Living the Life of the Raj

It is April 24 - Another day in Shimla awaits.

We breakfast on more delicious Indian food clearly made by a chef who need have no fear of transportation to Australia! – out into the pleasant morning air – just the early local risers frequent the streets – the children – the mothers – just delightful!

The Guide arrives – “I will take you to this monument!” – “I with take you to this place!” says he – “no” says Bernie – he looks relieved – “where do you want to go madam?” – “the Viceroy’s House and then to the country!” says Bernie– he smiles – “perfect” says he! – “I will take you to my special place first” says he.

Off through moderate but still significant traffic – “it is good we are early – it is not yet peak hour ” says the guide – Bernie looks at her watch – it is just 9.00am – we head to his special place – a hilltop about 15 kilometres from the hotel – views of the Apple terraces and the Himalayas – 8500 feet! “The Apple Farmers are rich – they sell to everyone in India” says he – as we pass new multi-storey terraced houses clinging for dear life on the mountain-side he comments again “These are the second houses of the Apple Farmers – see all the cars on the streets – they are their second cars – rich!” says he.

“This is my wedding anniversary – 20 years” says he –  he opens up about himself – two children – a daughter studying Psychology at a university that is 36 hours away by train but home for the holidays – a boy finishing high school in Shimla – the tourist season is only 6 months long – no tourists in the monsoon season or in snow season! – he was an eye technician for a mobile service that visited the villages across the state - prepared patients for cataract surgery – “education is very important for an Indian” says he – “good schools are very expensive” says he – “I became a tour guide because of the money” says he

We pass St Bede's School - "that is where my boy studies - very expensive" says Sanjeeb - we pass Loretto School for Girls - "that is where mu daughter went to school - very, very expensive" says Sanjeeb  

Cricket gets raised again – “I had an Australian tourist for five days” say he – “One day I picked him up – Sanjeeb! he says – don’t tell anyone I am Australian – tell then I am from New Zealand – I am so embarrassed!” says Sanjeeb.

We arrive at what is clearly a tourist trap – “we are early” says he – “the Indian tourists had not arrived – they come here for horse riding – for amusements rides – for market stalls” says he – “not for you” says he! – “You made a good choice to go to my special place” – ‘It is quite now – lets get a photograph of the Yaks before the tourists arrive!

Off the Yaks in a flash – he is true to his word – we push on - We pass a sign indicating our arrival in Himalayan Apple Country!

We take photographs from his special spot – the Apple terraces – the mountains -  the local temple -  “320 kilometers to the Tibet-China Border” – “8500 feet” – “my special place” says he – he smiles broadly – he clearly does love this place – you would have to pay me a million rupees to get me to live in Delhi” says he.

We return from whence we came – the guide was right – we had beaten the Indian Tourist traffic with their people movers and buses – the Yaks are being ridden and photographed to within a inch of their lives – the on-coming traffic immense – I tell the driver of the comments of his Delhi counterpart about the skills required for a car driver in India:

• ·       Good eyes
• ·       Good eyes
• ·       Good Brakes and,
• ·       Good luck

“No! – no! – no!” – says he – you need

• ·       Good eyes
• ·       Good eyes
• ·       Good Brakes
• ·       Good luck; and
• ·       Great patience

Says he

As we return into Shimla and attempt to reach the Viceroy’s Lodge his patience is tested over and over again – he proves than he has every characteristic of a successful Indian motorist.

We arrive at Viceroy’s Lodge – stunning – the Raj certainly looked after themselves! – the summer administrative headquarters of the Raj! – 400 servants just to keep the Viceroy and his staff going.

Our guide steers us to the side – “just wait here” says he – he sidles up to the official tour guide as he leads a huge crowd through the building – he is greeted with a huge smile – a few words are exchanged – he returns to us – “you just follow“ – “when he finishes he will give you a quick tour where the others do not go” – “my old school friend “ says he

Sure enough we get a quick special tour - It is a pity that we could not photograph inside – walnut wooden paneling – timber entrance stairs – more magnificent wooden paneling – triple-storey atrium - magnificent gardens.

We retire to the aging but still regal Clarkes Hotel! – we return to Delhi early tomorrow morning but I have to say that if anyone travels to India they should come here for some rest and recreation and  to relive the life of the Raj – the Raj could not survive there Indian commission without a regular return to Shimla so why should the modern traveller.  Shimla is clean – hospitable – cool – delightful! – smoke free  – my recommendation – do as the Raj did - take a train from plains at Delhi or Kolkata to the foothills at Kalka – Take the toy train to Shimla – stay in Clarkes Hotel – relax – walk the mall – relax some more.

Finally a special for my super-fit bike riding acquaintances (this includes you Knud) if you believe you have reached peak fitness then see if you can emulate this other acquaintance of mind - I met him today - here is he in action.

An Escape to the Mountains

The alarm bursts into life – 4.00am – time to pack up and head for the plane – the driver arrives on time – we head for the airport – it is Monday morning – the traffic resembles that which we would encounter in Melbourne at 4:00pm – still by Delhi standards the trip to the airport is the equivalent of rapid transit.

