Pangong - Lakeside

I have developed a love for coffee shops apparently… Wonder when I'll find one like where I am sitting in right now, back home in India. The décor is perfect for me to work in or just relax with my laptop but more on that in subsequent posts (so keep watching this space… ;P). I do want to take you, my reader, on a trip to Heaven on Earth (nothing whatsoever to do with the movie namesake though!! Climactic with reference to it in fact…), across a few seas and way up in the sky. To My Paradise and one that definitely tops the Most Favourite Places in the Universe list. Among the highest lakes in the World nestled at a majestic 4350m (14200ft approx.). Its recent claim to fame being the stunning backdrop of the climax of 3 Idiots (Apparently the crew had just cleared out a week or so before we visited!! :O). Among God's greatest creations, yours truly introduces you to Pangong Tso.

Last time we were on the journey to Pangong having just left Chang La behind. The landscape was evolving with the barren lands suddenly sprouting shrubs and tiny streams as the road rushed down the mountain side hurrying with hairpin bends giving way to the expansive valleys I had seen there yet! In front, the view encompasses a tiny tar road about 1.5 car widths wide snaking its way on a carpet of brown highlighted with the occasional green of tundra growth and shrubs. One's ear is occasionally tickled with the gleeful chattering of a whimsical brook which decides to join the party for a while coming from a source unknown in the muscular mountains. Passing through another checkpost and military outpost /barracks later calls for more change in scenery.

The hues of brown in the vista before ones eyes is quite stunning to take in. However, one is sure that every remotely brown skinned person would find themselves represented be it in the mountains which have taken on an endlessly sweeping countenance seeming friendly and welcoming even in this new form or the sand which suddenly looks to have been imported from Rajasthan!' Cold Desert' does make sense after all! Turning ones head and a close scrutiny to the mountain we were driving on led to the development of a theory. Irrefutable proof almost of how India broke away from Gondwanaland and decided to 'nudge' the Asian landmass resulting in the greatest upheaval in Earth's history that has left the youngest mountain range on Earth with an ongoing growth spurt. The mountainside is punctuated with stones - correction, pebbles - like the ones that wash up on a sea shore… smoothed with the flow of countless waves of water over them. A great find - even if I say so myself.

One thing I did not expect find so far out in the middle of nowhere was a traffic jam which we found ourselves in due to construction work done by the Border Road Organisation also fondly known as 'Seema Sadak Sangathan' :P. Of course, we had to stop and wait at the edge of the road and our existence as a foot and a half further off was a steep drop to a muddy sludgy water (I think, couldn't be sure if it was just marsh though!!) body. Proof that home sentiments are a strong thing for sure… The overseeing officer who walked past our vehicle suddenly backtracked to us explaining that he heard Tamil and missed his own native Kerala. He was serving for a long stint there and didn’t expect to be back home very soon I believe. A pleasant chat later, he decided to open the road and let the workers take a lunch break and we were once more on our way!

The next guest into our inner circle was a rather rude entry known infamously as the Paagal Nala (The Mad Creak suits my sentiments more!). The result of snow melting under the wary eye of the sun, this Creak gains force as the day progresses reaching its peak jut around 2pm as the snow from 12pm finally winds down to meet its human friends. Our driver was apprehensive about crossing it as it was known for upturning many a 4 wheel drive not to mention bikes! A bridge was still being built so it was a gut wrenching few seconds which seemed like few hours trying to maneuver the vehicle on the bed of this Creak without getting waylaid by its 'wicked' intentions. After almost losing to the Creak, we finally made to the other side in one piece and a heartfelt sigh of relief later we were bouncing along getting ever closer to our destination. Of course, I was dying for the first glimpse of this lake not knowing what to expect as I don’t remember seeing any pictures of it before.

The first glimpse… Words escape me as all one could do was suck in breath after breath and stare at - no, feast on - the splendour called Tso Pangong. And it was just the beginning yet!! Nothing can prepare you for the feeling of looking upon this creation with your own eyes. The camera in the movie certainly didn't capture the half of it in my opinion! Anyways that was not their intention I guess… Wonder if NGC or Discovery made a documentary about this. I can imagine them having one heck of a field day with it. As soon as the car stopped, I could not wait to run in and taste the water and Boy! were they right about it being a salt water lake!! The spot we stopped at was getting crowded as all vehicles we came in with also stopped there.

So, it was lunch time as for one we were ravenous and secondly, wanted the view to ourselves for a few minutes at least! No restaurant I have ever eaten in or will ever eat in can compare in ambience to that backdrop that the Lord had provided! I don’t remember the lunch much though mostly because I was ravenous and wolfed it down and also the biting winds did numb the senses a little. And then we had the place to ourselves at last. Wiping off the last crumbs from lunch we decided to survey our luncheon room a little more closely. And does it hit you hard!

Ethereal! Surreal! Too good to be true! Use any superlative to whatever degree and it can't measure up to the feeling of the wind whipping around you and the beginning of the 138km long lake at your feet. I remember wanting to etch the vista in front of my disbelieving eyes into memory forever so fiercely that I didn’t want to blink! Hard to do when the sun is out and the winds all about. I wonder if any of you have seen those artists' renditions of alien lands and unknown planets in space museums or as stunning wallpapers. Well, imagine standing on those lands, in those paintings and you can imagine how standing in front of Pangong was… enough to make you forget to breathe! I could have lived there forever! Apparently there were fish in the lake as some birds were snooping for their own lunch diving into the lake occasionally. And some ducks too I think. Finally, we moved on to our campsite. A bumpy ride if there ever was one!

