Glimpses year 2012

For Trip Advisior

• Write a review of Shali Heights, A Himalayan Home Stay

Glossary of local Himalayan terms

The topography of Himalayas presents them as unique natural monuments. Himalayas have been regarded to be the toughest topography on this planet; still these heavenly mountains have nurtured and preserved, a rich, warm and lively culture. Being isolated from the rest of world, these Himalayan wonderlands still preserves local dialects. 

Difficult to communicate sometimes, however communication barrier can be surmounted by usage of the local terms which will bridge the gap of the modern world with them.

Aari:   Small saw which is operated by single person

 

Anar/Daru:   Pomegranate (a tropical fruit with many seeds), Punica granatum

 

Angoori:   Grape vine, Vitis spp.

 

Angora:  Type of goat

 

Aonla:  Emblica Officinalis

 

Arbi:  Colocasia species

 

Barter system:  A system in which purchase and sale of animals, farm produce and goods is based on exchange basis

 

Bathu:  A leafy vegetable, Chenopodium album

 

Belcha:  Spade

 

Ber:  Zizypus mauritiana (an important fruit tree)

 

Berka:  Threshing pole

 

Beul:  Grewia optiva

 

Bhains:  Salix tetrasperma

 

Bhang:  Cannabis sativa, a multipurpose narcotic plant

 

Bharal:  Animal found in cold desert of Himachal Pradesh

 

Bhera:  Indigenous medicinal plant, Terminalia chebula

 

Bileha:  Pick axe

 

Bori:  Sack (Bag)

 

Buckwheat:  Fagopyrum species  whose grains are used as a food

 

Chakkala-Belan:  Rolling pin and board used for making chapatis

 

Chakki:  Hand mill

 

Changpass:  Changra goats (type of goats) owner

 

Changthang:  Name of place in Ladakh bordering with Tibet

 

Cheenee:  A millet crop, Panicum miliaceum

 

Chhang/Ghanti:  Alcoholic drink made from rice, Avena saliva starch

 

Chhini:  Chisel

 

Chikri Khilna:  A kind of spade to dig

 

Chilgoza Seeds:  of Pinus gerardiana, which considered as valuable dry fruit

 

Chir pine:  Pinus roxburghii

 

Chola:   A woollen dress

 

Chukor:  Partridge found in cold deserts of Himachal Pradesh

 

Chulai:  Leafy vegetable (Amaranthus viridis)

 

Chuli:  Prunus armenica, wild apricot

 

Chullah:  A fire place for cooking

 

Chum:  Cross breed of yak and cow used for milk

 

Chutsa:  Chisel

 

Daach:  Big sickle to cut wood

 

Dachi:  Sickle to cut grass

 

Deodar:  Cedrus deodara, timber yielding species of Himalayan forests

 

Desi:  Indigenous/local

 

Dhan:  Sheep and goats wealth /paddy

 

Dhar:  High mountains

 

Dora:  Rope tied at the waist by both men and women

 

Gaddis:  Semi-nomadic tribal of Kangra and Chamba districts of HP

 

Gainti:  Pick axe

 

Galgal:  A fruit of citrus (Citrus pseudolimon) family

 

Gandasa:  Sharp blade fitted to wooden handle

 

Ghasni:  Grass land

 

Ghee:  Fats made from vegetable and animal's milk

 

Ghoom:  Hammer

 

Gur/shakkar:  Crude sugar

 

Hal:  Wooden plough

 

Havan:  A religious ceremony

 

Heeng:  Asafoetida spp. (dried exudate)

 

Hukka:  Device for smoking tobacco

 

Jalga:  A perennial wild spice plant, Phytolaca acinosa

 

Jeth:  Summer month

 

Jhabbal:  Jumper/Crowbar

 

Jonks:  Leechs

 

Kachnar:  Bahaunia variegate

 

Kail:  Pinus wallichiana (Blue pine)

 

Kaimal:  Mallotus philipinensis

 

Klam/Dambu:  Grafting operation used in horticultural crops

 

Kalijiri:  Centratherum antheminticum

 

Kanda:  Highest point where cultivable lands are found above the village

 

Kangoo:  Comb for combing wood

 

Karnu:  A local tree

 

Karolari:  Saw

 

Kasi:  Hoe

 

Kath:  Pyrus pashia

 

Katha:  Acacia catechu, Commercial product of khair tree

 

Kera:  Large sieve

 

Khads:  Water streams

 

Khair:  Acacia catechu

 

Khaliyan:  Courtyard or a small ground used for threshing their field crops

 

Kharif:  Crop season from May-June to Oct.- Nov., main crops of this season are maize, paddy, pulses etc.

