Stay warm Shimla, please!♥♥

Life opened new doors for me and brought me to Shimla in the year 2000.

At 30, I got a fantastic opportunity to work as State Correspondent, heading the state team, for a national news daily in a male domain.

And that too, when just a few months ago, I thought it was all over. I was about to quit the newspaper job in Chandigarh as my kids were so small and I wasn't able to manage the pressures of news reporter’s assignments at headquarters, with long working hours. My husband, a doctor, was with WHO in Varanasi then.

I stayed back at the instance of a senior, who counseled me not to leave the hard-earned job over temporary problems.

See. Just after some time, I got a call from our former editor to work in the state capital for a prestigious national newspaper, which started publishing from Chandigarh in April 2000. I was apprehensive as I was not well versed with Shimla, although I belong to Palampur in Himachal Pradesh and studied at HPU, Shimla in 1991-92 for journalism. I could not connect with the state capital then.

It was altogether a fresh start even after seven years of experience then as I didn’t know many people here and had to build my news sources in the city alien to me. I did have some friends in politics, who were in touch with me since my posting in Dharamshala from 1995-98.

Anyway, I came here with my six-month-old daughter and three-and-a-half-year-old son. My few friends, some of whom are now calling the shots in politics, supported me settling down in Shimla. I got two rooms allotted in a government guest house for over two months, till we got a residence here.

My mother came with me to stay in the guest house to take care of the kids. It wasn't easy because I had to be out most of the time. But she never said it. It was because of her I was able to sustain the odd job from the beginning.

The good thing was that my husband also decided to join back in his home state, leaving his prestigious position for the family and the love of Shimla where he studied.

For me, the adjustment with kids and the job of news reporting that involved 24x7 work, and emergency travels, all at a new place was so challenging.

The cutthroat competition in the profession and the tendency to misguide and ridicule a new entrant. No trusted sources of information and the newspaper expecting so much from me in terms of breaking authentic administrative and political stories at the outset itself.

All this kept me on my toes. I had no option but to work harder each day. I tried to strike a balance, keep cool and stay grounded in

the struggle to take my career and family together. Must say that the family, especially the kids never complained.

This apart, Shimla's harsh weather was a tough situation to bear with for people like us who came from lower areas. But we managed.

What helped me the most was my own self-motivation and the family support. I had my own pace, own priorities, and bold outlook. I was quick to make good friends across the sections, while writing stories on good and bad happenings around and never came under any extraneous pressures.

I enjoyed so much every day doing all this...There were ups and downs, but every time there was God who sent friends to back me up. I actually do not know when I became so senior, earning name, recognition, and respect in this journey.

I learned the lessons of life in Shimla...my kids got a solid footing here. My husband made a name in his field from a small hospital in the state capital. I am ever grateful to my destiny that brought me to Shimla and gave me a chance to explore and establish myself as an unrelenting individual.

Thanks, Shimla for this unexpected warmth! Please be kind, always. 💕💕

Archana Phull