And then in the distance we could glimpse a cluster of tents, white as the snow on the mountains behind them, in a semicircle arrangement and then a few more closer to the lakeside. This was to be home for a night. After the tents at Uleytokpo, one knew what to expect. However, even giving leeway to the unreachable nature of the terrain and place, the tent was still a surprise! It was set up and opened only a week ago and we were the first set of people staying there. It was quaint with one single bulb hanging from wiring from the top of the tent and an attached bath and toilet area (considering how cold it was there, if I had to walk any distance for it, I would rather have forgone it altogether :P). We reached somewhere between lunch and snack time but had hot chai as soon as the bags came in and we were settled down. The tent opened to the rest of the camp area beyond which were the bluest waters and mountains in the most bewildering browns. It was a perfectly glorious evening with no clouds except those whiffs of white kissing the sky.

'It was chilly' would be a gross understatement thanks to the 'roaring' winds! We found the tent was heavily tethered to strong poles on closer examination otherwise, Dorothy might have found new company in the World of Oz without a tornado even! The people they have in charge for the camps seem to be the most interesting characters one can find I believe. The caretaker here was an ex-Army guy who had served in Siachen if memory serves right. Apparently, he was keen to start the tent system in Pangong and this was his pet project. It was the first of its kind there not being made of concrete structures and buildings. Among some interesting stats he mentioned was the fact that the lake would freeze only if temperatures went 40 below 0 and that the lake did freeze every single winter! Not too keen on living there then though it would be a really cool ski rink in your back - umm, front - yard. Moving on, we decided to explore the place and the small semblance of a village found further on.

The walk was a continuation of the same bumpy remnant of a road forged in the Dark Ages through which we reached the camp. We saw comfy Pashmina sheep whose wool is used to make the famous Pashmina shawls and houses made of sturdy stone rather than brick and cement. Running into a village girl, curiosity led to a mini Q&A. She was going to school (the village had a school I think) but was mentioning how fending off the winter was their own problem with no help from the authorities. It definitely strikes one of how lucky we are. I mean, here was the most beautiful vista in front of my eyes which I go on gushing about and for which every person on vacation is willing to pay pretty hefty prices and in my eyes is God's greatest gift to us. A place where I felt anyone could easily be inspired by the surroundings to become a poet or writer or any other romantic notion - maybe not quite everyone. In the eyes and words of that girl all one could sense was that the bluest waters, if salty, or the large brown snow topped mountains with no fertile soil were not really God's gift but the enemy to earning a decent livelihood. The loneliness that 'city' people crave for on these vacations was a big handicap for their survival for a large part of the year. Perspectives, different enough for some serious food for thought!

After walking through the village in the direction of the river, the other property allowing people to stay lakeside came into view albeit in concrete buildings, not tents. We snaked our way closer to the lake thinking of walking on water lapped shores back to our own camp. We ran into another tourist, European he was, I believe, in Wellington Boots who told us we could probably walk all the way back though there were some parts he had to walk through the water. Braving it then, we wanted to see just how far we could go. It turned out to be a good decision after all as we jumped across rivulets of water, saw the grass "breaking off" caked in salt from the lake and in general had a nice walk.

We did manage to reach the banks of our camp wetting nothing but our appetites (excuse the pun :D). The sun was just preparing to set and decided to paint a pretty farewell by turning the mountains orange and sending out pretty beams between the mountains to make the water sparkle like a bed of jewels. Once the sun went down, the Chill rushed in very eagerly, from the mountains behind us which were still sporting snow caps. The kitchen tent got busy with cooking hot food and I for one couldn't wait for it! Hot soup and some simple hot food was welcome with the caretaker calling us into the welcomingly warm dining tent. One can't appreciate the power of warm food unless you find it spreading deliciously through your insides when all else is freezing around you. Then we returned to our tents with the help of torch-lights as the paths did not have lamps along the way. I vaguely remember a conversation was struck up with some fellow travelers who were a bunch of bikers we had passed on the way. The were a few tents down ours.

Of course what stands out clearly etched was sitting outside our tent and staring into the deep. The background score of waves lapping at the shore very gently, and the light of hundreds of years ago blinking back from the infinite expanse of the sky. It is easy to get lost in the sensation of looking at particularly nothing at all and still everything when it's a sight one could never dare to imagine as it is so breathtakingly beautiful. The sky was more brilliant here and the Milky Way just could not be missed. The wonder is similar to a child which has just learned to stand and looks out of its crib to see a whole new world right there which it new nothing about. It seemed so much clearer as though being that high up brought you closer to the heavens too! I could have sat there all night but sleep and the warm tent were tempting in their own way too! So it was off to bed wrapped up in more layers than I could care to sleepily count. The warmer one is wrapped up while drifting of to dreamland, the more gargantuan the effort required to consciously get out of it in the morning. But, the day must go on so after a quick wash, we were ready for breakfast and to head back to the valley of Leh and that must wait till next time….

Chang La - 17586ft

I haven't written for so long!! Don't know where all the time went. In studying, running around to get projects for the next sem, working on my US visa (YES, finally!!!), cramming for the compres, completing more formalities and fighting with half of Bangalore (as usual x-(… ), packing and repacking to get everything less than 23 kilos and travelling ad settling down in nothing less than a new country and a new continent! Whew!! Experiences galore and no time to write. Well finally I'm going to catch up as much as I can since I promised to keep folks back home updated on what's happening so here goes. Last we left in Uleytokpo… Cut to 2 days later in a new hotel gobbling down breakfast to leave for Pangong!

