Nature Resort Orange County, Coorg

Sandeep and I waited for 2 years after marriage to set time off together for our honeymoon. Yeah, that sounds pretty procastinating right? Anyways, we decided to go to Munnar and Goa, in that order. I checked for hotels in Munnar, read their extensive reviews online, shortlisted a few, called them up, and almost decided on the Club Mahindra resort, when I realized Sandeep had always wanted to visit Coorg, and, therefore, quickly substituted Munnar with Coorg in the itinerary. Immediately, we started looking for hotels and resorts in Coorg. The one name for a resort in Coorg that we got to hear from a lot of people was Orange County. That got both of us really interested in the place and we decided to stay at Orange County in Coorg.

Right from reserving a cottage to checking out from the resort, it was a cakewalk for us. Nidhi, from reservations, seemed very friendly and was willing to answer all my questions with utmost patience. She detailed me on the reservation process, gave a lot of information about the resort and also told us how we could make our stay enjoyable at the resort. What was striking and different from other general commercial hotels was that she also called up a day before our trip to see if we needed something while in the resort and if we were all set to go!

Little gestures, but they make a lot of difference.

Here, I will skip the details of our journey to the resort considering that my post is a long one.

As soon as we got off the car and walked towards the reception, we were welcomed by a group of musicians playing resounding drums and traditional flutes. That brought a smile to our faces. We were also pleasantly surprised when the lady welcomed us at the entrance the traditional way with a tika on our foreheads and invited us inside.

Little gestures, but they speak volumes.

We were offered fresh sugarcane juice mixed with herbs. Unfortunately, Sandeep thought it was a medicinal potion more than anything else, but I found it refreshing!
The picturesque resort looked very neat and green, with coffee plantations all over, and a variety of trees. Just to let you know, Orange County Coorg is a nature resort, while its counterpart at Kabini is a wildlife resort. Coming back to us, the check in was simple and fast, and an executive led us to our cottage in a cute electric driven buggy. The buggy looked more like a ladybird to me, only white instead of red and without the spots. Got to know that you can take these buggy rides inside the resort.

The executive from the reception spoke to us about the resort on our 2 minute ride to our cottage. After we'd reached our cottage, she took us through the cottage and guided us on all the essentials that were provided for our stay. It was a nicely done up cottage very suitable for a couple.

Soon, we got a call from the housekeeping head introducing herself and letting us know that she would be available for any housekeeping help needed. The lady seemed extremely nice and friendly. In addition, Prasad, the ever-smiling housekeeping guy who was in charge of our cottage turned up to introduce himself and also asked if we needed something right away.

Below is a quick shot of our room. We had a minibar, a daily supply of complimentary fresh fruits, cookies, cashews, coffee and tea essentials.



The resort is serene and picture perfect. So, we decided to tour through the accessible areas of the resort on foot. Nothing beats taking a break in the lap of nature, and walking amidst greenery. It definitely was a welcome break from the noisy hurriedness of city life. One thing that was pleasantly striking was that every employee of the resort would greet us with a smiling 'Namaskara' (the traditional Coorgi way of greeting), wherever we'd meet them. All of them, right from the executives to the leaf-gatherer, would greet the guests with a smiling face and exude warmth. The resort is definitely beautiful, but such smiling and nice people around definitely add to the charm and the beauty of the place.

The 3 restaurants, The Granary, Plantain Leaf, and The Peppercorn are all worth visiting. While the Granary is the default place for most guests because it serves a variety of food, we also tried the Plantain Leaf. I must mention Veenu here who hosted us at the Plantain Leaf. We went there for breakfast, and he was the perfect host encouraging us to try all the fresh and hot breakfast items. He seemed to really like his job, and almost took it to heart when I specified that the Dosa was good. He was quick to ask, 'what about the rest?' He ensured that we had our fill and was keen on us having us eat more! Its the same kind of warmth and hospitality you get when you visit a friend or a relative for lunch or dinner.

