Whispering Deodars

Pages: 266 (9 B/W Illustrations)

About The Book
Shimla has long been at the forefront of Indian history and a larger part of the credit goes to its beautiful landscape. A small town rich with events, architecture and memories, Shimla still hasnt lost its enviable charm, There is much to be shared about this wonderful town which is a halfway city by now and threatened by the overflow of tourists.

This anthology comprises articles written by many interesting people who share a past with Shimla either as residents, students, or professionals The articles cover a range of things about the place including the suburbs around Shimla There are personal stories as well as objective ones to give a wholesome picture of This special region
About The Author

Minakshi K. Chaudhry is a freelance writer and journalist who has developed a deep love and knowledge of her home state Himachal Pradesh.
Preface
Is not it overwhelming to know that a mere halting ground with a few miserable cultivators huts in 1817 when the Scot brothers, Patrick and James Gerard reached here on 30 August, went on to become the summer capital of the British Raj in 1864?

The story of the rise of Simla, a middling sized village where a faquir is stationed to give water to the visitors and the surrounding hills into prominence defies logic but that is the way history weaves its magic. Even then let us give some flight to our fancies and ponder some silly questions as historians would call these.

What if the Gerard brothers has taken a different route and
never reached this hill abode? What if the Gurkhas had not subjugated the hill states with the ruthlessness with which they did? What if the hill chiefs had not invited the British to deliver them from the tyrannies of the Gu