Monday, March 5 2001
Return To The Source: Part Three
Rasik Shah
Rasik Shah was born in the Indian diaspora in the colonial apartheid type society of Kenya in the early forties. Having grown up in a multi-ligual, multi-racial society, he studied law in the London of the early sixties and went back to Kenya, practising as a criminal lawyer. He migrated with his young family to Canada in 1974 and practised law in Vancouver till 1995. He has been conducting trekking tours to the Garwhal region of India in the last few years and is now retired from law, writing full time. He has short stories at the following sites:
1. "The Ngong Hills" at www.dorsai.org/~tjhubsc/ngong.htm
2. "At the Dentist's" at www.es.co.nz/~treeves/rasik.htm
3. "The Discreet Charm of Nairobbers" at: www.litnet.mweb.co.za
4. An article on magical realism at: http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu
5. A story called "The Display Suite" at:
http://www.mweb.co.za/litnet
He has written a novel set in Kenya and is trying to get it published.
The Gangotri trek is one of his favourite treks and he plans to lead a jeep safari to Ladakh in August, 2001. Please click at www.sawf.org/rasik to read his articles and view beautiful travel pictures of the Gangotri-Tapovan trek in the previous issues of Sawf.
Please address any queries to him at: rshah1878@home.com
Please click at www.sawf.org/rasik to read his past travel articles and book reviews on Sawf.
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The Glory of Shivling
<-- R & m in Tapovan
The morning after our long session with Swami Sunderananda, we were up early and ready for the long march to Gaumukh/Tapovan. Our bus was parked in the main village square and from now on we would walk, reaching Bhujbasa in one day, as opposed to the leisurely two days we took to do that the last time around, some five years before. Five years had wrought a few changes, even in this pristine environment, as would become clear as we proceeded.
On a brilliant, sunny morning, the azure blue sky looming over us, we partook of the good breakfast Chilli had lined up and served us in the garden of the G.M.V.N guest house. The porters had already been organized by Neelu and soon trey were sent trudging along, carrying our luggage, tents, pots and pans and food. We headed first to the kuti of Swami Sunderananda, to receive his blessings at the start of the trek.
Soon we were in the luxurious apple orchard at the entrance to Swamiji's garden. Swamiji came out beaming, saying that he had completed his morning meditation and yoga exercises. He spent time with us, offering apples for us to take on the trek. In fact, the trees were loaded with apples, ripe ones having fallen to the ground. We picked a few from the lower, overhanging branches, but soon the 73 years-old Swamiji was up one tree, picking apples and throwing them down to Chilli, who stood with an open bag to receive the apples that would come in handy to munch during the long walk that lay ahead. Chilli distributed the apples thrown down by Swamiji from up above among the party. It was amazing to see the athletic figure of Swamiji climbing high into the tree as he reached out for more apples. Soon we all felt we had enough in our daypacks.
As the Swamiji gave his blessings, he called out for Manoj and gave him a little farewell message saying he would go a long way in life with his open, enquiring mind. Swamiji thumped his back a couple of times and wished him well.
We were soon on our way to the trekking path, first climbing a series of stone steps that led us out of the village area. Once we were in the bush area the path snaked its way through a fairly thick forest along the valley that enveloped the fast-flowing Bhagirathi.
After about the first hour's walking the valley path became gentle and we passed through a light forest of juniper trees and evergreens. The weather was perfect. We continued along the forest path, up and down the undulating hills and ridges that drained into the Bhagirathi as she sped down to meet Alaknanda further down at Devprayag.
Juniper tree at Chirbhasa -- >
By the time we reached Chirbhasa the trees were becoming scarce. The last of some magnificent Juniper trees were still around. Ironically, my nature guide at this point was Chilli, who had a remarkable knowledge of the flora and fauna we were passing through. He pointed out wild rose bushes and gave me both the Hindi and English names of the trees that we passed.
The boys had gone up much further than us older folk and the group had spread out over a long stretch of time. Arjun, myself and Melinda dawdled along the long day's trek that was to take more than six hours. We took frequent breaks, imbibing lots of water from our water bottles. At a lovely grassy knoll we sat down to eat the sandwich Chilli had packed into our lunchbox and drank the syrupy mango juice from the fruity carton that came with the lunch pack. Swamiji's apples came in handy for munching away, soothing parched throats.
At long last, after more than six hours of walking, we reached the cluster of tea shops at Bhujbasa and collapsed into the plastic chairs in the open, enjoying the most wonderful bottle of Fanta Orange I have ever had, followed by hot cups of chai. I did think that doing this stretch in one day was not a good idea. On the last occasion I had done this trek, we had taken two days to do this stretch, camping overnight at Chirbhasa on the way.
Just down in the valley, close to the river lay the guest house we were going the stay the night in. Arjun arrived soon afterwards, accompanied by the ever-cheerful Chilli. The boys were already into their second or third game of chess, using the small traveling set that had magnetized pieces which stayed in place.
We sauntered down to the guesthouse after an hour's rest and were soon ensconced comfortably in our sleeping bags on beds laid out in rows in a large communal room. The next day was going to be a tough grind, a short walk to Gaumukh, the ice cave that was the source of the Ganges, and then up the glacier above it, in a lung-bursting final climb to the ridge and the Tapovan meadow beyond it.
