Gorgeous girls in HImachal Pradesh…. They are Nayana, Mala, Geetha, Salma, Lovleen, Reenu, Anjali, Shalini, Sandhya and Shobha! All believe in travelling together in friendship and in sisterhood which endures through the joys and sorrows of fleeting life

For the Gorgeous Girls getting on in years is no problem as long as the mind is evergreen and the body willing to move
—Text by Shalini Luniya & Images by Shobha Patel

THIS is a story of a group of women who call themselves “Gorgeous Girls” who make it for a holiday every now and then to catch up and bond with one another. It’s an idea whose time has come. Women need to do this.
This time the Gorgeous Girls are on a Himachal Pradesh mountain holiday. Where there are eight of us in a group of working professionals in media, film production, journalism, advertising, communications, medicine…and many still working. What brings us together is our eccentricities and idiosyncrasies. We are each our own person but we come together as a crazy bunch all ready for fun…where age is no barrier, we’re all 60 years plus, plus.
Some of us have been friends for decades — bonded over the children in school but became travel buddies from 2010 onwards when we came up with this bright idea to travel together for a holiday. So far we have travelled together in a group to Bali, Malaysia, Croatia, Amritsar, McLeodgunj, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Kazinranga, Landour…These trips are pure fun…where food, real food, is on top of the menu and we are always trying to sniff out local cultural flavours. There’s always someone rummaging through decrepit antique shops in local market to fish out an old oddity with a history. And through it all we end up discovering that the child is us is still active and kicking.
These are usually 10 days trips which are never tedious. All done at an easy pace to accommodate our creaking knees. Each day is well-planned where we do fun stuff as a group but with the flexibility to do what interests us individually – we celebrate birthdays if any and this time one of us wanted to celebrate the 100th birthday of her father.
Like in Bali, while some of us indulged in a Balinese massage, Sandhya, the artistic one amongst us, got herself enrolled in a batik class and got herself a certificate! End of the day soirees in our hotel rooms are so much fun where we exchange the blips and serendipity moments of the day.

Right now on a trip to the mountains of Himachal, we are recharging for the coming Diwali festivities. Food, shopping, trekking, meditation and spa treats, temple hopping and discovery of British influences in Shimla and Chail and Mashobra have been the highlights. From the choice of quaint heritage hotels to delighting in the best pahadi cuisine, it’s all about searching and finding and exulting in the experience.
A typical response from people when they see us as a group is a thumbs up: “Wow! It’s so wonderful that you’ll do this!” Always in awe and almost envious.