Those mist covered mountains

The Indian hill station can be ugly and over developed, but there is still history and beauty to be found

Are you a hill station kind of person? I never used to be one. Mainly it is because hill stations have been destroyed by over-development. Shimla is just one example. (Though, Mashobra next door is much better.) Ooty is a mess. (Fortunately, the Army has maintained the character of Wellington, nearby). Darjeeling is a disaster – but the town has had its share of political troubles, too.

But the hill station looms large in the collective imagination of Indians. Some of this has to do with Hindi cinema where such places as Nainital were portrayed as lovely locations to play the piano or sing songs, ideally after a drink or two. Most middle-aged Bengalis have glorious memories of Darjeeling. Mumbai people will get nostalgic about Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala or Panchgani.

I have always wondered whether India’s hill stations can be saved, if not fully revived. Nearly 20 years ago, when our own places were already in a state of collapse, I went to Sri Lanka and was impressed by the way they had maintained their hill stations. Was it too late for us to do the same?

Sadly, it was. And since then, the decline has accelerated. But after spending over a week in Mussoorie, I am convinced that India is ready to find solutions.

One answer is to ignore hill station streets with such names as The Mall. They have been overdeveloped and in any case, they are not filled with memories we should treasure.

In some hill stations, the British did not allow Indians to walk on the Mall. The British Empire was not a good thing (for India, or for the world at large) so we should not be celebrating it.

However, the British did leave behind some things of value which we should preserve. The idea of a hill station itself is not bad. I was very glad to escape the blistering heat of Delhi and go to Mussoorie, where the day time temperature was 15ºc. Because of the pandemic, it made sense to go somewhere that was not crowded and I could escape unwanted human contact.

One of the big differences between Lankan hill stations and ours

SAFETY NEST

The open-air restaurants and al fresco areas are much safer during the pandemic

SMOOTH MOVE The trick with a heritage hotel is to refurbish rather than modernise