This was the best ride I have had yet! We were so excited already as we would be going to the third highest pass in the world. So we start of early for the long ride and the sun and chill air greets us. The climb to the pass starts a little away from Leh in a new direction from the previous trip. We had an amazing melody of Hindi songs for company we blissfully started the climb. Then comes the checkpost at 15000-odd feet. Till now, note that the cars windows were open, we were enjoying the wind, with ears popping due to a steep climb. Of course, the layers Mom was weaing were growing every few thousand feet that we rose but Dad and I decided to wing it! Boy! was that crazy of us. We get down at the checkpost for a relief break and the chilness hit me full force. Goosebumps break out the shivers compared to the heebee-jeebies you get at the worst horror movies. Of course, that didn’t stop me from half trotting to the mobile restroom (The army guys are sweet enough to keep one for civillians and women too!). Then I felt the world go tipsy!! The oxygen is very low even at that altitude and I half jumped out of my skin which still didn’t help to set the world right! Then the advice to take medication for high altitudes made sense! We popped some as soon as we reached the car!!!

Then we moved on through quite treacherous roads. Simply because the snow on these levels erode the road put by the Army. It was extremely bumpy and slow and we could see snow peeking from crevices a little higher than us on our mountain! As we rode higher, it only got better. We could now see those crevices lower than us!! We were actually higher than some remnant snow!! To the amusement of our driver, we asked about snow (again!) at the passes and he coolly asked us to wait and watch or that he would get us some from near the pass :)… Then we approach near the pass and the saw the best was still to come! The peak right next to the road was a white carpet of snow we were really tempted to carry home! To ski on that slope would have been unimaginable wonderful.


Then we finally reached the pass - Chang La - 17586ft, the 3rd highest pass in the world! We had never been this high ever before in our lives. It was exhilarating to breath there. See and understand the achievement of our army to succeed in some awesome engineering and make road at this altitude. The army is very friendly to civilians here. They have a small stall where the keep hot, sweet, elaichi chai with dalchini. Its like elixir in the cold, gives your body the kick to breathe harder and deal with the altitude. There are also biscuits (Parle G of course) and raisins and cashews - free for all on the table. The army guys are also chatty here, happy to see other humans in a place with a population density of 2/km. One can't thank them enough! There is a temple at these passes, dedicated mostly to Shiva to guard everyone at the pass. And one is advised not to spend more than half an hour at these passes as the body is not trained to take it.

As we moved on, thoroughly satisfied, there was still more to come! Snow right by the road and in places, higher than the car (and this was a Sumo type car we are talking about). I could almost touch and the endless delight was just too much to contain so all I could do was whip out the camera and not stop clicking everything. Those images are burnt into my head now… so hard did I want to remember it! Imagine a small muddy bumpy curvy road, 1.5 car lengths wide with not much runoff. One side, the dark mountain's mud slopes and on the other, a steep drop into ravines. And on the mountain, snow, glistening in the sun, a shimmer here and then there all the way to the top. A carpet you could sink into sometimes covered with the dust blown from the mountains. And a carpet that has been left with the footprints of a herd of giants! Heaven couldn't get much more satisfying than what I felt then.

As we moved down the pass on the other side, the snow stuck on the flat part of the mountain was a likening to the Hanging gardens of Babylon. A beautiful sight, you couldn’t peel your ice from. Then more of nature's surprises come out from a frozen lake at a much lower altitude and even a half frozen one! Then it was all about going down, down and down some more till you suddenly hit the valleys seen from above. Then all you see is brown barren land and huge mountains rising from nowhere. Nestled among them further behind are white sheets of snow on which are delightful to spot for fleeting seconds as the car races on the plain flat roads. Another checkpost later, we realize the song collection had changed! The Australian group we had met at Uleytokpo were coming to Pangong too in a minibus. Our drivers had exchanged their collection to suit our needs. The collection was just superb! Made the ride all the more fun. The landscape was changing and the excitement to reach Pangong was
rising... More on that soon...

Of Cabbages-- and Kings--...

The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

The above lines are from the poem "Walrus and the Carpenter" written by Lewis Carrol. A poem that always crack me up with its nonsensicalness. It is a wonderful tonic for anyone needing some cheering up. Its extremely frivolous and seems a world and a half away. Check out this link if you want a good laugh: http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/walrus.html. So the idea of cabbages and kings always reminds of randomness like nothing else. I mean, think about it, why in anyone's world will I talk of a cabbage and a King in the same conversation except to say what the King's menu for lunch was! So, I guess this also one of those random thoughts which I felt like putting down on paper (oops, on a computer screen).

First of all, the address of my blog is not gibberish at all! For those not familiar with the world of F1 Motor racing or Italian, Scuderia is term used by Italian teams in the sense of 'Team Ferrari' becoming 'Scuderia Ferrari'. Its translation effectively means 'from the stables of'. 'Tifosi' translates to 'fans' in F1 specifically indicating Ferrari's scarlet-crazy fans. That definitely clears up my loyalties in the sport. Till now, I have not commented on F1 and its gossip simply because a certain Mr. Schumacher, for whom I was mainly watching, had retired from it by then and my fanatic interest in the sport had somewhat gone down. Also hostel life and sports schedules, especially in a girl's hostel, don’t always go very well together. Now, however, with Schumi announcing his return back to F1... that too not with Ferrari… well what can I say?

