India, Nov. 26 -- The journey to the mountains has always been a rite of passage. It was never just about the destination; it was about the journey itself - the slow, winding ascent from the plains, where the air gradually thins and cools and the world outside your window transforms from a dusty beige to an overwhelming green. This was the magic of Himachal Pradesh. Today, that magic is being bulldozed, quite literally, to make way for a new, faster Himachal - one crisscrossed with four-lane highways that are, ironically, strangling the very beauty they are meant to showcase.

For decades, the old roads, narrow and serpentine, were not just thoroughfares but viewing galleries. They forced you to slow down, to meander through apple orchard...