One Winter Morning in Shimla

The highlight of my Delhi trip was an impromptu decision to take an overnight bus to Shimla. Located in the heart of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, it is undoubtedly a tourist's paradise. The drive in and out of Shimla through  the circling roads, with a mesmerizing view of the Himalayan range on one side and melting snow on the other, was a perfect ten on ten welcome. 

As I slid aside the curtains in my hotel room, a basket of warm sunshine made its way in. I watched it fill up the entire space and bring out all the hidden colors. In a moment of excessive excitement, I opened the window a little  and a blast of cold air slyly rushed in. The view outside was too mesmerizing for me to realize that I was getting some major goosebumps. There were little houses with red-green roofs. The houses were scattered in wilderness all over the mountain slope. There was a church at the distant top, and tiny criss-cross roads leading all the way up to it. 

I ordered in some coffee, shut the window tight and moved the heater a little closer to me. For this picturesque surrounding, maybe the winter wasn't such a bad bargain. I dropped in two cubes of sugar and watched them drown in my cup. It was a beautiful morning and the day was going to be just great. I couldn't wait to get into something warm and cover myself up in my matching muffler and gloves and well, maybe even a hat - because I'm not too much of a below-five-degrees person - and head straight out. It all seemed so marvellous from a stationary location, I could only imagine how it would be otherwise. I was going to walk all over the place, do some shopping, meet some people and totally wear myself out. Then I would come back over, open the window just the tiniest bit, push up the heating a little more, mess up the sheets and slide right into bed. I would lie in there and have the layers of the blanket hide me in, like a cocoon, all the way till the next winter morning would come in.

P.S. - Dear  Susheela, Shimla was a lot of fun. Thank you so much.