Dil Hill gaya

[Guest guest]

Dil Hill gaya

I have always wondered what exactly a hill station is.

The old definition that it is a place situated atop a hill no longer

applies. There are many places which are perched precariously on cliff sides

but no one flocks to them. While as, most of the famous hill stations today

have an indifferent weather, so much so that it is almost mandatory to book

an AC room in the hotel, because the hill station may not be cool enough.

Yet the manager sneers down his nose during season (Yes, like bitches, hill

station managers also get an attitude during season) and deigns to tell you

that only the standard non-AC room is available, but only if you plink the

astronomical advance immediately on the cash counter.

Then it struck me! A Hill station is only a state of mind. It is place where

you don the fluorescent pink top, showing your hairy belly button and your

knock knees below your green Bermudas without flinching. It is a place where

the elderly Maniben suddenly starts shaking her jelly belly in the disco,

making you wonder if she suffers from Chorea or Epilepsy.

It is a place where you pay 40 bucks for a 'game of skill' and scream with

joy when you ensnare a grand prize worth 5 bucks. (I told you what a great

player I am!) It is also a place where you pay 300 bucks for a short horse

ride, when you could have gone from one end of your city to the other in a

fraction of that!

It is also a place where you shout with joy when you see Theplas and Dhoklas

in the menu, forgetting that you had come here to forget home for a while.

It is also a place where you buy strange and outlandish hats and walking

sticks, which you lovingly carry home, never to use again. It is also a

place where you buy Chikki, Squash, Crush, Jelly sweets and other sinful

items, which are made in your city and sold back to you.

It is also a place where you trudge on horseback or foot to five 'points'

which show the same scene, but are labeled Honeymoon point, Suicide point,

Panoramic view point, no to forget the ubiquitous Sunset point and

especially the Sunrise point, which makes you get up at an unearthly 5 am,

get a sore behind on horseback, and basically see the same old sun you could

have seen from your terrace.

So the next time my wife tells me, " Let's go to a hill station! " I am going

to wear my yellow shorts and tight green T shirt, dance my 'Ganapati' dance,

scream " OoooH La La La! " and say " Come on in and join the fun! "

And she is going to say, " I think you are over the hill! "

-Kishore Shah