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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Shimla beyond the Honeymooner's paradise and an over-crowded hill station!


When we decided to do a weekend @ Shimla, I was not sure what to expect and when I thought of blogging about it I was definitely short of Ideas, I was wondering what can I say about this place that has already not been said or quoted. I did a lot of google-ing before going and most of it mentioned nearby places like Chail, Shogi, Kufri and a whole lot of entertainment on the Mall road....and finally I spotted what I wanted, there were heritage walks, very few and much lesser information provided, for the sheer lack of enthusiasm I guess. But my quest was well quenched, when Sam spotted a book that had 10 treks / walks with in Shimla; We picked up the first one and what a trek it was. Discovered so much history in one day that the history junkie in me is satiated for a long time!!

We started the walk from the Simla Club, which was a social club and opposite to it is the Chalet day school which in the times of the Raj was a 'Hen-House', part of the club where the Gentlemen could entertain their lady guests. 





We walked down a little further and at the curve was a very cute looking hotel called 'The Clarkes', it was like any other heritage property, but the story behind it makes it so much interesting. This was the beginning of a real rags to riches story of an Indian entrepreneur.
  
The story goes that Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoiji was a college drop-out and was working as a front desk Clerk (Wiki mentions him as a bell boy) @ the Cecil hotel on the other side of the Mall and was asked by the Clarkes couple to come and join them when they bought the current day Clarkes hotel, which was then called Carlton. He agreed and was soon managing the entire hotel when the couple went for a 6 months retreat to London. On their return they decided to leave India for good , they sold off the hotel to Mr. Oberoi for 25000/- rupees and on a loan, which he paid back in full by the end of the fourth year and rest as they say is history; And today the Cecil hotel is also part of the Oberoi group of hotels!!

From this point there is a descend down towards the real hustle bustle of the Mall road; It is lined up with a lot of shops and some of them like the Embassy and some photo shops, that lay their claim in shaping the history of this place. A further downhill walk takes you to a flight of stairs, that lead you to the Christ Church and further to the Ridge.
The Christ Church is the second oldest church in North India, after St John's Church in Meerut. The Church is beautiful and a must visit, The church contains five fine stained glass windows. One represents the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Patience and Humility. These stained glass paintings that are one of the finest I have seen. The Pipe-Organ of Christ Church is the biggest in the Indian subcontinent and was erected in September 1899.





Just outside the Church is a Gandhi statue and a rather slim and bent looking statue of Indira Gandhi, and some great places to sit and relax; There are these shops selling softies and momos and popcorn to keep the  average Indian traveler busy, so naturally the place is very well littered and sound pollution is the highest. As you start walking down, you see the Gaiety theater on your left and the views of the valley continue on your right. There is also a very fancy and antique looking coffee shop and I am sure you can feel like a memsahib in the 1800's sipping the earl grey on a sunny afternoon in there or like one of the melancholic or gay characters of choice from the pages of Rudyard Kipling's writings. 

As you come down further you reach a Chowk like structure which is called the Scandal point, and the folk lore is rather scandalous as well; the then Maharaja of Patiala, who had a glad eye for the daughter of the Viceroy is said to have abducted the lady; Which sounds like quite a fake story and therefore the second theory makes sense which said, this being midway in the city was a point for the locals and goras to stand and gossip about scandalous things. The Point now has a statue of Lalaji (Lala Lajpat Rai Ji) pointing a finger  in the air, and the story about this one 'finger' is quite interesting; The statue was ordered from Lahore and on its transit the prominent finger broke and was then fixed in Shimla! But I really wonder whats with all our politician's statues pointing fingers like the ones you find across Andhra, where Mr. Ambedkar is also pointing his finger all through the hinterland and in the middle of busy crossings!

From here the road branches into an upper road that has the half-timbered structure in white and Red, the General Post office and further up is the Kalibari. The road going down, winds through a cluster of old and new shops and ends in a building that was supposed to look like a locomotive.







Further down is an Old structure that is truly a genius piece of work. It’s the Railway board building and was constructed in 1896-97 and it’s still an architectural masterpiece Further up the road are the Vidhansbha and the Gurson Palace, reminiscent of the colonial past that Shimla stands testimony to.







A further 400 mts from the Vidhansabha is the Oberoi Cecil hotel, one of the finest heritage properties; The building has been here for as long as the city and is splendid in its architecture and feel. So this place is a must do; If you cannot afford to stay here like us, a meal or at least a coffee 'to banta hai'. 

We turned around from this place but one can go further up to see the Viceregal Lodge. It was built in 1888 as the residence of Viceroy Lord Dufferin. On our way back @ the scandal point we took the lower road and crossed the Nagar Nigam building and the Police assistance booth; Both buildings together form a kind of a chowk, bustling with activities and further down is the lower part of the gaiety theatre. This ended one of my most revered heritage walks in a perfect weather and has left a permanent impression on my otherwise fickle mind; 

My recommendation to the 'explorer' in you is even if you have visited Shimla and done all that needs to be done, do find out about these walks and trails and see it from a different perspective, I am ready to go back again for a 'road less traveled'  as they say!

Trivia:-

Shimla was under the Punjab Province till Independence and also served as the capital of Punjab in the new Indian republic till 1956.

Shimla was a small nondescript village with about 10 houses before the British set foot here. It served as the summer capital even when the capital of India was Kolkatta.



The Kalka-Shimla railway line, constructed in 1906, had more than 806 bridges and 103 tunnels, and was touted as an engineering feat and came to be known as the "British Jewel of the Orient" In 2008, it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, 

 How to Reach:-

There are overnight buses from Delhi and Chandigargh and if you have time, take the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi (4hrs) and another 3 hrs gut-churning ride in a hired cab easily available @ Kalka station; The Kalka station has a SPecial waiting lounge, that has flat TV, Sofas, Air conditioners and a clean and gyser fitted bathrooms, all for 20 rupees per person; You can also take the Toy Train from here that takes about 5 hrs to reach Shimla station.



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