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Named after some chap called Lansdowne

20/5/2011

 
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Trishul peaks lie in the Garhwal Himalayas. You can see them on a clear day if you get up early enough. Pictures by Col YS Rawat (retd) who lives in his ancestral red roofed bungalow in Lansdowne
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Yes, the orchids still bloom
Long time before I found my way to big city Delhi and discovered a slice of cake called Black Forest at Nathu’s Pastry Shop in Bengali Market, I knew another Kalu Danda (that’s black forest in my native Garhwali). 

It was the name of my shady pine forested hometown that the British came and “discovered” many decades back when great grandfather was a burping baby. Since they couldn’t pronounce Kalo Danda, they promptly renamed it Lansdowne after some guy back home in England, totally ignoring the fact that 99.9 per cent Garhwalis in Lansdowne had never been formally introduced to him (actually, I’m not even sure about the remaining 0.1 per cent). Since the native Garhwalis had heard gruesome stories of the English chopping off heads of people (or was it wives?) who didn’t agree with them, they decided to accept it. The angrier ones did mutter “kanda dharin” (rough equivalent of ‘burn in hell’) under their breaths at this act of impertinence but the name stuck though most of us locals continue to deliberately mispronounce it as Lansi-dawn just to convey our displeasure regarding that chap Lansdowne, whoever he was. 

To those of you who haven’t been to Lansi-dawn yet, I would suggest book your tickets now. With the way the Indian population is growing (1.7 billion soon says the depressing WHO, shaking a grave head)  you can savour the sheer absence of people, even if you fall in the category that doesn’t get much impressed by lush forests, orchids cascading down trees, blooming red rhododendrons and white daisies by the roadside. You get to see plenty of red roofed British time bungalows too and if you are really lucky you may even run into the ghost of a headless British officer who patrols the cantonment on his horse and wakes up sentries sleeping on duty. Coming back to the British, they made pretty good cantonments even if they could not cure themselves of this penchant for “discovering” already discovered placed and renaming decently named towns. A towering statue of what we Garhwalis stubbornly insist is rifleman Gabbar Singh, Victoria Cross (in effect it is the statue of a fighting soldier that was made in France and then gifted to Lansdowne), overlooks the parade ground where the Army hold attestation parades for smart young recruits with crew cut hair, tarred roads form deep arches into the hill, pine trees drop friendly cones on walkers’ heads and fallen leaves carpet hillsides down which squealing kids take breezy rides in wagons made from broken planks of wood.

You meet runny-nosed boys with apple pink cheeks and school girls with fat pigtails and big red ribbons in their hair. You spot impish local lads by the roadside contemplating the deep questions of life (mostly on the lines of : who could the new tourist in town be, where could he/she have come from; also, where would they be going). A very interesting way to pass the time. Try it sometime. If you walk all the way down to the forest side on the route to Jaiharikhal, you cross on the road cheerful alabaster complexioned local women with sparkling nose pins, carrying loads of grass or wood precariously balanced on their pretty heads. You pass luxurious deodars with spiky edged leaves and clumps of rhododendron trees that sprout bright red blossoms every summer. You hear the ear splitting “kaafal pako, meil na chakho” (the kaafal fruit has ripened but I haven’t tasted it yet) of the shrill and whiny hill bird, you sting your fingers on thorns from the Hisalu bushes on the roadside trying to get at the juicy orange fruit. And if you are in the mood for it, you sample a thali of almost home made lunch of roti, sabzi, dal and tangy raita at one of the two restaurants in the market.

Down Lansdowne’s clean roads, the friendly Whistling Thrush hops down, always a few annoying steps ahead of you; colourful butterflies hover around brilliant blue hydrangeas and Army officers sometimes spot leopards when driving back late from parties. And then there is something that you will seldom see. Locals take pride in the fact that there is no garbage blowing in the breeze. You won’t find empty wafer packets dumped between the daisies or used paper cups chucked into bushes, which is unfortunately how things are in most other hill stations in our country. In the small but neat marketplace, polythene is conspicuous by its absence, the friendly Garhwali bhulla hands out your jalebis and samosas in newspaper bags. And if you happen to run into school kids, it is quite likely that their excitement is about the saplings they have planted to make sure their town stays as green as it has always been. A recipient of the India Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, Lansdowne is one of the most environment friendly towns of the country. This is one hill station where the air has just got cleaner, the water bodies have increased and the flora and fauna have only multiplied. The Army has constructed a beautiful pond with boating and picnic facilities and populated it with dozens of noisy ducks. Remarkable for a town where water was once a scarcity. Some extensive tree plantation has also been carried out on the surrounding slopes making them greener than they were a few decades back. As for the local people, they have always followed an environment friendly way of life. Over the years children have walked to school. Now, as grown ups, most of them walk to work. Individual cars are few and even these are mostly used for travelling longer distances. Almost everybody walks in Lansdowne.

Perched ethereally on a green hillside that hovers above a vast stretch of pine and oak forests, the pretty little town cuts elegantly into the pristine blue of the Uttarakhand sky. You go to sleep with hundreds of stars shining in the darkness beyond your bedroom window. You wake up with the first rays of the mountain sun and “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” blaring from Gyarasi Lal’s movie hall in the marketplace. Or, you fix an alarm and rise even earlier so that you can slip into your jeans and a sweater, grab a flask of tea and brisk walk all the way to Tiffin Top to watch the sun rise slowly from between the cleft in the mountain peaks, lighting up the ranges with a fascinating white glow that turns to orange as the light spreads across the sky. And there you loll on the bench outside the old stone church, listening to the twitter of the birds. You reach out for the flask and pour yourself some steaming hot ginger tea and you pinch yourself to make sure all that stretches out in front of your eyes is for real. If you are in the mood for conversation, you strike one with a lone early walker (if he is in the mood for conversation too). Or you just enjoy your own company and discover that you’re actually twice as nice as you imagined yourself to be. Spend a few days in Lansdowne and you realize it’s the stuff perfect moments are made of. Oh yes, and if you’re happy enough,  please do us prickly Garhwalis a favour and call it Lansi-dawn. A few times at least.  


