The Undercover Indian: travel

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Friday, February 19, 2010

Travels in Central India Part 3- Mandu

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Mandu or Mandav and all I knew was that I had 3 days on my disposal and no definite plan to reach anywhere. I heard of Mandu fleetingly in a conversation and knew that it was known for its historical ruins and monuments. So on bright sunny Christmas morning I took bus to Dhar a town known for Raja Bhoj. Raja Bhoj, a philosopher king is a well known figure in Indian history and Dhar was the capital city of Paramara Dynasty to which Bhoj belonged.

Today, Dhar like many other small Indian towns is congested, noisy and chaotic. Urinal at bus station was dysfunctional and actually had half a dozen people living there and playing cards. Somebody was burning heap of garbage on corner of square in front of bus station and loud advertisement for some local product was blaring from loudspeaker hung on terrace of a bigger looking shop. The policeman posted to control traffic on square was busy talking to a young man on bike, perhaps trying to extract some money in compensation for breaking traffic rule, as rest of traffic was trying to meander its way around a big stubborn cow, not bothered of blaring horns, carelessly passing the road while chewing the cud. Overhead, blue sky could be seen from a maze of hundred criss -crossing electricity wires and all kinds of political and religious banners hung on ropes attached to poles and building on either sides of square. I found a small bus parked in corner of station which was to leave for Mandu. It had a very vocal family seated inside who were eating poha and bananas with banana peels summarily being deposited out of the window. The kids were excitedly talking about going to Khala’s (aunt) place and their dad was telling another man how much children enjoyed during last Id when they visited Ammi’s house. Within few minutes the bus was full and started. A man, conductor of the bus, standing near the Bus door on the foot mat was loudly shouting ..’Mandu Mandu Mandu’, soliciting passengers to Mandu even as the bus made its way slowly through chaos on road out of the bus station and ahead of square. In no time bus had passengers, sitting, standing and hanging wherever possible.

Day 1
After half an hour drive, I could see the plains making way for small hillocks and plateau. It was lovely December morning and when I saw the glimpses of a ruin of what perhaps was a mosque, I knew that I was going to enjoy Mandu. Just before noon, bus finally left me at main square, in front of Jami Masjid and I saw a dozen buses and cars parked and offloading tourists. A big bus with banner of a school plastered on its side had bunch of chirpy kids surrounding it with their teacher trying in vain to get the unruly lot to form a queue The Ram Mandir (temple) in front of Masjid was full of people attending last day of weeklong yoga workshop. I had come to Mandu when it was full of tourists due to Christmas weekend and I hurried to find myself a place to stay. Govt has restricted new construction in Mandu and there are just 3,4 small lodges and Tourism department hotels here. Luckily I got a place to stay in one of better lodge which had immaculately green lawn and overlooked the gorge (kakra khoh) and villages down in it. Bag was deposited, a map bought, a cycle rented and I was on my way. What A day it was. Balmy winter sun, clear blue skies and aroma in the air. Most people come to Mandu on a day long trip, day trippers as they are called, visit some well known monuments and go back by evening. But if you really want to enjoy Mandu , you got to stay here for at least 3 days explore the place on a cycle. Mandu as it turns out , is a natural fort on top of plateau in Vindhay range and has a ruined city spread in around 20 square km , sprinkled with historical buildings and monuments of bygone era. It is also called celebration of love and life in stone and it is quite true, for such is beauty of the place. Built by Hindu Rajput kings of Malwa on a plateau protected by Kakra khoh (deep ravine) on all sides, the fort was won over by Muslims rulers during advent of Mughal empire and traces of it can be seen all around Mandu. One can observe that many muslim buildings have stones and pillars reused from dismantled Hindu temples.

Jahaz Mahal (Ship Palace) is most popular attraction and is quite impressive. It was used by Ghiyas-ud-din-Khilji as his harem and is surrounded by two artificial lakes. One can stand here and imagine how it must have been in its day of glory when Sultan would visit his women who were housed in naturally air conditioned quarters around Champa Baoli (water tank) , whose waters it is said used to smell of Champa flowers. Many parties and orgies must have taken place in Hindola Mahal (Swing place) in front of Chmpa Baoli, which is quite unique in its architecture. There is a large courtyard in one corner of palace which was ostensibly used for royal dance parties under starlit skies. I met a small girl here, whose mother is employed with keeping place clean, who told me that at night courtesans who are buried nearby come alive and she said that she knows because she has seen them many times. I thought she was a very interesting kid to talk to. Around 10 minutes away from Jahaz Mahal are Lohani caves and sunset point. Lohani caves are small chambers cut in a rock face on one of the cliffs overlooking Malwa plains. Caves have a water cistern filled from natural water source and were used by Buddhist or Hindu mendicants and later by Mughal sentries protecting the fortress . The sunset from this place is quite amazing and one of the sights that I cherish from Mandu. As the night fell, I cycled back to my lodge. The night was still and silent and I could hear croaking of creatures of night interspersed by laughter of merriment carried from a distant hill by gentle breeze.

