Mcleodganj: Fooding Around

A Hippie Paradise

A narrow uphill lane of concrete, called Jogibari Road happens to be the main causeway of Mcleodganj. Though it is steep, it does not discourage the unquenchable human spirit from scaling it. An unending stream of cars is always plying up the hill making life miserable for the innocent inhabitants of this hilly town. On both sides of the road lie the main hotels and restaurants of Mcleodganj. There are also a number of curio shops, the occasional bar and some unique meeting places for cross-cultural gatherings to discuss the present and future of Tibet. Mcleodganj is called little Lhasa and the Dalai Lama stays in exile here at his famous monastery. Sadly though, Mcleodganj is replete with foreigners and it is difficult to understand their business here.

India has always been the ‘exotic’ land, the place where different forces are always at war amongst each other. But here, philosophers and preachers have always emphasized on finding peace in the middle of great chaos. Just as Indians find the organization of Western civilization attractive on a careerist point of view, the inception of total peace amidst prolific chaos attracts tired Westerners’ souls. It is no wonder that a lot of foreign tourists inhabit Mcleodganj, to be near to (and, also perhaps aim at meeting) the Dalai Lama.

Thus Indians unable to fathom the nuances of Western civilization will find it a rather curious experience to just watch these ‘crazy’ tourists running around the place without a care in the world, while they, in the desire to escape from the crowd, find themselves in another crowd, though quite different from the one they have escaped from.

But the foreign tourists are quite unlike their Indian counterparts. They are actually peaceful unlike Indians who loudly display what kind of ‘crowd’ they come from. The local inhabitants are generally quiet and very tolerant, but in their heart know that their home is slowly eroding in the trample of daily invaders.

In Mcleodganj, it is easy to feel ‘cool’ by just dressing up cool. The wannabe ‘cool’ people here imitate each other in an effort to be different from the rest of the world, and this culture is so prevalent in Mcleodganj that one is unable to find any other identifiable culture around. There is rampant and quite unabashed use of drugs, especially marijuana, probably taking the ‘cool’ quotient to a spiritual level.

For the counterculture revolutionaries, Mcleodganj is an ideal break from the daily battle against authority. It is a place to meet like-minded people escaping from common enemies, in search for some peace, in their own oddities.

Of Corners in Cafés

It is indeed amazing that a small place such as Mcleodganj can have as many as fifteen to twenty eateries lined up on both sides of the road within a span of two kilometers. Many of these eateries sell Tibetan food like momos, thupkas, soups and noodles. A considerable number of other shops sell Italian and various kinds of world cuisine such as Japanese.

A rather striking aspect of Mcleodganj restaurants is the décor. Most of the eateries are designed like cafés. A Korean restaurant called Seven Hills of Dokkaebi has a red bookshelf with English and Korean titles. Just beside it is a mock fireplace with some old dust-ridden logs of wood and bogus ash. The seats and tables have a low profile and feel very comfortable. The windows open out on to the valley and one can ease into a reverie with the mountains in sight.

Then there are the ubiquitous Tibetan restaurants. A place which is considered to be a second home for Tibetan exiles has to be home to some excellent Tibetan food, and Mcleodganj does not disappoint. Usable space is scarce on the slopes of a mountain, but that does not discourage the locals. Small living rooms have been converted into beautifully decorated restaurants. Tibetan Kitchen is one such restaurant which sells solely Tibetan cuisine. Now, Tibetan cuisine is world-famous and one needs no introduction to momos, dumpling and hot, steaming broth made of chicken and pork. In little Lhasa, people eat potato momos on the street like people in Delhi eat aloo chat. If one desires to get acquainted with the locals, one just needs to visit a Tibetan restaurant like Tibetan Kitchen or Norling’s. The rest of the town is swarming with tourists.

Vegetarian Japanese restaurants are unusual. In Mcleodganj, this unconventional vegetarian venture is called Lung Ta and it is run by a Japanese family. What is sushi without raw fish? Yet, at Lung Ta vegetarian sushi has universal appeal.

 

Then there are the Italian cafés. Of notable mention are Four Seasons, Jimmy’s, Carpe Diem and Nick’s Italian Kitchen. Their food is not pretentious or gourmet. Simple Italian pasta and pizza is made in authentic and homely style, making one feel comfortable and happy. All of these places are small, but very comfortable, with bookshelves, and Carpe Diem and Jimmy’s also have a little stage for live performances.

For the sweet teeth, there a number of bakeries selling tarts, cakes and pancakes. Chocolate Log sells excellent filter coffee, a mean chocolate cake and some great shakes to sip in to. Crêpes and Pancakes, as the name suggests sells pancakes and their French variant, crêpes. There is also Lhamo’s Croissant which is a niche bakery where one wall is jazzed up with graffiti while another adorns abstract paintings by local artists, all giving the quintessential feeling of homeliness.

My Thoughts

Mcleodganj is a great place to spend an evening with friends and would have been ideal if it weren’t a hill station. It is a place one can visit several times, but avoid spending too much time in one go. The central theme of Mcleodganj is gastronomy as it is a small place with a lot of eateries (which are also very cheap), and unless one gets awfully bored of eating too much, one can really have a gala time there. Going there during the junction of summer and monsoon, I had hoped for some rains. It did, but not before the third and final day of the trip. Mcleodganj is a nice little stopover in the Himalayas if one wishes to go higher up into the more serene landscapes of Himachal Pradesh.
 

Unfortunately today, Mcleodganj has become a ghetto for tourists. A lot of tired souls rent apartments here to stay for a long period of time. But as visitors looking to absorb the healthy hilly air, Mcleodganj should be no more than just a small pie in the larger chart of a tour of the Himalayas.

Dwaipayan Adhya