Over The Ridge
In mid-19th century, Capt Charles Kennedy rode up to the deodar-covered Shimla Ridge from the hot Ambala cantonment, liked what he saw and put down a Scottish loghouse. Others followed. And soon the High Ridge was dotted with houses named Peter Hoff, Ivanhoe, Dane’s Folly, Barnes Court, to name a few. A little Scotland was created. In 1884, the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, built himself a stone castle. The governments of India and Punjab began to spend the long summers on the cool ridge. While ics collectors toiled in Balliah and Bankipur in the summer loos, their memsahibs fled to the hills. Lockwood Kipling, the head of the Lahore School of Art, also came by with his son, Rudyard. The grass widows passed the summer days in flirtatious romances with Lord Kitchener’s aides-de-camp. Scandal Point on the Ridge was born and Kipling’s salacious gossip lady created.
2022-02-21 
