Articles by Ashwani Sharma

Even as it celebrates the centenary of its creation, Shimla’s iconic natural ice skating Rink is not just losing its old world charm, but changing weather patterns is affecting the once popular events that the Rink hosted. After last week’s heavy snowfall, ice skating sessions had to be stopped.  Even last year, just a little over 40 sessions could be held. Scheduled competitions had to be cancelled due to uncertain weather. Listen to Peter Ta Tung 56, a veteran ice skater, as he recalls activities at the Rink in the 60s and 70s. Tinged with nostalgia and a touch of…

The snow-capped Dauladhar mountains paint a picturesque backdrop to the town that today aspires to be a popular hub as a global tourist destination, as the business capital of Himachal Pradesh and as a centre for promoting sporting talent in the region. For decades, Dharamshala’s only claim to fame was as the home of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the creation of McLeodganj as the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile, now renamed the Central Tibetan Administration. “Today, Dharamshala can become one of India’s best towns,” said I. D Bhandari, retired IPS officer and former DGP who…

“Will I be able to watch Shimla’s first snowfall before I return to Patna after my semester examination in December 2019?” Ankit Kumar, a student at Shimla APG University asked his teacher. Hailing from Bihar, Ankit said one of the reasons he chose to do his journalism course in Shimla was to see his first snowfall. “I have seen lots of lovely pictures of this beautiful hill station completely wrapped in soft white snow. It’s my life’s dream to experience this”. With the sudden drop in temperature to 6 degrees centigrade on November 29, and popular tourist spots like Noranda,…

Palampur is a picturesque Himalayan town in Kangra district, in the foothills of the majestic Dhauladhar mountains and the gateway to the popular Kullu-Manali tourist destinations. Surrounded by lush green tea gardens growing the famous Kangra tea, which was first planted in Palampur, the town is also home to CSIR’s Institute of Biosource Technology. Sadly, barring some localities and the town’s peripheral belt, the once pretty lanes of this town are today lined with garbage heaps dumped haphazardly at some spots.  “We need to find answers to fix this problem,” said former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, who hails from Palampur.…

One summer day in 2015, Rakesh Kanwar, a young IAS officer who was then deputy commissioner of Kullu, happened to walk past a dilapidated old government building on his way from his office, located next to the historic Dhalpur, also called Dassehra ground. Known for his innovative ideas and public outreach efforts, Kanwar was shocked and dismayed seeing the dirty building and its poorly maintained interiors. But the building was full to capacity. It was Kullu’s public library and was filled with the town’s reading enthusiasts, both young and old. The building and its contents were crying out for attention,…

For Vineet Gautam, the tall deodar tree in the backyard of his heritage home Mayvilla, had become a threat to his life and property. A massive landslide caused by incessant rains had washed away 80-100 metres of common road in the vicinity of his 1928-built home, dangerously tilting the massive tree. Having spent a night of anxiety and fear in his home, Vineet moved his family to a safer location the next morning, and had to spend three days to convince the municipal corporation to cut down and remove the tree. Vineet Gautam was fortunate as the civic authorities responded…

An expression of panic mixed with hope flits across Hamid Ullah’s face every time his mobile phone rings. A Kashmiri earning a living as a porter in Shimla, Hamid fervently hopes that the call is from home. The panic stems from anxiety about the state of his family whose lines of communication with the outside world remain completely cut off for the past six days. “Eid is just a few days away and I have not been able to speak to my family for over 72 hours,” says Hamid, who hails from Anantnag, sitting outside the local Jama Masjid. “What…

“The beauty of Shimla lies in its conceptualisation by the Britishers,” says Dr Ravinder Dhiman, a Shimla-based history researcher. “Primarily, it was modelled as a hill station for their summer recess. Yet most features and facilities built by them were similar to the Smart City concepts currently being drawn up. But in the existing conditions, these smart city concepts sound utterly unrealistic and highly impracticable”. Shimla is one of the 30 urban centres chosen under the Smart City Mission launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2015. The Rs 2,905 crore project, which has been approved by the centre, aims at…

“We began the tourist season on a happy note, mid-way we crumbled,” says Anup Thakur, President Manali Hoteliers Association. “Highways got choked, the 40-45 km Kullu–Manali road turned into a nightmare, while the administration slept through it all”. Unprecedented summer heat in the northern plains saw tourists flocking to Shimla, British India’s winter capital, in search of a cooler haven. The other popular tourist destination, Kullu-Manali, with its scenic drive to the 13059-feet high Rohtang Pass got crowded too. And while the rush was a boon for hoteliers and the state’s tourism industry, for visitors and locals alike, it proved…

“I can safely say 50 to 60 percent of Shimla youths are drug addicts, consumers and even peddlers,” said Gaurav, 40, who runs a Drug Rehabilitation and Counselling Centre in Shimla. Once an addict himself, Gaurav said in many cases parents are not willing to accept that their child could be an addict. In his own case, Gaurav credits his parents for helping him fight his drug habit by sending him to a rehabilitation centre in Punjab. Now, Gaurav is doing his bit for others who have fallen into the same habit. “Not all are lucky like me to be…