A monsoon walk in Bhondsi

Robert Frost’s ’The woods are lovely, dark and deep…’ is what comes to mind when I think of Bhondsi.

Imagine a place far from the madding crowd; a picturesque woods teeming with peacocks, a small lake with water birds and ducks floating by, winding hill trails, a beautiful forest temple, a small ashram – that’s what Bhondsi is. And all this just a stone throw away from the heart of Gurgaon.

Bhondsi is magical, especially during the monsoons.

A green belt area adjacent the Aravalli hills, Bhondsi is rich in bio-diversity and is home to peacocks, rare bids, and small wild animals. Once belonging to former PM Chandrasekhar and intended to be a resort/farmhouse the place is now abandoned, but is open to public.

Tucked away just about a kilometre away inside on the Gurgaon-Sohna highway, the 500-acre wooded area with a small lake and winding trails is perfect for a day out with nature, especially during monsoons. 

My friend and I set out one sunday with our dogs to explore. It had rained the previous night, so the morning was deliciously cool and delightfully promising. We knew there were numerous bird species and wildlife there, but to our delight and surprise we found the whole place is literally teaming with peacocks. 

The day was set perfectly right for a peacock dance, unfortunately guess it was too early in the morning for them, or maybe they dance only in the rain, so there was no show.

It’s a wonderful spot for a morning of brisk activity and adventure as some of the trails wind up and downhill making it perfect for a pleasantly tiring nature hike, or some off road cycling.  We however, settled for a slow hike, taking in the beautiful sights and sounds - the morning light highlighting trembling water droplets on glistening leaves, the air fresh and crisp heightening our senses.  We were, however, warned by some locals there not to stray too far into the forested area, as there had been some leopard sightings. 

The lake is a bit marshy, so it wasn’t a good idea to try a dip in, but it’s incredibly beautiful and peaceful to just sit and watch the birds and occasionally a swan/duck or two glide by. Our dogs were thoroughly disappointed at not being let in for a splash around.

A small but beautiful hilltop temple of Goddess Bhuvaneshvari overlooks the woods and is maintained by people of an ashram nearby. Original inhabitants of the Raghav clan of villagers still live here and are self styled custodians of the area, looking after and protecting the forests and its wildlife they welcome stragglers like us into the ashram and love regaling you with stories about the place. 

We spent a wonderful couple of hours hiking and trampling through the woods. Wish we had managed to get the kids up (they preferred to sleep in on sunday morning); could've had a lovely picnic.  

We are glad we discovered the magic of Bhondsi. Love to come back sometime. 

How to get there: Take exit 10 on NH8 towards Sohna. Cross Badshahpur village (about 7 kilometers from Rajiv Chowk.) Look for BSF camp signboard on right side of road. Take mud road adjacent the camp. Travel about 1 km to entrance or further another ½ km to temple.  

in the land of the dalai lama

Just the name was evocative, alluring, calling me to explore, experience. Mcleodganj. It was the perfect place for my 1st solo travel venture. It was pretty much most of what I expected it to be, charming, peaceful, suspended somewhere between a bohemian dream and a regular touristy hillstation destination.

No, I did not meet the Dalai Lama. But his presence does permeate all aspects of life there. For a race of people who had been evicted from their own land, they are amazingly Zen like. Though there is the underlying sadness at their statelessness and anger against the Chinese, a veneer of calmness and happiness pervades; an acceptance of the way things are, with a quiet resilience of a hopeful future. The Tibetan way of life is still their way of life. And they try hard to keep it alive.

A few things struck me that encapsulate the place, its people, its culture .

The museum/library with photographs of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan monks flight to exile;
a film festival that had short stories/documentaries of the diaspora Tibetan;
an open music jamming session of Tibetan musicians and Israeli backpackers,
the hauntingly beautiful Tibetan song that a housekeeping staff was singing to herself as she went about just wiping tables;
 a shiva temple next to a beautiful river with the actual lingam in a small cave in the middle of the river,
 a charming, british-time church in the middle of the woods,
small cafes where one could just sit/read/ have good food,

the calm matter-of-fact tone in which a guide at the institute told me that there might not be another Dalai Lama after the current Lama passes away, because the Chinese had abducted the next chosen incarnate!! 

For me, this was not just a trip, it was an awakening of a number of facets...travel, life.