A parcel with warmth from Mussoorie

MUSSOORIE: Woollies from the queen of hills are warming up people not just in Uttarakhand or the rest of India, but even those living overseas. And playing the Santa is none other than the good old Indian Post. With the parcel service catching up, more and more people have been sending woolens to their relatives and friends in other cities and sometimes even other countries. Thanks to the handmade variety, the Tibetan yak wool designs and not to forget the ones from Ludhiana, the parcels are on a roll. What sets Mussoorie woolens apart is not just the wide variety, but also the superior quality, thanks to the cold here.Ask Suneel Karki, a postal assistant at the main post office in Kulri, Mussoorie who has been keeping busy due to at least one-two parcels coming in every day and he says, “From shawls to caps and sweaters, people have been sending in woolens regularly.”Post master Vinay Sharma looks happy with the trend. “Thanks to a variety of parcel options (mini, small, medium, large, extra large and jumbo), people have been sending woolens to various places,” he says.Elena Vadhera sent a shawl to her mother in Russia for Christmas. “It was a beautiful black shawl with colourful patterns. It’s lovely and I wanted my mother to have something special from me,” beams the petite Russian who has married a boy from Mussoorie and now lives here.In fact, the hand woven variety is popular mostly among children, thanks to the lovely patterns and colours women incorporate. It is not uncommon to see ladies sitting in the sun, knitting colourful sweaters that they supply to shops. Sushila Rawat, who knits about three baby suits (a set with matching sweater, cap and woolen socks) in a week to 10 days, says the woolens are a perfect gift for newborns. “For slightly older children (2-8), bunnies, Chotta Bheem, Mickey Mouse and Hanuman are popular designs.”For grown ups, parcels with shawls, socks, cardigans, mufflers, caps etc are pretty popular. Abha Saili sent a parcel of leg warmers, shawls, carpet shoes as well as hand woven gloves and warm socks to her sister-in-law in Delhi.Interestingly, not just individuals, but even shops have been sending parcels of woollies. Ask Shalabh Garg of Milkhi Ram and Sons, one of the oldest shops in Mussoorie who has parceled a lot of Modi jackets and woolen kurtis this year, “Sometimes a lot of customers come and shop and then can’t carry so much with them so I just parcel their things across. A lot of clients get things couriered.”