Some of the Cathedral School boys and girls went Himalaya trekking this holiday, under a program organized by the Youth Hostels Association of India. The co-sponsors were the National Council of YMCAs and the Western Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali. The route covered stretched right across from Manikaran and Pulga to Rohtang Pass and Bhrigu Lake. And now they are back - filled with nostalgic memories of tramping in the snow and of being cradled to sleep in the lap of nature, the mountain air and spirit very much a part of them and a posy of memories.
It was a Babel of voices at a tea party hosted by Eva Shah, one of the team. "Remember," began one - and the game was soon on, Voices and words had kept floating around creating a series of pictures - of being caught in the flurry of snow, so soft and fun to make balls with; of pleasant warmth around a roaring blaze and heart bursting forib into a song, of nights in the open, under the starry sky and nature communicating through a thousand tongues...
I listen ,fascinated. A boy, his face glowing, recounts the adventure of being lost, and climbing up and down the slopes all day _ 'but one had only felt exhilarated at the breathtaking scenery. It was as though we were protected in the warm embrace of nature. . !' and ..saying this he blushes, surprised at his own poetic stirrings.
Rajeev M was wont to frequently disappear with pen and pad in an attempt to imprison his fleeting impression in the form of verse. And this is what came out:
you spoke to me of history
our footsteps muffled by mountains
you did most of the talking
hinting at emotions unknown
resting at sherpa huts
carved into the sides of the earth
drinking thick hot tea and rice
brewed under charcoal sky shivering stars
we made a hundred separate plans
that took us miles apart
the river where we splashed our feet
rushed through our hearts
we drank played sang
our way past the shadow mountains
into the kulu-manali valley
where snow dust gathers and settles
where forests are forever green
the air trembles still
with the echoes of our voices
and the silences we made
For effervescent Geetu Watumull it was all an exciting adventure, Throughout tea, she had kept smiling widely (deliciously unselfconscious of the braces on her teeth) and chattering,
"Geetu was our Queen of the Blisters," pipes in one pupil. "There she was, one day, with her shoes dangling from her hands and crying out, "But I have blisters, I have blisters, I can hardly walk.”
Vijay Vora, who was as unpleasantly affected had a suggestion that some serious research ought to be carried out on blisters and the possible remedies. But this was just by the way, nothing really mattered in the exciting fun, neither the cold, hard stone floor on which they had often slept, nor the routine paaratha meal dished out every other day,
Out there in the open, amidst the mountains rising proud and high from the earth, the environment had taken over. It was feeling free and elemental and humble and also somewhat immortal as part of a continuing chain of manifested universe. There were no separating 'lines, nothing, except the overwhelming fact of being alive, of being human.
In the city group was sparked the forgotten flavor for the simple pleasures of life. Diana Sadler grows wild at the abundance and exuberance of flowers on the hillsides and carefully brings some of them back to preserve their dry forms in frames. And as Miss Hallegua goes on recalling incident after incident, the memories of those present keep going back to the mountains and dales left behind.
For Mr. John Tesseyman, the English teacher, "the taste of Espresso coffee, surprisingly had at a wayside mountain cafe still lingers on," while Miss Hallegua becomes literary describing the fairy-like hut discovered nestling amongst the surrounding tall pines.
Das who is fond of food cannot forget the keema and noodles dish mixed with a little sauce and the small tea shops, dirty and lacking glamour "but where everything was served with a smile."
Being a curious lad he even tried the local brew 'lugdi' - "rather queer-tasting, which farmers keep drinking all' day and so mild that one can rarely get drunk."
The girls found handicrafts attractive, bold, bright and colorful, inspired by nature.
For the many in the group, this was a side of India, the rural profile, which they were seeing for the first time. But it was a facet that will 'be long remembered as was obvious from the way everyone had talked. As one girl-student put it. "I want to become a doctor and go back to those hilly regions and serve them."
There were some practical suggestions made for the benefit of future trekkers - the need for easy-to-carry tents, proper sanitary facilities and a chance for hiring camping equipment buying which could be so expensive.
These are easy-to-implement suggestions and ought to be carried out, not only in the interest of promoting the camping habit among students but also making it a popular holiday idea for everyone else too. Our country has a scenic kaleidoscope to offer and camping may be the best possible way to explore it.
This was the Third National Himalayan Trekking program organised by the YHA of India. The requirements to join it are simple - just a pack on the back, enthusiasm in the heart and age anywhere between 15 and 25. The program is open to institutions as well as individuals. The objective explained in many words in the booklet, in fact, is simple - to kindle in the young a love for adventure and a will to rise to any challenge. And the cost - roughly Rs. 175 - considering the facilities offered and that covers accommodation and food is not much. The amount, however, does not include travel fare.
Tenzing, Mihir Sen they have given the lead today, but even past history is replete with sagas of pioneering spirits. Adventuring is the story of mankind's progress, but is there any need to say all this? To be born is to be alive, and to be alive is to accept the challenge of life.
By Jyotsna Sheth
(Bharat Sheth's mother)
22 July 1972
(first published in a local Bombay weekly magazine)
