From my diaries - The Reading Retreat - Satkhol - Dec 2024

 Day 1- Satkhol

Last night there was a crackling wood fire in the common room they called the Library. Until then, I had always seen a fireplace as an ornamental or architectural feature, at best used to add some quaint charm to a room.  I never dreamed I would experience it as a necessity. The cold mountain air, the wine, the high wooden ceilings with the huge skylight, the two walls fully lined with books, the plush and warm sofas, the custom made dinner, and the hearth at the centre - these were things I had only read about.  But now I am writing about them, having experienced it myself. 

The warm glow of the fire, enhanced by the orange light, the stillness and quietness - we didn’t even hear any birds or crickets outside last night, because it was a freezing  -5 degree C with a slight drizzle - is a memory that I won’t forget, and it will give me comfort for a long time to come. These are small pleasures, trinkets perhaps, memories one collects to put in a box. A box that I can take out and examine at a later time so that the whole positivity rushes into me.

The only missing thing was good company-not too many people, and not familiar faces, but maybe a few interesting strangers. That would add to the mood of discovery and adventure that I am getting to experience here.

Day 2 - Satkhol

My fingers can’t feel the pen that I am holding. I am covered in a thick fleece blanket and trying my hardest to keep myself warm. At 6:30 AM, I can see the beginnings of a grey dawn.  The heavy rain has dragged down the last few yellow leaves from the trees that had lent a little bit of colour to the place. 

The cottage has wooden floors, with wooden walls and huge windows that look out over the Kumaon hills. I am sitting at a rather plain but heavy wooden table in one corner of the room. On one side is a small vase and a nearly dried chrysanthemum that had greeted us cheerfully yesterday. The single room heater works only in the other room. And even that is of little use now that the power is out.

I am sure this place can be enjoyed more thoroughly under different circumstances, perhaps a different season. The Muktheshwar temple is just a 4.5km hike from here but is inaccessible with all this freezing rain and slippery slopes. Being trapped indoors, leads you to internal exploration rather than external discovery.  Thus comforting myself, I try hard to savour this adventure.

But, today, I am viewing everything in a different light. At first the toilet in our room didn’t flush. That made me want to run back to civilisation - I don’t want to be part of this experiment, this righteous   conservation; give me back my heaters, electricity, hot water, toilet paper, flushing toilets, nice smelling comfortable rooms and most importantly the freedom to use water - drink, wash, flush. 

The whole place is so sparse in resources. I saw clever little plaques and writings everywhere - ‘use less water, use less toilet paper but be generous with your time and your creative juices, be generous with food and the books you read’. But these can turn annoying when one is battling sub-zero temperatures and rain, with no electricity and only a wood fire to give some light and warmth. It was hard not to feel restricted and constrained. 

Finally we figure out how to work the flush. I am a little more forgiving; not because things changed much, but more because I was determined to not let these inconveniences tarnish the trinkets I was collecting. I will label them as “adventure” or “life lessons” and convince myself they were worth it. Everything is a challenge for you to adjust to or work around. No insects, no mosquitoes, no roaches or flies - that was a plus. I am starting to look at the bright side. 

When KK said, “you are brave to go there in the winter”,  I said to myself - I’ve lived in Michigan, there’s no harsher winter than the one I experienced there. But I realised that a winter in a first world country is very different from a winter in a remote village in a third world country.  There, you have a bubble - an environment bubble that you create for yourself and you carry that wherever you go - at home, at work, in your car. Here, you struggle to stay warm, that takes priority and that’s why it’s harder to be more creative: creativity is a luxury that comes only after your basic needs are met.