Sanctum of solace

Entrepreneur Karishma Manga Bedi shares the joy of solitude she experiences by the Ganga at her mountain home nestled in the mystical hills of Rishikesh.

- Arman Khan

The former Raja of Tehri-Garhwal couldn’t have possibly predicted the pandemic, but he knew well of the therapeutic powers of his land. For one family, it became a space for hope and healing. “This land is quite exceptional on its own,” says entrepreneur Karishma Manga Bedi. “It was the place where spiritual guru Anandamayi Ma had spent quite a bit of time and she’d given the property the name Anand Kashi, which roughly translates to: light of inner bliss.” The maternal grandfather of Manga Bedi’s husband had subsequently purchased the land from the Raja and her mother-in-law then built the house that would carry the weight of its enchanting history on its sturdy beams.

The 37-year-old fondly remembers the first time she’d visited the house, barely months into her marriage. “I could literally see all my troubles disappear the moment I stepped into the house. I knew I was in an exceptionally tranquil place,” she recollects. And this ancestral paradise has now been infused with a contemporary language of its own, making it an ideal retreat. The key, she explains, was finding meaning in the little rituals that hold a family together, the ones that reinforce love ever so gently.

SENSE OF BELONGING