A card room in the wild in Shimla

‘The Card Room’ — announced a small weather-beaten wooden board fixed to an ancient majestic deodar’s trunk. The card room was a small wooden cabin with glass-paned windows in the midst of a thick forest.

Inside, in the centre of the room was a round, wooden table surrounded by four armchairs.

I was in the Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the best kept secrets of the Queen of Hills that is now overwhelmed by overpopulation, construction and pollution today. The sanctuary is just at the end of urban sprawl at Dhalli. Once inside the gate, one can walk or pedal down 7 km of unhindered coniferous heaven with only rich temperate flora and avifauna giving company.

It was in 1878 that the British acquired the dense deodar forests from Rana of Koti for safeguarding the water supply to rapidly growing Shimla. The area today is one of the most beautiful stretches of unbroken conifer glory that provides a soulful sight to tourists and locals alike from a high view-point near Charabra.

Besides deodar trees, the forest is composed of oak, spruce, fir and rhododendron. The sanctuary is home to hundreds of species of plants (including more than 20 varieties of orchids) and rare Himalayan birds and butterflies. Leopard, barking deer, ghoral and macaques along with many species of snakes, lizards and frogs abound. It is a true delight for nature lovers.

And perhaps, in today’s world of constant information bombardment, it reminds of a place where friends could spend time with each other in the midst of nature.

Vikas Thakur, Shimla