Rest House Chronicles – III
Rest Houses can occasionally offer bizarre experiences, often educative but always interesting. Sometime in 1996-97 I was consigned to the dog house for some…
<table> <tbody> <tr> <td>The author retired from the IAS in December 2010. A keen environmentalist and trekker he has published a book on high altitude trekking in the Himachal Himalayas: THE TRAILS LESS TRAVELLED. His second book- SPECTRE OF CHOOR DHAR is a collection of short stories based in Himachal and was published in July 2019. His third book was released in August 2020: POLYTICKS, DEMOCKRAZY AND MUMBO JUMBO is a compilation of satirical and humorous articles on the state of our nation. His fourth book was published on 6th July 2021. Titled INDIA: THE WASTED YEARS , the book is a chronicle of missed opportunities in the last nine years. Shukla's fifth book - THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER'S DOG AND OTHER COLLEAGUES- was released on 12th September 2023. It portrays the lighter side of life in the IAS and in Himachal. He writes for various publications and websites on the environment, governance and social issues. He divides his time between Delhi and his cottage in a small village above Shimla. He blogs at http://avayshukla.blogspot.in/</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Rest Houses can occasionally offer bizarre experiences, often educative but always interesting. Sometime in 1996-97 I was consigned to the dog house for some…
As far as I know Himachal has one of the finest network of government rest-houses in the country: the Forest Deptt. has about 350…
Mass tourism in Himachal is slowly but surely decimating the natural beauty of the state and turning its once idyllic towns into urban nightmares….
There is a supreme irony and incongruity in the fact that the most docile, humble and giving of animals- the cow- has in India…
As the Union government goes about linking the Ken and Betwa rivers in Madhya Pradesh I find myself doing a bit- actually, lots- of…
I am now 66, and as the aging process proceeds inexorably one is coming to accept one of the more poignant downsides of growing…
I was aghast to see a photograph in the Tribune about two weeks back of a long traffic jam in Khajjiar in Chamba –…
It all actually started with Moses, he of the flowing white mane and AMS (Anger Management Syndrome), when he descended form Mount Sinaii clutching…
For a Prime Minister whose tag line is “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, who weeps publicly at the thought of his humble origins, who has…