INTRODUCING HIMACHAL

Don't tell me 'what's in a name '. A name says it all. Which is why my parents named me Ashish. It means 'blessing' ! While Ashish is a name, the meaning of which is known, there are others, we don't know the meaning of. Yet the very sound, as it rolls off the tongue, casts its own image of places. I don't know whether you agree, but when someone says 'Netherland', I get an image !

Names of places in Himachal Pradesh almost paint an entire picture. 'Dalhousie' is actually named after Lord Dalhousie and is actually an old British station. 'Chamba' is very correctly a valley with Hindu origins. Just as 'McCleodganj' is a Tibetan settlement perched on the Dhauladhar ranges. And when you say 'Kulu', doesn't it sound cute, green, verdant and accessible ? A valley with apple cheeked people and a river going through it ? Logically apples also. And when people commonly say 'Kulu - Manali', isn't it clear that the two are apart, but connected, geographically by a river and that the accsess to the two would be in the order they are mentioned ? Kulu comes earlier on the road and then Manali. And what comes earlier is usually lower in altitude ?And that the reason people refer to both the names together is the river Beas ( wonder why it is called that ! ) runs through both ? If a hill station in India is created by the British, it has, apart from European architecture, an English sounding name, like Dalhousie. Or if it is created by Indian history, the name would sound Indian, or better still Hindu ( or Hindi ) or Mughal ? The vegetation too would take precedence over architecture. Either, a natural forest like Manali, Naldehra or Narkanda or cultivated vegetation like tea plantations. Like Palampur or Dharamsala. Lakes are usually suffixed with 'tal'. 'Chandratal', where 'chandra' means moon. Or 'Surajtal', where 'Suraj' means 'sun' ! Passes are suffixed with 'La', unless they are so commonly traversed by English speaking people that they are merely suffixed with 'pass'. 'Shingo La', is and sounds like high altitude pass crossed earlier by people of the Buddhist faith. If you think you are an adventurous trekker, then sample this one. 'Rohtang' is a pass where 'Rohtang' means 'pile of dead bodies' in Tibetan ! Tell me when you want to go there. I'm all

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