Another blast from colonial past in Queen of Hills
Sun, Jul 18 2021 8:21 IST |
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Another blast from colonial past in Queen of Hills . Image Source: IANS News
Another blast from colonial past in Queen of Hills . Image Source: IANS News
Another blast from colonial past in Queen of Hills . Image Source: IANS News
Another blast from colonial past in Queen of Hills . Image Source: IANS News
Shimla, July 18 : A blast from the colonial past will soon greet visitors to Shimla, the erstwhile summer capital of British India. The government is reconstructing Bantony, the 129-year-old sprawling estate comprising grand structures near Scandal Point on the famous Ridge, in its original rich Gothic-style architecture with an outlay of Rs 25 crore.
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As someone who has never been in administration or politics, but has moved around their edges, one met Raja Virbhadra Singh several times and Raja Saheb was always more than gracious.
Years back, when I undertook my first substantial ‘cultural assignment’ and he was Himachal’s Chief Minister, we were focused around the Bhimakali temple complex in Sarahan. This was the traditional seat of the rulers of Bushahr, who were the ancestors of Raja Saheb. His introductions opened gates which would have remained tightly closed and those days, decades back, became the benchmark of numerous other research works and writings.
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When Shimla leapfrogged over 91 other cities in a single year to emerge as the ‘most liveable city’ according to the Government of India’s Ease of Living Index (EoLI), many were surprised. Among those, somewhat nonplussed, were also the people and authorities concerned in the town. A journalist friend from Delhi sent a message, “How did this happen? What are the great changes that have taken place in a single year?” Somewhat airily, I replied, “All the other places slipped.” On a serious note, how did Shimla leap and clamber past a host of the 111 participating cities?
As Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri’s statement sent some into a tizzy and others into a state of euphoria, a couple of incidents came to mind. A few years ago, I met a young couple from Mauritius whose ancestors had gone to that island as indentured labourers from Bihar. They had heard stories, obviously passed down a few generations, of what a w
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This was to be the first of several business ventures that failed. All of 11-12 years old, some friends and I decided to make use of my tolerably decent collection of books and comics and start a lending library. Our inspiration lay in the two shops on Shimla’s Mall that lent out books and tattered comics for a daily or a weekly charge.
As the collection was mine, I was entitled to designate myself as the boyhood equivalent of the managing director and chairman. I would collect the take, which was expected to be substantial, and this would be ploughed back into the business. Buy more books, that is. The corporate mandate to create a jingle in hindsight would have been to ‘educate, entertain and earn.’
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