First thought, and I was surprised it was publicly proclaimed by Ferrari in as many words as well, was actually a sense of betrayal that he wasn’t with Ferrari anymore. Ever since I have been watching it was more like Ferrari and Schumi were pretty much the same thing. Seeing him in non-Red overalls will take huge getting used to. Some of the Italian press even went as far as proclaiming him a traitor! I mean beat that! But, I guess the bottom line is that, at least for me, there's reason for F1 becoming exciting again. Of course, it might be too much to hope for the Championship Win but I believe a win or too and some podiums would be quite plausible and welcome. This is after all the more than 5 time Constructor and Driver Championship winning combo of Ross Brawn and Schumi. So actually now, I am super excited for 2010 Season and the vroom of F1 cars.

What is it about imminent separation that suddenly makes you want to appreciate people and the relationship they have with you? So, as per the BITS system, 4th Year is where people with a single B.E. degree choose to go on Practice School II (a 6 month internship chosen from a pool of companies and done to complete the requisite credits). Since, everyone cant disappear in one semester itself, students are asked to choose a semester to go for it. This means, the batch gets divided up into people going for the internship and those staying back for the particular semester. This generally breaks up friends (couples especially!!), groups and slightly messes up the social dynamic, making one hunt for a new one suddenly. That being the case, the 3rd Year 2nd Semester gains a huge sense of importance. All birthdays celebrated in the 3rd Year are quite special as it would be the 'last time we are all together'. Interestingly, it also strengthens the bond of friendship simply because a sense of finality hangs in the air. Next semester might not have the same people so nearby and so physically part of your life. So celebrations galore become more jovial and cherished than before, crazy photo sessions happen in an attempt to capture the 'littlest' things for posterity and nostalgia always managed to creep in. Like, "I remember the first semester… It seems so long ago na?", "It seems so long ago that I was friends with those people", "I cant believe it’s the last semester ALL of us are going to be together!!" and more in similar strains. The best part is all the preparation done from almost the previous year to decide on dresses for the farewell! Matching accessories, shoes, expensive, pretty clothing and the anticipation if one can carry it all off when D-Day arrives! All of it makes you value the time on has left with the little family you make in campus life. Who knows where we'll all end up scattered across the world's panorama? It changes perspectives more than you can imagine.

Birthdays come and... birthdays come :D. I always look forward to my birthday right from new years' coz March is pretty early in the year ain't it? So this time was my very first '12 O' clock' birthday and it was just awesome!!! The tradition on campus is to buy a b'day cake for the lucky one which is cut with all the friends around and some if not all of it is eaten n the rest finds its way on one's face and hair (if your not so lucky!!). Then of course, its time for presents. Only then, does one get to sleep. This time the celebrations seemed to be extended over the whole week (not counting the one I had in Feb end when I went home!!). Coz it was only the next day that I received bday cards and my passport!! (My heartfelt thanks to the Bombay Passport Office for clearing up my old passport and timing it so well after making me bite my nails about it!) Then of course, comes the treat phase. Luckily, I had two more victims for company to foot the bill of the treat.

That's not to say it turned out 'super' as well. We decided to go for a buffet at this 3-star with 17 people in total. We walk in to the garden set for the buffet and see it decked up more for a marriage reception. It was Indian Classical Nite apparently. This is the best part of all!!! We manage to work in a humungous discount on the buffet just because we were not told about the 'entertainment' for the night we would have to pay for as well. Boy! I love being a student. That seemed to have sealed the deal for us. So, 17 hungry people dug in to a very nice dinner with rather funny(not in the best possible way) depictions of Indian Classical dances for the foreigners to enjoy! On the whole, everyone was very happy including those who actually foot the bill. A near perfect way to enjoy a birthday after all I guess… Can't wait for the next one, though!!

On other things… Yours truly has been bowled over by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novels. Found a collection of 5 novels of his and was completely into them. Excellent insight into human psychology and very mature story lines. One novel is interestingly narrated in the first person from the varying point of view of the main characters and is very refreshing to read. Of course, all of them are love stories and have too many sad guys falling for too many beautiful girls but, Bollywood storylines could definitely improve by taking a leaf out of his work! Well I guess that's the note I'll end this random thoughts session on. More to come later...

Uleytokpo - The Riverside

Howdy all! Its been Oh!... so long since this blog was updated but life decided to make us its ragdoll for quite some time. Schedules turned upside down, right side up, brought right down to a stop and accelerated before you could catch a breath… to make it a one liner. Its been a crazy few months!!! First of course was Test1always coming sooner than you want it too, still settling down with the new student council, etc. Then the bombshell of Jaundice spreading faster than gossip on campus, resulting in an unprecedented, not to mention historic, shut down of the campus for about 17 days. Everyone, scrambling asap to get away from the vicinity of the campus. And then coming back. However, unlike most others, of course, the devil in the formof Nettech, a certificate course on network security and management, was set to haunt me. This demon loved to eat away one's allocated time, exhaust them completely and still have them ask for more with enjoyment and the promise of knowledge as the bait! Of course, the lesser demon of project work grew threateningly large one weekend and it was all set for me to trip over them all and land flat on the face. Of course, with all this, you might understand why the blogging monster decided to sit out the free for all for my time and energy.

Coming back to the point though, its time we continued on the journey through my paradise, Ladakh… So after the acclimatization phase, it was time to start the actual journey. Destination - Uleytokpo (pronounced as Uley-top-ko), Banks of River Indus. The day dawned early and after breakfast we set off to Uleytokpo. For the first time ever, the road openedout ahead of us to reveal the cold beauty of this land. What you first experience as soon as Leh is left behind are the army lands. Home of battalions and regiments stretched for kilometres on both sides of the tiny road 2 and then some car widths wide.

