Environment · p. 06
The river watchers of the Parvati
When the river rises at night, a chain of phone calls runs down the valley ahead of it. The people who make them explain how it works.
By Aditi Rawat
Ridgeline
No. 24 November 2026 Long reads from the western Himalaya
Cover story · Features
The last shepherds of the Dhauladhar
Every spring the Gaddi families walk their flocks over the passes. Fewer of their children follow.
By Meera Pathania 1 min read
No. 24 · November 2026
Contents
Long reads from the western Himalaya
- 04 Cover story The last shepherds of the Dhauladhar
- 06 Environment The river watchers of the Parvati
- 08 Food The dham, cooked over wood for five hundred
- 10 Travel Winter in Spiti, at minus twenty
- 12 Features Kath-kuni comes back
- 14 Features Apples and a warmer valley
- 16 Travel The tea gardens of Palampur
- 18 Food The bakeries of the lower bazaar
- 20 Culture A century and a half on the Gaiety's stage
- 22 Environment After the monsoon: what changed on the hill roads
No. 24 · November 2026
This issue
Food · p. 08
The dham, cooked over wood for five hundred
A wedding feast in Mandi is the work of one family of cooks, a night of fires and a fixed order of dishes.
By Kabir Sood
Travel · p. 10
Winter in Spiti, at minus twenty
What a Kaza household does between November and March, and why more visitors now come to see it.
By Tenzin Dolma
Features · p. 12
Kath-kuni comes back
The old way of building in stone and cedar survived earthquakes for centuries. A few young builders want to learn it.
By Meera Pathania
Features
More Features
p. 14
Apples and a warmer valley
Growers in Kotgarh are planting higher and trying new varieties as winters shorten.
By Meera Pathania
Travel
More Travel
p. 16
The tea gardens of Palampur
Kangra tea is lighter than Darjeeling and far less known. A walk through the gardens in first flush.
By Tenzin Dolma
Food
More Foodp. 18
The bakeries of the lower bazaar
Shimla's old bakeries still bake bread in the same ovens, for a town that has changed around them.
By Kabir Sood
Culture
More Culture
p. 20
A century and a half on the Gaiety's stage
The theatre on the Mall has seen colonial amateurs, touring companies and now Shimla's own players.
By Meera Pathania
Environment
More Environmentp. 22
After the monsoon: what changed on the hill roads
Engineers are rebuilding with drains first. Here is why that matters.
By Aditi Rawat
More to read
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