Day 2
There is something in bright sunny mornings. There is something in sun when it is not at its ferocious avatar. It gives you warmth which percolates inside you into your soul. Is that the reason that sun worship was so central to Hindus! It was one such morning and I took my cycle on my way to another popular spot called Baj Bahadur’s palace and Rani Rupmati's pavilion. It is around 6 km from the Jami masjid and on the way I stopped at many ruins along the road. Dai ka Mahal is quite interesting building. It was built by a poor woman. It is said that during its zenith, Mandu did not have any poor and every new citizen was provided with gold coins by residents and this is how Dai , a poor woman could build a palace for herself. Overlooking Dai's Mahal is echo point which was used by mughal sultan's sentries to shout to Dai whenever one of Sultan's women was to deliver a baby .She must have been very busy women considering the big harem of women the sultans had and absence of reliable birth control devices during those times.

Baj Bahadur's palace is the place where you get the essence of Mandu. The palace is build near Rewa kund (pond) which itself was built by Baz Bahadur to supply water to his consort and lover Rani Rupmati's pavilion which is situated on a hillock , some 500 meters away from Baj Bahadur's palace. When you stand atop Baj Bahadur's palace you can clearly see Rupmati's pavilion and it is said that in evening Rupmati, would sing for her lover and Baz Bahadur would hear her sitting in his palace. Baz Bahadur and Rani Rumpati's love story is extraordinarily unique. Baz Bahadur was a muslim king and Rupmati was a hindu shepherd woman who worshipped Naramada very dearly. After Baj Bahadur met her during a hunting trip, he married her in accordance with Muslim and Hindu rites. When Adham Khan, during battles of Deccan marched on the Mandu fort, Baz Bahadur confronted him with his small force and was defeated . Instead of falling into Adham Khan's hands, Rupmati poisoned herself and thus ended Baz Bahadur and Rupmati's love tale. Rupmati's Pavilion is on top of hill which overlooks Narmada river flowing in its glory in Nimmar plains. So on one side Rupmati could see her beloved Narmada , on other side she could gaze at her lover, Baj Bahadur. Rani Rupmati's pavilion is one of most scenic places in Mandu and on a clear day , one can see vast Nimmar plains. I find Baz Bahadur and Rumpati tale both fascinating and poignant , steeped as it is in times of music, poetry, love, wars and tragedy. Sarojini Naidu's beautiful poem "An Indian Love song" comes to my mind when I read Baj Bahadur and Rumpati's story, considering that both of them were from two religions which were at loggerhead at that point in history and yet found love for each other. Love after all conquers all divides:

He
Lift up the veils that darken the delicate moon

of thy glory and grace,

Withhold not, O love, from the night

of my longing the joy of thy luminous face,

Give me a spear of the scented keora

guarding thy pinioned curls,

Or a silken thread from the fringes

that trouble the dream of thy glimmering pearls;

Faint grows my soul with thy tresses' perfume

and the song of thy anklets' caprice,

Revive me, I pray, with the magical nectar

that dwells in the flower of thy kiss.

She
How shall I yield to the voice of thy pleading,

how shall I grant thy prayer,

Or give thee a rose-red silken tassel,

a scented leaf from my hair?

Or fling in the flame of thy heart's desire the veils that cover my face,

Profane the law of my father's creed for a foe

of my father's race?

Thy kinsmen have broken our sacred altars and slaughtered our sacred kine,

The feud of old faiths and the blood of old battles sever thy people and mine.

He
What are the sins of my race, Beloved,

what are my people to thee?

And what are thy shrines, and kine and kindred,

what are thy gods to me?

Love recks not of feuds and bitter follies,

of stranger, comrade or kin,

Alike in his ear sound the temple bells

and the cry of the muezzin.

For Love shall cancel the ancient wrong

and conquer the ancient rage,

Redeem with his tears the memoried sorrow

that sullied a bygone age.

From Rupmati's pavilion I cycled my way to Fort of Sonagarh which is around 7 km. There is nothing much left in fort expect for its door but I enjoyed cycling to it. The afternoon was so beautiful that I could live there forever. On way to Soagarh, is temple of Nilakanth which is a Shiva temple clinging to a steep hillside and is unique because temple facade has a look of a mosque and has Persian inscriptions on it from the time when Akbar visited it during his stay in Mandu. The village kids around the road to Sonagarh would wave to me and shout "Hi, whats your name, which country!" Every second kid asked exactly same question. I guess they are used to seeing foreigners on cycles and perhaps thought that I was also one. Apart from well known monuments there are many other ruins which one can stop by. There is a very impressive Cavern building which was built in European style, and around Dai's Mahal is a ruin of mosque where one can clearly see use of temple pillars. On intersection of Rupmati road and Sonagarh is Hathi Mahal, a deserted place , perfect to get siesta under its tree covered courtyard. Jami Masjid is another beautiful building, built in year 1450 after a famous mosque of Damascus. Adjacent to it is Tomb of Hoshang Shah . Tomb is architectural marvel and it is said that architect of famous Taj Mahal in Agra had paid a visit here and used this white mausoleum as blueprint for building Taj Mahal. I must say that ASI (Archaeological survey of India) has done a good job of maintaining ruins of Mandu and must be commended in a country which is known to deface its historical legacy. In evening I cycled back to Sunset point and interplay of lights before the sun set was mesmerizing again. Just sitting on a hill side and watching the night fall on ruins is one amazing moment.

