Old timers in Mussoorie rue absence of snow during Christmas

MUSSOORIE: For the elderly, the Christmas in the hill city is not the same as it used to be once. They just still can’t imagine the festival without snow.
When prodded, most of them recall how they used to wade through knee-deep snow to reach to their friends and relatives for parties. Christmas in Mussoorie used to have a “picture-perfect look” in those days, said an elderly.
The city has not received snow for over a decade now.
Author Ruskin Bond, though not very fond of cold now, still remembers the “powder-like snow” on Christmas days during his younger days.
“It always added that special feel to Christmas. I still remember the year 1945. I was a ten-year-old boy then, and used to stay in Dalanwala in Dehradun.
I remember the snowfall that year. When I moved to Mussoorie in 1964, there was no snow on Christmas. But yes, after that I remember quite a few white Christmas days. Now of course it’s rare.”
Author-photographer Ganesh Saili remembers a special “white Christmas” in 1969-70.
“We were all young college boys then. I still remember a clear sky when we stepped in to pay billiards at Mussoorie Cooperative Club (now long gone). When we stepped out, there was a foot-and-a-half of snow. Each tree looked like a picture from a Christmas card, it was simply magical,” Saili said.
Author Bill Aitken said: “I am from Scotland, so we celebrate New Year at a large scale. I can recall that it used to snow around Christmas back then. I usually wore my boots and stepped out for lovely long walks. Mussoorie used to be so quiet and stunning in winters.”
Manish John, in his 40s now, belongs to one of the oldest Christian families in Mussoorie.
Recalling his childhood, he said: “We would wade through knee-deep snow to go to the church and visit our relatives. It looked so stunning. It was like Christmas decorations with special touch. Everything looked so beautiful already.”