Whispering Deodars: Writings from Shimla Hills, Edited by Minakshi Chaudhry, Rupa, Rs 295

The hill city of Shimla (or erstwhile Simla) has a special cultural location in Indian history. Its importance in Indian life far surpasses its historical significance, which in itself is immense. It has played host to a number of momentous events in history — the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Simla Conference held to demarcate the boundaries between India and Pakistan, or the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan after the Bangladesh war.

Shimla had the distinction of being the summer capital of colonial India because its climate reminded the British of their homeland. As a result, from the late 19th century onwards, the city was virtually split into European and Indian corridors. While the Europeans occupied the Mall area, the natives were more or less consigned to the lower bazaar, and had to comply with several humiliating socio-political injunctions. In Shimla, typical colonial binaries (civilized/uncivilized, modern/non-modern, clean/dirty) played themselves out at their most intense. For the Indian bourgeoisie living in other cities, however, Shimla has been a city of mist and mysticism. Its pulsating hillscape held out for them the charm of a myth.

Minakshi Chaudhry, who hails from this city, is deeply in love with it. Her anthology of 25 articles by people who “share a past with Shimla” is a gallant tribute to that love. It is an efficient biography of a very special, memory-laden city, focusing on its history, looking back to its prehistory, and highlighting its multiple facets.

In the opening article, the Dalai Lama records his reflections on Himachal Pradesh, his “adopted home”, comparing its traditions with its recent tryst with modernity. Although well-written, its inclusion in the present volume, which professedly deals exclusively with Shimla, is open to debate. Khushwant Singh’s “Summer Connection” looks at the city as a spiritual sanatorium where the author can meet his inner self on its own terms. Rakesh Kanwar traces Shimla’s history even before it was made the summer capital of India in 1864. He discusses the formation of its British society, and unearths from British documents evidence of supercilious treatment meted out to the natives. Vipin Pubby presents the history of streets, buildings, courts and hill resorts that constitute the city’s topography. Meenakshi F. Paul’s “The People of Shimla Town” is a demographic study showcasing the cultures and traditions of different sections of its population, comprising mainly of Sikhs and Kashmiri Muslims.

Some articles highlight the representations of the city in various art forms. Usha Bande’s “Real Shimla in Reel Shimla” captures the Shimla of the celluloid while Punam Gupta’s “Landscape of the Mind” offers an insight into the minds of Shimla-based painters. Raaja Bhasin discusses the legacy of Shimla’s architecture in his article. There are lighter pieces as well, like the one by the editor herself, about Shimla’s ghosts.

Chaudhry includes two articles of historical importance. “From Shimla” (1927) by Maharajkumar Raghuvir Singh, though written in his youth, testifies to the Maharaja’s keen power of observation of life at close quarters. The other one, “Five Hundredth Storey”, is by M.K. Gandhi .This article, originally published in Gujarati in 1951, trenchantly analyses the policy of running a government from an altitude of 7,500 feet. The book includes a few sketches that exude a distinctly old-world charm.