It is the peak summer tourist season here. Soon, the rains will arrive (some showers have already blessed the town).
But as of now, there are still a large number of tourists in both Doon and Mussoorie. “The Queen of Hills” has been popular down the years among the royalty and very important people and in its history of about 200 years, it has had the privilege of hosting many celebrities.
Every summer, as the peak tourist season begins, one can be sure to hear the tales of the ‘good old times’ of Mussoorie from old residents of the hill station who look back nostalgically to the days when esteemed persons like Motilal Nehru walked down The Mall and Camel’s Back Road. The relationship between the Nehru family and Mussoorie began with Motilal Nehru’s visits to the hill station, mainly for recuperating from illness. His wife, Swaroop Rani and their daughter Vijay lakshmi Pandit, all had a great attachment to this hill station and visited it all through their lives. Vijay lakshmi Pandit stayed in landour for some time and was a frequent visitor to the famous ‘A Prakash & Co’ in Sisters Bazar. Several generations of the Nehru family have patronized this amazing store which stands unassumingly in a tranquil corner of the popular hill station.
Anil Prakash is a grocer to the entire hill station and keeps residents and tourists well-stocked with the fresh fruit jams, chutneys and peanut butter for which the store has been renowned. The cheddar cheese and cinnamon rolls are the two other eternal favourites. Anil’s father, Inder Prakash, says proudly, “Motilal Nehru bought cheese from us in the 1920s and so did Mrs Indira Gandhi later. Rajiv and Sonia came in for our jams too.”
India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar lal Nehru visited Mussoorie often and the hill town had a special place in his heart. In 1959, Nehru arrived in Mussoorie to meet the Dalai lama after he came here from Tibet.
But this was not his first visit to Mussoorie. Nehruji recalls, in his autobiography, his visit to Mussoorie in October 1930 where his father was recouping. “On October 13th, Kamala and I went off to Mussoorie to spend three days with father …I remember those quiet and delightful three days well; it was good to be back in the family. Indira, my daughter, was there; and my three little nieces, my sister’s daughters. And these three days were the last I was to have with my father before his fatal illness came to snatch him away from him,” he writes in his autobiography.
In the summer of 1920, Nehruji brought his ailing mother and wife to the famous Hotel Savoy of Mussoorie, alongwith little Indira. He had not entered active politics till then, but an incident in Mussoorie catalysed his entry into the sphere. Staying at the Savoy was an Afghan delegation which was in India for political talks with the British government. Pandit Nehru did not know about the Afghans till after he arrived there. The Government, afraid that he might contact them and influence them, asked him to sign an undertaking that he would not get in touch with the delegation. Nehru refused to do that. Though he was not interested in meeting the Afghans, he believed that nobody had the right to prevent him from meeting them. He was ordered by the authorities to leave Mussoorie within 24 hours.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his wife spent many a summer in Mussoorie. Mrs. Wanchoo, Indira’s maternal aunt, lived for years in a house located on Gandhi Chowk (library ). Says Gopal Bhardwaj, chronicler and old resident of Mussoorie, “Personal and political matters brought Indiraji again and again to these hills and she had many good friends here like Sitaji, the princess of Kapurthala”.
He says that Indira Gandhi was extremely fond of staying at “Ekant”, the guest house of the Haryana Government . “It was here she lived for some days in 1981.” “She also lived many a time at the Wanchoo’s place”. A statue of Indira Gandhi is intsalled near the Jhoolaghar to keep the memory of her visits alive. He says Radha Bhavan and Savoy Hotel were also Indiraji’s favourite places to stay at while in Mussoorie.
Residents of Mussoorie and Doon valley can never thank her enough as it was due to her love for the hill station that she took it up personally to ensure that its barrenness was removed and the limestone quarrying was stopped. Her initiative led the SC to give a judgement against the mining and the region was rejuvenated thereafter. The Nehru family’s love for the hills brought them here often. They found it quite similar to Kashmir. ‘Kamla Castle’ and ‘Craig Top’ were two of the other resorts which they stayed at often.