In 1864, the Sahibs of the Raj, unused to the hot Indian summers, decided to shift the summer capital of the British Indian empire to Shimla. The previous summer capital was in Murree, northeast of Rawalpindi. In that sense, Shimla was just lucky to be closer to Delhi! But I guess if you have an empire where the sun never sets, you can do just about anything you want to.
This shift gave birth to the ‘hill station holiday’. Over the years, scores of tourists have descended upon the picturesque hills of Shimla to enjoy breathtaking vistas that the ‘Queen of Hills’ has to offer. Hill stations all over India have provided the perfect weekend getaways for people wanting to escape the chaotic city life, and Shimla is no exception.
But, with the advent of technology, it has become more and more difficult to actually ‘get away’. People now want a more insulated experience. They don’t want their life to stop to have that long overdue vacation. Modern communication tools like the cell phone, whatsapp, skype etc have made it possible to work away from home. It has become common to express irritation, the moment wi-fi is down or when one is ‘out of coverage area’.
Free wi-fi is being provided or promised over in different parts of the country eg. Nitish Kumar in Patna, Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, Virbhadra Singh in Jogindernagar town. Shimla is the latest to join this bandwagon.
The Shimla Municipal Corporation has promised to provide free wi-fi facility during the international Shimla Summer Festival, from May 31 to June 7. Tikender Panwar, Deputy Mayor of Shimla said, “The famous Summer Festival of Shimla attracts tourists from all over the world and the free Wi-Fi services not only facilitate the tourists and local citizens, but will also brand the image of Shimla city as an upcoming high tech destination.”
The plan is to deploy seven routers, with a range of 150 km each at various locations in the main town. Users can avail the service by a password sent to the user’s registered mobile number. The users will get a speed of 1 mbps for 2 hours per day free wi-fi.
It remains to be seen whether the free wi-fi will be made a permanent fixture in Shimla in the near future.
This article was contributed by Mr. Amar Parulekar
