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| Christ Church in the back ground in Shimla |
Travelling alone from Calcutta to Chandigarh by train was very brave thing for me to do and liberating too. From Chandigarh the beautiful hill train journey to Shimla was made with the company of my aunt. For me the decision to visit Shimla was simply to get away from the heat and the mosquitoes of the South. On my arrival I found myself ill with high temperature and felt that I was at the mercy of my relatives to make me well again. Whilst I was recovering from my ill health, I had very little choice but to listen to the tales of the British Raj recited by my host family.
In the days of the British Raj, Shimla was the jewel in the crown for the most British living in India. Shimla was the most popular hill station for them to visit and like me, when the heat was unbearable in the South; they came to Shimla with their huge baggage trains full of all the paraphernalia in order to live a very decadent life style, parties, dance balls and parade were common. Best of Shimla belonged to the British and places like The Mall was a no go area for the vehicles and also for all the Indians!!! The British had operated their own unwritten apartheid system all over India and this was very much in evidence when my parents had lived and worked in Shimla during the Raj .
I was sad to learn that the British felt they were the superior race in India!!!
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