Mumbai, June 21 -- The 800-odd kilometres had taken their toll, especially while riding across the scorching plains from Lucknow, until the climb started towards Mussoorie. As I finally relaxed on the front lawns of the Himalaya Castle, the hotel's portly proprietor dropped in for a cordial exchange. There were few guests in the month of April and cups of tea started doing the rounds. It was somewhere during the fourth serving that he told me how his property, once called the Himalayan Club, had witnessed the unfolding of a number of scandals and machinations during the British Raj. Soon, I was escorted through a section that was once the life of the club. It lay in disarray, with motes of dust dancing about in the rays of light before sett...