Day 3
Next morning was the most beautiful. I could understand why Mandu became city of pleasure. In rainy season it is said it becomes entirely green replete with vegetation and hundred natural streams that start flowing from plateau down to kakara khoh. In winters it is pure heaven, days are comfortably warm and evenings are cooler mixed with aromatic breeze. Summers are not as harsh as in towns of Malwa and in plains of Nimmar. There are many ruins and buildings one can explore. Gada Shah's shop has an impressive facade and is must visit. But the place I liked the most was little known and almost skipped by day trippers; Chisti khans's place. Take a book there, soak in sun with none to bother you, hear distant faint voices from tribals working in their fields down in kakara khoh (Kakra gorge or ravine), pure heaven. I thought of going down the hill to tribal villages but then love of cycling won over and I decided to cycle my way to a Fossilarium, around 7 km away from Mandu and outside the fort. The road is littered with ruins again, Zali mahal, some old temples, Delhi darwaza, etc. Fossilarium is small and can be seen from a distance due to two massive stone statues of Dinosaurs in its compound. Mandu is considered to be part of ancient Gondwana continent and places around it and Narmada valley are considered to be geologically very significant. 100 fossilized dinosaur eggs were found in Dhar region including Mandu in year 2007 and some of them are displayed in Fossilarium. Millions of years ego before kings and sultans made Mandu a pleasure resort, before love and songs reverberated in ravines around it ,Mandu was home to these gigantic creatures.

“Origin of self initiated System of Systems resulted in the existence meaningful enough , that is being Shiva- According to Hindu mythology”

Domed mausoleums Mughal palaces, mosques, ruins crumbling beside medieval reservoirs and precipitous ravines, a place where love roams in air, where tragedy lies buried in sands, a place where stones tell stories....that is quintessential Mandu or Mandav. And at the end , all I could say was "Incredible India".

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Travels in Central India Ujjain - Part2

Ujjain was one place I was really looking forward to see as I had rather romantic notion of it. Shyam Benegal's Discovery of India , every Sunday afternoon used to be my favorite TV program and names of cities like Kosala,Maghada, Avanti, Ujjaini had stuck in my mind. Ujjain is one of oldest cities of India and traces its history to ancient time. Ujjain saw its golden period during Gupta empire when it became a centre of Hindu leaning, art, science and trade. But the city finds references in book like Ramayana, so one can imagine how ancient it is.

Day 1
Today's Ujjain is a different city, though still very important and holy for Hindus. One of its major attractions is temple of Mahakaleshwara, which is seat of one of 12 jyotirlingas in India. Reaching Ujjian from Indore is very easy as there are constant buses plying from Sarvate bus stand in Indore to Ujjain and it takes just about 2 hours to reach. Mahakaleshwara was the first place I visited and comforting sight was that temple didn’t have long winding queues which are often the case with famous temples. Temple itself is not very glamorous or impressive in its architecture or setting and I didn’t feel particularly spiritual either. There is some amount of jostling one has to sustain during darshans of Shiva lingam as you are pushed, pulled and manhandled by dozen others in pursuit to touch the holy stone. I don’t get it. Do people think that if they touch the shivalingam long enough or from a particular angle , it is going to eliminate all their pains and give them instant salvation! May be this urge to hold the shivlingam arises because Mahakaleshwara is supposed to be self-manifested and one of rare lingams which is south facing. Anyway, I spent couple of hours in the temple and then walked around other temples;and there are too many here, bada ganesh, chotta ganesh, wrinmukta ganesh, rudraganesh and normal as we know him ganesh.

The place I wanted to really see was ghat of river Shipra, so I asked someone around and set off in that direction and came across a water body which looked stagnated, covered with moss and place around it was garbage dump of some kind with open drains overflowing into it. And my heart sank. This was not happening. Ujjain was to be glorious city of Kalidas and navratnas where pundits and Brahmins walked on streets, where lofty conversations on art and religion were held under banyan trees. And all I was seeing was garbage lying around roads, poor emaciated cows and beggars. I cursed myself and felt pangs of sadness. So is this the Holy city of Ujjain! What is holy about it beyond legends? keep the faith I told myself. Be patient.

So I walked down and reached ghats of real Shipra river. This was better place . Only slightly. Thankfully it wasn’t crowded and I sat on the ghat and watched dozen people coming , worshipping , offering, getting naked and bathing in the river. Women with saris, portly men with half of their body fat hanging out…. Shipra let everyone in. Among the crowd which was gathering for evening prayer, I met this old farmer Bhagirath who was on a 300 km padyatra around holy places along river Narmada. Illiterate but wise and interesting and yet so simple man was such a delight. He made me see Ujjain, Shipra, ghats and about to start evening Aarti in a different light. There are millions like him, simple and humble men who still carry the flag of our culture which is not blind rituals and apathetic symbolism most have started indulging in. Evening aarti on the ghat where prayers are offered to holy Shipra was fantastic experience. First time for me, unique experience of music created by cymbals and bells and drums and chanting of mantras along with incensed lights just as the day was fading into laps of darkness. So I bid farewell to Shipra and walked back to main city and into its narrow streets. The bazars at night were brilliant. There was a fragrance in the air. There were streets which look hundred years old with equally ancient buildings and shops and with equally old shopkeeper selling equally old wares. Large section of the bazars are owned by muslims. Ujjain being one of holy cities for hindus was always under attack by invaders and signs of those time can be seen around. I walked around the city until city started shutting down and then...

