Tales from Barog, HP

A view of Dagshai from Barog

Any mountain would do if you are in good company, I thought when three of us were planning our  vacation. We met at the chic and charming city of Chandigarh. Within half an hour of driving we were at the Pinjore Gardens, at the foothills of lower Shivalik range of the Himalayas. Although we enjoyed the shady pathways and lawns, later I found out all that we missed at Pinjore. If I ever go there again, I would run to The Bhima Devi Temple (dating from between 8th to 11th century) a baoli i.e stepwell and a museum, which google says, are in the same locality.  

                                        

Thanking our most revered Minister for Road and Transport, Mr Nitin Gadkari, for the smooth four-lane road, we drove further and soon  we were looking for a home-stay near Solan. A homestay means living with the host in their house. But the ones we saw looked more like hotels. Fortunately a friendly Sardarji was seen standing in front of his homestay, named Sartaaj. The spacious porch and a rottweiler resting in the corner gave us a homely feel.

Sartaj Homestay, Barog

The view of Dagshai from the terrace at Barog was beautiful till we knew that it is 'Dhaag-e-Shahi'. It means the royal mark that is put on the forehead of the criminals who were sent to this village. Our Mutiny heroes were tortured and hanged here. There are darkrooms ( kaalkothari) where one can't even see their own hand, torture cell, the big bell which tolled when one of our dear revolutionist dropped dead. Was it easy for us  to face all that ? It was 2nd October, a national holiday, so we had to cancel the visit. Gandhiji was also put in this jail for sometime.

                                                          Dagshai, Kalapani of HP (pic: Internet)

With an inexperienced driver/ guide we could not explore Solan. We just had a walk through the market which was anything but exciting. 

We drove further to see Mohan Temple. No one can associate a temple with a liquor manufacturer, but this temple is built by the famous Mohan Meakins Ltd. Mohan Meakins  took me back to my childhood. My father, an auditor went to audit this firm during the mid 70's. They gifted him a leather bound diary. It had shers by famous Urdu poets. My brother and I, 9 and 7 year old then, loved reading those couplets/shers and repeated them in mock seriousness. We appreciated them only when we grew up. I recited a few of them and both my friends loved it. 

कोई हाथ भी न मिलाएगा जो गले मिलोगे तपाक से

ये नए मिज़ाज का शहर है ज़रा फ़ासले से मिला करो

____________

दुश्मनी जम कर करो लेकिन ये गुंजाइश रहे

जब कभी हम दोस्त हो जाएँ तो शर्मिंदा न हों

- Basheer Badr

      दुनिया भी अजब सराये-फ़ानी देखी

                                        दुनिया भी अजब सराये-फ़ानी देखी
                                         हर चीज यहां की आनी जानी देखी
                                         जो आ के न जाये वह बुढ़ापा देखा
                                         जो जा के न आये, वह जवानी देखी।

                                                            ~ मीर अनीस लखनवी

                                        बारिशें छत पे खुली जगह पे होती हैं 

                                        गम वो सावन है जो कमरे के अंदर बरसता है 

                                       ________________

Barog railway station is the cutest railway station I ever saw. We took a shortcut from the main road 

while driving down from Barog. It was a 10 minutes climb from the main road. The quaint little station lies on UNESCO World Heritage Site , Kalka-Shimla Railways.

There were railway employees, and people waiting for the train. There was a tunnel too. The special thing about the tunnel is that we can see both the ends from one side. We could see the light on the other end. Is it uncommon? I don't know.

 There is another abandoned tunnel 1.5 km away. Which was built by a British engineer Colonel Borog. He got it dug from both opposite ends. Due to some calculation blunder it could not meet. Workers blamed him for their hard work that went down the drain and the Government also fined him  (Re 1) for wasting so much money. The humiliated  engineer shot himself. Then another tunnel was built and due respect was given to Col Barog. People fondly tell the stories of the haunted tunnel and meeting the friendly ghost of Mr Barog. My host told me that his name was Col Brog which later become Barog.

 

Back to Chandigarh, I had one day to explore the city. The city had burst the balloon of my civic pride

which I had cultivated for last two decades at the beautiful IIT Kanpur Campus. Not only the residential areas, University Campus and  offices were clean and green, but every nook and corner of the city was sparkling clean. Cycle lanes were adorable. 

                                                                Fulkari, Chandigarh shopping

While returning, there was a regret that we had skipped many places we would have loved to visit.There were many reasons. Sometimes it was motion sickness or we wanted to be in our comfort zone rather than exerting ourselves.I hope to visit those interesting places in the writings of Kipling, Khushwant Singh and Ruskin.