Miracles that speak of a mightier presence
Adventure
By Bijender Sharma

MOST tourism brouchers package Himachal Pradesh as a trip to the heart of nature. Beyond perfect hamlets and valleys of flowers, however they speak of little else. Yet the hills have much to offer to the intrepid trekker and the avid bird-watcher.

In the hills, one finds how close to nature one is. The opening of a rhododendron flower, the ripening of a peach and the blaze of a vermilion sunset against the darkening hills seem like miracles that speak of a wiser and mightier presence than oneself. And in this unspoilt beauty of the hills, one can still spot rare and majestic birds. Despite increasing urban development shrinking the natural habitat, Himachal still has much to offer to avid bird watcher.

The trekker stands a good chance of stumbling on to a Monal pheasant in the hills surrounding Chail. The monal of Impeyan is a bird of the high mountains, found on well-forested slopes. On the ground, the monal appears rather ungainly for a pheasant. It is startled by even the soft rustle of a visitor, the shy creature shoots out with infinite grace from the hillside, and rapidly dwindles into a glittering flash in the sunlight. The male of the species in replete with all the colours of the rainbow. And before you can blink, it drops like an arrow into the abyss ahead and vanishes.

The monal is Himachal’s state bird. The cock stands out with his russet tail, metallic purple and sapphire feather, striking crest and emerald green patch just above the tail. The hen is an earthy brown with darker streaks and mottles and a white patch just above the tail. Considering it is she who raises the young, her colouring is a camouflage nature gives her so she so can mix with the background and escape detection. The bird is a furtive creature that feeds on grubs, maggots, acorns, leaves, shoots, seeds and berries. Hume and Marshall wrote in 1879, "The great demand for the brilliant skins of the monal that has existed for many years has led almost to their extermination in some parts of the hills, as the native shikaris shoot and snare for the pot as well as for the skins and kill as many males as females."

The well-known Mr Wilson, famous as Pahari Wilson, had sent to England an average of 1,500 skins of monal and tragopan pheasants annually for a period of 30 years!

Today, they are high on the endangered list and one is lucky to catch the odd, fleeting glimpse of this handsome bird in the wild. They breed during May and June. The eggs are usually five in number. They are a dull white speckled with amber brown. The nest is a depression in the gound, scratched out by the hen. Monal nests are found sheltered under an overhanging bush or a tuft of grass.

At 7,000 feet above sea level, one of Chail’s claims to fame is its cricket pitch — the world’s highest. Visitors would do well to carry sweaters even on a summer trip. During winter, the average temperature is between zero and 10 degrees Celsius and heavy woollens are the norm. The best time of the year for a visit is October when the days are comfortably pleasant.

Driving from Kalka on the broad, fast and crowded main highway to Shimla, one has to take a right turn at the fork in the road at a small wind-swept town called Kandaghat. From here, the road leads to Chail and is a refreshing contrast to the Kalka-Shimla road. Narrow, full of curves and relatively uncrowded, one can drive at leisure through the chir pine-clad slopes.

The name Chail conjures up visions of majesty and mystery. The story would have it that a maharaja, besotted by the beautiful daughter of a high-ranking English official, decided that East and West must meet. The time-honoured tale goes that the potentate made off with the fair maid. The place this delicate affair of the heart began is still known in Shimla as Scandal point. Consequently, the maharaja was banned from entering Shimla. The besotted monarch then decided to establish himself at Chail, from where he could, with the aid of a telescope, gaze upon his lady love.

I leave it to the reader to distinguish between fact and fantasy. However, it is erroneous to conclude that his Highness founded Chail. According to history books, this bewitchingly beautiful place was a part of a hill state called Keonthal. Amar Singh, a Gurkha chieftain, conquered it by force of arms. Much later, Chail became a summer resort of the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1891, the Maharaja decided to build his palace here. In 1972, the government of Himachal took it over and converted the royal residence into a hotel run by Himachal Tourism.

Though called the Palace Hotel, there is hardly any grandeur to the place. Concrete and stone serve as a functional facade. The so called Chail Palace is no different from any of the dour grey buildings erected by the Public Works Department. The location, amidst the stately towering deodars and its panoramic view of the snow line, is ideal for a hotel. Had the planners only had retained the ambience of a royal retreat and designed their additions to blend in with the scenery and built a structure to please the eye, one would not have the feeling that our aesthetic architectural has been replaced by modern monstrosities.

This area leading up to Chail is eminently suited to growing fruit and flowers. Nurseries, orchards, green houses and blazes of blossom and trees laden with fruit abound. This has brought in prosperity to these hills.

However, in the chir forests along the road a large number of trees are badly burnt. This is the result of devastating forest fires which are allegedly due to the practice of burning pine needles and dried grass to improve the grass cover after rains. There is also evidence of water logging in this area. On many trees, there are chevron-shaped patterns made by incisions to draw out pine resin into a metallic cone-shaped receptacle.

Most people prefer going to Shimla directly from Kalka. But by doing so, they miss out on some of the most spectacular scenery this region can offer. Chail is 86 km from Kalka, if one goes via Kandaghat. It takes a mere 45 km to reach Shimla on this scenic journey from Chail. Going via Kufri, the drive is through the High Altitude Nature Reserve.

In Shimla is located the Himalayan Aviary set amidst oak trees. Here again, one can see the Himalayan monal, red jungle fowl, geese, partidges and an array of western Himalayan birds. Water ponds and channels have been built to create a semblance of nature. From the walkaways, one can observe the birds in a manner not possible in nature — a boon from all those interested in ornithology.

Concern at the rapid urbanisation of Shimla and its environs resulted in Shimla eco-development and conservation project which was launched by the Forest Department. The aim is to restore the greenery that has been lost in and around Shimla, and at the same time promote eco-tourism. One of the activities undertaken was to rehabilitate an old, semi-defunct aviary which has now become the Himalayan Aviary.