Skip to main content

Scandal Point, Shimla

One of the many tourist attractions in Shimla is supposed to be the Scandal Point where the Maharajah of Patiala is supposed to have misbehaved with the daughter of Lord Kitchener, British Commander-in-Chief. The British government in India banished the Maharajah, of course.  He went and built a palace in Chail.   The historical fact seems to be that Bhupinder Singh who built the palace in Chail was just one year old when the scandal broke out.  Well, were the Singhs so potent that their one year-old royal offspring could proffer an amorous kiss on the lips of a young woman?  Better still, elope with her (as one of the gossips - I mean, tourist guides, explains!)

History is not any better than this, most of the time.  And I'm speaking about the history of just a century ago.  

I went to the Scandal Point in Shimla and got the picture below. Perhaps, history haunts the place even today!  This can happen only in India :)
Scandal Point

It looks like a haunted house.  And it is situated in the heart of the Shimla town's most favourite Mall Road where that road meets the Ridge.  The property is under legal dispute, I learnt.  But people make stories.  

 Children were playing on one side of the building, however.  When those children learn the history written by scholars, they will learn to throw stones at the building. 

 Throwing stones is good.  In fact, it is a ritual in many religions.  It is as therapeutic as fabricating history or writing stories. 

 People love to make stories.  People love to create scandals. 

This post is an intermission in my Shimla Series.  
Labels:

Comments

  1. Issac WritesJune 12, 2014 at 12:48 PM

    Sir...always there is a pinch of sarcasm in your writings and i love that..:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 12, 2014 at 6:42 PM

      Isaac, there's a beast within me which breaks out of the chains I've designed - sometimes at least :)

      Delete
  2. Ritesh AgarwalJune 13, 2014 at 4:31 PM

    Your scathing remarks towards the end added more power to this powerfully beautiful post. I always wanted to see Scandal Point. Heard a lot abt it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 13, 2014 at 6:44 PM

      It's not what you see in Scandal Point that will inspire you but the stories themselves. What's to be seen lies a little away!

      Delete
  3. Dimpy RoyOctober 30, 2015 at 3:18 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMarch 7, 2016 at 2:51 PM

    Thanks for provides great informatic and Nice Blog, this blog is very informative & valuable for me. I will wait for your kindly new information about
    Delhi to Shimla Taxi | Cab From Delhi to Shimla

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownApril 5, 2016 at 5:26 PM

    What a wonderful article; great tips. Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic.
    Delhi to Shimla Cab | Delhi to Shimla Taxi

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownFebruary 10, 2017 at 11:44 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownFebruary 10, 2017 at 11:47 AM

    Shimla is a beautiful destination.
    If you want to stay in Shimla.There are many
    Luxury Resorts In Shimla

    ReplyDelete
  8. nature nestApril 20, 2017 at 3:56 PM

    Great post. Can anybody tell me bset Resorts In Koti Shimla.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownMay 19, 2017 at 3:11 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownMay 19, 2017 at 3:11 PM

    Shimla Tour Package @ Rs. 3599/- Only


    Destinations : Delhi - Shimla - Kufri
    Duration : 02Nights / 03Days
    Price : 3999/- Per Person
    Call : 8826410377


    Package Inclusions
    * Welcome drink on arrival
    * Morning Tea, Breakfast and Dinner
    * Pick Up & Drop from airport / Railway Station.
    * Full Day Sightseeing Kufri
    * Shimla Local Sightseeing
    * Sightseeing as par Itinerary by A/C car
    * All toll taxes. Drivers allowance. Parking charges.
    * All Applicable Taxes.



    Package Exclusion
    * Any Airfare / Train fare.
    * Phone Call
    * Entrance fees and Monument Fees
    * Driver Tips
    * Any meals other than those mentioned above.

    For More Information : Click Here
    Note : Today Book Your Package Get 20% Discount Call Us : +91 - 8826410377

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

Don Bosco

Don Bosco (16 Aug 1815 - 31 Jan 1888) In Catholic parlance, which flows through my veins in spite of myself, today is the Feast of Don Bosco. My life was both made and unmade by Don Bosco institutions. Any great person can make or break people because of his followers. Religious institutions are the best examples. I’m presenting below an extract from my forthcoming book titled Autumn Shadows to celebrate the Feast of Don Bosco in my own way which is obviously very different from how it is celebrated in his institutions today. Do I feel nostalgic about the Feast? Not at all. I feel relieved. That’s why this celebration. The extract follows. Don Bosco, as Saint John Bosco was popularly known, had a remarkably good system for the education of youth.   He called it ‘preventive system’.   The educators should be ever vigilant so that wrong actions are prevented before they can be committed.   Reason, religion and loving kindness are the three pillars of that syste...
2 comments
Read more

Truths of various colours

You have your truth and I have mine. There shouldn’t be a problem – until someone lies. Unfortunately, lying has been elevated as a virtue in present India. There are all sorts of truths, some of which are irrefutable. As a friend said the other day with a little frustration, the eternal truth is this: No matter how many times you check, the Wi-Fi will always run fastest when you don’t actually need it – and collapse the moment you’re about to hit Submit . Philosophers call it irony. Engineers call it Murphy’s Law. The rest of us just call it life. Life is impossible without countless such truths. Consider the following; ·       Change is inevitable. ·       Mortality is universal. ·       Actions have consequences. [Even if you may seem invincible, your karma will catch up, just wait.] ·       Water boils at 100 o C under normal atmospheric pressure. ·    ...
11 comments
Read more

The Real Enemies of India

People in general are inclined to pass the blame on to others whatever the fault.  For example, we Indians love to blame the British for their alleged ‘divide-and-rule’ policy.  Did the British really divide India into Hindus and Muslims or did the Indians do it themselves?  Was there any unified entity called India in the first place before the British unified it? Having raised those questions, I’m going to commit a further sacrilege of quoting a British journalist-cum-historian.  In his magnum opus, India: a History , John Keay says that the “stock accusations of a wider Machiavellian intent to ‘divide and rule’ and to ‘stir up Hindu-Muslim animosity’” levelled against the British Raj made little sense when the freedom struggle was going on in India because there really was no unified India until the British unified it politically.  Communal divisions existed in India despite the political unification.  In fact, they existed even before the Briti...
16 comments
Read more

The Impact of Your Deed

Illustration by Copilot Designer Thirteen-year-old Briony makes a terrible mistake. She falsely accuses Robbie of raping Lola. Robbie is arrested. Cecilia is heartbroken. Briony herself regrets her act, but too late. All the painful harms have already been done. Atonement can be meaningless sometimes. Briony, Robbie, Cecilia, all belong to Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement (2001). Why did Briony make a false charge against Robbie? First of all, there was a serious misunderstanding. Briony presumed that Robbie’s romantic interest in Cecilia, Briony’s elder sister, was lust with a mask. Secondly, Briony was probably jealous of the relationship between her sister and Robbie. As a little child, Briony had jumped into a river merely to be saved by Robbie. When asked why she did such a dangerous thing, her answer was, “Because I love you.” Robbie is accused of raping Lola, Briony’s cousin. It was Paul Marshall who actually violated Lola, not once but twice. Briony did not see the man who r...
8 comments
Read more