 

Khasipine:  Pinus kesia

 

Kassi:  Hoe

 

Khati: Dugout structure to store rain water

 

Khatti:  Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) storage pits

 

Khawaja:  Diety

 

Khejri:  A multipurpose nitrogen fixing tree (Prosopis cineraria)

 

Khet:  Fields

 

Khirak:  Celtis australis

 

Khurpa/Khurpi:  Hand hoe

 

Kikar:  Acacia nilotica

 

Kilni Khilna: A small equipment used for digging 

 

Kilta:  A wooden container

 

Kodo:  A millet crop, Paspalum serobiculatum

 

Kongni:  Millet, Setaria italic

 

Kudal/Kudali:  Hoe

 

Kuhal/Kuhl:  Small water channel used for irrigation purposes

 

Kuldebta:  Village deity

 

Kunish:  Alnus spp.

 

Kuth:  Saussurea lappa, a commercial cash crop

 

Lota:  Container generally used for drinking water and watering plants

 

Mahotar/dhingri/guchhi:  Edible fungus

 

Maina:  Name of bird

 

Mash:  Leguminous crop used as pulse (Vigna radiata)

 

Masur: Leguminous crop used as pulse (Lense esculanta)

 

Meryana:  Ulmus leviegata

 

Methi:  Trigonella foenum graecum, Fenugreek (important spice)

  

Pudina:  Mint (Mentha spp.)

 

Moi:  Leveller

 

Moong:  Leguminous crop used as pulse (Vigna mungo)

 

Moori:  Concentrated alcoholic drink

 

Nallah/Nalla/Nallaha:  A mini water stream

 

Navratras:  A set of auspicious nine days in Hindu religion

 

Neem:  Azadirachta indica

 

Nihani:  Chisel

 

Papiha:  Name of bird / Great Barbet

 

Pashimna goat:  A special type of goat which produced very soft wool

 

Pattu:  A woollen blanket

 

Phafra/Phaphra:  Buckwheat (Phagopyrum spp.)

 

Phanani:  A bow shaped device used for combing wool

 

Phawara:  Spade

 

Rabi crop:  Crops like wheat, mustard etc. grown during the months of Oct.-Nov. to April-May

 

Rajmash:  A pulse crop (Phaseolus vulgaris)

 

Safeda:  Eucalyptus spp.

 

Sarkanda grass: A wild long grass used for thatching houses (Saccharum spontaneous)

 

Sarson:  Mustard (Brassica compastris)

 

Soolini Mela:  Local fair of Soolini deity

 

Sua:  Wooden pin

 

Taklu:  A special spindle device

 

Tambaku:  Tobacco (Nicotiana tobaccum)

 

Tatihari:  Name of bird

 

Thali:   Plate

 

Titar:   Partridge

 

Tokra:   A big wooden container

 

Tokru:   A small wooden container

 

Toon:   Toona ciliate

 

Toot:  Moms alba

 

Tor:   A multiple wild plant, Bauhinia vahilii

 

Urd:  Leguminous crop, Vigna radiata

 

Zira:  Cumin (important spice)

 

C W De Russet

French sadhu of Shimla

 

C W De Russet had moved from France to India in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was a deft tailor but when he started visiting Shimla with his friend T. Reincke in 1850s, he was so impressed by the natural beauty of the town that he switched over to camera-clicking and then to commercial photography that brought Shimla, along with other metropolis of the country, as a top centre of marketable photography.

