The Story of Saraaya: A Dream Built in the Himalayas

- Saraaya Glamps

There are some places you discover.

And then there are places you spend years searching for.

For me, Saraaya was the second kind.

Today, when a guest arrives at Saraaya and sees four private Safari suites surrounded by forest and mountains, it may look as though the property simply belongs here.

But getting here was anything but simple.

It took years to find this place.

Years to build it.

Years of disagreements, uncertainty, sacrifice, hard work and learning.

And behind Saraaya is a story that is just as important to me as the property itself.

This is that story.

Perhaps I Was Always Meant to Come Back to Himachal

There is something else about this story that I think is important.

I had my roots in Himachal.

Perhaps that is why, even after spending decades away, something kept pulling me back.

I spent much of my life in cities — including Dubai, Gurgaon and Chandigarh — and built my corporate career in insurance and banking.

I became accustomed to city life.

The meetings.

The deadlines.

The traffic.

The airports.

The convenience.

The predictable routine.

I also travelled extensively.

My wife, Sanam, and I experienced very different parts of the world — from the beaches of Seychelles, Mauritius, Phuket and the Maldives to destinations such as Kenya, Denmark, Spain and Hungary.

We saw beautiful places.

We experienced different cultures.

We stayed in beautiful hotels.

But after all those journeys, I began to understand something about myself.

The mountains felt different.

And Himachal felt different from even the other mountains I had seen.

Perhaps it was my roots.

Perhaps it was familiarity.

Perhaps it was simply where I was meant to be.

Whatever the reason, I increasingly felt drawn towards Himachal.

Eventually, I stopped asking myself where I wanted to travel next.

I started asking:

Where do I actually want to live?

I Started Exploring in 2019

In 2019, I started exploring Himachal more seriously.

I wasn’t looking for a conventional hotel location.

I wasn’t looking for a busy tourist destination.

I wasn’t looking for a property surrounded by restaurants, shops and traffic.

I was looking for something much harder to find.

A place that felt hidden.

A place surrounded by nature.

A place where the mountains weren’t simply a backdrop to the hotel.

The mountains had to be the experience.

It took me almost five years of exploring, searching, considering different possibilities and trying to understand exactly what I wanted before I found the place where I could finally see the dream becoming possible.

That place was Nauhali.

Looking back, perhaps I wasn’t simply searching for land.

Maybe I was finding my way back home.

Choosing Nauhali

When I found the location, I knew immediately that it wasn’t going to be easy.

And that should probably have been my first warning.

There was no proper road right up to the property.

Infrastructure was limited.

The last stretch was difficult.

Materials couldn’t simply be delivered to the site like they can in a city.

The location was remote.

And building anything here was going to require patience.

But those same difficulties were exactly what made the place attractive to me.

I didn’t want to build another resort in a crowded tourist centre.

I wanted somewhere where guests could genuinely feel away.

Away from traffic.

Away from buildings.

Away from noise.

Away from the constant movement of city life.

The remoteness wasn’t a problem I wanted to solve.

It was part of what I wanted to create.

Building Without a Road

This is probably the part of the Saraaya story guests see the least.

Today, a guest arrives, settles into a suite, puts their bags down and looks out at the mountains.

But before any of that could happen, the property had to be built.

And building in Nauhali was nothing like building in a city.

There was no proper road right up to the property.

Construction materials had to be moved through difficult terrain.

Cement.

Steel.

Wood.

Furniture.

Kitchen equipment.

Electrical equipment.

Everything had to reach a location that wasn’t easily accessible.

A significant amount of material had to be carried manually over the last stretch.

Something as simple as moving furniture could become a major logistical exercise.

A delivery that might take minutes in Gurgaon could take hours here.

Sometimes there was no shortcut.

You simply had to carry it.

And then carry the next thing.

And then the next.

That was the reality of building Saraaya.

Even Electricity Had to Be Built

Electricity was another major challenge.

In a city, most of us rarely think about where our electrical infrastructure comes from.

You switch on a light.

Charge your phone.

Turn on an appliance.

You expect it to work.

