Dear Reader, What do you think about the concept of composing an ode dedicated to your beloved hometown? John Keats is renowned for his exquisite odes, including "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode on Insolence," "Ode on Melancholy," "Ode to a Nightingale," and "To Autumn." While he has written several others, these are the ones …
The End is Just Another Beginning
I have always believed that there was history before history, and there is history after history. For every end is just another beginning. When I started “A Not-so Historical Tale of Shimla Town”, I had just one book in my hand (Edward J Buck’s ‘Simla: Past and Present’, published in the year 1904). Which meant …
Two Lives
History isn’t guaranteed alone by political ramblings or wobbling economies. The social milieu or fabric is what actually seams history. So, even as we may talk of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century or the building of the railways, it would be incomplete unless we have a look at how life was being lived …
Road to the Summer Capital
“Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered.) That is how many empires were built across the globe. What began just as trade, gradually shifted gears and as they say, the English were high on power! However, it is also said that every empire passes on a philosophy to the world, quoting that its …
Shyamala to Simla
For Previous chapters click here... ****************************************************************************** “If History were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Rudyard Kipling After the Gorkha leaders had been quelled, the British, who saw Shyamala as an obscure village, gave it to the Patiala Raja for the assistance rendered by him in the war (read about …
Discovering Shyamala
When God created the earth, he was essentially playing treasure hunt. He precariously placed some fortunes all around and left it to man to discover them. A chance discovery of these treasures has always been special. I’m sure Columbus was on cloud nine when he stumbled upon the Americas while trying to find a direct …
A Hundred Quills 