Glimpses of Dharamsala in 1942

My Dad's first posting after return from Iraq war front was Dharamshala. I was just about 4. The journey from Pathankot to Dharamshala was through mountains. Buses were very old type(not to imagine today). Somewhere on the way we enjoyed the best kulfi, I ever have had.
The house was big and had a sloping garden, the last end of which we never saw and were not allowed to go to the garden because of fear of tigers, which were so abundant in those days that nobody ventured to go out after the dark. There were so many fruit trees and the fruits never plucked. The big house costed us just Rs22/month.
The place was very thinly populated those days and I remember just about 2 houses in an area of a few miles. Upper Dharamsala was very high up in mountain.  At night I would watch a vechile moving from upper Dharamsala through the curvey road. The movement of its lights along the way would fascinate me. We often visited Bhagsunath. The water flowed with great speed  through the mouths of 2 lion heads. There would be great fun and frolic followed with excellent lunches.
The area was full of monkeys,snakes and tigers. The tigers often walked through the corridor at night and picked up 2 black  dogs from the verandah.Their bones & skin were seen a few hundred meters away near a water stream. The rains & thunders were indeed fearsome. Once the electric thunder passed through the room with such light & speed that to save us we fell flat on the ground. I remember father telling that had the back door not remained opened the lightening would have struck us all.
I had to walk a long distance to attend a K.G class at the house of a British lady. Her son had made nice train toy in a big room with signals & stations etc. We were allowed to play there. I had to walk alone a few miles to  go to the class. One day on return jouney, I felt a black man was sitting by a tree & thought he was a thief. I walked many times upto this tree and then ran back with fear & dare not cross the tree. I waited almost an hour till a kacharewala came along. I told him of my fear. He laughed and brought me to the house. Fear was only an illusion in my heart.
A few miles before  entering the city centre, was Yole camp, where  prisoners of war were kept. Sometimes they were allowed  to go out & roam about. There were annual festival(melas) at upper Dharamsala. The local gorkhas would catch with their hands the big flying mosquitoes & put them into their  mouth(raw) Once thr driver of our bus got drunk. Lucky for us he stopped the bus at the very edge of a deep ravine and dozed off. Everybody thanked God for saving all lives.