Dharamkot restaurant where cupid’s arrow strikes

Lalit Mohan

Located at the entrance of Dharamkot in Dharamsala, the Trek and Dine restaurant is a sought-after place for foreign tourists visiting the area. Foreigners chatting in groups, signs in Hebrew, furniture designed by an Austrian and paintings created by tourists make up the general ambience in this small eating joint set up by a local.

However, besides its multi-ethnic cuisine and ambience, the restaurant is also famous as a place where cupid’s arrow had struck its workers. Many youths working as waiters and cooks at the restaurant have fallen in love with visiting foreign girls, married them and moved abroad.

Naushad from Bihar has been working in Trek and Dine as a waiter for the past more than 15 years. He is married to an Austrian girl. He says that he loves this place. I met my wife at the restaurant while serving her food. Now, we are married and have a son, who studies in Austria. My wife also stays in Austria. I keep frequenting Austria to meet her and sometimes she also comes here, says Naushad.

Rashpal Pathania, owner of the restaurant, says that many of his employees, who worked for him since he opened the restaurant in 1995, have married foreigners. Most of them have migrated to their wives’ nations while Naushad and Raju are still working for him. Those who have migrated to other countries also keep visiting the restaurant and keep in touch with him regularly, he adds.

Pathania lists the names of his employees who met their life partners at Trek and Dine. He says that Anil, a local lad, worked at his restaurant as a waiter in 2001 and 2002. He met an Austrian girl here and married her. He has migrated to Austria and is working there as a nurse.

Mitaiz from Goa was a cook at the restaurant during 2004-05. He met a girl from the UK here and married her. He is now settled in the UK.

Raju from Nepal worked as a waiter during 2007-08. He met a girl from Israel and they got married. He too has migrated to Israel. 

Raju from Rajasthan used to work as a waiter in the restaurant during 2005-06. He met a German girl and fell in love with her. He married her and is now settled in Germany.

Raj Kumar from Nepal is still working as a waiter at the restaurant. For him also, the cupid’s arrow struck here and he married a girl from Israel. He has a daughter but has not yet migrated to Israel. “I have gone to Israel a few times and my wife and daughter also keep coming to India to meet me,” he says.

Pathania says, “When I opened Trek and Dine in 1995, it was a small dhaba. Its name was suggested to me by a foreigner friend. At that time, there was no road connecting Mcleodganj with Dharamkot, which was a small village. Foreign tourists, mostly Europeans and Israelis, used to come to Dharamkot after trekking 2 km uphill from Mcleodganj. My friend suggested to me that since people trek to the place we should open a dining place by the name Trek and Dine”. 

Though Dharamkot has now been absorbed in the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation, it still retains the old village outlook with the exception that old slate houses have given way to small guesthouses. Dharamkot is a favourite place for Israeli bag-packer tourists. It also has a Chabad house where many Israeli tourists solemnise their marriages.