Day 2
Next day I woke up early, googled what else was an attraction in Ujjain, asked locals and set to Bhartrihari caves. I have read story of Bhartrihari in my school days including some chapters form his seminal book called Bharithari Shatak. Bhartrihari for me is an important figure in Indian history, but so little known . He represents man's two eternal quests- enjoying the material world and looking for metaphysical . It can't be said whether his story with Rani Pingala was real or a legend but one thing is certain that he was a man who enjoyed pleasures of life to hilt before renouncing it for quest of ‘truth’. His shatak has 3 volumes or sections, Shringar Shatak, Niti Shatak and Varagya shatak. Roughly coinciding with his phases in life when he was lover of women ,a king of Ujjain and when he renounced and became a Yogi. Sample this very crude translation of one of his couplet from Shringar shatak:

"There are only two ways worth living,
either roaming in valleys of woman's body
or exploring valleys of Himalayas."

Bhartrihari Caves are around 5-6 km away from Mahakleshwara temple and situated on banks of Shipra river. But river here is dirty and stagnated. This makes me very angry. Same people who worship river in evening with flower, also offer it all our civilizational garbage. I reached there early morning with no tourists around and spent time in chamber under huge stone where he meditated for 12 long years. The place has vibes. Sit there with eyes closed and meditate for some time to know it. Three sahdus from Pir sect (I thought so looking at their big black ear rings) who live there were smoking holy pot and trying to get enlightenment. One of them high on substance exhorted me to donate for "service of cows" but all I could offer was my middle finger.

From caves I moved to temple of Gadkalika where great poet Kalidas is supposed to have worshipped. I found wild berry trees around temple more interesting. It is such a pleasure of life to be able to collect berries form lush and full trees and pop them in your mouth. I could have spent entire day eating berries, lying on grass and sleep. Men are after all evolved from monkeys. Around 15 minutes walk from Bhartrihari cave, on a small hillock is Pir Matsyendranath. This is supposed to be samadhi of adi-guru Matsyendranath who , as legends have, had learnt from Lord Shiva the art of Kriya Yoga and then taught to his more famous pupil Guru Gorakhnath. Samadhi which was in Muslim control for long time, now has a sadhu as its keeper and he was very happy to see me. He told me that there is no place more powerful than this. He gave me a prayer’s mat and said go and meditate near his samadhi and see for yourself. So there on a brilliant sunny day, with noise of gentle crows nearby and fragrance of slowly burning wild herbs (I forgot what it is called but it is amazing) I sat and closed my eyes ,said "OM", took my breath and mind down in my spine hoping to raise it further up and invoked great guru Matsyendranath. I don’t know what it was but I couldn’t keep my eyes close. They started fluttering uncontrollably. Guru was telling me "Go son, you ain't ready yet. Your heart is full of sin. You have debts of hundreds unfulfilled karmas and you are carrying guilt on your soul." I spent 2 hours there and promised to sadhu that I will come back one day and stay him. Incidentally, Pir Matsyendranath is skipped by religious tourists who flock to temples and holy trees and pujas where quick shortcuts for a better afterlife or material prosperity are in offer. I will have to come back here.

From Pir Matsyendranath, I moved to a holy banyan tree called Siddhavat on banks of Shipra which ostensibly doesn’t grow or die for centuries and even after Some Muslim king tried to murder the holy tree under tons of stones. I sat near the tree for some time watching complex rituals being performed enmass and then moved on and went to Kaliadeh Palace which is also on banks of shipra and is in ruins now. A good site to visit but could be better developed from tourism point of view. The palace was ostensibly sun temple but with nobody looking after it , it has now become a dating place for dogs. From here I rented a Jugadu local transport for 50 bucks which is called tempo. I agreed with driver that I will pay him fixed 50 rupees for 4 sites with added incentive that he is allowed to seat any lonely female looking for lift midway. This is monster of a vehicle, runs on a diesel engine with a thousand years old starting mechanism (priming the engine with rope) ,makes noise like a woman delivering baby and can seat 100 people like in one of those fevicol advertisement. My next stop was Kal Bahirov temple the god which is fond of alcohol. Temple is again thousand year old and nobody knows where does all the daru which is offered to deity goes. I theorized with a vendor selling trinkets that there might be secret chamber under the temple but he found it to be too sacrilegious. Anyway, I bought a small bottle of whiskey and offered it to Bhairov which it drank without saying cheers. I had strong urge of joining this friend of Bacchus but preferred to keep my vow of no alcohol while touring the holy city.