We arrive at the airport – 5.00am – Indira Gandhi International Airport announces herself as the number one airport in the world – she may not be exaggerating – she certainly looks impressive – we find the Air India check-in and join the huge queue – lots of young business people heading out for the working week! – everything works with relative precision and good process.

We arrive at border control – a young Indian absorbed with his phone short cuts the queue – the men stand back  and let it happen – the pair of young Indian business women will have none of it – they dress him down and dispatch him to the back of the queue – they spot another young male – they are in the mood to dress down any male that crosses their path – this time he protests his innocence – it is only when another women steps in to defend him do they reluctantly desist! – clearly a sign of modern India – a good sign of modern India!

We wait at the designated gate – we wait – we wait just a little more – 30 minutes after scheduled departure time – we hear someone mention something that sounded like Shimla – we ask the desk – yes – yes – that way – a bus in the Regional Express manner – An aging Sabre that could have been a REX hand me down – a smooth flight towards the Himalayas and landing at 7000 feet in their insignificant foothills – the Shimla airport – the only vaguely level ridge in the vicinity of the old summer seat of British rule.

The guide and driver collect us – today will be a day of recreation in Shimla – an interesting time – visiting tourism spots is apparently not recreation! – I think they are correct in the making the distinction!

We head towards Shimla - the first thing we see - Eucalyptus trees!

The 20 kilometres to Shimla proper involves the negotiation of narrow – narrow – narrow – crowded mountains roads – travelling on these roads between 9 and 10am is not recommended according to the guides – “schools and businesses start at 10.00a” say he – we reach town centres – the buses stop therefore the traffic queue stops – two buses encounter one another – a  major traffic manoeuvring operation takes place – people mostly patient – local traffic police make vague efforts to assist.

Immediately we note the relatively cleanliness of the environment – a distinct reduction in the volume of plastic and construction debris – there is clearly pride in appearance – we pass school children all neatly dressed – we pass neatly dressed professional workers – we pass modest but impressive multi-storey dwellings perched on the near vertical slopes – we pass much more modest dwellings and business premises which, though modest in the extreme (by Australian standards) they are nevertheless superior to their Delhi counterparts.

Though this is a recreation day the Guide decides we should visit the summer residence of Mahatma Gandhi – we enter the University at Summer Hill where the residence is located – The photos on the walls say it all.

Outside the building an Indian Doctor and his new wife are visiting – the aging Australians are requisitioned for a tourist photograph!

Onwards on the mountainous crowded roads – neatly dressed people walking – riding motor scooters – riding buses – all on the way to work!

Into Shimla proper - We pass the Indian High Court Building – "lots of things go in there but very few come out "says the Guide - the building yet another obvious relic of the British occupation – clearly there were senior members of the Rajah who only ventured down onto the planes during the very depths of winter – “we get a number of British who want to see where they or their parents were born or went to school” says he

The car drops us off – the guide takes our bag – we take the long, inclined pathway to Clarkes Hotel located at the start of the Shimla mall – take it easy advises the guide – you are at 7000 feet - a vehicle free shopping and tourism strip.

We comment on the High Court Building  – “the rajah ran the government here for a lot of the year because it was too hot for them elsewhere - “you can get here by airplane now but best by train or car” –  before the Toy Railway was built from Kalka to Shimla in 1903 it would take the Rajah about three weeks to travel from Calcutta to Shimla – “gin and tonic – camp – some more gin and tonic camp – some more gin and tonic ” says he with a smile.

We reach the hotel - we are greeted as if we are royalty - The Guide departs – the hotel staff take over

None of this checking at the front desk business! – the hotel reception comes with us to the room – there the formalities are completed and the hotel briefing effected - one could not fault the service – the hotel old but regal – we are upgraded to a suite – huge bedroom – huge lounge room – large office – half the size of our Albury house - Ah for the life of the Rajah!

We sleep a while – this is a recreation day – we rise – its 1pm – we walk the mile – the temperature perfect – the mall a little steep but pleasant – pleasant – we stand out from the tourist crowd – no other westerners save for a group of three English women.

We stand out so much that this group of Indian Tourists also demand a photograph with the geriatrics.

Shop keepers delightful – hawking almost non-existent – Bernie acquires the pashminas at prices she deems entirely reasonable.

Like the shopkeepers the people polite – beautifully dressed – their only apparent vice – a desire to be photographed with aging Australians

We progress along the Mall to Scandal Point - we look at Christ Church - just a Church! - we admire the people - the place - atmosphere.

   

The environs clean – Shimla is dubbed the Bellagio of India – it may not quite be Bellagio but it has all the same characteristics save for a lake -  characteristics of a  Indian rather than Italian kind.

Split off from the larger Punjab, the State of Himachal seems very progressive by Indian standards - plastics bags have been banned - spitting in the streets - banned! - cutting down of trees - banned! - smoking in public - banned! - ownership of land by anyone other than a Himachal resident - banned! - full employment at least by Indian standards  - the result? - an environment remarkably different from that which we have experienced elsewhere in India. The signs tell the story:

Back to the hotel - into the bar - correction - this is a Raj establishment - the lounge! - some Brits have arrived -  the descendants attend to the descendants! - nothing has changed!

We let the empty gin and tonic sit while we marvel at the old British cutlery.

We dine watching the sun set over the Himalayas.

A great day.