Text credit: Aakash Mehrotra

A little over 3km from Mussourie, Landour is a town with an inescapable colonial aura, carpeted with Himalayan flora and carrying an enticing fragrance of wilderness.

As we drove through the circular bridled paths, called the ‘Gol Chakkar’ to reach our destination – Rokeby Manor, it felt like turning back the pages of history. The expansive views of the Himalayas, quaint colonial bungalows, a surreal charm in the air, and deserted wooded paths calling for long walks and friendly chats, have made Landour an artists’ getaway.

Rokeby Manor – an English retreat, dating back to the 1840s, is a prominent landmark in this hilltop oasis. The manor stands as a symbol of the vintage colonial charm of Landour and still holds the glory of that bygone era profoundly in every nook and corner. The stoned walls, tall arches, thatched roofs, an endearing garden overlooking the Doon Valley, fireplaces, wooden staircases, furniture wearing the colonial look, and aesthetically designed bookshelves impart Rokeby the quintessential heritage look.

A small intimate door leads you to the great room, doubled up as reception and a resting place, with its log fire and extravagant furnishings, reminiscent of its colonial legacy, while the rest of the manor draws on contemporary trends. Rokeby stands in perfect harmony with its surroundings, be it the interiors of the room or the common room by the reception, it conveys the typical hillside touch. The rooms are set within a wooded landscape, fusing rustic luxe with contemporary design, designed to give an earthy touch through the use of natural materials and harmonious architectural style.

Make history your companion

A property dating back to 1840s is meant to be steeped in history and tales. Rokeby was a house built by  Captain GN Cauthy on a two-acre plot of land and named after one of Sir Walter Scott’s poems, which mentions the Rokeby Castle in England.

“I saw his melancholy smile,
When, full opposed in front, he knew,
Where Rokeby’s kindred banner flew…” – Wilter Scott

Rokeby has passed many hands before coming to Sanjay Narang, who moved to Landour and came across Rokeby in 201. He began working on restoring the property to its original design, extracting the history, and almost creating a tale to fall in love with. But beyond the facade of old world, Rokeby has all the amenities of the contemporary world, with an addition of mountain bikes and scooter rentals to set off and explore the dramatic landscape of Landour, which the British fondly called ‘Hamlet in the hills’.

Breakfast at Emily’s

The wooden stairs take you to one of the most celebrated places to eat in Landour – Emily’s café, named after one of Landour’s most famous literary affairs with Emily Aden, sister of Governor-General Lord George Eden, who wrote extensively on British racist attitude towards Indians. The intimately decored Emily kitchen brings back the British love for tea. The interiors are reminiscent of a ski chalet with fireplaces, cosy corners, brightly coloured walls, lanterns, and a lot of literature. The breakfast spread is welcoming and homely. Relish on their tea collection which is surely a steal. One look out of the windows at the cedar covered hills and it’s clear that this place is a prize. The witty quotes on the walls are unmissable, making you halt, read, and ponder.

Rokeby is for book lovers, and Wilson’s chamber, where the breakfast is spread is notably the favourite corner of any bibliophile where you can spend hours going through the collection of books. This love is reflected in the wide spread of magazines in the common room, and is exemplary of the literary affair Landour is known for.

Landour Bakehouse

At a stone’s throw away is tucked another gem, the Landour Bakehouse, nestled among the pines at the edge of a winding road. The green panelled door transporst you back to the 1940s to the world of the elites of Landour, who would meet every week to discuss social affairs, do proceedings of their reading club, and exchange age old recipes. That goodness still remains. The recipes used here are taken from Landour Cookbook curated by Ruskin Bond. A small and charming place housing some of the best baking secrets, doles of cake, some gooey chocolate goodness, and a hot sipping coffee, doubled up with a great view to furnish a happy touch to your vacation. Though the place only opened a couple of years ago, its vintage look, antique portraits, and some old Landour culinary secrets make you believe that the place has been existing forever. One of the boards here says “We Do Not Have Wi-Fi….Talk To Each Other. Pretend it’s 1895’’. It doesn’t seem so difficult in the Landour Bakehouse.

The special moments

Being a boutique property, Rokeby is a choice for an eclectic traveller. Small, cosy, and uniquely located, Rokeby ticks all check-boxes of a luxury hotel but it is the special moments staying in the manor that make you reconstruct the definition of luxury. While Rokeby may not offer you creature comforts, what it does is offer is unforgettable moments. These are moments of doing absolutely nothing, lost in thoughts, just sipping your tea and looking down the valley, breathing in the moments, letting the chill mountain air embrace you, enjoying the unique experiences Rokeby Manor lets you soak in. These experiences emanate from the tales Landour unpacks for the travellers. Rokeby seems like an attempt to make your vacations more personal and just perfect.

Aakash Mehrotra blogs at Hand of Colors. He is also a published author of the book The Other Guy. You can also read his article on Pushkar. 

The post Rokeby Manor – An Escape Into Colonial Charm At Landour appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

Text Credit: Shibul Pavithran 

Matthieu Ricard, a 71-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monk, has been hailed as the ‘world’s happiest man’ by scientists. Born in France, he grew up in an intellectual atmosphere – his father was a renowned philosopher and his mother a painter. Ricard went on to earn a Ph.D degree in molecular genetics, but left it all to become a monk in the Himalayas. And has been practicing meditation everyday from the age of 20.

He participated in a 12-year-long brain study that was conducted by Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin. The study’s focus was on the positive effects of meditation and compassion on the brain, and it was found that when Ricard meditated, his brain felt exceptionally light.

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Take out 15 minutes from the day, sit down alone, and think happy thoughts. Yes, it’s as simple as that. Just train your mind to not think of sad or negative thoughts during this time. Consciously, focus on positive thoughts. It might be difficult in the beginning but gradually you can train your mind as you want. Nobody is an expert, when they start.. all good things take time.

This sounds oh-so-simple that we just might be tempted to dismiss it as one of these preachy mantras we all hear often but don’t have the time and patience to. Our mind is so preoccupied with a zillion things that we may find it easy to order a pizza but wouldn’t find 15 minutes for ourselves, so that we can be happy. After running on routines for sometime, our mind becomes fearful of experimentation. That’s the cause and culture of conditioning that we suffer from. Note: It is a self made condition.

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Training the mind is a very easy task, if you really try 

The human mind is a wonderful organ. It has limitless potential and is much stronger than we think it to be. It is possible to train it to do anything, even be happy. Matthieu says, “With mental training, we can always bring our level of happiness to a different level It’s like running. If I train, I might run a marathon. I might not become an Olympic champion, but there is a huge difference between training and not training. So why should that not apply to the mind?… There is a view that benevolence, attention, emotional balance and resilience are skills that can be trained. So if you put them all together, you could say that happiness is a skill that can be trained.”

Have a look at what Matthieu had to say when asked about happiness…

The post Take Some Tips From The World’s Happiest Man About Happiness appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.