Authors, bizmen, stars - idyllic Landour is home to them
Landour in Mussoorie is heaven's own address for successful yet stressed city people looking for a bit of quiet. Even a certain Sachin Tendulkar is said to be building a summer home there.
Winter is here, and the hillsides of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, are ablaze with wild flowers. Tall trees cover steep slopes, shedding brilliant autumn leaves. The town, about 35km from Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, is at an altitude of about 6,170 feet, and its busy Mall Road may remind you of Delhi’s Karol Bagh. But only a few kilometres out, you’ll discover a quieter world. The air is crystal clear and the silence is like a soothing balm to jangled city nerves.
This precious silence, the still (and still unspoiled) beauty is why so many people from so many corners of the country have visited, fallen in love with the area and decided to move in permanently. Landour, just outside of Mussoorie, is several hundred feet higher, and more than a few degrees colder. Its peaceful roads, shaded by old deodar and oak trees, are well away from the tourist buzz. There’s a church built in 1840, the sweet whiff of pancakes and waffles floating from the nearby Char Dukaan, the sound of cheerful “hellos” from foreigners who come to study Hindi and other Indian languages at the 100-year-old Landour Language School, and stunning views of snow-capped peaks against blue skies. For some jaded folk, at least, heaven seems to have a new address.
