Dehradun, Jan. 28 -- I was born in Mussoorie on 30 November 1960. My parents told me that on that day Mussoorie had witnessed such heavy snowfall that the main door of our house couldn't be opened as it was blocked by the heap of fresh snow. My father had to use the window to come out of the house.
During my school days, I remember reading an old article about Mussoorie, written by an Englishman in the 1920's, when in a particular winter, it snowed continuously for two weeks! Many people died of the cold and with no motorable road then, there was a shortage of food too.
The Mussoorie of my childhood was a clean and cool place. The climate was such that the town invariably had a good snowfall during the winters.
In the 1960's, the town ha...