A place that is so deeply entrenched in you that you could walk its streets blindfolded. That is Shimla for me. It is where I belong and it is here that I find contentment, evoked by a certain sense of familiarity, feeling completely at home.
While growing up, Shimla was the only world I knew that existed. As a child, I remember walking on winding roads lined with pine and deodar trees. On many mornings, I would wake up to the incessant pitter-patter of raindrops on the tin roof of my cozy house. I walked to my school every day absorbing the lush greenery around me, a gift brought by the monsoons.
As the weekend would approach, my friends and I would meet each Saturday morning to spend countless hours strolling up and down Mall Road, stopping only for a pastry at Trishool. One of my favourite haunts was Indian Coffee House, an ageless Shimla institution, perpetually packed with people chatting endlessly over steaming cups of coffee.
It was in Shimla that my fascination with nature and the visual image began. During the winter, I would look outside my window and witness absolutely breathtaking views. A slow drizzle would gradually become snowflakes and soon the entire town would be enveloped in a blanket of snow. There is nothing more comforting than sitting on a bench on the Ridge and feeling the soothing rays of the winter sun warming you up.
Evenings were astoundingly beautiful. I watched sunsets. The vast blue skies marked with delicate hues of subdued orange, flamingo pink and crimson violet. All the colours eventually melted into a blue so dark, that one could only see a thousand stars at night. It was under these skies I first felt love. And gratitude. With these feelings in my heart, I began capturing moments of simple everyday life in Shimla. On my camera. These moments are what I want to share with anyone and everyone whose life has ever been touched by Shimla. This website is my humble attempt to do so
