Landour's Holly Mount: from dust to dust

From the archive record

The story of a house in Landour, Mussoorie. First there was a wall, two feet high and five feet wide. Nothing else. A Green-backed Tit nested in the wall of this broken down old British home. Then a brand new building was made... See it pristine and normal, before the demolition when the JCB's and bull dozers rolled in down the Sisters' Bazaar road, after plodding uphill to Char Dukaan. The diesel fumes flew thick around the hill as the machines chugged and pulled the two red turrets down. Before sale to the current owner, the Oaks and deodars were cut down to size, to increase the fabulous (sic) view of Mussoorie. Maybe this was the trees taking their divine retribution...? When rules are broken in India, the courts move in and action happens... Why do we break rules in the first place, t