< -- Neelu at Gaumukh
The next day's walk to Gaumukh was easy enough, until we got close to the source of the river itself. It took about an hour of easy walking, but as we got close to the ice cave that feeds the river, we had to traverse over rocky terrain. Obviously, there had been landslides in this area since my last trek some five years ago; The path meandered up and down some very rough, loose clusters of rock until, eventually, we were deep in a sea of mountainous rock, having to clamber through and scramble over jagged rocks. A mistake in the footing could lead to serious injury. Nor was the path clearly marked or easy to follow. There were often different routes to get to the where we wanted to end up. At one point Melinda and I chose a route over the rocks, close to the roaring water down below, in the hope of staying at a fairly even slope. But soon we were lost and Melinda stumbled and fell, slightly injuring herself. We decided to stay put and rest for a while. Soon we clambered up to the top of the mound of rocks above us and were relieved to get a view of Gaumukh down below. We could see the boys already down there, Manoj in the process of dunking his head into the water, perched on a big, granite rock that slid into the water.
This business of dunking one's head into the freezing water was said to be a traditional ritual one was supposed to follow on reaching Gaumukh, having reached the final destination after an arduous pilgrimage. It certainly was arduous enough for us, but would have been much harder in days when there was no motor road to Gangotri; pilgrims in those days would have trek along all the way up from Uttarkashi for days on end.
Camping at Tapovan -- >
The sight of the cave is truly soothing; the crust of ice all over its face awesome and suggestive of some divine miracle. It was easy to imagine why the idea of the sacred would attach itself to such a unique spot.
Anyway, after few of the boys dunked their heads into the water and recovered, we slowly organized ourselves for that final stretch, the crossing of the Gangotri Glacier. Obviously Neelu had organized things so that all the porters and staff were walking with us or close to us from now on. In fact, word had been passed to them to supervise the progress of some of us old ones. We were soon up on top of the cave where the waters of the Ganges began and making our way through a whole lot of glacier debris and rock that lay over some soft bed. The going got tough as our climb became more and more vertical. There was no zigzagging switchback route that I had taken the time before. Chilli explained that there had been landslides in the area and that there was a lot more loose rock and sand in the area that covered up the old routes. We were forced therefore to make our own route, virtually vertically, up the massive ridge that led to the meadow of Tapovan. Actually the distance that we traveled was not great, It was just that it was vertical. The terrain was difficult in that we had often to use all four limbs to scramble higher up, sometimes requiring a vertical hauling up over some big rock. This was not the kind of walking we were used to. Often there was danger of losing one's balance. Soon Melinda found herself being escorted by a porter called Ali. I had help from another called Prakash. These porters not only carried loads of forty or fifty pounds, but managed to retain their balance and hold us or haul us up as required. There was no question we were in the hands of people far more adapted to the environment, It was as if they had organs we did not possess. In any case, the altitude was now beginning to tell. It was probably about 13,000 feet going on to 14,000. The oxygen was getting rare. Breathing became more and more difficult. Soon we had to halt for breath almost every ten or fifteen steps. I started counting the number of steps I would take and then stop for a breath. I started with counting fifteen steps, then reduced it to ten. After the tenth step I would stop and try and regain my breath. It was a temptation to collapse on the ground and sit down. But we were advised not to do that, because the effort of getting up again took a lot of energy and had to be avoided.
By now our daypacks were already taken off us by our porters-helpers who had simply flung the small day packs around their necks and continued without any extra strain. I took a look at others. The boys were already well up above. Arjun was a little behind, being helped by Chilli and another porter. None of us could figure out why Arjun wore so many clothes. There were layers and layers of warm, woolen shirts and sweaters and a big outer coat on top. No doubt these kept him warm, but they certainly added weight to his body, possibly five or ten additional pounds. At this altitude that would be a big factor. The sun was out and it was not yet really cold, specially as the exercise of walking up simply kept our bodies quite warm, if not sweating!
< -- R & M in front of Bhagirathi Sisters
I looked up one more time and saw Neelu perched up coolly on the edge of the ridge. He had made it! It still seemed a long way up to me. I had reached a stage when one says to oneself "This is it, I can't go any further." I was breathing hard, bellowing, cursing myself for undertaking this impossible trip. Soon Chilli caught up with me from behind. He had deliberately kept behind to help out anyone in trouble. He was soon uttering words of encouragement. He loved speaking in Hindi, a language he was totally at home in, and he started saying, "aaram se chaloh, aaram's se chaloh," "Take your time, take your time, theirs is no rush." Then he told me we were almost there and I should regain my breath as often as necessary. It was the voice of an angel. He had that warmth and generosity that just provided the extra push I needed.
As I got closer to the top, Chilli said, "Look at Madame, she is already there," pointing at Melinda resting on top of the ridge. I got going again now, knowing it was only about twenty more steps. In one single swoop of energy, I kept going 'till I made it to where Melinda was and collapsed next to her. On the other side of the ridge was the expanse of the Tapovan meadow and the looming magnificent peak of Shivling. It was simply incredible.
Already the staff were putting up the tents.
Rasik Shah is leading an overland jeep safari of Ladakh in the summer of 2001. See future issues of Sawf Magazine for Rasik Shah's articles on Ladakh and past issues for the articles on Ganges and Tapovan trek.
For further details or inquiries please e-mail him at: rshah132@home.com
In India his trek and tour organizer is:
Neelamber Badoni
Trek Himalaya Tours Pvt. Ltd.
The Upper Mall, Jhulaghar
MUSSOORIE (UP) INDIA
Ph. 011-91-0135-630491
Telefax: 011-91-0135-631302
E-mail: trekhimalaya@vsnl.com
Or:
neelubadoni@rediffmail.com
Credits
- Photographs taken by Rasik Shah.
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