Besides, the resort has a nice Coffee Lounge next to green paddy fields. Sip some hot nice sweetened Coorg coffee and enjoy the serenity any time of the day or night. Or, get some french pressed coffee stirred up in your cottage itself, sit out in the balcony and enjoy!

The nature resort is beautifully mapped with clusters of trees and plants. Some of these clusters include Pepper, Cherry, Mango, Coffee, Cinnamon and lots more. The resort takes care of the varieties of plants growing there and the large number of birds the green blanket houses.



Talking of birds, the resort has a great bird watching tour everyday that starts at around 6:30 in the morning. The mornings are beautiful, cold and misty. The guide Murthy, is another ever-smiling guy who is knowledgeable about birds. It was fascinating to see him whistle and generate responses from some birds! Besides bird watching, the resort also conducts a Forest Trail which is both fun and adventurous.



Few more gestures from the resort added to the great feeling I have for this place. I wanted a few clothes just dried and sent over while we toured through the resort. Prasad went out of his way to get them dried and also properly ironed at no extra cost and walked through the entire resort looking for us to get our permission to keep the clothes in our cottage!

One evening, the resort also gifted us a bottle of wine and a cake to celebrate our married life!

Also, we were to check out early morning at 6:30 and had asked for some breakfast to be arranged. They were more than willing to arrange for it. We found our breakfast immaculately packed and ready for us.

Another great point about this resort is, if you are taking your car along with a driver, they provide great boarding and lodging for the driver too at no extra cost! This is definitely a great way to ensure that their guests are happy and comfortable.

We had a nice stay for 3 days. The swimming pool is nice and serene. If you are a couple and would like more privacy and more calm, try the couples swimming pool. I suggest these pools are temperature regulated though! The water made us cold, but the warm sunbath after the swim made up for it.

Well, coming to the expenses, Orange County is a little on the seemingly-expensive side, and you may feel the big cavern in your pocket when you pay the entire amount in advance. However, once you reach the place, you really don't feel the pangs of having paid whatever you paid. At least we didnt. The place, the people, the warmth, the nature, and the hospitality will definitely sweep you off your feet.

Overall, the hospitality of the resort is great. No wonder the place has already carved a niche in the industry. I believe its a unique hospitable culture imbued in every employee that makes the place so much more than just a resort. If Im going back to Coorg, it'll be Orange County for me!

History as a Subject

How many of you would like to differ with this statement: 'I HATE History' ? Not many, I guess. Maybe a few will. But, only a few. The rest of us will surely want to scream even x years after school that we HATE history. I remember my history-studying years in school: I'd never, never think of touching my History book; let alone studying. Every history examination, every single one of them would give me heebee jeebies, and I'd feel as if I was eating dirt when I had to study the subject. The evening before every history exam, I'd have a crying session, around 30 mins, when I'd just remain quiet and feel the tides coming out of my eyes, eventually inundating my face. I'd refuse to look at anybody, but would make sure I was giving sly glances at my elder brother because he would help me with every other subject. But he wouldn't budge when it came to History. Finally, I'd howl, simply because I dreaded not being able to remember when Alexander had become the king, or how many gates the Sanchi Stupa has, and because I'd feel extremely unprepared. To confirm, this would happen only with History. Eventually, my mom would come to my rescue. She would console me, and read out every single sentence to me. Every single sentence from every chapter! I'd just follow her once and by some cosmic grace, I'd be well prepared in just a few hours. To answer follow-up questions in your mind, I would invariably score the highest in the subject.

Now I wonder, what was it about the subject that I dreaded (read 'hated') most? I also tried to figure out if I was the only one to feel this way or were there other folks too. Thankfully, I was happy to know there were lots of people like me out there who disliked the subject. Yes, lots of them. When I take a deep dive into why I hated it, I realize there were quite a few factors:
1. As a kid, I really didnt want to read about kings and their administrative system and their caste system and their financial system and their architectural abilities and strategic moves because I never realized what good came to me of it.
2. Though the books fed me with all kinds of dimensions of the domes, the gates, the stairs, the shapes of the temples, I could never visualize the architecture of temples and the innumerable structures built. Somehow I couldnt.
3. The only focus of studying history was because it was a subject set by ICSE, CBSE, State boards etc etc. Never was the beauty of the past highlighted. I knew about the security setup of Ashoka, but could never identify with the wars he fought, or why all of a sudden he despised the battlefield.

