Resorts of the raj Book

Plenty of pictures abound in this short book about the British Raj Hill Stations of India. Truly the Britishers were keen to recreate "home" where ever they were in the countries they had invaded and turned into colonies. In recent times there are still sights of these grand houses, not all have been swallowed up by nature. Huge amounts of money were wasted on finding locations to accommodate sanatoriums only to find there were problems with the surrounds and so the area had to be abandoned and another to take its place. As with South Africa there were significantly less colonisers than native population and yet these few Britishers ruled over vast amounts of land and over people's lives. According to the author the British Raj left behind the blessings of "democracy", "language" and other forms of government as well as trains. Of course the intention of the Britishers was that the Indian inhabitants not enjoy any one of those legacies when they were originally constructed. Since Independence all these things have been left to the people of India to utilise. The cottages, mansions and other buildings in the Hill Stations are sparingly used by the people and for those that wish it a form of upkeep is in place. From these pictures it is a bygone era frozen in time. One can only wonder at the men, women and children that flocked here pretending they were at home and for the servants a slight welcome relief from broiling outside attempting to keep the sahibs and memsahibs cool in hot weather when they were on the plains. Architecturally these buildings are remarkable to look at, however, they are a monstrosity of human legacy. A glaring reminder of the wealthy over the poor and a stark reminder also of the remains of invasion, terror and slavery of a minority over a majority.