awesome getting a taste of home-grown fruit.
After dinner we were all together in the sitting room laughing and cheering as we watched kids come in and dance in the middle of our circle. One of the other students on the trip even brought out her violin and played for us which everyone enjoyed. PV’s 9 year old cousin was very intrigued by the violin and she had a turn at trying to play which made everyone laugh even more. It was so incredible to see how similar the family dynamic was to my own family when we all get together for a big celebration.
After dinner we were divided up and two students went home with different parts of PV’s family, most were staying just down the road. I was lucky enough to be staying with Prabodh and his family in the main house we had dinner in. The next morning we got to have breakfast with Prabodh and his wife, and got to ask his daughters about their schooling and their aspirations for the future.
I learned so much in this one night than I have learned so far in India by getting to interact and connect on a personal level. It is one thing to visit historic sites and eat food at local restaurants, and another to be able to sit at the table with a real family and share information and stories. I am forever grateful to PV, Prabodh, and wife, for sharing their Chitrakoot Home, family, stories, food, and fun with us.
Ms. Chelsey Harmer – Northeastern University, Boston
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