Blog, Sweet N Sour, : The Harsher Winter Life In Shimla

Winter life in Shimla is much harsher than other hill towns like Srinagar, Mussoorie, Nainital and even Manali. The topography of Shimla is more tough. Its steeper and zig-zagged topography makes living here more hazardous than in other hill stations. During winter, all roads get slippery after snowfall, especially after night frosts when snow gets covered with frost. It is very risky and you need to walk ( phunk-phunk kar) very attentively. There are cases when people get injured due to slip. Its not that tough in Manali, Srinagar, Nainital and Mussoorie.

It still sends shiver down my spine when I think of my winter days in Shimla. But that wasn't the case with me in seventies and eighties. Was young and energetic. I had spend more than two decades there. I still remember my plight in seventies when I had to walk all the way from Chhota Shimla to Summer Hill amid continuous snowing for my M.Phil exams. My hands and feet were tingling and on reaching exam center and had to urge center head to give me some time to get myself warmed up. Its still really tough life in Shimla's winter.

Moreover, excessive use of heating gadgets makes city prone to fire incidents. The fire incidents in Shimla and other higher areas and deaths due to asphyxiation are common. In Shimla all old buildings of Victorian architecture, either partial or fully, stand damaged in fire incidents. Shimla is home to a number of buildings styled in the Tudorbele and neo-Gothic architectures dating back from the colonial era. Today you will find a little of them.

It was the climatic conditions similar to England that attracted the Britisher colonial ruler to establish the city in 1815 amidst dense Himalayan forests. Small hamlets used to be there prior to 1815.

As the summer capital, Shimla has to its credit many important political happenings including the Simla Accord of 1914 and the Simla Conference of 1945. After independence, as Himachal Pradesh came into being in 1948 after the merger of 28 princely states, the city still remained an important political centre,including Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1972.

A glimpse of Benazir Bhutto, daughter of the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto still enthralls me. She was a pretty young girl at that time and freely strolled in Shimla fashionable Mall Road without tight security. Its not imaginable nowadays.

I think making it a capital of a new state was an incessant decision as Shimla would have been much better as "Queen of the Hills". Today its so cramped and deeply immersed in fragile ecology that it is neither a "Queen of Hills" nor an example of smart city. It will take tremendous to make it smarter . I feel our contemporary rulers haven't done justice to Shimla. Alien Britishers had done better.

There is a simple rule of sustainability, It requires, among others, adjusting and reorienting to a dynamic situation. The fast unplanned urbanization lacks “dynamism”. The exploding population growth is bad for growth . The constantly changing nature of urbanization calls for new and improved strategies to ensure sustainability.

As I deeply love the city pf my alma mater , I feel too concerned for its future . As of now, its not as bright as what I dreamt off in seventies, while attending the inauguration of newly created state at Shimla Ridge amid heavy snow. Snow usually brings cheers not tears. Hope our leaders learn from past mistakes.

(Chander Sharma)