Is City Life Crashing Landour’s 200-Yr-Old Past of Peace & Cheese?

Tourism might soon disrupt the peace of this little haven that has preserved its exclusivity for almost 200 years.

The peak summer tourist season was underway at Mussoorie till just a few days ago.

Visitors to the hill station who have spent many a vacation walking the Mall and looking through Kulri Bazaar now love to venture into Landour – which was, till now, the most tranquil area of the hill station. The upswing is interesting as, until very recently, Landour wasn’t really on anyone’s itinerary and it had somehow managed to maintain its offbeat character as the “Original Mussoorie” or “Old Mussoorie”.

On a recent visit to the place, however, I was taken aback. For the first time in my life, I could not get an empty chair at Char Dukaan, the little heart of Landour.

Flashy cars and large families from the metros were now conglomerating at Char Dukaan for a lunch of tea and parathas. I thought back to the time one could just sit here and discuss anything from politics to poetry in the soft quietude; not anymore. Suddenly it seemed like I could have been in any other dhaba back in the city.

(For the uninitiated, the flat stretch of land near St Paul’s Curch in Landour has a cluster of four shops – Vipin’s Tiptop Teashop, Anil’s Coffee Joint, a bank, and Surbir’s Cyber Cafe – which gives the place its self-explanatory name: Char Dukaan.) Here, one can feast on anything from waffles, bun-omelettes, cheese-and-vegetable noodles to parathas, tea and coffee.

A stylish café has now sprouted nearby that is far ‘classier’ than Char Dukaan; it was just as crowded.

A History: 200 Years of Peanut Butter and Cheese

Landour lies just a little beyond the bustle of cafes and glamorous hotels, not too far from the busy Mall Road.

There is a lot of interesting historic detail associated with this picturesque township.

It was with Landour that the story of Mussoorie began. In 1823, Captain Frederic Young, known as the founder of Mussoorie, along with FJ Shore, the superintendent of Dehra Dun, scrambled up uncharted goat paths on the hills surrounding Dehra in search of game. It was in 1826 that Young built the first home named “Mullingar” in Landour which comes from “Llanddowror”, a village in Carmarthen shire in Southwest Wales.

Landour – the land of Pine, Oak Deodar and Rhododendron, with its winding paths and many-hued floral trees and colourful birds – became, at 7500 feet, a summer retreat for the British soon after it shaped up as a convalescent depot for British troops in the 1820s. Also, the American missionaries had a strong presence in Landour soon after it came into existence. In the 1930s, the Landour Community Centre – now part of Woodstock School, was a beehive of activity.

Landour’s Clock Tower, an important part of its atmosphere was, sadly, demolished a few years ago. Earlier, its chimes had not been working and now it has simply vanished. The Landour Bazaar, known as the “Ghantaghar Bazaar”, looks strange without the Clock Tower. Landour is deeply steeped in its fascinating history. Churches, old buildings like the Landour Community Centre and Landour Community Hospital and the old bungalows mark it as exclusive.

Landour’s famous A Prakash & Co., known far and wide for its peanut butter, cheese, chutneys and jams, never fails to entice both the locals as well as visitors to Landour who keep coming back for a bagful of Prakash’s goodies. Nehru ji visited the shop and so did Mrs Indira Gandhi. The more than a hundred-year-old store was set up by  Shobha Ram in Sisters’ Bazar. It has the distinction of being the first in India where the American Classic-peanut butter – was made commercially available. I found that even after a century of its existence, it maintains its look and character. This gives one great satisfaction. Some things should never change!

No doubt, the old traditions of Landour are being carried on by its residents who love Landour not only for what it is today but also for what it was long ago. They lovingly and proudly preserve its heritage – be it old maps, old postcards, photographs, early guides, newspapers or the exotic recipes of yore.

However, the trend of more and more visitors setting their heart on wandering about in Landour – especially in their huge vehicles – seems a bit ominous and may soon disrupt the serenity and the echoing silences of this little haven that has managed to preserve its idyllic beauty, tranquility and exclusivity for almost 200 years.

(Dr Jaskiran Chopra is a senior journalist and author based in Dehra Dun. She also teaches university students.)

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