5 Winter Memories of 2010

Winter, the best of all the seasons. It’s when you pack yourself in layers of clothing. The time when you enjoy different flavors of tea. When you sit near the chimney in a dark wooden room, while flakes of snow, cover your garden and the pine trees around your house with a white sheet. It’s the best of all the seasons. Even for those who have no access to the outside world. Places like Kinnaur and Lahul Spiti. People in these remote villages sit together and enjoy life. All of these distant villages have a number of festivals in winters as they cannot do much in their fields.

Following are some of the memories I have of the amazing moments of last winter.

1. Breakfast at Sangla

So I’ll start with food. Nothing is more delicious then a breakfast after a freezing night at Sangla. Parantha, rajmah, curd and tea.

Indian Breakfast of Stuffed 'Parantha' with lentils and curd at Sangla, Kinnaur. In winters all the shops and rest houses remain closed and the only 'Dhabas' that are open have almost no choice of food. (Himanshu Khagta)

2. 10kms walk to Chitkul and back.

Reaching Chitkul after walking for around 10kms on ice and snow and staying with a hospitable family.

Sangla Valley in Winters (Himanshu Khagta)

Kids playing on the roof in Chitkul, Kinnaur (Himanshu Khagta)

Son of Mr. Thakur, our hosts in Chitkul checks his picture in a Digital Camera. (Himanshu Khagta)

Harsh Kalta checks something on the laptop with a Kerosene heater (Himanshu Khagta)

3. Sunset Treks

Sunset treks started last year with me and two of my friends, Ankur Khachi and Harsh Kalta. To get rid of the boredom of roaming senselessly on the mall road, we started exploring new places in and around Shimla, where people don’t generally go. From small tea shops with their aromatic tea to places were you could enjoy the different versions of Shimla Sunset.

The following shot we took when we were going back home as the dark orange sunset light fell on the green trees. I asked my friends for some poses and this is how we came up with this shot.

Friends posing for a shot at sunset time when the orange rays of the sun were falling on the green pine trees in a forest in Shimla (Himanshu Khagta)

4. Qilaa

Our friend Aasheesh Mehta, recommended this new place in town. There were not many eating joints in Shimla so we decided to try it out and the moment we entered. we fell is love. Owned by a friendly couple, Qilaa has stone walls and low sitting area. We used to sit there for hours, without getting thrown out. We used to read, eat, talk and play games while waiting for the snowfall.

A cozy winter afternoon at Qilaa, a themed restaurant at Shimla. (Himanshu Khagta)

5. Early Morning Walks

Its difficult to get off your bed in sub zero temperature of Shimla, but once you are out, its worth the pain. Shimla looks beautiful with the empty roads of the mall road, the muted tones and grey clouds. Except for a day or two there was hardly anyone who would accompany me to the mall road at this morning hour. I befriended many mall road dogs. I used to walk around the ridge, Lower Bazaar and Lakkar Bazaar and my walk ended with a light breakfast at the Indian Coffee House.

People busy with their daily chores in a cold winter morning at Lower Bazaar of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India (Himanshu Khagta)

An early morning scene of the Indian Coffee House of Shimla. (Himanshu Khagta)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 at 6:23 am. It is filed under Diary and tagged with Adventure, Chitkul, Diary, Himanshu Khagta, Indian Coffee House, Memories, People, Personal, Photojournalism, Qilaa, Shimla, Walk, Winter 2010, Winter Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Prashant says:

September 21, 2011 at 12:52 pm

Beautifully collected!!!

ChaiandQahwa.com says:

September 21, 2011 at 12:55 pm

How interesting!

Maneet Kaur says:

September 21, 2011 at 1:36 pm

Beautifully written and captured ! …. i can smell the cold air already !

Himanshu Khagta says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:19 pm

Thanks a lot Maneet
I can wait for next winter.

September 21, 2011 at 6:20 pm

Thanks a lot Prashant

Thanks Interesting Website my friend.

Saurav Desperado says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:33 pm

awsome yaar….man u rok !!

Ank_moh007 says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:36 pm

Lovely, beautiful pics bro.

September 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm

Thank You Saurav

Thanks a lot bro

Nila Rahman says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:52 pm

nice pics……& beautifully captured…..& sooooooooo impressive dear.

September 21, 2011 at 7:36 pm

Thanks a lot Ma’am

Tanujpathania says:

September 21, 2011 at 7:50 pm

done a gr8 job boss,,,,,,,, u r showing himachal in very good manner ,, keep it up

Akshay Akshay Sharma82 says:

September 22, 2011 at 3:08 am

its a great zar it looks so beautiful

Bobby Aryan says:

September 22, 2011 at 5:40 am

Awesome Photography man…..

Super like….:)

Fallin2faith says:

September 22, 2011 at 4:10 pm

himanshu …pretty well done dude,, i can feel the very momemt captured…especially that …in which all u guys a jumpin,,,the sunlight fallin on u nd juss fillin the backround so vibrerantally….

September 23, 2011 at 5:48 am

Thanks a lot Tanuj

Thanks Akshay

Thanks a lot Bobby

September 23, 2011 at 5:50 am

Thanks a lot. The background only inspired me to take the picture. It was so beautiful.

Advitia_rocks says:

September 24, 2011 at 4:00 pm

no doubt u r awesome nd so r the places

Rpmalhotra says:

October 14, 2011 at 11:21 pm

I am a Himachali now staying in VANCOUVER CANADA. I served in Himachal and served in all places. I love the trible belt. These snaps brought me back to days spent there. Congrats HIMANSHU. These r awsome. We are really promoting Himachal tourism.Thanks

Pooja Negi says:

October 20, 2011 at 7:15 pm

awsm pics..