Leaving human settlements behind, the loneliness engulfs you totally. Actually it overwhelms you. For as far as your eye can see, the grey snake of a road is laid out on extremely plain land. The sides however are a totally different story. For tens of kilometres its plain barren land and then… there lie the giants. They grab your attention quite forcefully. One of their own definitely caught our full attention when it tried to bend the movement of our over a ton vehicle with all of us sitting inside! Yes, the Magnetic Hill it was called and stayed true to its name. An absolutely still more than a few tons car with passengers inside (including yours truly) was slowly pulled when the car was left in gear with no accelerators or brakes!!! No other word for it but 'cooool!!' Moving on, we had some more breathtaking views of endless mountains and ranges.

First drive-by was the confluence of Zangskar and Indus. Incidentally, the Indus can be viewed throughout the country in an accessible manner only around Leh and then near Kargil before our namesake is lost to out neighbour, Pakistan. Then we stopped for the first stop at a ruined monastery the name of which fails me at the present time. One ends up seeing so many monasteries, that one loses track of all the Gompas and their names! Well, this was a ruin in the strictest sense of the word! Located on a small hill, parts of the monastery cum living quarter cum fort was in completely unconnected parts of the broken hill. Restoration work was on and the best view obtained comprised of how bamboo sticks are used for window sills in Ladakh.

Moving on, we were greeted graciously by capped mountains along the landscape peeking from behind their drier and shorter counterparts. This continued through the journey with the occasional (actually, only) river interrupting the landscape with a burst of green and a small town. After a stop of a few seconds at Uleytokpo for a recon of our campsite, we set off with a packed lunch to Alchi Monastery. That is a tradition it seems for the hotels and camps in Ladhakh - sending the tourists with packed lunches - a quaint one at that for taking care of guests. The location of the monastery was simply beautiful!

It was a small hill (compared to those around) and the valley below was filled with tiny farms and if I'm not wrong green meadows. As we were to learn, the monastery was splendidly colourful. The paintings on the walls were so bright and happy! We were greeted with a paintings was of the four heavenly kings (Lokapala in Sanskrit or guardians of the world), each of a different colour with different accompaniments ranging from a banjos and magic potions to swords! These heavenly kings are guardian gods. The Yellow hued one is Vaisravana (Kuber)meaning "He who hears everything" and protects the North holding an Umbrella. The Blue hued one is Virudhaka meaning "Patron of Growth" and protects the South holding a Sword. The White hued one is Dhrtarashtra meaning "Watcher of the Lands" and protects the East holding a Pipa (Sitar-esque instrument). The Red hued one is Virupaksa meaning "He who sees all" and protects the West holding a Serpent.

After visiting the shrine, we had lunch sitting on a roadside ledge with the whole hill and its vista stretched out below us. The major attraction near the monastery is this one hill which looks like the moon has been brought to ground. It is so unbelievable to observe a mountain whose colours and texture change from core Ladhakhi to the the core of the Moon! You have to see it to believe it! The rills on these 'moon-lands' - as they are referred to locally - are infinite and minute and the colour is that of cheese. This does lend to the theory that the moon is made of cheese (as per Jerry's fantasy!!). Our return route was a jolting shortcut that took us delightfully close to these moon-lands but rocked me (literally!!) to sleep. When I opened my eyes a good hour or so later we were back near Uleytokpo and it was time to settle into our tent.

Now, this tent was nothing short of 5 star in my opinion simply because to me tent has always been cramped space and sleepin bags with and the only attached toilet being the great outdoors. Here we had double sized bed with a space for a third and an attached bathroom complete with a prettily shaped wash basin and hand showers! The view, on walking a few steps out of the tent and peeking, entailed the flowing Indus as we were on her rather high banks. I instantly fell in love with the setting. The air about that place had something so lazy and relaxing about it and the mountains all around were like a protection from the everyday world. The few wisps of clouds in the sky threw a nice display of shadows on the ground with the mountains as a canvas as the river gushed down below. The caretaker was delightful Nepali whose energy at those altitudes was very amusing to watch. On talking to him later, we found that he was a sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest more number of times than I care to admit. He works as a guide in mountaineering expeditions in Nepal during winter. He half helped us plan a trip to Nepal too!

Warm food on a cold night was a welcoming sight not to mention a bonfire after that! The place had predominantly foreign families and a large group of youngsters who seemed to be from Australia and another group of three whom we were going to run into quite often. It was a night to relish. Cold and yet warm due to the bonfire and the sound of the river above it all. The cherry on the icing of this cake had to be the night sky! I never believed one could see the Milky Way in our sky when we were in it but its true! The faint and blink and you miss it band of white running across the sky made me happy enough to dance around in glee. Its impossible to ever imagine how infinite infinite really is until you look at the unhindered night sky. What more does one need for a peaceful night's rest...

10 Years Later...

As I watch the TV on 26th July, flipping channels, the headlines are the same, Remembering Kargil, the war that happened in my lifetime, affecting my country. The images shown now are of barren hills and clear skies, of forgotten heroes and forgotten times. However, over all the discussion of the current status of the army, its soldiers and machinery, what struck me more was the discussion of the terrain and weather there. Somehow, I could envision what Nature would have looked like then, mainly because of the holiday to Leh-Ladakh from which we had returned just a couple of days before. A life-changing and humbling experience that showed me that Nature just can't surprise one enough.

