Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1.8.
The Nilgiri railway - Udagamandalam to Mettapalayam. Source: author (2007).
put enormous strain on the Indian porters. On
the steep road to Yercaud, the porters were fre-
quently bold enough on the steepest parts to
refuse to carry the sedan chairs with their occu-
pants unless their wage was increased (personal
communication, Yercaud resident). Luggage
would have been transported by horse or
bullock cart as far up the hills as possible, and
beyond that, it would have been head-loaded
by porter. The journey to the hills would have
been time consuming and exhausting for all
involved, but mostly so for the porters, whose
interests were little considered. In spite of the
exhausting journey, hill stations remained popu-
lar as the visitor's gaze was set on the pleasur-
able experiences that lay ahead and the contrast
with the daily grind for men of the administra-
tion based on the plains, and for their wives.
Simla had become the summer capital for
the administration of all of India, and Ooty was
the summer capital for the Madras Presidency,
and similarly, Mahabaleshwar for Bombay. By
the late 19th century, European visitors were
more numerous than in the past: many colonial
administrators came on leave for the hottest
months of the year, and some of these stayed
longer in the hills to continue the business of
government. The wives of colonial administra-
tors based on the plains came to the hills with
their husbands, or ahead of them to enjoy a
longer summer break. Some came with their
children to escape the heat, and some came to
visit their children in boarding schools on the
hills. These were similar to many of today's lei-
sure tourists. Signifi cant numbers of soldiers
would also spend their leave in the hills but
colonial administrators and their families had
comparatively little to do with soldiers in the
ranks. Only the offi cer classes were considered
socially acceptable, and only the most senior
ones at that. Missionaries were also among the
visitors to the hills and all too frequently were
excluded from the society of senior offi cials of
the Crown. The social hierarchy was thus clearly
structured and in many ways bore a resem-
blance to India's caste system. Moving from one
level to another was extremely diffi cult.
If we are to understand how the tourist
gaze was constructed, we must fi rst have some
understanding of what the lives of the visitors
were like when they were not in the hills. A high
proportion of visitors would have been in the
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