Anthropology and Shimla

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Over the centuries many people have had a lot to say about Shimla: some love it, others hate it, but it never fails to provoke a response in people and people often feel so moved that they want to put down their thoughts in words. It is then perhaps surprising that Anthropologists have written so little about Shimla. The classic anthropological book discussing Shimla is Ursula Sharma's informative, but slim, volume, which was published 26 years ago by Tavistock. This gives some interesting insights into the domestic lives of Shimla's women, but is understandably restricted in terms of its discussion of Shimla and is increasingly dated. Recently Danniel Allen Solomon, who has been known to comment on this blog, has been broadening things through his discussions of contemporary human/animal relations and I have been doing my part by travelling around Europe and America talking about space, landscape, place and faith in Shimla.

As part of this, I have recently been asked to write about Shimla for the American Anthropological Associations' blog. Those who are interested in what I have been saying can read my post here:

http://blog.aaanet.org/2011/03/14/places-in-search-of-a-purpose-colonial-cathedrals-in-postcolonial-india/

Regular contributors to this blog can. if they wish, post their comments on the AAA blog, or back here, either way I will read the comments with interest and be sure to respond to the responses.
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Sport in Annandale

While there is sport at Annandale
Or Whisky at Jutogh
R. Kipling

I remember being sat in Prof Vidya Sharda’s rather comfortable office in Shimla two years ago, sipping tea, while Dr Pankaj Gupta painted a picture of joyful research in Kinnaur. ‘It is not like Shimla’ he related with misty eyes, ‘it is more cut off and so customs there are better preserved’ he earnestly continued.

As of last week that has begun to change as helicopters now fly from Shimla to Kinnaur with the intent of making it a more connected place. Somewhere between the hydroelectric dam projects and the tourism push no doubt life in Kinnaur continues apace, but I will have to try and get to talk with Dr Gupta again to see how he thinks this is changing things up there. For now, I am more interested in assessing the reverse: how do these flights transform Shimla? And not just these flights of course but the other helicopter routes (Shimla–Dharamshala, Shimla–Kullu, Shimla–Chandigarh etc) not to mention the reopening of Jagson’s Delhi–Shimla–Kullu flights.

It seems that Shimla is becoming, or at least trying to become, the transport hub of the Himalayas. Of course it has for a long time been the jumping off point for people wanting a more ‘natural’, ‘authentic’, or peaceful experience of Dev Bhoomi. However, there have always been a significant number of tourists who would not even think of leaving the Mall. This new explosion of transport options seems to represent a significant increase in the amount of transit traffic in Shimla and I wonder how being connected to all these places in such a rapid way will transform the Queen of Hills and people’s perceptions of it? One thing is for sure, the golfers at Annandale (where the helicopters will land) are going to get less putting time nowadays.