From here with my trusted Tempo and a very verbose driver I moved to Temple of Mangalnth which is, Ripley's believe it or not, a birthplace of planet Mars. Yeah right there was planet Mars born before it ejected out to outer space. Oh by the way, driver also showed me a temple in a distant field which he said is right on top of centre of earth because line dissecting the earth in two equal halves passes right through that field. After meeting Mangalnath I moved to Sandipani Ashram where lord Krishna had studied. There is a water tank there which is called Gaumti kund where Krishna used to clean his slate (so it is called Aksharpat).A little Shiva temple there is unique for two reasons if you like subtleties, 1.) Nanadi is standing (usually Nandi facing Shiva is always sitting) 2.) Temple has a Shri-ynatra made in its roof. There I met an interesting man who claimed to be direct descendent of Guru Sandipni himslef!! Incidentally he also said that he worked as a software engineer at one point of time.He told me some interesting things like why Krishna needed to study if he was all -knowing incarnation of Good! Or why we never take full circle of shiva. By now I was getting into spiritual mood of Ujjain and city was growing on me but so was the darkness around. So I bid goodbye to this amazing city with a promise to return sometime and boarded my bus back to unholy Indore.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Travels in Central India - Part 1

I have visited many places in south and north India but never had chance of visiting central India. Recently I got opportunity to work for a month in Indore which is in state of Madhya Pradesh, very much the central India and I decided to explore some places during long weekends. My first impression of Indore was that it had looks of typical provincial town - it is dirty and crowded, roads are terrible and traffic is chaotic. Very much like any other Indian city, you might say. Indore, it seems, is one of fastest developing cities in India and has become educational hub with dozens of colleges and also on its outskirts, in place called Pithampur, it now has one of biggest Industrial areas of Asia. Indore in fact is also called mini-Mumbai but considering what has become of Mumbai of lately, It shouldn't be seen as a matter of pride. My first week in Indore was extremely depressing. City is such that it can leave you mad. Every second person on streets, chew paan masala and spitting is almost a second nature to everyone. In fact spitting is so rampant that if you are in Indore (or elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh, as I learnt later), you are advised to stand clear of any window, buses and other vehicles because you never know when someone will roll down the window and spit copious quantities of red saliva. It is almost a malaise there. You see on roads, driver of cars suddenly opening the doors to relieve their mouths of paan laden salvia, all the while when car is speeding. Being an Indian, you would expect me to be immune to this, but no, you have to see this phenomenon to believe it. Imagine thousands or may be lakhs of people in coordinated spitting spree and you get the picture. Custodians of Indore city and generally of Madhya Pradesh would do very well by launching a mass anti-spitting campaign.

How to Travel?
If you like backpacking and travel cheap and believe that best way of really seeing a place is by travelling in local transport then there are some things you should know about Madhya Pradesh. First, local buses here are as big as matchboxes but they contain an ocean of humanity within them. Chances are that if you happen to be any taller than 5 feet, then you have to cut off your legs below knees to fit your body inside the seats which are designed for kids. And obviously that is only if you can get a seat in bus which is more often than not packed like can of sardines. And if you could still survive the campiness, you have to face another challenge, smoke of beedis. People in these parts, love beedis and they love to smoke while travelling. And no, you can't complain to driver or conductor of bus because they themselves smoke. It is a normal, accepted behavior. Do I hear about smoking ban in public places! Nobody would have heard it here. Only thing which works is hostile stare and threat of violence.

Travel Times
And now something important, especially if you are time challenged and want to squeeze the time you are going to spend on road. Average speed possible while travelling in local buses is 20km/hr. So normally everywhere else in world, if your destination is 60 km away, you would expect to reach in 1 hour, but not in Madhya Pradesh. Here you should be happy if you can reach in 3 hours. The reasons are many, buses don’t run they drag and then they stop every 2 miles to unload and load sea of people. There are just too many people everywhere. Roads are so bad at places that they resemble lunar surface and at places they are as wide as pissmark. To make things worse, most drivers have no lane sense. By the way, the slowness of travel is not limited to just local buses but also to many trains. For example one of the trains which I almost took form Indore to Bhopal, around 300km away, takes
7 hours and stops at some 20 stations.

Where to Stay:
In most town getting a cheap place to stay is easy but do check water supply in toilets. In one of town called Pipariya , where I arrived very late in night , I got a room which the manager proudly told me was royal suite fitted with bathing tub and other modern amenities like a local type of four poster bed. Well, in morning, with my pants down I found out that there wasn’t any water in toilet and bath tub had cobwebs. In Ujjain, I had to fight and shut up hotel guys who would sit outside my room ,shout loudly and argue over lost towels from rooms, all at midnight. In Pachmarhi, the Bengali families which had invaded the town, had taken it on themselves to not let anyone sleep, in audible range, so excited were they at finally coming on picnic.

People, Food and Cows
In this Middle India, everyone seems to take middle stance, centre of both left and right. Binary logic is unknown in these parts. If you ask anyone some question, chances are that you will hardly get the definite answer. Also more people you ask, more varied answers you will get for same question. Don’t trust anyone for what he says. It is not that they are malicious. It is just that they are "like this only". And finally, nowhere else have I seen such veneration to cows. Even being and Indian and having default in-built deference to the holy animal, I found local devotion beyond my comprehension. In most cities or towns you will find posters and banners extorting public to save cow. In some places, like Ujjain, I saw proclamations like "Only Cow can save the universe". Blimey, how please! And in most towns you see cows abandoned on roads and forced to eat paper and plastic garbage. Ah! talking about eating and food, the little said the better. Place is not known for its cuisines. Or maybe it is because I am not that fond of food or a connoisseur so I didn’t look for places where I could relish some local dishes. But whatever I ate at places which you are bound to get to while backpacking (like bus stands, cheap hotels, railway stations etc.) was certainly not remarkable. I mean, what is the deal with Poha and Kachori and Jalebis for breakfast and lunch and dinner! I am sticking to vegetarianism and only option I could see was "spicy chats" masquerading as food. With all due respect “Poha Jalebi” is worse kind of food I have seen. Poha and Jalebi separately, I can understand ; But together? May before I leave this place, I will make an attempt and discover some food here.