At Saraaya, even that had to be planned.

We had to arrange our own dedicated electrical transformer for the property.

Getting reliable electrical infrastructure into such a remote mountain location required planning, permissions, equipment, coordination and persistence.

It was another reminder that I wasn’t simply putting up four private Safari suites.

I was building the infrastructure around a dream.

Today, a guest doesn’t need to know about the transformer.

They should simply be able to switch on a light, sit comfortably in their safari suite and enjoy the evening.

But I remember what it took to make that simple convenience possible.

The Mountain Has Its Own Timetable

One of the biggest lessons Saraaya taught me is that the mountains don’t follow your schedule.

You can make a plan.

The weather can change it.

You can set a deadline.

The terrain can change it.

You can arrange materials.

Logistics can delay them.

You can think something will take a week.

It can take a month.

At first, I found that frustrating.

Eventually, I understood something:

The mountain doesn’t care about your deadline.

You either learn to work with it or spend your time fighting against it.

I learned to adapt.

To wait.

To solve the problem in front of me.

And to accept that some things simply take longer here.

The mountain taught me patience in a way city life never could.

Three Years of Building Saraaya

It took approximately three years to put Saraaya into shape.

Three years of construction.

Three years of logistics.

Three years of solving problems.

Three years of changing plans.

Three years of learning what it actually means to build in a remote mountain environment.

There were days when something as simple as getting a material to the property became a challenge.

There were infrastructure issues.

There were delays.

There were financial pressures.

There were moments when I wondered whether I had taken on more than I could handle.

And even today, I wouldn’t say the work is finished.

There are always things to improve.

Always something to maintain.

Always new ideas.

Always something the mountains teach us.

Saraaya continues to evolve.

But I Did Not Build Saraaya Alone

This is something I want to make very clear.

I may have been the person physically present at the property for much of the construction.

But I did not build Saraaya alone.

My wife, Sanam, played a much bigger role than people may realise.

And her contribution wasn’t simply about supporting me.

It became part of the property itself.

Sanam: The Person Behind Much of What You See

While I was spending years searching for the right place and eventually building Saraaya in Nauhali, Sanam remained in Gurgaon and held together the life we had built there.

While I was dealing with:

construction
labour
logistics
infrastructure
materials
electrical work
the uncertainty of building from scratch

Sanam was building and managing our life back in Gurgaon.

She was taking care of our son.

She was looking after his schooling.

She was managing our home and the day-to-day responsibilities of our family.

She carried the responsibilities that come with having a husband who was often away pursuing a dream with absolutely no guarantee of success.

There were many moments when I simply couldn’t be there.

She had to manage the distance.

The uncertainty.

The everyday responsibilities.

And the reality that the project kept taking longer and becoming more complicated.

That wasn’t easy.

She Didn’t Just Support Saraaya — She Helped Create It

There is another part of Saraaya’s story that deserves recognition.

A lot of what guests see when they enter Saraaya comes from Sanam’s vision.

The interiors.

The furniture.

The styling.

The décor.

The little details.

The way spaces are arranged.

The elements that make the safari suites feel warm rather than simply functional.

She has an eye for interiors that I don’t.

My mind was often occupied with questions like:

How do we get this here?

How do we build this?

How do we solve the electricity problem?

How do we move this material?

How do we make this work?

Sanam was often thinking:

How should this look?

How should this space feel?

What furniture belongs here?

What will make a guest remember this place?

That difference became important.

Because building a property isn’t only about putting four safari suites on a piece of land.

It is about creating a place that people remember.

And much of the visual identity of Saraaya came from her.

She Gave Saraaya Its Visual Soul

I sometimes describe our roles very simply:

I built the physical foundation.

Sanam helped give it character.

From furniture to interiors and the details that catch your eye, much of what makes Saraaya visually distinctive carries her influence.

Some decisions were made from Gurgaon.

Some through photographs and videos.

Some through long phone calls.

Some through disagreements.

Some through changing our minds after seeing something in the actual space.

But slowly, her vision and mine came together.

And Saraaya began to feel like the place we had imagined.

