Worldwide Woodstock Day

We celebrate Worldwide Woodstock Day on the third Saturday in October. Gatherings are held all over the world to recognize this special place. We've been here in Mussoorie for many of them, and we've always had a dinner here, usually at someone's home. This year we decided to have the local one in Dehra Dun, hoping to pull in some of the alumni who live in that area. More than a dozen of us went down the hill. Nine of us were in two taxis that left at 10:00. Since the lunch wasn't until 1:00, we had a little shopping time. Judy and I went to FabIndia, one of my favorite stores, but I didn't find anything that suited me. We arrived at the mall where the Tavern restaurant is located about noon. (This restaurant is owned by the same people as the one in Mussoorie.) We found a shop called Westside that had lots of good clothing, both Indian and some western. I found two kurtas that I liked.

The mall was surprising. I knew that many malls have been built in every city in India for some time, but they are not the places that we generally go. The Crossroads Mall was huge and very modern, with escalators and a lift (maybe there were stairs, but not in any obvious location). There were a Body Shop, a Jockey store, and quite a few others. The first picture below is a view from the upper floor showing two escalators. I was standing at the top of the other two. Oddly enough, the down and up escalators were on opposite sides, so we had to walk around the perimeter to get to the next floor up. Maybe it was deliberate to encourage shopping! 

Food Court

Looking down at the Cafe Coffee Day kiosk in the centre

The Tavern laid on a delicious buffet meal. My favorite was the Kadhai Paneer, fresh cheese cubes in an onion and green pepper gravy. The dessert was phirni, a type of rice pudding. It was beautifully decorated with nuts.

Alumna Smitha with her daughter Karishma. Smitha was in upper elementary/junior high school when we taught her. They live in Northern Virginia now.

Two of the three Taylors there -- Alison and Ginny, both students back in the day and sisters of our friend Peggy. Their brother Fred and his wife were also there; he's heading for the Class of 1969 reunion held here this week.

I took a couple of pictures out of the car window as we were driving out of Dehra Dun. They show some of the typical buildings and shops along the way.

Dan had decided to ride a motorcycle down for the lunch, along with Marcus and Alex. They went out Tehri Road to the Sirkanda Devi Temple beyond Dhanaulti and down a fairly new road from there. It came out somewhere near Sahastradhara. They had estimated about two to two and a half hours for the ride, but it ended up taking four hours. They arrived at the restaurant just in time to pose in the group photo and then eat after the rest of us left.