Central India – what is?
Ok, so now that I have offloaded all my pent up anger, I can move on to positive side of things. For me, whatever little travels I did, have been a discovery of central India and I loved it. From Administrative point of view, central India comprises of states of Madhya Pradesh and newly formed Chhattisgarh. Though seeing central India from a historical perspective is more interesting because there are different regions each with its unique history and culture. This makes travel in each region unique. Malwa, Nimmar and Bundelkhand can be broadly seen as 3 distinct regions. Malwa is central west part occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Ujjain, Indore, Mandu, Omkareshwar are some prominent places in Malwa. The culture of the region has had influences from Gujarati, Rajasthani and Marathi cultures and Malwi is the most commonly used language in villages. Nimmar lies on south west part of Madhya Pradesh and Khandwa and Burhanur are prominent towns in it. Nimadi languages or dialect is spoken in these parts. Bundelkhand is central northern parts in Madhya Pradesh and some places in Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi, Orcha, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho etc. are important towns or cities in region. There have been some demands of making Bundelkhan into a separate state. Bundeli is a common dialect of region. Central India is also home to one of India's largest and (well) holy river called Narmada which forms boundary between south and North India as it flows from west to east. Flowing between Satpura and Vindhya hill ranges, Narmada has religious significance and in some village, I found people greeting others as "Narmade" (respect to Narmada), very heart warming. Satpura and Vindhya ranges were once thickly forested and housed various animals. Most of forests have now been cleared and animals poached for man's wanton desires. But many national parks and reserves have been created in recent times to control the damage and preserve some of natural bounty. Central India is also home to some ancient tribes and tribal tour is very exciting to see a different people and culture. I couldn’t do that because of being time poor. But will return some day.

So, Central India as it turned out is really the heart of India, as the MP Govt. tourism also says "India ka dil dekho" (come and see India’s heart). It has some amazing forests and tiger reserves in Bundelkhand and Malwa, Geologically, parts of it are as old as Gondwanaland and some of its cities like Ujjain have been at centre of golden period of Hinduism. Malwa region has been hotbed of political turmoil in times of kings and nawabs and is replete with architecturally significant sites. If you are patient and tolerant, then the region exposes it real beauty as I found out.

To be continued..................

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

What is Indian Culture!

I recently visited Ladakh which I always thought as a magical and mystical land. And so it is. The Place is so stunning that when you see it for first time you can’t help but get overawed. What make it mystical, apart from moon like terrain, are its denizens, most of who practice Buddhism, a mystical religion and way of life. Ladakh literally means land of high passes, surrounded by greater Himalayan passes, some of which are highest in world. Being in rain shadow, it hardly ever rains in Ladakh which explains the harsh, rocky dessert terrain. Ladakhis have a unique culture of their own which was created by various influences from traveling mendicants of Tibet to tradesmen stopping -by en-road the legendry skill route.

The joy of travel and seeing a new place increases when you can indulge in a culture different than yours. While on a trek in Ladakh with my friend, I stayed with a Ladakhi family in a village as there were no hotels or lodges in the area. It was wonderful to spend time in a traditional Buddhist family. They invited us in their kitchen, let us see Buddhist prayer being performed by a lama, all the while supplying us Thukpa and hot tea. We got to know why our search for a local climbing guide called Norbu was fruitless, because every second ladakhi boy has Norbu as his middle name. While we were soaking in this new culture, we observed how kids of house were glued to television kept in a corner of kitchen. And no, they were not watching any Ladakhi channel or program, but some Hindi serial on zee TV. One of those serials which show beautiful women draped in glamorous saris plotting against each other and men who are rich but never seem to work and still live in palatial houses. So how would this exposure to Mumbai- Delhi culture (TV), change new generation of Ladakhi kids? It is said that Ladakhis never waste anything. They use and reuse everything which is locally available. Their houses are made of sand bricks, because sand is all around them. Water is scarce so where-ever get little water, they turn the land into a mini green oasis. Instead of using water to flush toilets, they use pits to store the human waste and convert it into manure for their farms. Nothing really gets wasted there. But it is changing slowly. Now a new supply chain is opened from rest of India and locals don’t have to be frugal anymore. Many will call it Ladakh’s integration with India. Or would it be Ladakh's dependence on India!!

Renowned lyricist Gulzar was in Tribal district of Chamba in Himachal recently and he was aghast and angry by change in art and music tradition of locals. During a function he found tribal singers singing bollywood songs. In a public speech he lamented this “erosion of culture”, or as he termed it.