While I Was Building the Property, She Was Holding the Family Together

This part deserves to be said separately.

Building something in the mountains can look heroic from the outside.

But it also creates an absence at home.

While I was dealing with the physical challenges of Saraaya, Sanam was managing the responsibilities I couldn’t always be present for.

She was there for our son.

His schooling.

His routine.

Our home.

Our family.

The ordinary things that continue regardless of whether you are building a business or not.

My journey was visible.

Hers was quieter.

But both were necessary.

Saraaya could not have been built without both.

Why Only Four Suites?

Once the property started taking shape, another decision became important.

How big should Saraaya become?

I could have tried to build more.

More rooms mean more capacity.

More capacity can mean more revenue.

But that wasn’t the point.

I wanted Saraaya to remain intimate.

Private.

Quiet.

I wanted space between guests.

I wanted the forest to remain dominant.

I wanted people to look out from their safari suite and see trees and mountains rather than another building.

So we built four private Safari suites.

Four was intentional.

The limited number of suites isn’t something I see as a limitation.

It is part of the identity of Saraaya.

What a Meaningful Stay Means to Me

Building Saraaya also changed the way I think about a meaningful stay.

I used to associate a good stay more easily with things.

Better hotels.

Better rooms.

Better facilities.

Better service.

But living in the mountains changed the way I see it.

Comfort can be:

Privacy.

Space.

Silence.

Time.

A morning without an alarm.

A walk through the forest.

A conversation around a fire.

A night under the stars.

Watching the mountains change colour.

Having nowhere you need to be.

That became the kind of stay I wanted Saraaya to offer.

We Built a Place Where You Don’t Have to Do Everything

There are plenty of things guests can explore around Saraaya.

You can trek towards Kareri Lake.

You can explore Nauhali and Kareri villages.

You can visit Khabroo Waterfall.

You can explore Boh Valley and its trout farms.

You can discover traditional ghrats — water-powered mills.

You can learn how local wool is turned into shawls and blankets.

You can visit Tal Mata.

You can trek towards Rei Mata.

You can explore Dharamshala, McLeod Ganj and Dharamkot.

But I don’t encourage guests to try to do everything.

That would defeat the purpose.

Sometimes the Best Activity Is Nothing

If you come to Saraaya and spend the entire afternoon sitting in the forest, you’ve had a good day.

If you read a book for three hours, you’ve had a good day.

If you take a slow walk without a destination, you’ve had a good day.

If you sit around a bonfire and talk until late, you’ve had a good day.

If you wake up late, have breakfast slowly and do absolutely nothing else…

you’ve still had a good day.

Because Saraaya wasn’t created to give you another checklist.

It was created to give you space.

And Then There Is Dharamshala

I also don’t want guests to think that coming to Saraaya means avoiding everything else.

Dharamshala, McLeod Ganj and Dharamkot have their own character.

The cafés.

The markets.

Tibetan culture.

Norbulingka.

The cricket stadium.

Shopping.

Restaurants.

The energy of the tourist side of the region.

These places are approximately 1½ hours from Saraaya, depending on road and traffic conditions, and can be experienced as a day excursion if you leave early.

Spend the day there.

Explore.

Eat.

Shop.

Experience the energy.

And then come back to Saraaya.

Because that contrast is something I love.

The energy of Dharamshala.

Then the quiet of Nauhali.

Saraaya Is Intentionally Away From the Mainstream

I want to be honest about something.

Saraaya is not for everyone.

If you want a hotel in the middle of a busy tourist market, there are many properties better suited to you.

If you want nightlife outside your door, we’re not that.

If you want to walk from your room into a street full of restaurants and shops, we’re not that.

If you want a conventional resort experience, we’re probably not that either.

But if you want:

forest,

mountains,

privacy,

space,

quiet,

slow mornings,

nature,

and an experience that feels genuinely removed from the mainstream…

then perhaps Saraaya is what you have been looking for.

It Was Never Supposed to Be Easy

When I look back at the journey, I realise that the difficulty wasn’t a side story.

It was the story.

Finding the land took years.

Building it took three more.

