Dharamshala Diary: Of scenic pines and cricket madness

DHARAMSHALA: With the fragrance of the pine trees, lush greenery, and the majestic mountains, Dharamshala is more serene and beautiful this time of the year than any other season. Sipping hot cup of tea in your tiny cottage, with rays of the morning sun seeping through that glass window, is a feeling ethereal and unparallel.
Though none of my forefathers have belonged to this quaint little hill station, yet somehow, Dharamshala is able to invoke in me a sense of belonging.
In a time span less than a year, this is my fourth cricketing assignment in the city. Travelling in the hills can be tedious - there are occasional bouts of motion sickness, panting becomes a regularity providing you a reality check about fitness. Consuming the water here can be an issue, and lack of proper transport can make you cringe at times. However, all the negatives pale in comparison to the soothing effect it has as you walk through the narrow roads, making you forget the daily tussle of a metropolitan.
This small town is unlike any other Indian hill station because it boasts of a rich blend of Indian and Tibetan culture. Dharamshala is home to his holiness, the Dalai Lama and as such is also one of the main Tibetan settlements in India. Perched on the higher slopes of Kangra Valley, in the backdrop of the snow-capped sublime Dhauladhar mountain ranges, the city has a vast Tibetan population, while maintaining its British fervor and English lifestyles.
Divided into two distinct sections known as lower or upper Dharamshala (Mcleodganj), this vibrant city offers a splendid ambience. Place yourself peacefully in a comfortable bus from Kashmere Gate, Delhi and open your eyes in the morning to an altogether different world.
A 1000m altitude separates upper and lower Dharamshala. Barring Mcleod, which can be termed a small global city in its own, the Kotwali Bazaar and the War Memorial are the two most sought after places. Giving them company is the Bhagsu Nag Waterfall, Norbulingka institute, the tea gardens and the temple of Kunal Patri.
Local buses are the lifelines of the city's transport, and even though waiting for a bus randomly at the corner of road can be a bit taxing, the cheap fares - just Rs 2 for two km negates it. The buses travel at their own pace, never zooming like a rocket launching out into the sky. No two major stops are near one another, so that makes for ample time to interact with nature. The scenic city is not thrown at me. Instead, they change gradually and allow me to take them all in.
The Bhagsu Nag is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is approximately at a distance of about two kms from Mcleoganj market. One of the many characteristics that highlights the temple is the waterfall, about 1.5 km long. Auto rickshaws are available from Mcleod, but the rest of the route has to be walked.
Due to time constraint, the waterfall was the only place I could manage to visit, since India's first practice session was scheduled few hours later. The media contingent, accommodated at The Kunal, a three-star wannabe, has been catering to them since the first international which featured England and India back in 2013. It's about a two km away from the HPCA stadium, which currently is the hub of all buzz. Billboards promoting the event can be sighted all around the city.
The excitement surrounding the match is palpable. Even though walking till the stadium is an option, even climbing down in the mountains can be quite the task. Mostly because of the traffic, which according to a driver who had to drop a set of reporters to the ground, gets heavy during the cricket season. On my way to the stadium on day two of the coverage, I happened to strike an interesting conversation with him.
"So I heard India is playing the West Indies. We'll easily prevail over them. I was quite young when my parents told me what a formidable force they once were in cricket, but a lot has changed now, hasn't it sir"?
It took me a while to correct him, and once he realised, Arjun was quick to remember a certain team that pulled out of India's tour last year, "Oh yes! West Indies was last year. That thing did not end well, I heard. They went back because they were not being paid enough," he recalled. "It's South Africa, right? That guy de Villiers is a freak. Uska koi tod nahi hai."
On further investigation, it was brought to my notice that back when Dharamshala had hosted just the IPL, the accommodation was mostly done at The Dhauladhar, only the third hotel with WIFI availability, which brings me to internet connectivity in the city. Apart from Shimla, Dharamshala and Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh lacks 3G connection, and even the ones that don't, aren't reliable. Perhaps if I had to shoot a mail to save my life, I wouldn't have made it.
As the city continues to soak in the euphoria surrounding the first T20, fans flocked in numbers ahead of the Indian team's practice with flags in hand. On Tuesday, one of them was heartily disappointed not to see Shikhar Dhawan doing the rounds. "Where's Gabbar?" he asked his friend next to him, to which a media guy, a photographer responded: "He's flying in tomorrow." "Thank god," the fan exclaimed, I was really keen on watching him bat."
This, clearly, is just one of the many emotions Dharamshala is undergoing at the moment.