The last few days of Practice School were a whirlwind what with personal commitments and the trip to Leh looming faster than the comfortable pace. However, more than a few late nights went by and 16th July dawned. Rushing some 20-odd kilometres in the morning, I submitted my reports and the final documentation of my project to start packing for the evening flight to Delhi, our stopover on the way to Leh. I breathed easy only when we got to the airport, tight as the timeline was. The journey went without a hitch and Delhi welcomed us with a blast of hot air late in the night.

We must have taxied for about 15 minutes before coming to a final halt. An old friend, living in Shankar Vihar, the Army Housing Colony, nearby, put us up for the night. Interestingly, it might have been easier to have asked the pilot to drop us on the taxi-way as a jump of the airport compound would have brought us to our home for the night. We tried to get as much sleep as was possible as it was already past midnight and the flight to Leh was at 6:15 am. Don't ever think you're going to catch sleep on the Delhi-Leh flight. The tiniest clarity in viewing would just take one's breath away. One think I found out was the reason the crown of our country is called Himalaya - Abode of Snow. Some time into flight and food was served as usual. However, for the first time, no one seemed interested in eating. Anyone with a picture capturing device was too busy hogging windows and clicking away to glory. The perfect start to a holiday.



From perfect skiing slopes with zero access, to small deliciously green lakes, to chocolate brown cones with vanilla icing we saw them all. Waves and waves of endless mountains glinting in the sunlight and peeking from the foam factory created by the clouds. The flight sorely seemed to be too short. So, imagine my delight when the pilot announced that a defense aircraft was going to take priority in the landing order. By now, of course, the field of vision was consumed by the majestisity of the world's youngest ranges in all their glory, barren and brown, imposing themselves on the tiny white aircraft trying to reach the burst of green in the valley below - Leh. And I was already thanking my parents for getting me a camera of my own for my last birthday.



The one thing I had to thank God for though was the fact that, this day had the clearest skies I would see through all the days spent in Ladakh. Curiousity mounted as the plane descended, on how this new landscape - a cold desert - would look like, how the holiday would go and how well I would be able to handle the high altitude and low oxygen. As we deplaned, I took in deep gulps of refreshingly clean air but could find the slight light headedness. It disappeared almost as soon as it came, making me wonder if it was just imagined, who knows? As per medical advice, we each took half a Diamox pill used to treat altitude sickness. A car was waiting to take us to our hotel. The scenery around Leh was breathtaking considering we had Delhi to look at about 2 hrs ago. Leh, the valley, is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains, I mean mountains of mountains. They just don’t end and redefine how BIG big can really get.

Ten minutes later we drew upto a hotel built in a traditional style where the roof and windows are buffered with bamboo shoots between wooden/cement blocks. We were welcomed with the traditional silk scarf sacred to Buddhists and had some tea and cookies. Small talk with the manager and people working there revealed to us that almost all of them were non-natives. Just before Leh closes down, they move to Goa or Kerala to continue to work in restaurants and shacks there. Hence, they manage to work through off-season as well. As per advice we decided to rest for the better part of the day in an attempt to acclimatize to the altitude by sleeping it all off. The food at the hotel was predominantly vegetarian thankfully. We ventured out towards the evening.


First stop was the Shanti Stupa founded in 1985 by the Dalai Lama himself. It is located on the hilltop of Changspa and is one landmark seen even as a flight lands into Leh's airport. A short climb brings one to a small prayer hall flooded with colour. We were greeted with the monotonous thump of a drum and what I think is Japanese chanting that went like so: 'Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Gen Ke'. A further climb flattened out into a huge plane base for the statue. Endless climbing it seemed on that day, but the stupa structure was finally reached. Colourful pictures adorned the perimeter including one with the Buddha turning the Dhamma wheel and the symbol of the Ashoka Chakra. Coming down from the stupa, the panoramas afforded at the base were simply breathtaking. Almost all of Leh with the gorgeous mountains were laid out at our feet. From the stupa, we moved onto more worldy things like a tour of the market and some shopping and scouting of other items that could be brought after further comparisons. Tired, we soon returned back to the hotel and after a quaint dinner (the altitude succeeded in reducing my appetite quite a bit), we hit the sack. That day was just the trailer, the next day would be the start of the movie.

Oh! He is so Perfect.....

And that’s what's been running in my head ever since I came across Arulmozhivarman ('zh' pronounced by rolling the tongue as far back as it can go) the scion of the Chozha clan, in the words of Kalki himself. These holidays have been the perfect time to catch up on all the reading I have been missing out on. Lost in the worlds the authors describe is an immensely satisfying feeling. So this holidays it’s a mixed bag of books I have so far sampled.

First up, is the Rainmaker by John Grisham, though this was on campus. I have become a fan of litigation and law thanks to reading his books. Extremely engaging and quite informative too, his lead characters are almost always upcoming lawyers…at least in the books that I have read. So, this book talks about a guy who accidentally finds the case of a lifetime against an insurance company that tries to rip off its customers and all the topsy-turvy things that happen to him in the course of fighting the case. Also made into a movie, it’s a good read. Another book of his that I read was The Associate, about some guys blackmailing a newly become lawyer on revealing trade secrets had a good pace but the end was too abrupt and the continuity seemed suddenly cut off.

Next up is Crisis by Robin Cook about medical malpractice and a concept called concierge medicine. Patients who can afford to pay a retainer fee to the physician who then makes himself available to them at all hours of the day with house visits if necessary too. Not so much to my liking as there seemed too many loose ends left. It seemed to drag on for longer than what was necessary in my opinion.