Then while browsing TV, I happened to watch some program where a little 5 years old girl was performing in a talent hunt. She danced to a very garish bollywood item song as her mother watched adoringly. One of the Judges, Sonali Bendre was shocked and other judge Shekhar Kapoor asked the kid to stop midway. They couldn’t understand why a little kid was asked to perform on a number which was way beyond her age. But after the episode, Shekhar Kapoor while reflecting on incident said something which is very pertinent question. He said "We can’t really blame these kids. They are merely doing what they see on TV everyday. And they see Indian culture. If Indian culture today is not Bollywood music and dance, then what is it". What is Indian culture, indeed?

If Indian culture's richness came from its diversity, if it came from a Ladakhi tradition or a Chamba's tribal folk, then how long will it survive against a bollywood cultural onslaught which is beamed into every house and which has defined a certain lifestyle which Indian middle class aspires for.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Annapurna Base Camp Trek

It was on a quirk that I decided to join guys on trek to Everest base camp just when my 2 weeks vacation was coming to an end. Soon I was on flight to Kathmandu where I met Barada and two other guys Arvind and Rohan.

Day -3 (April 22nd ): I Reached Kathmandu in evening and met Barada, Arvind and Rohan; all of whom came on different flights from Delhi. I had arrived 1 hour earlier; I was loitering about in airport compound being continuously pursued by omnipresent hotel/taxi /trek guides and agents. One of the guys struck some interesting conversations, quite predictably about Bollywood, khans, cricket am Prashant Tamang. Once other guys arrived, we went to domestic airport to book flight to Lukla. Lukla is a the starting point for treks in Everest region and can only be reached by small propeller planes. I heard of this place for first time but for next couple of days Lukla was to acquire a hallowed status of a mystical place in our mind. There are around 3 local airlines operating flights to Lukla, but all of them fly before afternoon so we booked the early morning flight on Yeti Airlines for next day.

(In Thamel, Kathmanudu's main tourist place)

At night we checked into a hotel in main tourist destination in Kathmandu called Thamel. Like any other tourist hub, Thamel has many budgets hotels, lodges, restaurants and dance bars. After some nice dinner in forms of Thupkas, Barada and chief organizer of Trek Aravind started planning the trek. The problem was that Everest base camps needed minimum of around 13 days with couple of days of height acclimatization thrown in , but we had just 9 days. We decided to push harder on certain sections of route and if required spend just one day for acclimatization. We had a rather lavish dinner at place called oak tree and retired for night.

Day -2 (April 23)
We reached airport to catch the flight to Lukla. As it turned out the weather at Lukla was bad and flights were not able to land there. We waited till noon, when flights were finally cancelled for the day. Since we had squeezed trek into 9 days, it was a bad news for us. Reaching Lukla by road was out of question as it took 2 days of trek to Lukla from its nearest road head. We re-scheduled our flight to Lukla for next day. Since we had time to spend, we walked from airport to top of a hillock and down to famous temple of Pashupatinath. Temple looks quite stunning from inside and is worth a visit. Though it could be cleaner and more inclusive as only Hindus are allowed inside the temple. The ghat near the temple reminds one of Varanasi with burning pyres, final destination of all men ...be kings or paupers.

(Pashupatinath from outside)

We spent the night in Thamel again treating ourselves to yet another lavish dinner and drinks with some nice live music. It was second night in Thamel and we were starting to behave like tourist and not trekkers.

Day -1 (April 24): We were back at airport for early morning flight. We were quite apprehensive if flight to Lukla would be possible today and the fears of another day going waste appeared real when flight was delayed by 2 hours. I and Aravind went out of airport to bring some breakfast as food at airport was costly. When we returned after hearty Bread omelet, to our horror, we realized that the flight to Lukla had waited for us and eventually taken off. Barada and Rohan had boarded the flight and we had missed it. That was ominous. We could get our seats adjusted for another flight due in an hour's time. As we were waiting, we came to know that Barada and Rohan had come back as their flight couldn't land at Lukla. It was as near as any of us could get to Lukla. The weather at Lukla had turned bad. To add to our misery we came to know that a flight which took off barely 15 minutes before our flight could land at Lukla. Had we not gone out for breakfast and had the flight not delayed due to us, we could have been on the flight which had landed. Around noon it was declared that flights to Lukla were cancelled for day. Another day wasted. Lukla started to sound like a place where we just couldn't get to. Or was somebody stopping us from reaching there. There was a decision to be made. Either we wait for another day to try reaching Lukla or change our plans or do some other trek. Annapurna trek is what Barada thought we could do in time which we had. But Mystery of Lukla was too overwhelming and we decided to try another day to reach Lukla and do a curtailed trekking in region but not actually doing base camp. We took a taxi to a place called Swambhu, a famous Buddhist shrine on top of hill.

(All of us at Swyambhu Budhist temple)

At night we stayed at heart of Thamel, had beer , got stoned and watched "Touching the void" on Barada's laptop. A fantastic account of two guy's climb of a Peruvian mountain gone horribly wrong. It is a must watch movie as it shows the strength of a man’s will power in surviving against all odds.

