My last week's post on 'Joy' evoked overwhelming response from far and near

              It seems 'Joy' dwells in many hearts- all its memories held so close and dear

              Here is more: my UK friend Peter Phillimore too goes down the memory lane

              And shares his old love for 'Joy's' in a warm little note with sweet nostalgic pain

 

                                     Nostalgia                    

                       On 'Joy' in Palampur

In the crisp clear days of November, back in 1976, we – two young visitors from the UK, Rachel and Peter – arrived in Palampur to find accommodation for some fifteen months while I was doing research for my PhD.  It was the time of PM Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, which still had a good few months to run.  The magnificent views of the Dhaula Dhar were an instant attraction.  But it wasn’t long before we discovered Joy’s…and after that we never went anywhere else.  For a start, Harinder and Hari Om were so welcoming to everyone.  And Joy’s also made excellent coffee, when that wasn’t always easy to find.  We developed a routine.  Getting down from the bus from Baijnath after several days away, we would make our way to the Post Office, to collect our mail sent Poste Restante.  There we would collect letters from the UK, and followed by a crowd of small children asking for the stamps we would head straight for Joy’s to read these letters.   What a treat! 

Peter and Rachel in 70's just before leaving India: more Palampuri than British!

                                                                               
Palampur bazaar life and sounds would mingle with stories and news from home in a strange and reassuring blend.  The past is another country it’s often said, and in a world of email and social media the delights of hand-written letters that have taken five or six days to arrive (pretty quick all things considered) seems now a rather exotic memory.  Anyway, one coffee would be followed by another, along with pakora or bhaji.  It meant that we spent quite a long time in Joy’s one way and another.  We soon thought of ourselves as regulars and were delighted to be treated as such by Harinder and Hari Om.  Other western travelers always seemed to find their way there, and Tibetans too, making it quite the hub for casual conversations.  Sometimes the cricket was on, another pleasure – was it on the radio or TV at that time, it’s hard to recall.  And so a pattern was set. 
                                                                                 

Peter enjoying a pillion ride through the old Palampur bazaar; 'Joy's' can be seen right behind us

Every subsequent visit has rekindled our joy at refinding Joy’s, even if the noise of the bazaar traffic more recently has become a bit of an assault on everyone’s ears.  Among later memories the one I most vividly recall was in September 1997.  It was the day of Princess Diana’s funeral.  Walking with my elder son through the bazaar in the hours before the actual funeral, I was amazed that almost every shop – and Joy’s of course also – had their TVs turned half towards the road, so that those inside and outside could watch the occasion.  We stopped awhile at Joy’s to watch and talk, and take in the slightly surreal experience of this event playing out against the background of daily life flowing through Palampur’s by then buzzing bazaar.  So thank you Harinder and Hari Om, for being such a delight all those years ago – and ever since when we have come back to Kangra.  Till next time, from Rachel and me, Peter Phillimore.

(10^th June 2018)

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