Believe - a post by Angela

Here is a post by my dear friend Angie a professional singer, model and dietician - loves dogs, a good cup of tea and Alferns:)  Enjoy...

A lovely trip to Himachal in October end of 2013 left me with just one thought...BELIEVE

The JAJA's covered two gorgeous places in Himachal :Andretta and Mcleodgunj.  Not to mention a quick stop at my dear  Kitty and Dexter"s place in Gurgaon which was an exciting stopover laden with eerie tales some of which were quite touching.

Andretta was a quaint village with remote resources and we stayed in a beautiful cottage 'The Mirage' currently run by Dennis an atypical Kiwi. The cottage was maintained beautifully in true old world charm by the housekeeper and his wife.

The Dauladhar range of mountains stood high and exposed themselves in their true avatar the first morning we were in andretta. We spent the next two days there travelling to Palampur, Bir , Barot(where Jane's wish to go fishing came true) and visited deer park (a tibetan monsatery) too. It was a relaxed peaceful time and it was then when we also met the budding potters under the apt guidance of their teacher Juggal who took over from Mini Singh (the other living legend also a potter) in Andretta.

We actually experienced a play and dance act to celebrate Norah Richards birth anniversary, an occasion where the entire village and school children gathered to celebrate Norahs true spirit and we were quite taken aback with the lineage or rather tradition Norah left behind. It was truly touching to see the villagers respect the lady even after several years of her passing away.

We then moved to Mcleod Gunj the land where Dalai Lama resides bringing in a constant flock of visitors who seek peace spirtuality, buddhism or even escape.  It was here that we stayed at 'The Chocolate Log' a place started by a One womans perseverance and decision to break free initially from being a mere airforce pilots wife to a teacher to a mother to an entrepreneur of her bakery and lodging eventually along with being a grandmother, a writer and what have you. She plays a myriad roles besides these mentioned.. But amidst all of this what strikes out most other than a tinkering never ending one sided conversation from her end, was a radiance .. She spoke without giving anyone of us too much of a chance to even interrupt, and altho she was way too different in personality than me, I kinda identified with some of her theories and her spirit way ahead of her time and age.

Mcleod ganj offered us a gastronomic delight not just to our palettes but was also light on the pockets

I got msyelf a copy of Cheryl Templetons book as a reminder that even when times seem most troublesome there's hope. With her true stories from the past experiences , and a lovely baking

session at her warm home where she continues to reside with her hubby Allan and 7 dogs, She kinda in one line reinstated the hope in all of us that - No matter what is happening in your life. Never stop

Believing.. Believing in yourself.  Believing in the power of miracles.. Believing in MAGIC

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And I'd like to stick by that...despite all odds.

Angela