A weekend at an 800 years old haveli in Katha village — two hours away from Delhi.
Had a two day trip with friends- to this boutique property about 2 hrs drive away from Delhi in UP.
Leaving the bustle of Delhi behind once we got off the Wazirabad Bridge and got onto the Bandh road was itself a relief. Not withstanding the “kaccha’ — “dhool ridden — somewhat bumpy route our patience was rewarded amply when we got onto the narrow elevated road spanned by green and yellow fields of growing mustard, paddy and sugarcanes- We were lucky the only traffic we encountered was of ladies carrying firewood on their heads, boys herding sheep and goats and a stray dog here and there — a face to face with the tempo trucks or bullock carts may have resulted in a bit of to and fro while we passed each other on the narrow stretch. Also not a stretch we would have been comfortable travelling on post evening in darkness!!
The road opened out to the Sahranpur road and within a few hundred metres we glimpsed the Shikwa Haveli peeping over the rooftops of the surrounding village. From the massive 11 tonne doorway through which we entered, to the marble fountains and the haveli built around the central courtyard overlooked by latticed balconies all around and up two storeys the Haveli took us back to bygone eras.
The Haveli is owned by a Semi Retired UN Diplomat Shariq and his wife Alka (retired International journalist) .Shariq whose ancestors were Quazi’s to the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th Century had their seat of justice at this Haveli — the room with its original walls and roof is part of the restored haveli till date. Shariq and Alka — In a span of 14 years renovated and restored the haveli which had fallen in ruins and today it is their residence which they share with the public as a homestay.
6 rooms, 3 lounges, a tea- cigar room, a mini gym, a huge terrace with a covered jharokha where one can sit to enjoy the view of the Yamuna in the far horizon (we could just about make it out)- the haveli boasted a “tehkhana”(may have been an underground escape tunnel for the residents) as well. All over the haveli are scattered artifacts and pieces of art lovingly collected from travels abroad and proudly displayed by the owners and hosts at the property. We of course, being 14 people took over the entire Haveli . And As Shariq and Alka — in their welcome speech mentioned- “Please consider this your Home for your stay: — -we literally did that.
There was a lounge — connecting two bedrooms — the Africa Lounge. (it had furniture and artefacts and paintings all depicting Africa in some manner — sketches of zebras, giraffes, etc, animal print cushions, carved- African art- furniture etc.) In contrast the European Lounge had deep settees and comfy sofas with floral designs and paisley prints-( chintz? — giving a European touch)- the Tea room had various teapots and coffee pots in different shapes from all over the world (the Diplomat collected stuff from all over in postings abroad :)- all on display through out the house) Anyway — back to the Africa Lounge.
It was just as well we were the only guests for the weekend as we just made this lounge ours and this became our common area. First thing that we did — typical our holiday gang 🙂 -was to set up the bar (!!!!) and to take the “BEFORE “ pictures. The haveli had a designated area of the BAR- with a fridge and soft drinks soda etc there. Guests were expected to have their drinks in this designated area.(Rule 1) To comply we did have a drink each _ pre lunch there — but we discovered all their sodas and soft drinks had passed their expiry dates (maybe as the owners themselves DO NOT drink too much they never did notice when the expiry dates had gone past for these !!!) Good for us that we believe in carrying our own 🙂 and obviously after this we drank only in the Africa lounge from our own bar — Rule 1 broken
Anyway second house rule was NOT to Lock Doors — Fair enough — we were the only residents besides the owners themselves and 2 staff — helpers- who hardly came to areas where the rooms were (there being no room service) But as our bar was set up and our bags etc were in the Africa lounge — we had to lock up when we went for lunch. Lady of the house saw this and Immediately ran up to the lounge to tell (were locking up) Not to lock and then she saw THE BAR !!!! and she could not get over it. For the entire day she kept mentioning the liquor to each one of us –separately — as and when she caught hold of us by ourself. — so that was rule 2 broken as well
Rule 3 was that tea/ coffee / cookies would be at designated area of the haveli through out the day and guests were expected to have it there itself.
We of course want our tea/ coffee where ever we are sitting — — the first day it was on the roof pavilion — -so when we were not served the tea coffee samosa’s on the roof –we simply carried the stuff upstairs after it was served in the designated lounge!. The next day we were all sunning ourselves in their sports area — — so this time we had the tea served there :) — rule 3 broken
Rule 4 –read the instructions listed in all rooms — -its an old haveli with its own tantrums and desires and the guests should respect the haveli’s wishes — it being so Old 800 yrs old and unable to keep with the times — -Sounds fair and logical. I never did read them (I think tho’ some may have read them ) but we did not comply.
