Nainital Ravaged and Raped

The water has receded and all that one sees are these tacky plastic monstrosities floating about grotesquely

I was flabbergasted to visit Nainital after 44 years. The lake is drying (the once pea-green hue of the water has assumed a feculent greyish tint), hordes of humans are coming in droves and infesting the sylvan hillsides like a malignant fungus, thousand of pollutant-emitting vehicles are choking the air, which is now permanently hazy, the roads remind one of the epic traffic jams seen in Delhi. Houses, hotels, restaurants, shops, banks, video-game parlours, mobile phone towers have overrun the natural charm of the hills, trees are dying, the birds have flown away, and rope-ways are strangulating Nainital.....

Oh Naini what has become of you?

The original waterline is clearly visible

The boat rides have been curtailed. The once vociferous ducks are a chastened lot. The weeping willows, having shed copious tears for the misfortune of Naini, have finally given up any pretenses of survival. The erstwhile proud poplars present a forlorn sight. 'Flats' have been encroached by a gaudy and sleazy 'shopping arcade', a crowded parking lot, a broad paved promenade and a garishly coloured basket ball court. The large field that has witnessed many an epic football match between St Joseph's and Sherwood (with passions far surpassing those seen during Indo-Pak matches) had a desultory game of cricket going on. No one was watching - tourists were busy eating, defecating, expectorating, 'selfieing', texting or talking on their phones and choking the city with plastic waste.

As a dayscholar I used to walk about four kilometres to School. Now all the footpaths have become motorable (though only the skilled driver can navigate those steep inclines; no rodomontade, but I managed to drive up the tortuous slopes from The Hive to St. Joseph's). Children go to school in buses! The skeletal horses have beat a retreat to the outskirts of Naini and the famous rickshaws are about to meet a similar ignominious fate, as they are to be replaced by autos.

A permanent haze envelops the lake

The thick oak forests are being surrounded from all sides thanks to the rope-way

With growing outrage I grieved to see the ancient and venerable Naina Devi Temple dwarfed by a gurudwara and  mosque. The melodious bells have been silenced by the mullah yelling over the loudspeaker. The raison d'etre of Nainital was this temple. Legend has it that when the grieving Lord Shiv roamed the Himalayas with the corpse of his beloved Sati, her eye fell off at this site - hence the 'Naina' Devi.

The naive and quaint charm of Naina Devi Temple is still there

The original building housing Modern Book Depot still stands albeit in a shabby and dilapidated condition

One gratifying sight was the continuing existence of Modern Book Depot. It was here that I spent most of my pocket money and bought books. I developed my love for reading from this place. I still remember when I bought AJ Cronin's "The Citadel" - the book that inspired me to take up medicine as my profession.

Light pollution at night

Global warming and el Nino are affecting Nainital. There have been scanty rains last year and this winter there was no snowfall. The water levels of the lake are going to fall further!

Will Naini lake dry up? I shudder at the thought.

Still untouched by rapacious humans