Being associated with the queen of hills, I always had so much to convey to the people, and so much to brag about! The simplicity, the ambiance, cool climate, kindness, rich history of the city, and especially the ghost stories of Shimla hills. Built on seven hills, the land of God stands contradictory in every aspect of today’s life.
People reside on height yet seem down to earth. We don’t have big theatres, big malls but we do have 24-hour electricity, good primary education, good road connectivity, and water supply. We may not have the highest GDP but we witness no fights for reservation, no caste politics, no support for terrorism, no hatred for outsiders, no Naxalites, no religious bias (though Hindus hold an extreme majority)
Probably we are not greedy people, no matter how strange or uncourteous we may look sometimes but haven’t ever seen any shimlaite indulging in any extremism. We may not experience high-class cars embracing our roads but we lack slum areas too. We belong to one of the youngest cities of India (with 83% population below the age of 55) with the oldest history. Women are as free as anyone and the city observes no biasedness. On a lighter note, females are reluctant to leave their houses at night, not petrified of some ill criminal mind but to avoid a whopping encounter with a wandering ghost or spirit. Not susceptible to illiteracy, it is famous for its schooling, is open defecation free, and has high technology waste management plants.
Although it boasts of its exceptional beauty and large tourism industry, Shimla is considered among the most polluted hill stations of the country. The beautiful city is continuously sinking due to an unmanaged tourist crowd, bad management planning, and earthquake proneness. It’s high time to preserve the bounties of nature which we have been asphyxiating, strangulating, and assassinating recklessly. The day we will open our eyes will be a day when we will see a scorching sun over our head, a lot of dust and fumes to deal with, and zombies like us to talk to. It’s time to preserve the hills which we, even today, last resort to.
Save the hills. We don’t have any other planet to go to.
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