BY RAJBIR DESWAL & CHANDER KOUMDI
(Published in The Times Of India on July 1, 2012)
If you visit a hill station that is only a station at a hill, and not really having a base around in the otherwise natural, sylvan, heavenly nestled spots and vistas you have not been to: it’s just like going for shopping in a mall, with an artificial skyline littered with wooden cut outs, looking as silhouettes of mountains. To be in the hills is to feel being in the hills. To have a feel of the hills, one needs to not only look out of the window but be there. Just be there, right there!
The Hill Capital of the British Shimla is thronged by tourists, honeymooners and holidayers but there are very few people who would really venture into areas where nature abounds in plenty with not only bird tweets, monkeys’ caterwaul, jungle creatures’ screams, rabbits’ hollering around, and a pleasant sunshine with fresh air to not only fill the nostrils, but also the lungs.
We are not talking about the places around Shimla which are a must-see as ticking them as ‘seen’ is a must, to brag about a later ‘been there done that!’ If there is a likelihood of snowfall, or otherwise also, one has to visit Kufri. If one wants to see highest cricket ground in the world, he needs to go to Chayal. If one has to see a natural golf course then Naldhera is the destination. And if one has to slide down the hills on to the town of Rampur Busher on the Satluj, or has also to climb the Hatu Peak with a temple by the name of Hatu Mata—a local deity, then one needs to windup at Narkanda. And that’s all.
Being in Shimla only, you can go to the Ridge, the Scandal Point, Kalibari temple, Gaiety Theatre, Lakkar Bazaar, Chhota Shimla, New Shimla, Summer Hill, Jatog or a village called Tutu, on which a movie was also made.
But these writers wish to take you around Shimla in the nativity of the state of Himachal Pradesh, at one time spot specific and at another, quite serendipitous . Here we go then.
Going about 5 kilometers from Naldehra, on your way to Tatta Paani, you come across a beautiful hill range, with a drive quite close to its feet. The entire range generally looks yellow and when in summer months the grass turns brown, it looks all the more awesome—quite like the sand dunes in California. The scene creates a magic. You can see cows, buffaloes and goats grazing at such high vantage points where you would find it difficult to climb and envy the animals for having a bird’s eye view of the valley down below.
All through about 15 kilometers stretch up to Basantpur, you have beautiful trees laden with flowers of different variety ranging from the red rhododendrons besides purple, mustard and white ones on the fruit trees. The embellishment of these colourful flowers reflected as against the yellow and brownish black drop of the hills, that descend down slope from Naldehra up to Basantpur, is a seeing and believing experience.
When you cast a glimpse at the valley from where the town of Shimla stays visible for quite sometimes, you then really feel that there is really a difference between a habitation with construction of concrete and mortar, and a habitation where only nature lives.
Before reaching Tatta Paani, some 10 kilometers short of the place, Satluj appears majestically flowing past on your right side. From that height it looks to be a beautiful stream of grayish-white juxtaposed with yellow and green square or rectangular patches of fields having small hutments.
They offer rafting in the waters of Satluj. Drenching oneself from head to toe, at the same time manaeuvering rapids, on that inflatable boat, makes you float not only on water but as if, elevated to attain a spiritual bliss.
Tatta Paani has hot springs right in the bed of Satluj, where you can dip yourself in cold, warm or hot water, as per your need and choice. By now you hunger buds start teasing you to let them also have their share of fulfilment and some eateries on shore come too handy for price, as also for indulging in gluttony.
From Tatta Paani you have two choices to make; either to return to Shimla by the same route you came through, or go up on a kacha track to see the natives and their life style, which gives you a totally different feel of a people subsisting on a laid back disposition, and activity as well.
Nobody seems to be in a hurry here. Not even a herd of goats and lambs in eating out their fodder from bushes and other foliage. The natives seem to be attending to their daily chores with utmost calmness and serenity. You can also have a feel of song and dance in this hilly cultural milieu. You reach villages called Shimlo, Juni, Demoghat, Dumsher, Dhammi etc. Here you are with a typical Himachali culture having a Shivalikan stamp on it.
From here you can still venture out to a small erstwhile fiefdom called Arki. This is about 30 kilometeres through and through the hills, up and down the slopes, with you hitting the lowest point, from over a small bridge constructed on a very narrow gorge, to allow the river flowing down there, to expand into a free-flow largely hereafter.
Again you are on a climb, till you reach a place called Shalaghat on the Shimla Mandi highway. Arki is 7 kms down hill from Shalaghat. Here you find a small township abuzz with little commercial activity. Lutar Baba’s cave is also on the way. But you cannot miss the Regal Palace of the kings of Arki built centuries ago.
Part of the palace is nowadays a BSF Training Centre but the Deewan Khana is still with the royal family. A mention of Deewan Khana and its wall paintings is warranted here. The wall paintings are intact still, despite being centuries old. They were painted with herbal colours depicting scenes from Mahabharata, Ramayana, Sagar-Manthan, Nat tribes sporty acrobatics, demon-angel fights, besides scenery depicting western scenarios of buildings, bazaars, ports and palaces.
The roof of this Deewan Khana may cave in, got forbid, any day. Driving down from Arki, you reach a place called Kunihar which is almost plains. You can see leveled fields of wheat, maize and barley here. This plain is a sudden recess and a sort of respite, with the hills surrounding it on all sides.
Further beyond this is the beautiful town of Sabathu which also boasts of a beautifully maintained historical cantonment. Up to this place enroute, you have enough accommodation to stay and plentiful hill delicacies to cater to your taste. Local variety of fruits is abundantly available.
Now you have come closest to Kalka-Shimla highway, again to be in the routine humdrum of your daily indulgence, when the voyage though the seemingly wild, starkly natural, immensely spiritual and entirely satisfying journey into a hills world, which you had till now just heard of and not seen, will be over.
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