Atmantan- A holiday for the Mind And Soul. 

Over Diwali one tends to over indulge in most things be it going to parties to eating heavy food to over drinking and to gorging on delicious mithais. What does one do when faced with such temptations? So when my daughter Rashi suggested we go for a detox to Atmantan I agreed with great alacrity and I immediately felt less guilty. As most of you know it doesn’t take much persuasion for me to go on a holiday but I don’t really think this can be classified as a ‘holiday’ as my idea of a holiday is to go and relax and eat good food and drink nice wine and that is one thing we didn’t do!!!

Atmantan is a wellness resort which is nestled on a hill and overlooks the pristine Mulshi Lake. The resort spans 42 acres and is located in Mulshi, a hill station close to Pune & Mumbai.The resort can host about 120 clients and was at 100% occupancy just now. There are a total of about 400 staff working here to keep the resort up and running. The weather was beautiful as it was chilly in the morning and evening but the sun was quite strong during the day. The rooms are all located at different levels at the side of the hill so offer beautiful views and I loved sitting out on the balcony just soaking in the view. The first thing that strikes you when you enter the resort is the silence. You just hear faint sounds of chanting and a few bells ringing. You are totally away from the hustle and bustle of the city and visitors who come in their cars have to park them at the reception area. Inside you either walk or are transported around in electric golf carts. 

People come here with different goals- some want to detox, some to lose weight, some to address a chronic problem and some just come for a break from their harried lives. There were visitors here from all over the world… not just India. I spoke to people from England, Kenya, Australia and California. It truly is an International gathering and everyone is super friendly. There are also a lot of solo travellers who all seem to make friends very easily. 

I was given the option of two treatments a day and then there are a host of of classes that run throughout the day ranging from yoga and pranayama first thing in the morning to another session of yoga and meditation at night. In between there are Zumba, circuit training, core building, trx, stretching, aqua aerobics, spinning and I’m sure I have missed out a few. They even have cooking classes where they show you how they prepare some of the food they serve. You have to juggle your time between your treatments and these classes so Rashi and I would sit every evening and try and coordinate our timings so we could at least meet for our meals. 

On the first day you are keen to try everything so I went crazy rushing around from one activity to another and then I also walked a lot in between. However since we are on the side of a hill there are an awful lot of undulations and in some places the roads are very steep and I was struggling at times. I am used to walking on flat surfaces so I found it a bit too challenging so from the next day I would walk downhill and call for the buggy when I needed to go up!! Some would call that cheating but I call it common sense because I was so exhausted by the first  evening I was ready to pack my bags and go home!!

The massages are all excellent and there is a huge list to choose from. I find that the ayurvedic massages are probably the best as these really relax you but be prepared to be doused in oil. I used to get exhausted just scrubbing this oil off… that was like another exercise activity!!!

Now onto the food. So I was prescribed a grain free diet so basically I couldn’t have any wheat, rice or grains. At each meal I would go to the dining area and excitedly ask for the menu of the night ! They usually used to offer one soup out of a choice of 2 followed by a salad and then a main. There would be either Indian which used to consist of 2 small grain free rotis and a vegetable such as palak, mixed vegetables or baigan bharta. For the Continental there would be like baked vegetables or some type of paneer or broccoli rice with romanesco sauce. I usually had Indian at lunch and Continental at dinner.  The food is bland but relatively flavourful and even-though I don’t eat a lot of chilli the Marwari in me craved for my achaar and papad ! Also there was less salt in everything which of course is good for me since I suffer from hypertension and I must make it a point to stop adding salt to everything. The cooking medium used is ghee which is another thing I had to get used to since ghee is one thing I just don’t like but beggars can’t be choosers so I would quietly eat everything. That is another thing I shall change when I get home… maybe not ghee but definitely no refined oils. The vegetables were all mostly blanched and still had a bite to them which I really enjoyed. Rashi always managed to get a grain free dessert which ranged from coriander laddoos to coconut laddoos to raw banana cake which she hated!! 

At 10.30am and 4.30pm the doctor prescribed you either fresh orange juice, watermelon juice, ABC juice, green juice, coconut water, hibiscus tea, soaked nuts or a bowl of fresh fruit. Everyone used to wait with bated breath hoping it was something more substantial than the tea. Seeing people’s expressions was hilarious. I used to be embarrassed to be Indian at times because I think it is in our nature to ignore any queue and just push ones way to the front.. extremely embarrassing!!

So I have given you all the details of the place… now let me give you my personal views. Please remember that these are personal and other people may have different opinions but since this is my blog I should write what I felt!! It is definitely a nice place to give your body a break. The setting is beautiful and the place is reasonably well maintained. The rooms and bathrooms are a good size with a balcony to sit outside. There is a slight shortage of golf carts so in peak times you have to wait for upto 15 minutes for one. In the ladies changing room there are only 3 shower cubicles so here again there is usually a queue. The dining area is nice especially the outdoor portion but this only has about 10 tables so you have to reach early to bag one of these. This is my second visit to Atmantan so I obviously do like it but this time I think I didn’t enjoy it as much as my first time partly due to the fact that I was finding it hard to get around and that irritated me. Although I got a bit fed up of the food towards the end I was happy that I managed on this grain free diet and this is something I will definitely try when I get home. I am feeling lighter and less bloated and I have managed to lose a couple of kilos which is not as much as I thought I’d lose but I suppose I shouldn’t complain. However for me personally I think I am just too stuck in my ways… just the mention of D from Diet gives me a migraine so I  had a bad headache from the second day onwards which I have not been able to shake off despite taking my medicines. 

My doctor , Dr Elvis was very thorough . He had told me that if I feel a migraine coming to message him and they would try some Accupressure and even on his day off he immediately informed someone to contact me and try and help. He also personally did my acupuncture treatments and he was so gentle and caring when he had to use the thicker needles in a few places which actually were very painful but he just kept profusely apologising for the pain I forgot about it!Rashi really enjoyed herself and would happily have extended her stay but due to the full occupancy this wasn’t possible. As for me.. I think 5 days was enough and I started missing my home. However it is definitely a good experience and is something we should all consider doing… we can all surely take off one week in a year to devote to our bodies and our well being.