A new author in my list is Amitav Ghosh a new age Indian writer. The book, Hungry Tide, describes the tide-country of West Bengal, the Sunderbans. An extremely vivid description of scenes and leisurely paced, I have come to enjoy this book though still half way through it. Two parallel stories in the first half of the book involve a cetologist looking for dolphins in the Sunderbans and a man from Kolkata come to visit his aunt who lives on one of the 'islands' that form the delta of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. The intertwining of their paths is the second part of the story.

Last but definitely not the least, I have been re-reading the Kalki's Tamil epic 'Ponniyin Selvan' a story par excellence that has everything to make it the perfect script. Based loosely on historical facts and the few inscriptions found, this book will keep you engaged throughout the read. Of course, I am reading the English translation and not the Tamil version which might take me eons to finish! The first surprise of the book is that the hero of this story, in the author's own words, is not Arulmozhi Varman the 'Ponniyin Selvan' but Vandiyathevan, a Prince of the Vana clan who leads the reader throughout the story. The characters in this book just jump out at you as you are drawn into a world that probably existed millennia ago…..

Intrigue, mystery, revenge, greed, kingdoms, wars and warriors, kings, queens, ministers, commanders, devotees of Siva and Vishnu, conspiracies, conspiracies in conspiracies, counter conspiracies, not to mention spies and counterspies, magicians and bewitchingly beautiful women (all if them look like heavenly damsels! Damn that gives one such a complex!!) and the heart-throb of the people-Arulmozhivarman who gained fame as Rajaraja 1. You name it this book has it. From Kanchi to Thanjavur and Pazhayarai to Lanka, the book travels the extent of the Chozha Empire and each book reveals a new secret of the ruling dynasty.

This book, a work of fiction, is based on the youth of Arulmozhi and last days of his father Sundara Chozha. It mainly deals with the question of succession that arises at that time as Sundara Chozha was the second son of Arinjaya Chozha. He succeeds as his elder brother died on the battlefield. Arinjaya himself was the younger son of Parantaka Chozha 1 who took over from his elder brother Kandaradhitha Chozha as his nephew was still a baby. A great devotee of Siva, Kandaraditha did not want his son to rule (but lead a life devoid of material attachments) and convinces his brother to anoint Sundara Chozha as his successor.

At the time this story begins, Kandaraditha's son Maduranthaka has started to desire the throne against his mother's wishes and takes part in a conspiracy against the Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan, Sundara Chozha's eldest son, and his younger brother Arulmozhi Varman. With twists and turns, and the dead Pandya king Veerapandyan's bodyguards seeking revenge as well thrown in, it seems like the dynasty will not survive all the traitors in its innermost camp. History records a mysterious end to Aditha Karikalan's life with no info on his murderers and the book only throws suspicion on half a dozen people present in the room when this act occurs.

The reader has no time to feel bored in this book as secret plots and side stories keep one engaged throughout. Of course, the complete effect of the poetry written in Tamil is, I guess, lost in translation. However, every other description is quite vivid and colourful. The way Kalki talks about Arulmozhi in the books even before the readers meet him is in such superlatives that the picture in the reader's mind is of a superhuman character! Girls swoon for him all over the land, he says no when presented with opportunities to usurp the Lanka throne, has an amazing way with animals, is wise beyond his years, an amazing warrior, very righteous and just, totally unpretentious though being the second in line to the throne after his elder brother, model son and brother and an extremely dependable friend. In other words, a perfect persona!!

The last part of this epic novel is the cherry on the icing on the cake. A prince giving up his right to rule, not for promises made to anyone but because it was the right thing to do when someone elder than him had a right toe ascend the throne, especially when everyone around wants one to be crowned is no mean feat of sacrifice! From certain historical records the confirmation that such an act did take place in history, in itself, speaks volumes of the man who was crowned as Rajaraja Chozha I, truly a King of Kings.

Would we ever find anyone else remotely close to the character etched in the mind of thousands due to the pen strokes of a certain author, in history, fiction or the future? Maybe not but then I guess that was the point after all…..

Badrinath - The Picturesque Tranquility

Who takes which post? Who will be the kingmakers and the who gets to grab the power? Think I'm talking of our elections?? No. This in short is the hottest topic in BPGC with the committees and clubs deciding their leaders-to-be for the next year, passing the baton for the successors to carry forward. This has been discussed with as much intensity as the news channels talk about elections. Since the power positions are held by third years which will be us, there has been more than enough gossip, speculation and bated breaths to spice things up just before the dreaded compres (our semester exams).

Continuing on the journey of the Char Dhams, next stop is Badrinath…….

Late evening saw us landing at Ukhimath, the stop for the night. As soon as my feet hit the floor on getting down from the car, it felt like a sleeping dragon was awoken. Muscles I never knew I had were screaming with pain. Yeah, 32km in about 40hrs is a mammoth wake up call for the body!!
Settling down, we ordered for some food and that’s when it hit me, the nausea. There was another family who had a similar itinerary to ours with a pretty experienced guide and he put the nausea down to some form of altitude sickness what with the constantly changing conditions at Kedarnath and all. The smell, let alone sight, of food was the last thing to be tolerated. Thankfully, the property albeit small had a delightful garden.

