It was mid- September when we reached Dalhousie. Dalhousie being a hill station was cold and moist at that part of the year but lush and green. We could clearly make out why it was nicknamed the Switzerland of East. This small town set in the lush green Himachal mountains had a colonial past, for it may have reminded the English of their own land which was full of lush green hill stations like this and unlike in the rest of India they experienced at home.

Well I am not here to discuss what the English must have experienced of this small town, I am here to discuss my own experience of staying in this haven of lush green flora.

We were on a tour from school. We reached Switzerland, sorry Dalhousie by bus after travelling 8 hours from Amritsar. We could feel the transition in the surroundings as well as the weather. The mustard farms which are a landmark of Punjab (and also a setting for many films) had gradually risen in height and slowly- slowly (even without our noticing it) we were treading on a spiralling mountainous path from a straight, wide road. From fields the terrace farms came into picture. The weather had become colder and the mirage in Amritsar had been replaced by fog. We climbed the mountain by encircling it and every circle enabled us with a better view. As they say that the view is better on the top of the hill we were experiencing it practically. The population had also reduced. We could now see less of people and more of trees.

The surroundings fascinated us. We were literally hanging out of the windows to click pictures wherein we could store the part of our newly visited to heaven, of which we could be reminded of (and even brag about) later. We were screaming like 1 year olds who would have first learned that flowing water from the mountains is called waterfall and what terrace farming is. We could see practical things of our fifth class social studies. What hills were, what were waterfalls, what were pine trees- known to us only in text became known to our eyes.

We discovered why our childhood short story writer Ruskin Bond loved hills so much. Strong old trees came in the vicinity of our window with the scenery of a river gushing in the valley on one side and small streams of waterfall flowing down from the mountains on the other. We were dangling insanely from one side to the other nervously (and struck with awe of the beauty bestowed on our eyes by the scenery) for we wanted to capture the whole of our eyes view to stay with us for the remainder of our lives. People there were tall, fair and had a strong physique. These traits were necessary to survive (and explore) the place they were living in. It was a long journey of eight hours but we did not feel any tiredness then, for the whole scenery had refreshed our minds and souls. In all the ten directions we could see nothing but scenic beauty. As they say ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’ became true for us.

Reached Dalhousie-

Then we reached the hotel. Hotel Dalhousie Heights. It had everything a 3 star hotel could have- spacious rooms, grand banquet and tasty food. Moreover it had a thing which Amritsar one could not offer- great view of the hills. Although we did not feel tired through the journey but the comfortable cot made us sleepy. Amritsar had scorching heat so the coolness of the weather in Dalhousie was a breather. We went shopping in the local Tibetan market after having our tea and snacks. It was a walk on the mountainous tracks to which we Jaipur students weren’t accustomed to. We reached panting to the market after covering what I would describe as a thousand miles journey. But yes the beautiful view and the company of friends, reduced the labor to a minimal fraction.

The marketplace was very serene unlike what we found in the cities like ours. We could see many clearly laid out stalls and in our warm woollens, we began exploring the shops. We bought many things from there for ourselves as well as for our near and dear ones. We saw the big fat red Himachal apples selling there. In spite of the warm clothes we were shivering to which a shopkeeper there said “you should come in December to see what cold is when all the hills are covered by snow and the temperature goes below 0.” I shivered by imagining the hills we were seeing at a distance blanketed by snow and the prospect of the path on which I was walking covered with snow made me feel even colder. I suddenly remembered my visit to the snow park and how I got fever for a couple of days after visiting.

We returned to the hotel singing merrily songs on nature, walking together and friendship. We came back to our room and showed to each other our shopping. Then we had our dinner. After playing games and clicking photos we went to sleep for there was a great day ahead.

To Khajjiar-

Next morning after a sound sleep, I woke up before everybody and pushed the curtains. The window glass was covered by dew. I wiped the dew (the glass was really cold) and saw the beautiful hills with big grey clouds in the background. Then we all got ready to go on for a new expedition. Some seven eight Armadas had been arranged for us to go to Khajjiar. It was to accommodate 7 students and one teacher each. Our group which consisted exactly 7 members claimed one Armada and we started off.

We sang songs on our way on the top of our voice. Even the girl in our group known to be very soft spoken sang on the top of her voice. In spite of our loud serenading we did not miss the scenic view on our way. We captured our moments in the heaven and of our melodious rocking out session. We stopped in the way from where a very distant view could be seen. We even saw snow clad mountains glistening in the sun, at a very large distance from there, where only our eyes could reach but not our feet. We took many memories from there and carried on for our destination.

Khajjiar was a beautiful place. It was a meadow set in between mountains and bordered by strong pine tree forest. It had a hut in between and it set out distinctly but beautifully in the scene. It reminded me of the hut and mountain scenery we used to make in 1st grade. We could do many things there. There were horses for horse riding, amusements to play with and yes a track for those who just wanted to admire the bordering pine forest. We could see parachutes in the air, they were used for paragliding from the top of the hill and drop into the green meadow of Khajjiar. However we could not gather as much courage to go for it and satisfied ourselves with horse riding. We walked and we played on amusements and squeezed as much fun we could. The birds view could be many multicolored dots moving on a green expanse.

Then it was time for us to return. We returned to our Armada and started to return back to our hotel. On the way we could see, clouds that seemed lower than usual. We saw big clouds entering the Dalhousie Public School. It was so beautiful! We joked that the students must be having problems like’ a cloud entered the classroom, we can’t see miss!’ We returned to our hotel room after singing and admiring the clouds, the mountains and the view.

Party-

Later that night we had a disco party in the hotel. We took all pains and dressed up to rock the party. It was a great party. All the latest songs were played. We all danced to our hearts’ content. It was dark and we could barely see each other but we knew that each of us was dancing and really enjoying it. (the photos we clicked in the dark came out to have random and usually strange expressions on our faces.) Multicolored lights filled the room. We wanted to party more but the coming day was to be a long day as we had to travel back to Amritsar.

Good bye hills-

The coming day we left the hills and came back to Amritsar. Every moment we spent in the Switzerland of the East came to my mind like water sprinkling from a fountain. We had to leave early and we were going back to the hot Amritsar. We faced mixed emotions. We were awaiting a great new adventure ahead and pining for the beautiful hills we were leaving.

The hills remain etched in my mind. Today whenever I feel low I revisit the time in the hills and a smile comes across my face. This thing of beauty will remain a joy forever for me!