Mussoorie located near Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state may be famous for all the good reasons as man goes to escape the summer and see many of its attractions like the Camel Back, the Mall Road, Kempty Falls, Bhatta Falls and Jharipani Falls…but as far as I am concerned Mussoorie is a Mango retreat for me. This small pretty hill station was just a hop for me and my friends during my younger days in Dehradun. The scorching summers of May month were just over and with all entrance exams done with…I along with my four friends got on to 2 bikes (triples are allowed) and headed towards Mussoorie to stay at Christ Church which had a dormitory (the dormitory doesn’t exist anymore ) behind it for 2 days. The parish priest knew me so accommodation was never an issue for only me but wasn’t sure for my friends.
Once we were out of Dehradun city limits we got on to the steep climb of Old Mussoorie Road and as we were nearing the MDDA Park enroute down came a hail storm from nowhere, we stopped our bikes and ran for shelter under the nearest tree. The storm was so intense that within no time we saw a volley of Mangoes (half ripe, full ripe and not ripe) falling along with the hails, we couldn’t believe it. None of us moved to pick up any of the mangoes as we thought somebody might be playing a prank with us because there wasn’t a single mango tree insight…but it was for real. The hails stopped falling but the mangoes didn’t. The storm stopped as we started to feel that we are standing in a ‘Mango Ki Mandi’. Each one of us ran (of course totally drenched) and started filling our haversacks with as many mangoes as possible before anyone could check us. We filled our shirts, jackets, bikes and what not with mangoes and more mangoes…took a ‘U’ turn and drove back to Dehradun.
So, remember Mussoorie is not just a place to escape the summer heat but also for free mangoes provided a mango storm takes you by surprise.
Once we were out of Dehradun city limits we got on to the steep climb of Old Mussoorie Road and as we were nearing the MDDA Park enroute down came a hail storm from nowhere, we stopped our bikes and ran for shelter under the nearest tree. The storm was so intense that within no time we saw a volley of Mangoes (half ripe, full ripe and not ripe) falling along with the hails, we couldn’t believe it. None of us moved to pick up any of the mangoes as we thought somebody might be playing a prank with us because there wasn’t a single mango tree insight…but it was for real. The hails stopped falling but the mangoes didn’t. The storm stopped as we started to feel that we are standing in a ‘Mango Ki Mandi’. Each one of us ran (of course totally drenched) and started filling our haversacks with as many mangoes as possible before anyone could check us. We filled our shirts, jackets, bikes and what not with mangoes and more mangoes…took a ‘U’ turn and drove back to Dehradun.
So, remember Mussoorie is not just a place to escape the summer heat but also for free mangoes provided a mango storm takes you by surprise.
and performing our one and noble function of the time, move.
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