OyoRoomsReview

Seeing that bed, I wanted to forget the world and take a power nap. Theres something about perfectly made beds and white sheets that calls me to them and this  was one of those moments. I won’t be lying if I say I tried to take a nap, but was too excited to fall asleep. Then we had to get up and get moving, the sun calling us for an adventure with temperatures rising as high as 45 degree Celsius. Can you imagine the kind of willpower it took to venture out, leaving an air-conditioned room like that?

(c) Akanksha Dureja

(c) Akanksha Dureja

A check-in selfie, applying a lot of sunscreen and drinking lots of water later, I started my journey . The spirits were high, but so were the temperatures. With the help of our Oyo caps, sippers and umbrellas we decided to paint the town red with our selfies. Here’s a picture of Gurgaon Bloggers, all set to explore the city.

(c) Akanksha Dureja

Now, we had to explore Gurgaon; A city which we thought we know like the back of our hands. Gurgaon’s history stared me in the face and I took a moment to let it all sink. Once upon a time, Gurgaon was Delhi’s step-sister who was in vicinity but always neglected because of it’s lineage. Today, Gurgaon is an unapologetic Jat-land with a strange mix of high rise buildings and poor basic infrastructure. Now called the Millennium City, it makes me wonder about the journey this city had to go through, to reach where it is today. It sure is one hell of a story which began with just a few farmlands, simple people, tractors but a hell lot of money. Not many would believe that Gurgaon was never what it is today. The story inspires me but also leaves a hole in my heart. How did Gurgaon manage to become the city with the largest number of Malls is a thought to ponder. It is another fact that beyond the hustle bustle and glitter of those glass buildings there is a soft soul which is almost always over-powered by the crude remarks and rash behavior of its so called natives. This has made the world forget that once upon a time, there was no anger and people were not always pulling a trigger of a tamancha for smallest of reasons. They really were simple people before their lands were bought and converted into corporates. But, that’s a story for another day. 

With my mind still pondering over the story of Gurgaon, I ventured out. I took a ride in a rick-shaw after a really long time, so decided to take a few clicks. The rickshaw-vala-bhaiya was from Bihar, and here we don’t discriminate against them. Rather, we offer them a glass of water when they drop us home in blazing temperatures. This postcard reminds me of this rickshe-wala-bhaiya who was capable of using marvels of technology to connect to his people, back in Bihar. Gurgaon empowered him to be able to make ends meet. I was starting to feel proud of Gurgaon, first time in my life.

(c) Akanksha Dureja

When you’re in Gurgaon, you’re never far away from a mall. So, I headed straight to one to have a scrumptious meal. If reincarnation is for real, I want to be born in China. So, here’s my predictable meal when I am eating outside. Gurgaon is a food lover’s paradise with many a fine dine restaurants as well as equally impressive Delhi inspired street-food.

There’s no way I was going to miss an Ice-Cream. It didn’t take long to decide that I was going with Belgian Chocolate and the man at the counter confirmed that it was a good choice. We got talking and I must say he was surprised why a lone girl was trying to start a conversation. He hailed from Uttaranchal, but was happy to work here because the mall is
‘air-conditioned’. Some stories leave us mesmerised and his was one of those. He didn’t mind working at hot and humid Gurgaon because of the air conditioning! His wife and kid live in a small hill-town of Uttarakhand but visit him often. They like the hills much better than this urban jungle. The wife works at a school and both of them want to give their four year old daughter a good education so she could stand up on her own feet. He doesn’t mind living far away from his family, as long as he is saving enough to fund their needs and the child’s education. There was a twinkle in his eye when he talked about the little girl and it made me realise how much he loved her. Guess he loved her enough to stay away from them so he could fund her education in a good school when time comes. I again created a postcard to remember his story by. 

And then I chanced upon something which made me feel I wasn’t in Gurgaon. These huge posters of movies from yesteryears were a treat to watch. Gurgaon is as filmi as it can get. I decided to be a part of a poster too and I think I’ve done a great job sharing space with Arshad Warsi. For a while I lost track and pondered over how these movie posters have changed over the years from being painted by hand to all things digital. I should find out the story someday, but for now I am happy with this postcard where I share a frame with the biggies of Bollywood.

It was now time to explore other dimensions of Gurgaon. I never knew Gurgaon beyond the malls. I wanted to find a famous monument but even Google didn’t yield any results here. So, I concluded that Gurgaon’s malls are it’s monuments. They are it’s landmarks. They are the things we remember Gurgaon by!

I have always believed that Gurgaon is only about it’s malls and there is not much to the city except them. Thanks to OyoRooms, my myth is busted and now I know my city a little better. I explored, I saw, and now you’re reading it.

I found the road less travelled, and was amazed to see that there could be a street so peaceful here. If someone else told me that such a quiet corner existed in Gurgaon, I would never have believed. 

All the walking had left me exhausted and now I wanted to stop for a quick bite. What can be better than Golgappe? No, Pani-puri is not the same and don’t even get me started on how it is a really bad adaptation of something I love with all my heart.

There is no such thing as too-many gol-gappe.  After I had a fair share, I finally decided to make a move to find another Oyo property. OyoRooms Mobile App came in handy and I found one, not so far away. Another task accomplished.

The sun was about to set for the day but not before I took a sunset-selfie. It marked the end of a really eventful day;One that taught me that there’s much to a city than what meets the eye.

One has to listen to the inner voice of a place, to try to understand why and how it became what it is, in today’s world. Soon, it was time to stop the train of thoughts right there, and retire to our rooms for the night. I know, I am visibly tired in the picture but that didn’t stop me from posting one. The bed I was longing for throughout the day, was finally mine.

Since I still had a camera handy, I wanted to experiment and this is what the result came out to be. I am very proud of myself for picture below. I named it ‘The Play of Lights’

One thing I would like to stress here before ending this post is the hospitality displayed by OyoRooms. They made our stay really comfortable and were proactive in their approach. Given that these are budget accommodations, the standards were quite high and I am going to recommend them for your next trip out of town. To be really honest, the room was too good to be true for a budget accommodation. AC, TV, Wi-Fi , Complimentary Breakfast and prompt room-service are not the things which budget stays usually boast of. But, that is how OyoRooms is different from the rest. They don’t compromise on the quality of stay, and still are easy on the pocket.  

Twitter – @oyorooms