Time Goes By Slowly

The beauty of Dalhousie was its simplicity and earthiness, now lost to milling tourists and fancy outlets. But veer into the alleys and out of town, and you will realise this paradise is not all lost.

- Sugato Tripathy

Revisiting places that once captured your imagination when you were young is usually unwise. Places, like humans, invariably change and expecting them to remain trapped in time is impractical. Dalhousie, at the start of the century, denuded of the monster of commercialisation, was a quaint and rustic hill station with old colonial houses, a few basic hotels, and homespun shops. Today, it is brimming with tourists. High-end properties grace its slopes. The famous Gandhi and Subhas Chowks have restaurants offering continental dishes.

Though much has changed, the intrinsic character of the town can still be experienced by those willing to do so. It still provides ample opportunities for long walks through deserted roads flanked by deodar and fir trees, still offers magnificent sweeping views of the Pir-Panjal mountain range and is still the ideal base to visit Khajjiar (the mini Switzerland of India), Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary (home of the Himalayan black bear) and Dainkund hilltop (9,000 ft).

The Transition

The name of the town had always fascinated me. Named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856, this 160-year-old town known for its salubrious setting is spread over five hills. I first visited it during my school days with my family. It was a quiet hill station then with minimal traffic. Tourists were encouraged to use cycles to explore the town. Today, its narrow winding roads are packed with buses, minivans and taxis. The two chowks boast trendy cafés, multi-cuisine restaurants, clothes shops, souvenir and accessories outlets and even a Tibetan market. Though these are great avenues for retail therapy, they don’t fit in for those who seek solace and quietude in a hill station. I understood that trying to tune in to the frequency of an earlier period is similar to searching for a signal on your old radio set and getting just faint intermittent crackles.