When Shepherd and Robertson moved from Agra to Shimla in 1864 and established themselves as photographers of merit, De Russet withdrew from camera work and established himself as general contractor. Charles de Russet was his son and Old Cottanian Association Record shows that he was in the Bishop Cotton School in 1872. Charles de Russet had developed interest in Indian asceticism and mysticism immediately after he completed his school education. He came in contact with Baba (probably Mangal Das) of Jakhu temple and impressed by his preaching embraced the life of a Sadhu in 1880s.

He rejected his European uprising and abandoned Christianity for Hinduism. He bequeathed the property that he had inherited to his sisters keeping nothing to himself and led a life of disciple of the Baba of Jakhu. He would sleep outside in the open and take food that was given to him by his devotees. Because he was a foreigner embracing their religion, the local Hindus held him in high esteem. He then shifted to a temple near Annandale ground in Kaithu and started donning a leopard skin and wore matted hair.

Meanwhile, John Campbell Oman, born in Kolkata to Scot tea-planters, who rose to be professor of natural sciences in Government College Lahore was collecting material for his book ‘The Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India’ happened to meet this French Sadhu in 1894.

Professor Oman has done extensive touring throughout the length and breadth of this country, interviewing many saints and has written scholarly books on Hinduism, Brahmanism and the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana.

When he met the French Sadhu here, he found him disinclined to talk about the reasons for abandoning Christianity in favour of Hinduism.

He found out that Charles De Russet ‘did not regret the step he had taken, and that he was well satisfied with his condition and mode of life as a Hindu devotee, a sanyasi.

The professor had in one of his books quoted a passage from Sir Monier Williams’s Indian poetry that appeared fitting into the mindset of Charles, “the performance of penances was like making deposits in the bank of Heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was accumulated, which enabled the depositor to draw on the amount of his savings, without fear of his drafts being refused payment. The power gained in this way by weak mortals was so enormous that gods, as well as men, were equally at the mercy of these all but omnipotent ascetics” prof. Oman wrote that Charles commanded the highest respect from natives though he found him to be of mediocre intelligence.

He used to live idly, happy and contended, even when it snowed heavy in the mountains. Discoursing about the virtues and vices, Charles had told the professor that it was not necessary to be a Christian in order to lead a virtuous life. O.C. Sud writes that this Baba left Shimla in the company of sadhus after this and was never heard of but suddenly returned here in 1926 as Baba Must Ram and took over the charge of Jakhu temple. He had, by this time, mastered the Hindu scriptures and the people were awed by his knowledge. According to Sud, he died on the December 27, 1927 and was cremated on Jakhu peak.

The story of Simla  

• The distance from Kalka railway station to Shimla by cart is 58 miles.

• It is surrounded by the territories of thirty minor independent chiefs.

• In recent years it has extended from one end to the other fully six miles in length. The officer gazette describes Shimla as “exquisite.”

• The journal of the Tour through the part of Himalaya Mountains by James Baillie, published in 1820, describes the account of the war in which Gurkhas and British were engaged in 1815. To revenge the uprising in the area between Sutlej and Yamuna, British gave a tough defeat to them.

• Among other place where Gurkha retained their military posts by Ochterlony were Sabathu and Kotgarh.

• Gerard brothers’ diary dated August 30^th, 1817, ran: “Shimla a middling sized village where a fakir is situated to give water to travellers.”

• A writer describes road to Jakhoo: “the road was steep and rocky in several places, and through kelo and oak trees very thick undergrowth which is full of bears and hogs.”

• In 1831, a talented French traveller describing Shimla said it was “the resort of rich, idle and invalid. Now there are over 60 houses scattered on various Hills.”

• A journal from year 1834 tells us that the road leading from club to Chota Shimla was then called ‘Combermere road’ and that to Elysium Hill, ‘Bentinck road.’ 

•  The original site for, the half timbered building of the General Post Office was completed on 3^rd July 1883 and originally exhibited both Neo-Tudor and Swiss-Bavarian architectural forms with decorative wooden work. In 1972, a fire damaged the exterior of the building, which was then repaired retaining some essential elements of the facade.