The greens are an intrinsic part of this entrepreneur’s life

As a child, he would buy plants with the money his mother gave him for crackers, and it was often that he would be reprimanded for not paying attention to studies and spending far too much time in the family’s tiny garden. Nevertheless, Gaurav Bhalla grew up to follow his heart and the path led to the greens. Today, as Bhalla gives finishing touches to his luxury resort ‘The Pine Drive Resort’ in Barog he is proud that he has been able to maintain the lush pine forest around his prized property.

At a height of about 6,000 feet, at par with Kasauli and Dagshai, the area falls in a snow zone. So every time you hear of snow at Shimla, there is snow here too. The best part is that an hour and a half drive out of Chandigarh one arrives into delightfully cool climes. The resort is part of the Milan Centre complex, which Gaurav has painstakingly developed over the last 15 years, building luxury cottages here. When Gaurav initially forayed into this area, it was complete wilderness. And such is his passion for trees that he has incorporated three of them within the front balcony of his resort. His cottages too boast of trees within balconies - a source of much delight to their owners.

With Bhalla’s consistent efforts over the years, over ten acres of the complex now blooms with beautiful flowers, especially during September and early October. Gaurav has also inculcated his love for plants in the children of the labourers working in the area. For collecting the seeds and later strewing them all over the complex, Gaurav gives chocolates to the kids. And then he came up with another idea to take care of the weeds that grow within the plants. Gaurav has christened the weeds as ‘enemies’ and instructed all his employees that wherever these are seen, these have to be rooted out. So while going up and down as part of their daily work, the employees keep ensuring that the ‘enemy’ is sternly dealt with.

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