What I strongly feel about the subject now is that its not just a subject. Its a beautiful yarn that can be woven quite well, and quite beautifully. Id love it if my teachers would've not really opened the book and read para by para but told me in a story-like manner how Akbar or Jahangir fought battles, how Buddha attained Nirvana, or why Bahadur Shah Zafar wasnt as strong a Mughal ruler like his predecessors. Rather than being forced to gulp down these from pages in a book, had the education system been such that these were told in the form of stories, I'm sure a lot of students would love this subject.

In addition, rather than mentioning that the Mughal architecture had x, y, z kind of structures, a real field excursion will definitely help students in understanding the architectural styles of empires. Who would want to read about the dimensions of the Buland Darwaza, but show this lofty structure to students and tell them why it was built and why it was so called, and I'm sure the visual appeal will help students remember details. I mean taking students out for excursions to some of the most imposing and living structures and explaining the who's and the why's to them instead of asking them to learn by rote. Keeping the financial factor aside, I wonder how much the 'concept' schools of today think of how to better the education strategies.

BTW, just to let you all know, my mom has a Masters in Indian History. :)

Perfume Shopping

Couldnt keep this dialogue between the hero (of my book) and the saleswoman.

The hero goes to buy a perfume.
Saleswoman: What kind of fragrance do you like Sir, musk, aquatic, woody or..?
Hero: Umm, something really strong that can cover my f**t.

The girl shudders, her jaws drop, but somehow she gathers herself.
"Ahem, let me show you some of the brands we carry Sir..."
He cuts her short "You know, something, something really strong and long lasting. Which one do you think will suit me? And mind you, I want to test it, here, now."
"Yes Sir, I will help you test it."
"Ha ha, I doubt you will be able to help me with it."
"Then Sir, I suggest you go to the trial room and try it out!" She replied, visibly irritated.

...
...
...
Few more dialogues after which the guy buys a perfume. True to his traits, he buys the brand Fcuk.

Facebook fad about Bra Colors! Red, Black or Zebra Stripes?

We all must have seen the Facebook status messages mentioning colors. Red, Blue, Black, Silver, Gold and what not! Thats the latest fad. And innocent creatures who never really understood what they signify have been trying haplessly to find out the meaning of these colorful mumbo-jumbo of statuses! To give you a light-humored joke, there are males who never understood what these colors meant, and they put up colors as their status messages, only to try and hide under their desks when they were laughed at by friends! Apparently, its like a mystery which has been decoded and posted on Yahoo Answers and all over the internet too. Again apparently, its about spreading awareness about breast cancer. And how is this been done? Female facebook users are supposed to mention these colors and spread the word among their lady friends.

I wonder: Just creating an aura of mystery about some arbitrary colors and gathering 'oohs' and 'aahs' about them are by no means a way to spread awareness about breast cancer! Also, going by the kinds of comments on these status messages, if the motive is also to show how bold you by trying to create a peek-a-boo visual imagination of a colorful bra on a public forum, trust me, its not boldness to a nanoparticle! Let me ask you, Where is the boldness if you just mention 'red,' 'maroon,' 'fuschia,' 'Vibgyor,' 'tiger stripes' as your status? I'd rather say the 'Pink Chaddi' campaign was bold.

I dont even think the actual motive of spreading awareness is anywhere noticeable! Where is the awareness if my lady colleague comes to me and asks me 'what is this hoopla with colors as facebook status messages?' Maybe 30% of the women don't even know what this is all about! It appears to be just the farcical peer pressure of displaying how fashionable you are.

If awareness about a constant raging disease has to be spread, get up and gear up for it. Go to schools, talk about it, set up ways to have free testing for rural women, spread the awareness about it in your own home first. Its a noble cause. If you want to spread awareness about it, care for yourself and dont create a patchwork of colored status murals on facebook.