Dehradun, Oct. 15 -- Like other sprawling hotels, it had a life of its own. There were rich patrons; usually ex-rulers and landed gentry who, with their retinues, occupied whole wings of the hotel. Then came the civil and military officers on furlough, partying the day away. On my first visit, I found a faint whiff of the fragrant mogras in the air, where guests must have lounged on one-maund mattresses listening to the mujra of Shailja of Benares.

As they say in fairy tales, once upon a time, Mussoorie was "the queen of resorts and the resort of kings", a gathering place for the rich and the powerful, where you could let your hair down without inviting social censure.

I ask Nandu about the legend of a separation bell. In affirmation he...