 Getting there: Lansdowne is around 250 kms from Delhi. It is named after Lord Lansdowne the then Viceroy of India who is said to have visited the place in 1884. National Highway 119 runs from Delhi all the way to Lansdowne and will take you there in about 6 hours. Kotdwar is the nearest railway station and from there it is 40 kms/an hour drive uphill. Buses and taxis are available at the Kotdwar railway station. Jolly Grant at Dehradun is the nearest airport.

This piece was written for Unboxed Writers. You can visit the website by clicking here: http://unboxedwriters.com/2011/05/some-chap-called-lansdowne/
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Winter view of the imposing Garhwali Mess gate
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This is the road that takes you there
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Another shade of blue
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Ever had the Empress of Blandings blocking traffic?
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Rhododendron
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A view of the twin town of Jaiharikhal
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Perfect sunset, seen through the oak trees
Pictures by Col Yashwant Singh Rawat (retd) who was born and brought up in Lansdowne. He has travelled the world since but has returned to where he belongs.
BIG B JB
20/5/2011 03:29:19 pm

wow..beautifully written and great picturisation of Landsdown....yes Britishers were very Eco friendly by nature and they loved Nature in India too...The aim was to set up cantonment in a remote place to remain away from dust,dirt and noise pollution so that they can have clear vision, thought process and healthy life to rule Others...Kuhoo has seen this place from School side I think Now we will be your UNWANTED/FORCED guest.....its amazing article and photos are very lovely....I am glad to know that her flora fauna has increased in manifolds ,credit goes to all locals,and Army.....A beautiful article once again....keep it up Ma'am
Bye..BIG B.

Jhoomar
20/5/2011 03:42:50 pm

Lansdowne is without doubt one of the prettiest and most peaceful places I have seen and deserves to be 'discovered'. But I am not sure I am ready to share 'thandi sadak' with throngs of tourists!!

Sunil Rawat
20/5/2011 07:11:06 pm

The beautiful town of Lansdowne is so brilliantly introduced here, that it makes one want to go there.

Infact, I have not been there for almost 2 decades now (last..when nani was there), but have developed a renewed interest to visit it sometime soon.

That it has developed and is also very well maintained by the people there is also very nice to know.

Thanks a lot for this piece,..di! :)

Bhaiya
20/5/2011 08:03:23 pm


It is beautifully written ... Rachna .. the imagery you have drawn of the place is deeply etched in me as I lived in the town at an impressionable age ..... those of us who have lived there will find special delight in reading this ... thank you ...

noopur
20/5/2011 10:28:11 pm

Absolutely the most beautiful place , with some of the best memories of my life. Rachna you have described it perfectly !! loved it ! Keep writing girl...you sure have a way with words :)

Mahendra
21/5/2011 01:06:23 pm

Will be going there in July to check out the morning view from the Church.

By the way, one very impressive contribution from the British was the Water storage system - The huge "paani ki tankiyaan" they built on mountain tops. I still remember being awed as a kid by their scale (having not seen anything bigger than the Garhwali Mess building...), and the fact that none of them had any kind of "defence" (we would open the hatches and peer inside) showed the innocence of those times. No worries about terrorists or assorted lunatic doing something nasty to the water supply.

And I also give full credit to the Army for the greenery and the cleanliness (not sure if Garhwalis themselves are cleanliness oriented, as a visit to neighbouring Deriyakhal will illustrate).

I wouldnt even think of comparing Mussourie (essentially a Pappu di gaddi / Chole bhature congregation with a generous dollop of trash and third rate architecture) with Lansidawn.

Col (Retd) Y S Rawat
22/5/2011 02:23:47 pm

Its beautiful Rachna and thanks for releasing some of my photographs out from the prison of computer and expose then ot the light of the day. Incidently, Himalayan range in the picture above is Trishul and not Chokhamba.
Some more corrections- Lansdowne was named after Lord Lansdowne Vice roy of India in 1890s. The war Memorial statue is not of late Rfn Gabar Singh, VC as generally believed, This syatue was originally made in France to be erected there but later it was decided to send it to India for installing at home of Garhwalis. It was erected here in Nov 1923. The ground below if now a proper parade ground. Attestation parade (graduation ceremony on completion of training) Recruits of Garhwal Rifles parade infront of Memeorial in an empressive ceremony.

ather
22/5/2011 07:06:04 pm

You should be writing for the Indian Tourist Board! Your writing has teleported me to the lush surrounds of Lansi-dawn, so evocative is your style. Thank you for another visual treat too...

Ritha Hegde link
22/5/2011 10:46:16 pm

WOW and a WOW. One for the writing and one for the photographs....wonderful.
If I ever visit this town in future...it would be my second time there. I felt a first visit with your article already :)
Thanks...keep writing.

Anisha
31/5/2011 09:13:20 am

Enjoyed reaing such vivid descriptions :-) Would love to visit someday.

Prithvi
7/6/2011 10:23:01 am

Well this one I loved ! Super writing. Simple. Mischievous. nice poetic prose !


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    Rachna Bisht Rawat is a full time mom and part time writer. She is married to an Army officer whose work takes the family to some of the most interesting corners of India.

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