Our member Ms. A. Dey’s trip to Shimla and Manali shows that sometimes the journey can be as memorable as reaching the destination.
My trip to Shimla and Manali in 1992 was memorable not only for the challenges we had to
overcome but because both my mother and my mother-in-law travelled with us. It was a
family trip and we were a big group of ten people. We faced obstacles even before the trip
began, but nothing could dampen our spirits.
We purchased our tickets three months in advance. Four tickets—that of the three of us and
my mother-in-law—were semi-reserved: we could board the train but would have to share
our berths. We felt there was plenty of time for the tickets to get confirmed. Much to our
surprise, when we checked the status the evening before our date of departure, the four tickets
had not been confirmed. Imagine our plight. We had our bags packed and everything!
We decided to travel separately. My husband and I sold the four tickets and bought confirmed
tickets on a first-class coach to a station before Delhi. My mother-in-law had complimentary
freedom-fighter passes for herself and an attendant, so my son accompanied her. We then
requested the TTE, and thankfully for an extra charge he allowed us to carry on to Delhi, and
onwards to Kalka.
At Shimla, where we met up with the rest of the group, we had no hotel bookings. A senior
manager in my husband’s office who was on the board of a government body insisted we stay
at the government guest house. He wrote a letter of recommendation. Thankfully all of us
could be accommodated at the guest house. Our next stop was Old Manali, where we stayed
at a beautiful resort surrounded by apple trees. The caretaker was kind enough to gift us with
sacks of apples which my sisters carried back to Kolkata. Back home we heard the apples had
come in handy in Varanasi where they made a pit stop. A troop of monkeys stole my eldest
sister’s chappals. She threw some apples at them, and in response they threw the chappals
back. Thus, the footwear was retrieved.
On the trip we constantly felt we were being rewarded for our determination to take on
challenges. In Shimla we managed to stay in a lovely guest house for no charge, and in
Manali we received a gift of delicious apples. Though it didn’t look promising at first, we
ended up having a lot of fun.
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