Kasauli - Five reasons to visit this summer

Five reasons why one should plan to visit Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, India. (For a more detailed account read my complete article at About.com. Click here.)

The Kasauli Brewery

One. Mr E Dyer who was the father of the notorious Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the perpetrator of the Jalianwala bagh massacre on April 13th in 1919, set up the Kasauli brewery. The brewery was famous for making the "scotch of the east", Solan No 1 brand, besides the first ever Asian beer, Lion, that was brewed here. Yes, you got that one right, the first beer to be brewed in ASIA.

Two. The (in) famous President of Pakistan (earlier Pakistan Army Chief and later Field Marshal) Ayub Khan was a tenderfoot 2nd Lieutenant of the Indian Army, who probably did his first appointment with 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers at Kasauli, after passing out from Sandhurst Military Academy in the United Kingdom.

Three. To escape the gruesome summer of 2009. Picture this... A small army cantonment, three British made churches including one called the "Church of England" built in 1884, several British made green and white cottages, two malls catering for local and tourist needs, and plenty of calm, makes Kasauli the ideal summer retreat for heat and dust weary Indian families, desperate to cool their bodies in an idyllic, friendly landscape.

Four. For fruit wines and homemade Salami. I would strongly recommend fruit wine, made by a local brewery called Sutter House (now called Waterfall Wines), available everywhere. It comes in riotous colors and flavors like peach, strawberry, apricot, grapes, rhododendron and apple. The best part is the price. A bottle of 750 milliliters ranges from 130-300 rupees only.

Five. Last but certainly not the least. Khuswant Singh, the nonagenarian Sikh writer who famously holidays in Kasauli each year, says so.