Dehradun, April 29 -- Landour under a dusting of snow.

'Does it still snow in Mussoorie?' A visitor usually asks.

'Yes, it does, but not as much as it used to!' This is the standard reply.

Come back in time with me to the Mussoorie of December 17, 1961, when there was not a sound in the whole quiet world for three days and three nights, as even the wind was hushed-not a bird, not a voice, just the velvet silence of snowflakes. Soon after it started, there was no electricity, as the snowflakes hung around the copper wires and weaved snowy ropes so heavy that the lines and poles simply snapped with the sheer weight. The telephone landlines, too, went dead. No milkmen could get through for three days, and bread was not seen for a week.

T...