Facing a valley, the garden opened to the mountainside on the other side of the valley we had crossed while coming to Ukhimath. Stunning greenery and a quiet peace endeared the place to a tired body. A little later, we decided to take a small walk to Kedar Baba's winter home (hence the name Ukhi-Math). Strangely, walking though painful was more satisfactory to the muscles, all that stretching gradually helping to reduce the pain. The nausea still stubbornly persisting meant I couldn’t even walk into the dining room. As my parents took dinner, I took the time to savour the garden again. The opposite valley was all a-twinkling with the town on the other side lighted up and smaller lights scattered along the mountain side indicating the existence of humanity. The stark loneliness of those lights just then brought home the distance that some people still have to metropolitan life. A life possibly without televisions and one definitely far off from laptops iPods and iPhones, an essential for so many of us now! Sitting on a chair with my feet on another sipping some buttermilk (about the only thing that my mind agreed to then), with the cool mountain air of the night kissing my face and for company, the roving thoughts that could carry one to the stars and beyond. Silent Contemplation. Now that's a life I could get used to!

Next morning was a rush to catch the earliest gate to Badrinath. Yes you read right, a Gate. The path to Badrinath is slightly treacherous for two way traffic and gates at different points help to regulate this. This is what happens. There are three gates , one at Badrinath, one at Jyoshimath and one half way between these endpoints. The ride is for about an hour if memory serves right. So a gate opens simultaneously at Badrinath and Jyoshimath. The traffic from both sides meets about half way where its wide enough for the transition. Then its one way all the way to the other gate. A pretty effective method, the goal is always to make the open gate or be first for the next one. Luckily, we made it to the gate without delays and made the first afternoon gate. The scenery is absolutely surreal here and now river Alaknanda is a major portion of it. Some dam being constructed made for a bumpy ride for some parts. There is this one absolutely terrifying stretch our driver called the Rambagad or some such thing. Of all the landslide prone areas this is supposed to be the worst. It definitely looks like giants have played with giant legos and forgotten to arrange them properly. Mounds of precariously held up rock and soil weakening even more with all the construction going on, the place in all of silence has a spooky feel to it. Towards the end of the drive to Badrinath, we spotted by the riverside, a puckered piece of rock eroded in a weird manner and it turned out to be a piece of unmelted glacier dirtied with soil on it!

Entering Badrinath, our driver exuded extreme jubilation and the reason for it was the most majestic visage ever! Neelkanth Maharaj he was called. Clad in pure white snow and benevolently towering over the Badrinath valley with a perfectly cloudless sky behind him, Mt. Neelkanth left us all in a revered silence. So huge was he that in a moment of inspiration, he looks close enough to be scalable. Only the trek to just the base would be a victory let alone climbing the mountain since the base was at least 50km away. The temple itself in all its splendour is decked in what I like to call the happy colours. Bright yellows, oranges and reds greet you in the first glimpse of the temple. A darshan in the evening was decied on as an early departure was essential next morning. Not very crowded, we even afforded a double darshan. Dinner in a Badrinath version of South Indian food and it was time to head back to the hotel. Early next morning, we tried to glimpse Mt. Neelkanth again but to no avail. Angry clouds cloaked him and I could have almost sworn there could not be anything hiding behind them. We left Badrinath, the last of the Dhams amidst a slight drizzle and made it back to Jyoshimath in time for breakfast. The cable cars and Auli called to us.

The longest and highest situated cable cars covering 3.96kms and an altitude change of approximately 500mts is the only way to Auli, one of India's most famous ski slope. The mountains extend into the Nanda Devi National Park and are India's very own Switzerland. Breathtaking panoramas to feast your eyes on while fighting the biting winds and occasional clouds that rush up (oh yes, we are higher than the clouds) to greet one, it is a unique experience in itself. With a small horticultural strip, a mini food stall and a menacing forest reminiscent of the Fangorn from Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings fame) a few hundred metres away its almost like paradise is just around the corner. Especially, when one can hold onto a steaming cup of sweet black tea too. After lazing around to our hearts content it was off to the Jyoshimath (also called Jyotirmath) where Adi Shankara gained enlightenment. Apparently, it was him who pushed for establishing Badrinath after barbarians had destroyed the older temples there. And in almost no time we were heading to Dev Prayag.

Witnessing the birth of a river is an amazement in itself and when it’s a river as big and important as Ganga Maiya as she is fondly called, all one can say is that the smile on the face and sparkle in the eyes stays for a long time. To our left was the Alaknanda and to our right was the Bhagirathi and right before our eyes, the waters were mixing and creating the Ganges. Much more peaceful was her flow than either of her predecessors. And suddenly, with the Ganga for company, the miles flew and after a quick lunch, the familiar sights of Rishikesh were looming ahead. After dumping luggage at the riverside resort, we took the share auto to the lakshman jhoola for the evening aarthi and prayers offered to the river viewed amidst rainfall and a swelling river. We relived a lot of our previous trip to Rishikesh with dinner at the Purohit.

Then it was off to Haridwar to catch the Shatabdi to Delhi, then a flight to Bangalore the next day and back to civilization as we know it. All that was left was relief that the trip went without too much incident, sadness as it was a goodbye to nature's mountains and rivers, happiness that it was one of the best experiences of my life and might be for a long time to come, pride for all that I can say belongs to my culture and my country and as an afterthought some glee that Kedarnath would have let me lose some weight big time.

And they lived happily ever after……

Two and a half days to go for my penultimate exam and I am ticking off the days to pack and leave for the summer break and PS1 (Practice School 1 - BPGC's Summer Internship Course). More on that coming soon…especially since I shall be back in home.