One of the rules was not to flush the toilet paper down the flush but to throw soiled tissue in the dustbin.!!!!!
You can imagine the reaction to this rule. By the way the rule was read only AFTER DISASTER had struck. Do not recall but one of us had gone to the loo-big job — -and tissue got stuck — the flush would not work — — tissue and other unmentionables did not get flushed out. Then we read and discuss and exclaim the RULE. The host lady — of course got the drain cleaned and all but felt we should have complied as this was how a lot of heritage properties in Europe dealt with toilet waste — in plastic bags !!!!- in todays time and age — seems kind of far fetched- even if that was the case some 30 years ago when they would have travelled the world.- so rule no 4 broken as well.
As if one incident was not enough on the second day we saw water coming out of one of the rooms (on ground floor) allocated to us on investigating it — the reason was the drains of the bathroom above (also allocated to us) the reason — -one guess — -you are tight the TOILET PAPER flushed down the shit pot. the comment being “ of course –I have been using the same since yesterday- I had no problems with flushing it down.”
See what I meant by saying we really made it our home!!!!!!
Ok so back to the haveli and what we did there — — the rooms were COLD — — the architecture of old constructions typically have a huge courtyard in the centre with rooms all around it — — read lots of light and air in all rooms and in winters read that as cold air and hardly any sun.The morning haze was so thick that at best the haveli boundary walls could be seen and nothing beyond- and this was from the terrace. Apparently in winters the mist can lasts for a couple of hours. We , however were lucky enough to get the sun around noon which lasted till it set- on both days. Anyway the gas heaters that are provided were great during the day and we just required one for the lounge — -our adda and that with the gas heaters was really comfortable. At night — all beds had these electric blankets — which ran on generators — in case the electricity went off (electricity typically goes for 8–10 hrs each day) and these blankets made the beds so warm and toasty we did not want to get up!! In fact on the last day the boys — -fully dressed and ready to go –got back into bed –while they waited for the rest of the gang to get ready to leave.
The food — -was divine. The lunches and dinner we had were delicious — — Indian cuisine with a royal Mughal touch — I think. Recipes were handed down Shariq’s family (maybe) and in deed the taste was very different from the way the same stuff is made by us. In fact biryani was served thrice — — chicken and egg and vegetarian and all three tasted distinctly different from each other. We had recently stayed at the Neemrana (last month) and I can say that the food taste was better that what we had at the Neemrana. In general — the food is prepared in olive oil and with the best of ingredients — our host was a diabetic and picky on food quality and they ensured guests were serves the same food that the host family would themselves eat.
Breakfast , however was a different thing — — continental –just bread and jam and butter and boiled eggs –with tea and coffee — — totally uninspiring. But next day — -when we shared our unhappiness with them and gave them enough advance notice of our preferences- they served us omelettes (egg whites ) as we had requested. In a nut shell — if we want some thing other than the fixed menu — we need to give advance notice and if they can do it they will . Key word being ADVANCE NOTICE.
Recreation — -beside lazing in the sun and eating moong phali and gajak and playing cards — — was badminton and cricket (mainly the guys) and a walk to the Yamuna- about a km and a half away. Even tho’ we were told the river is cleaner and bluer here than it is in Delhi — -it really was not — -tho’ it was a nice walk thru sugar cane fields. The river seemed so still that unwavering reflections of things around were seen on the river surface. As this stretch seemed to be the favourite bathing spot for the village buffaloes there was a lot of dung lying around — — apparently they too had a flushing problem:0 (snicker snicker) The river though, not too wide at this point probably had currents running thru as the villagers had tied a thick steel cord across the river to ferry people across by pulling the boat along this steel cord.
In the far distant shore of the river a huge hoard of buffaloes entered the river and crossed across — for far it almost looked as if a small mud island was lazily meandering cross the river. Too far for a picture though Aneesh tried his hardest to capture the scene.
The minor (??) hiccups of the bathroom drains and flushes with pressure issues not withstanding The Shikwa Haveli is a place to escape to if an escape to quiet and peace is what you want, if sun is what you are looking for in the winters or simply a place to unwind and reclaim yourself. And Alka and Shariq are good hosts and do their best to make their guests feel welcome — -even the unruly and disobedient ones like us.