Hello All,
Phew! It's been years I wrote anything on my blog......I don't quite know why but mostly because attention spans are dwindling at an alarming rate nowadays! Reading is becoming an esoteric skill.......so, I suppose, I just never bothered trying to gather readers. But there comes a stage in life, where you don't care a hoot about whether someone reads what you write! At that stage, you write simply because you want to! (Psst......I am nearing 40 and feeling the emancipation trotting alongside that!)
So! This post is dedicated to a "true" holiday I went for, after YEARS! A holiday where my only focus was having a good time and not that I must achieve "this" or "that".....thanks to coronavirus, travel has become the "feared" activity, so we chose a relatively safe one - A family home to visit. We have very close relatives in Mysore, so Mysore it was......
To stay safe, we drove in our own car, loaded it with food and went straight to Mysore without as much as a minute's stop anywhere. The moment we left Bangalore limits, I felt as if my wings unfolded.........and spread out! I hadn't left the city in over a year! And after the kind of 2019 our family had, 2020 HAD TO allow us this break! Anvesh turned 10 this year and if there is one child I know who deserved thorough pampering, it was him! His entire 2019 went in being in and out of hospitals, entire Summer Vacation ruined by a rare autoimmne disorder and the Summer Vacation of 2020 washed off by Coronavirus!
His first birthday was in Spain, so it was only fitting that we go some place special this year and I totally trust Bhanu Mami for coming up with the best under the circumstances! So, we piled into our car once again and went to this chosen place - Discovery Village, in Belathur Village (on the bank of Kabini river). I had NO expectations whatsoever because I wasn't involved in the booking process, save for sending a coronavirus declaration and copies of our IDs.
Discovery Village is roughly 52 km from Mysore, a distance covered in about an hour from Mysore. We landed at Discovery Village at a little past noon, after some wrong turns on the way. The place is a bit off the road, but Google Maps works perfectly for reaching there. As we drove into the premises, my first impression was - Open Wide Spaces! The check-in process was both smooth and swift (with all precautions in place). While my Mamaji checked in, there was plenty for us to do! The check-in Office is next to a play area, housed in a tastefully constructed and decorated hut. Right from billiards to foosball to bowling alley, there is something to interest everyone! The pieces are sanitized after any one Group has finished playing. My son, husband, sister-in-law and I freaked out on foosball and my son LOVED the jenga blocks! Once the check-in was done, we went in to our cottage. With every step I took, I drank in the beauty and class of Discovery Village. Strategically placed large urns in lovely burnished copper finish, winding cobbled paths, Princess palms and other foliage providing a lovely backdrop, instantly relax you!
The weather was pretty hot for us Bangalore dwellers, so stepping into the cottage was like dunking our heads into cold water! The entry to the Cottage was adorned with a table, for everyone to chill out, complete with a game of "Pallanguzhi" (I didn't know anything about this game but my son had a lovely time playing it with the rajma seeds provided). There was a lovely 4-seater table, provided for tea-time, I guess, though we used it for sitting and discussing Music :)
Now, let me get to the "intuitiveness" of design that met us as every turn in the resort! I know, all these sound trivial, but their absence grates on anyone's nerves!
- Bathrooms: Every family has a "thinker" in their family, the kind that thinks that Chamber-Pots are their "inspiration thrones". Looks like Discovery Village foresaw the 'double thinkers' of my family! 😂 For a 4-bedded cottage, there were two bathrooms AND a sink outside for the 'exasperated others' to brush their teeth, while the thinkers pondered the problems of the world!
- Electrical points: With everyone possessing multiple electronic devices nowadays (I myself need three, one each for my phone, wireless earphones and smartwatch), having enough plug points is less a luxury, more a necessity. The cottages had enough plug points to cover all our electronic devices!
- Solar-powered water heating: I always give an instant thumbs-up to any place harnessing renewable energy and Discovery Village just aced it! The street lighting was solar powered and so was the hot water supply in the Cottages. It was a bit slow to work but it worked!
- Low height lighting in gardens: On the grounds, the lighting was both subdued and at a height low enough to not dazzle the eye and allows you to enjoy the beauty of the night!
- Levista coffee: I know it sounds a bit weird, but I love some strong and flavourful coffee when I relax! Levista fit the bill to the T! It was provided in the room, in addition to the hot water kettle. There were tea bags too and well, a fridge) which we used for chilling our buttermilk cartons.
- Mini-Bookshelf: This came as a (very pleasant) surprise! There was a small bookshelf and it contained some thoughtfully compiled books. A mix of Kannada and English literature was such a pleasure to see!
