My Thoughts and Travels: SHIMLA

SHIMLA

Shimla needs no introduction. It was the summer residence of Viceroys of India during the British rule and is now the Capital of Himachal Pradesh We spent four days in Shimla in the month of September 2013.

KALKA –SHIMLA RAILWAY LINE

After a couple of days in Chandigarh on 19^th Sept, we took the Himalayan Queen train from Chandigarh to Kalka, a journey of about an hour. At Kalka we boarded the Kalka – Shimla Himalayan Queen,the Toy Train. It travels at a speed of about 25-30 Kms and takes 5h 30 mts to reach Shimla. The travel by this train meandering around hills and valleys through the alpine country is a life time experience.The route has more than 900 curves and turns, more than 100 tunnels and more than 900 bridges. There are 20 stations enroute, the most important being BORG.

Some of the bridges are architectural and engineering marvels. One which impressed me most was a bridge with two tier arches of stone.

All details about the railway are on a plaque at Barog station which is the one of the highest points on the line. Barog is located at a height of 1560 metres above the mean sea level. Barog is named after Colonel Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903. Barog was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain, which is quite common as it speeds up construction. However, he made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupee by the British government. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel. The area came to be known as Barog after him.

Later it was completed under Chief Engineer H.S. Harrington's supervision in a short period from July 1900 to September 1903, at a cost 8.40 Lakh rupees.

Barog tunnel is said to be one of the straightest tunnels in the World. This is 1143.61m long and is the longest of the 103 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway. Barog station is immediately after the tunnel. Trains take about 2.5 minutes to cross this tunnel, running at 25 kilo metres per hour.

The ancient Neals Token Instrument System of communication and track control is still followed here. This involves exchange of tokens at all stations on the route to get line clearance. This must be probably the only route in India following this system. This route has now been given the status of World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Climbing from Kalka at 656 Mts above MSL to Shimla at 2076 Mts above MSL in a distance of 96 kms,.has also been a Guinness World Record.

SHIMLA

We were greeted by an excellent weather, neither cold nor hot. A very peaceful place where things move leisurely. Extremely clean and neat place. No plastics. You have to carry paper or cloth bags for shopping. Taxis are available to take tourists to all places of interest .We tried to walk to most of the places as we had plenty of time at hand. There is the Mall road typical of all hill stations. Apples, Pears and Kiwis (grown locally now) were available in plenty and were very cheap.Rs.25 to 30 per Kg. Most of the hotels are off the main roads and one has to negotiate some steep roads to approach them.

The Ridge, Christ Church, Mall Road, Scandal Point( the place from where the Maharaja of Patiala kidnapped the daughter of the British Viceroy in 1892),Kali Bari , Jakhho temple(a 108 ft high statue of Hanuman is erected here) ,Budhist Monasteries are some of the attractions of Shimla.

GAIETY THEATER

One attraction which caught our attention is the Gaiety Theater.

Today’s Gaiety Theatre is the stump of the once colossal edifice that was the Town Hall. It was opened on the 30th of May, 1887, Queen Victoria's Jubilee Year and its God Father was Lord Bill Beresford. The formal inauguration of the club took place in the year 1888 and since then plays have been staged in the Gaiety with unfailing regularity. The Simla Amateur Dramatic Club was managing the theater The history of the club goes back to the times when theatre was looked upon as a major and serious source of entertainment and, therefore became a cultural necessity for the English elite. Hence, Shimla became the home of amateur theatre and the Gaiety Theatre produced the best of the plays performed in London. In 1911, the upper portions of the building were dismantled as the structure was found to be unsafe

Among the leading theatre personalities connected with the Shimla Amateur Dramatic Club are: Field Marshal Lord Roberts, who remained president of the Club from 1891-1892 during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of India; Major P.H. Dnyer, a distinguished producer and actor who acted in Loyalties, Interference and Mary Rose; Lord Bill Beresford, V.C. who was the Military Secretary to Viceroy Lord Lytton, famous poet and author Rudyard Kipling, Lord Kitchner, Mrs. Deane, Major General Sir Godfrey Williams, the Chief of Scouts, Colonel Baden-Powell, and Sir Dennis Fitz Patrick, Lieut-Governor of Punjab during 1895 and many others. Notable film personalities like K.L. Saigal, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Jennifer Kendall, Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher, Manohar Singh, Nasseerudin Shah, frequently performed on the stage of the Gaiety theatre.

The theater has been renovated from 2004 to 20/9, with the original structure untouched to keep its heritage preserved while making it more attractive. Sanjana Kapoor, theater personality (daughter of actor Shashi Kapoor) and Anupam Kher(who belongs to Shimla) took active role in the restoration. The restored theater is adorned with beautiful paper mache panels, reminiscent of the old colonial era. The stage is equipped with unique curtain arrangement having sand bags and pulleys, and natural acoustics. It has a seating capacity of 320 persons in two levels. Anupam Kher has conducted some theater workshops and plans to hold a theater festival shortly.

Visitors are attracted not just to its architecture, but also to the rare British photographs of plays staged from 1894-1904 and British era drama scripts housed in the historic building.

The Gaiety Dramatic Society (GDS), which now manages the theatre, has also acquired scripts of about 400 plays. These include 108 scripts of original English plays that were once staged by the British. Some rare books on stagecraft and theatre of the British are also available in the theatre's library.

The management has recently started guided tours of the theater