“This place is straight out of a storybook!”
This is what every guest who visits Kudrat, a boutique homestay in the Tirthan Valley of Himachal Pradesh, thinks. Host Sudhir Nehru (44) agrees. Named after their daughter, Kudrat is a labour of love by him and his wife, Bhawana Koundal. It enjoys a beautiful prequel journey — which has become Sudhir’s favourite story to tell.
To hear it, you’ll have to visit the adjacent forest, where he enjoys his evenings in a small clearing of the land. It’s paradoxically quiet here. Even in the silence, there is a cacophony — the river and the birds never stop chatting. Kudrat is a utopian vision come true; one that Sudhir says involved three years and a lot of “gut feelings”.
And here’s where he begins his tale.
‘I wanted to live in the mountains’
There should be a signboard somewhere urging guests to look right and left while at Kudrat. If they don’t, they’ll miss the red fox, flying squirrel, mountain goat, and leopard, who are regulars here.
“As a Kashmiri born in Nagaland, I loved the mountains. But engineering took me to the city,” Sudhir begins. The corporate hustle shoehorned him into a vicious cycle of work, rigidly structured weekends, and a silent hope that Mondays would take a rain check.
But, every story has a plot twist. Sudhir and Bhawana’s was in 2012 when they were bitten by the backpacking bug. “We set out with two bags, travelled across India and Europe for months at a stretch, only returning to our home in Delhi a couple of times in between,” Sudhir says. These two years coaxed the mavericks into revisiting their mountain dream.
And in 2014, when they stumbled upon this piece of land, they fell in love with it. The deodar forests seemed infinite, inviting them to bound into their open arms. And the couple did, purchasing land from a Himachali local (who is now an integral part of the Kudrat staff). At the time they presumed it would make for “a good holiday home”. But, the birth of their baby girl segued this idea into a full-time homestay concept. They named her and the home Kudrat (which translates to ‘nature’ in English), and knew the two needed Mother Nature to thrive.
A love story spun between wood and stone
How do you plan to spend your time at Kudrat? You can trek through the villages — Gushaini marks the starting point for a hike into the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), a UNESCO World Heritage Site; visit the Chhoie Waterfall or have lunch with the locals. But if calm is what you’re heading here for, the cedar trees, the birdsong, and the Tirthan River will be more than happy to oblige. They are excellent gatekeepers, barricading the raucous of the city, allowing only nature’s rhythm to filter to you.
Sudhir credits a deep respect for the land for his eco-conscious building ideas. “Sustainability per se was not on our minds. We knew we wanted to build using lakdi pathar (sticks and stones); we were keen on a village house,” he adds that at the time, this proved a challenge. “Back then, there wasn’t a road here, we had plenty of electricity issues.”
But gazing at the completed Wood House — built in the traditional kath kuni (traditional building style native to the Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh) style and cocooned by more than 100 deodar trees — validated their efforts. The cottage is the perfect sanctuary for a literary hermit, its library corner and open outdoor fireplace lend it a cosy aesthetic. Each room overlooks the mountains, while the Braag Suite (named after the leopards), is a two-story room with an attic.
The Wood House’s twin, the Stone House, is slightly more modern with a load-bearing RCC structure, architectured with mud plaster and rocks. Bhawana explains that the homes are adept at dealing with weather changes. “Wood House is an ideal house for all weathers. The Stone House was made keeping the guest experience in mind. The glass skylight ensures it’s bright and lit up with natural light the entire day. The wood, stone walls, stone roof, and mud plaster help the homes stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter.”
Feast on the traditional dham
Bhawana is thrilled to have traded the cubicle-bound life for her new office of green. In the Tirthan Valley, the only deadlines are those of catching sunrises and sunsets. “Corporate life used to be 10 hours of work. Now life has become beautiful, and slow. I have a lot of time on hand. The entire journey has taught Sudhir and me patience.”
The relationship with nature has to be reciprocal, she insists. Ever since they set foot on the land, the couple has been regurgitating traditional concepts, whether through architecture or food. The dham (a traditional feast served in Himachal Pradesh) is an example.
The Kullvi dham includes siddu (steamed wheat flour bun stuffed with lentil filling) with ghee and chutney, sepu vadi (steamed and deep-fried lentil dumplings), rajma (curry made with kidney beans), kadi (thick, tangy gravy made with yoghurt, gram flour, and spices), madhra (curd-based legume curry), khatta (a sour gravy made with dried green mangoes), local saag (dish cooked with leafy greens and spices), telua moong dal (a dish made with green gram and spices) local pickle: lingad (fiddlehead fern) or apple, dry fruit chutney, rice or chapati (Indian flatbread), and chilldo (pancake made of chestnut or jaggery rice).
The ingredients for these are grown in the local farms. Some other classics at Kudrat include homemade jams, poori aloo (crispy deep-fried bread served with spiced potato curry), chola bhatura (chickpea gravy eaten with Indian flatbread), and stuffed parathas (Indian flatbread).
Sustainability is key, not just in the food but also in the practices on the land. A pond harvests 40,000 litres of rainwater, which the couple channels into the homestay’s daily water needs. Waste is segregated consciously. “Wet waste is directed to the livestock, while we send dry waste to a plant in Manali, which recycles it,” Sudhir explains. Refillable toiletries and no plastic are some other norms. A beautiful promise to nature, indeed.
Sudhir is almost at the end of his tale. Fascinating, isn’t it? Now, it’s time for you to leave the clearing of land, proceed to Kudrat, and experience every detail in the flesh.
Edited by Arunava Banerjee; Pictures courtesy Sudhir Nehru
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