Himachal in Winter 7/ On Netaji’s Trail

As we started our journey towards Chamera Lake  from Subhas Bowli, we realized that it was not a wrong decision to cancel a night’s stay in Dalhousie and head to some other place.  Local sightseeing of Dalhousie has been completed by 9:30 am. So it would have been a loss, had we stayed for one more night here.

Actually, we decided to cancel our second night’s stay in Dalhousie yesterday itself. Some members of our group were frightened by the extreme cold here. It’s a fact that we were facing the most dangerous cold of the tour in Dalhousie itself. Also the room of the hotel, where we were staying was also a reason for such a cold feeling.

We checked in the Hotel Geetanjali, run by Himachal Tourism here in Dalhousie. It is a British-era building with massive rooms. Moreover, there are glass windows right near the ceiling. Cold winds were entering the room, from those windows. But the room heater which was provided was so tiny that it had no power to heat the room. Overall, we could say that for the first time in this tour, weather won and we lost.

Yesterday, it took us two hours to reach Dalhousie from Khajjiar, despite the distance being just 22 kms. It is because of the snowfall that happened around twenty days ago. The road from Khajjiar to Dalhousie goes through a place known as Lakkarmandi, which is located at an altitude of 7,500 feet above sea level. The road was completely covered with snow. The snow had made the road narrow, as a result of which extreme traffic jams were taking place.

Anyways, overcoming all the traffic jams, we reached Dalhousie just before the afternoon.

Dalhousie has two main city centers. Shubhas Chawk and Gandhi Chawk. Our Hotel is located nearer to Shubhas Chawk. Some of the members in our group felt to have some shopping since our tour is almost coming to an end. So after our lunch, we decided to go to the market near Gandhi Chawk.

As we were doing our shopping in Gandhi Chawk, we met with a very famous person. Actually we were thanking our luck for having met him. We went to the shop named Novelty Stores. The shop is being run by the owner Inderbir Singh and his son Tarunpreet. As we were shopping, we could see a photo hanging from the wall of the shop. The photo was taken on 5^th May 1937. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose figures in that photo.

We asked Mr Singh about the photo. He felt pride in telling about his family history and how Netaji was an important figure there. When Netaji came to Dalhousie in 1937, the grandfather of Mr Singh, Gopal Singh was his accomplice. At that time Gopal Singh had a shop in Shubhash Chawk. As time progressed they shifted the shop to Gandhi Chawk and named in Novelty Stores. So it is must for every fan of Netaji to visit this shop at least once.

The town of Dalhousie is not huge. With Gandhi Chawk and Subhash Chawk being the only centers of the town, it is relatively peaceful compared to other mountain towns. At one corner of the Gandhi Chawk, there lies Saint John’s Church. There is a sitting area just adjacent to the Church, from where we can experience the giant Pir Panjal ranges.

The road connecting Gandhi and Shubhash Chawk is known as Mall Road. The locals call this road ‘Thandi Sarak’ as well. Probably this road doesn’t get much of sunshine, so locals have given it such a name.

As we were walking through the Mall road, we noticed Mehar Hotel on the left. Netaji used to stay in this hotel. Without thinking much, we entered the hotel and enquired the Manager about the room where Netaji stayed. The manager was polite to meet our request. He showed us Netaji’s room. It was all a different kind of a feeling to see Netaji’s room.

The room of our hotel was west-facing. The day ended in Dalhousie with a very beautiful sunset. It got colder all of a sudden. At 10’o clock in the night, my mobile app showed the current temperature at minus 2 degrees.

All in our group were much relieved as the morning sun shone in Dalhousie. Spending the night without any problem was probably the reason to be cheerful. After breakfast we went to the sightseeing tour of Dalhousie.

Read More:  Himachal in Winter 6/ The snow-surprise of Khajjiar

Dalhousie has three main points. Panchpulla, Satdhara and Subhash Bowli. We were very disappointed to see Panchpulla and Satdhara. There are seven taps on the mountain and water is falling through these taps. This is known as Satdhara. But the place is dirty. Panchpulla is also similarly dirty. It is a waterfall but we didn’t get any glimpse of a waterfall here. But there is a Martyr Park, in the name of Ajit Singh, the brother of Bhagat Singh.

To be frank, we were disappointed by Shubhash Bowli as well. Located on the outskirts of Dalhousie this is a spring, where Netaji used to drink water. In 1937 Netaji suffered from Pleurisy. To have a change of weather, the doctors advised him to visit Dalhousie. While his stay here, he used to walk everyday from the town to drink this spring’s water. As a result, Netaji was cured from the disease.

There is no government initiative to protect Shubhash Bowli. It is being taken care by an association named Bharat Vikas Parshad.

After Shubhash Bowli, we bid adieu to Dalhousie and went to Chamera Lake. It is situated on the road towards Chamba, around 30 kms from Dalhousie. It is actually an artificial reservoir built using the water of River Ravi. Though artificial, the lake is really beautiful. It is being promoted by the Himachal Tourism as a new spot in the state. We spent a few good moments here in Chamera and then started our journey for the next destination.

How to Reach

Reach Pathankot from Howrah, Delhi or any part of India. From Pathankot, Dalhousie is 81 kms and can be reached by buses or hired cars.

Where to Stay

There are many hotels in Dalhousie. You can find them from the various hotel-booking websites. Himachal Tourism has two properties in Dalhousie- Geetanjali and Manimahesh. Book them online through the portal of HPTDC-www.hptdc.in