There was no easy road.

Materials had to be carried.

Infrastructure had to be created.

We needed our own electrical transformer.

There were disagreements.

There were financial pressures.

There were delays.

There were moments of doubt.

There were times when the easiest option would have been to stop.

But every time I came back to the mountains, I remembered why I started.

My Family Had to Believe in a Dream They Couldn’t Always Understand

I owe a great deal to my family.

To my wife, Sanam.

To my parents.

To my sister.

To my brothers-in-law.

To my in-laws.

To our entire family.

There were disagreements.

There were concerns.

There were difficult conversations.

And I understand why.

From the outside, leaving a corporate career and investing years into a remote mountain project could look like a completely mad decision.

There were much easier and more predictable paths.

But eventually, they allowed me to pursue it.

They stood by us.

And that support means more to me than I can explain.

Thank You, Sanam

If there is one person I especially want to thank, it is Sanam.

Thank you for managing the distance.

Thank you for taking care of our son.

Thank you for his schooling and everything that comes with keeping a family running.

Thank you for carrying responsibilities while I was away.

Thank you for allowing me to pursue something that had no guaranteed outcome.

Thank you for your patience.

And thank you for bringing your eye and creativity to Saraaya.

When someone compliments the interiors, the furniture or the little details that make the property beautiful, I want them to know that much of that is your vision.

I may have brought the dream of the mountains.

But you helped decide how that dream would look and feel.

Thank You to My Parents and Family

To my parents — thank you for standing by me even when you had concerns.

To my sister — thank you for your support.

To my brothers-in-law and my in-laws — thank you for believing in us.

And to our entire family — thank you for allowing us to take a path that was unconventional and uncertain.

A dream like this isn’t carried by one person.

It is carried by everyone who supports that person when the dream is still incomplete.

My family did that.

And for that, I will always be grateful.

What the Mountains Taught Me

Perhaps the greatest thing Saraaya gave me wasn’t a business.

It was perspective.

The mountains taught me that everything doesn’t have to happen immediately.

That some things take time.

That difficult doesn’t necessarily mean wrong.

That you can plan carefully and still have to adapt.

That patience is not passive.

Sometimes patience is simply continuing to work when progress is slower than you expected.

The mountain taught me to stop fighting every delay.

To accept what I couldn’t control.

And to keep moving forward with what I could.

A Dream Still in Progress

Even today, I don’t consider Saraaya finished.

There are things I still want to improve.

There are experiences I still want to create.

There are ideas Sanam and I still discuss.

There are parts of the property that will continue to evolve.

Perhaps that is how it should be.

Because Saraaya was never meant to be a finished product.

It is a living project.

A place that continues to grow with the landscape around it.

Why Saraaya Exists

When I started looking for this place in 2019, I was looking for somewhere that felt right for me.

After years of city life and travel, I wanted somewhere quieter.

Somewhere where I could feel connected to nature.

Eventually, that search became something bigger.

I realised I could create a place where other people could experience the same feeling.

That became Saraaya.

Not a large resort.

Not a crowded tourist destination.

Not a place designed for everyone.

Just four private suites in the wilderness, created for people who appreciate what happens when life becomes a little quieter.

Welcome to Saraaya

If you visit us, I hope you don’t simply see a private glamping property.

I hope you see the story behind it.

The five years of searching.

The three years of building.

The materials carried through the mountains.

The transformer.

The difficult access.

The family sacrifices.

Sanam’s vision in the interiors.

The hands that built the property.

The people who stood by us.

And the mountains that taught me patience.

Most importantly, I hope you experience what I was searching for when I first came here.

A little more space.

A little more silence.

A little more time.

And perhaps, if you’re lucky,

a little more of yourself.

This Is Saraaya

Saraaya was built because I chose the mountains.

It was shaped by the people who stood beside me.

It was made beautiful by Sanam’s eye for detail.

It was made possible by countless people whose names a guest may never know.

And it continues because I still believe in the dream.

It is secluded by design.

Small by choice.

Difficult to reach by circumstance.

And deeply connected to the place in which it stands.