WFH: Work From Holiday

Radhika Tandon travels to an Uttarakhand resort with her kids as state borders open up. Atali Ganga not only defines the new normal for hospitality in a post-COVID world, but also paves the way for an alternative lifestyle where work, online schooling, and holidaying go hand in hand.

- Radhika Tandon

IT’S 3.45 AM, AND I’M DOING a pre-travel house check. Appliances unplugged, chargers packed, windows locked—we’re going straight from four months of house-arrest to a road trip, and mixed in with the excitement is anxiety and guilt. Sharing our plans with friends and family has garnered mixed reactions, from envy to worry to outright disapproval. As far as travel is concerned, the world is divided into two camps. One views travel for its own sake as foolish and frivolous. The other concedes that life should go on, albeit with caution.

The resort we are headed to, Atali Ganga, is among the first to reopen in this relatively untouched valley of the Upper Ganga, about 30 kilometres north of Rishikesh. For now, I’m focussed on the first step. I want to avoid pit stops by minimising time on the road. Hence the departure at this ungodly hour, which I am assured will get us there in about four hours. We leave on time. Whether this excursion is brave or foolish, I’m about to find out.