Strawberries never tasted so good…

Standing beneath an enormous chandelier around a huge round table surrounded by near and dear ones joining in the chorus of “Happy Birthday To You” while a little princess in a beautiful Victorian-style, maroon gown and a crystal-studded crown cuts the cake with help from mamma and papa around…this is how I envisaged celebrating my baby’s very first birthday…

There are plans and then there’s destiny...my husband’s involvement in a crucial project did not allow us getting a long vacation and we had to cancel our plans to celebrate the occasion with everyone back in Delhi. Sudden change in plans in the eleventh hour left little scope for everyone to arrange travel plans to Mumbai. Disappointed I was to the core and my face could not lie signaling to my spouse the pangs of my anger and frustration. A quick damage control exercise was carried out with his announcement, “Pack your bags, we will go somewhere”.

Gloom withered away to an extent but traces of skepticism loomed large. After all, neighbor hill stations of Mumbai are notorious for being as overcrowded as the city itself. We settled for Panchgani and Mahabaleswar, thinking we never explored it before and journey through the most scenic Pune express highway would be a bonus.

Brows little relaxed as the car hit the highway and the weather turned cloudy, the mood turned little upbeat as we passed through several tunnels and the clouds engulfed the windscreen. All worries, complaints melted away when we touched the boundaries of Panchgani. oh! What a wonderful sight of Sahyadri range of hills kissed by clouds, oozing numerous waterfalls running down the zig zag fields (it rained incessantly throughout our stay). Only thing missing was our woolens, though arrangements were in place for our little princess; we never thought we would need to wrap ourselves in sweaters and scarves just 5 hours journey away.

Surprise package from the resort we checked in in terms of discounts for at least 2 week days (barring weekend) and the complimentary spa treatments they showered on us healed our travel woes (if any). A walk in the nearby strawberry farms (it was claimed that it’s done only in that place in India at such a large scale because of suitable climate conditions) took my breath away. Do I need to count then how many scoops and scoops of strawberries with cream we all gulped? Strawberries were here, there, everywhere…syrups, squash, ice creams, desserts…the list was endless. The place is full of “points” to stop by, enjoy scenery, snacks and tea and unwind yourself and we did precisely that…explored unheard and unseen of destinations there.

The big day came and the princess was showered with gifts – our prayers, toys, dresses, jewelry and of course, of our lots and lots of love J. The day began with a must visit to temple of lord Ganesha – we consider her to be his blessing followed by a sumptuous breakfast…a little rest, playing games by the pool side, video shoot followed by a late hearty meal. Now was the time to look after some arrangements and preparations…talks with hotel staff. Few discussions later a small nap and a massage therapy rejuvenated us for evening celebrations. I supervised all decorations and decked the area myself. Balloons, color strips, teddy bears, birthday caps, roses, and birthday cake in centre…princess made a grand entry in her maroon, Victorian dress and a crystal studded crown. She was beaming with joy and spreading the fragrance of her innocence all around. People around and the hotel staff joined in the chorus “Happy Birthday To You”, claps and whistles…Navya could make out it’s her very very special day…we headed towards discotheque where DJ welcomed us to the disc floor with “Birthday song” and then belting out popular chartbusters beginning with Pappy can’t dance… (Navya’s fav song). It was time to have a cosy candle light dinner now– just mummy, papa and their princess, so quiet and serene, so heavenly. As usual Navya was spoilt for choices (chef cooked everything possible for a just a year old special guest) and we dug into other delicacies.

Princess tuned one…she was now sleeping beautifully wrapped in a quilt as the clock struck 12 at night.

Sitting next to window wrapped in my shawl, holding a steaming cup of freshly-brewed coffee I looked tenderly at father and the little princess sleeping blissfully…I turned my head and looked out of the window and watched heavy rains drenching every corner of manicured and pedicured lawn below surrounded by the hills all the side…rarely visible due to dark clouds…

I was thanking God for making his own arrangements and not letting us stick to our original plan…so unique, far from madding crowd, a walk in the clouds through strawberry farms…true, strawberries never tasted so good...