It is no longer a travel destination - The many baroque 'villas' set amidst their lush fruit orchard no longer echo with peoples voices or children laughter.
Their crumbling edifices simply remind the present day adventurers the bygone era when vacationing was very much an "extended" family affair involving a retinue of servants and shifts that lasted for months.
Simultalla, is like a ghost town , mute testimony to the pre independence India when anglicized Bengalis ( not by language but the unified region) succumbed to the primordial charm of Santhal Paragna.
The portal of Bihar Tourism describes this place as located "at an altitude of thousand feets above sea level with undulating , rapidly drained ground flanked by pretty hills to the north and west."
It is this topography of a valley surrounded by wooded hills which experienced mild winters and supposedly curative property of water which led many Kolkata based doctors to visualise it as a kind of sanatorium in the early 19th Century. So, many affluent and not so affluent Begalis established their second home here. Surendra Nath Banerjee, the editor of 'Bengalee', was one of the first to establish a 'villa' here.
Other places similarly favoured were Deoghar, Mihijam and Jasidih and others. For those who wished a "change", a change as Shanti P Chaudhary puts it succinctly, " it didn't signify just travel.......but travel undertaken for improvement of one's health.....the yardstick being his capacity to eat and having eaten, the capacity to digest unequivocally, so that he may eat some more."
This trip materialized after we accepted the kind invitation of our friends. We expected some modest accommodation like a dak bunglaw to pass the night. However we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in a mansion now converted into a guesthouse.
Against the evening sky , Simultalla and its crumbling mansions reminded us eerily of the last shot of "Saheb ,Bibi and ghulam" where the skeleton of Beghum was unearthed. Barring a few, most of the houses are in various stages of decay, as high cost of essential commodities and maintenance pinched the waning fortunes of the Bengali Bhadralok.The jagged and faded marble plaques displayed names like , "hill View" , "Matri Sadan" and even slightly pompous one like "The Den". The last referred mansion was also known as the "Raipur House" and was the property of Lord Sinha who belonged to the Burdwan Zamindar family. It was the only hereditary peerage created in India by the British Crown.
The house in its present stage was only a shell with blackened exterior, broken boundary wall and a gate with insignia that proclaimed that it was 'the Den'. The garden has been overtaken by thorns and other wild bushes.
Our obvious interest persuaded our friend to take us to the still inhabited bunglaw of erstwhile cinematographer Mr. B N Sirkar. It was situated on a low hill very near to the railway line. We were told that this place was specifically chosen for his son who used to love the sight of moving train . May be a house near the track of Howrah-Delhi lines has its own charms even today. By this time the dusk had settled and everything was a shade of black-the sky was inky black, the house was pitch black and even the old Santhali caretaker's figure melted in that blackness, perfect ghostly night out. However my mind rationalized that the ghosts don't have broods of children hovering around them. The interiors of the furniture in terms of beautiful mosaic, elegant furniture and even the vintage refrigerator that runs on kerosene, tells a story of a class that too leisure seriously. The owners often spent their Christmas vacations and the days were spent like yesteryears, in procuring ingredients for the culinary feast throughout the day. So a sojourn to the heart or to the village markets was and still a regular excursion for the residents.
Even today Simultalla is famous for its simple Bengali sweet, "chenar murki" , pieces of local cottage cheese fried and dipped in sugary syrup. We sampled it at the local sweet shop and bought a box for the people back home.
Pace of life hasn't altered in this forsaken town. For those wishing to enjoy a very quiet evening, a starry sky and the solitude to contemplate on life - this would be the place'. No wonder it was the 'tapobhumi' of Sri Rama Krishna Paramhansa( founder of Tara Math) and home to the 'akhara' of celebrated 'baul' mystic', Lallan Fakir.
For the historically inclined, the 'mini palaces" provide glimpses of 19th century Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Through the faded and peeling plaster lurked shades of blue and pink. Trees meant to provide shade have broken through the tattered louvered windows, the kangura design is still visible over the tottering chajja ,wells with miraculous water shaded by vivid pink blooms of the ancient tree cast a haunting spell.
But some of these villas have been salvaged - one of them houses ironically a hospital, another used as a farm by a hotelier . Even the Bihar Govt has woken up to the salubrious weather of the place and have opened a boarding school for extremely talented children, an institution supposedly at par with the famous 'Netarhat School', now in Jharkhand. We hope that the mild climate of the place does aid these budding minds to reshape the destiny of the region.
For those interested , Patna is just 160 KM and it also lies on the main Delhi-Howrah line. However a note of caution......this being a naxal affected area, it would be advisable for anyone planning a visit must go with a reliable local escort and not to venture out after dusk. The nearest towns is Deoghar, which in itself is a famous Hindu religious destination, so an added bonus.