Day 1 (April 25) From Kathmandu to -Pokhra - To Ghandrug
Early morning and with an unsaid trepidation we reached airport again and hoped that flights to Lukla would take off today. As the destiny would have it, the flights started getting delayed, a pattern we had got accustomed to in past 2 days. Since we were desperate to do some trekking now and Everest base camp trek was out of question, we changed our plans to fly to Pokhra and do Annapurna base camp (ABC) trek. Pokhra is second largest city in Nepal and is hub for trekkers in Annapurna region. We could finally land in Pokhra at noon on Yeti's jetstream aircraft which took 25 minutes to reach Pokhra from Kathmandu. Barada's ever planning mind (thanks to guide books) had thrown another idea of doing a wilderness trek and camping in the Himal peak instead of doing a tea-house trek to Annapurna Base camp (ABC) . We rushed to tourism office in Pokhra where Barada and Aravind collected information about logistics and cost of doing a camping trek with porters and cook. In an hour we realized that Camping trek would be costlier and also we possibly wouldn't be able to climb a trekker’s peak as it needed some technical climb in certain stretches. By now the desperation to do hit the trail was running high and we registered with TIMS and took taxi to Nayapul. We reached Nayapul at around 2.30 pm. This was to be start of trek at height of 800 mt.

From Nayapul we walked to Birthanti in 20 minutes and another 50 minutes walk took us to Sayali bazar. This was the beginning of hard trek as from Sayali bazar to Kimche village was a steep hike. It was a back breaking climb made more difficult by the fact that we were climbing stony staircase . Half way up the climb and I found myself panting, sweating and cursing. My fitness level was down to zero due to many months of sedentary lifestyle and my body was complaining against sudden burst of hard climb. We finally reached Kimche at 1530 mts., after 2 hrs of Trek. The trail though steep and uphill, provides one of good view of fertile terraced fields and small villages around them. Kimche provide a good view of Modi river valley around Birthanti from where we had climbed 700 mts. After resting for a while in Kimche we decided to push for another hour and reach Ghandrug for night halt. The trail from Kimche to Ghandrug is again uphill and it takes around 1 hrs to reach Ghandrug from Kimche. The night was falling and I had to wait for Rohan who was walking on steady pace. Walking at night with torches on, with a star lit sky and gentle breeze blowing was a fascinating experience. I and Rohan reached Ghandrug around 8 pm and all of us stayed at very first lodge we could find in Ghandrug (2000 mts). IN about 5 hours , we had gained a height of around 1200 mts. After Dinner we had random and sometime heated talks on religion, nature, population and politics and it was to become more or less norm for rest of trek. We had best of sleep at Ghandrug.

Day 2 (April 26): From Ghandrug – to- Chomrong
We woke up pretty early and we had our first look at the distant Snow clad mountains. In this season it is only during mornings that one can have a clear view of mountains. After noon, they are covered by clouds and mist in valleys makes it impossible to see the mountains. From Ghandrug we started trekking at 7 am. An uphill climb of 1.15 hours took us to Komrong Danda at height of 2240 mts. We had possibly one of worst breakfast here. The musli smelt foul and I almost threw up. From Komrong Danda we had to descend by 500 mts to reach Komrong Khola (river or stream). The descend was easy and we reached Khola in 45 min. We had a refreshing bath in the Stream and then started one of steeper uphill trek to Chomrong. Since we hardly had any breakfast and sun was beating hot ,the climb was painful and dehydrating. I and Aravind ran out of water. We should have been carrying minimum of 2 liters of waters on each person as on this trail there is no water midway. Dehydration makes every single step into an agony.

(On way from Ghandrug to Chomrong)
We finally reached Chomrong after 2.15 hours of trek from Khola and drinking lemon water was akin to drinking nectar. Thanks to Komrong Khola our net height gain was almost 0 as Chomrong is at same height as Ghandrug. Chomrong has many lodges and is spread across the hill with some of nicest lodges situated on top of hill. Chomrong is an interesting village as lower Chomrong is around 300 meters below the upper Chomrong and is connected to it through a never ending stone staircase. Barada had read that Chomrong guesthouse prepares delicious pizzas and we started looking for it. The first look of Guesthouse disappointed us as it looked desolated and haunted. Its business seems to have been snatched by more appropriately situated lodges at upper Chomrong, but pizzas which lady of the guesthouse prepared were absolutely fantastic. Best pizzas after Pizza hut and quite unexpected food while on a trek. We stayed for night in excellent view lodge in upper Chomrong. From Chomrong onwards prices of food items were to rise as everything has to be carried by porters and Simple Daal-bhat cost as much as 200 NR.

Day 3 (April 27): From Chomrong -to -Deurali
We woke up early at 5.30 am and were greeted by stunning view of Machhapuchre and Annapurnas.The sight of first rays of rising sun falling over Annapurna and golden hue thus created on them is a stunning visual spectacle. For some it could be a spiritual sight, for others nature at its best and for some others, it can be poetic. If these mountains were to be Gods and trekkers were to be their devotees, then early morning is the time when Gods give their devotees a divine darshan.

(Sun rise on distant Annapurna seen from Chomrong)

Chomrong is the last village in the region and for rest of trail we wouldn't see any other village after Chomrong. All the lodges on trail beyond Chomrong are owned by villagers (mostly Gurungs) from Chomrong. We started from upper Chomrong at 6.45 am and descended by a stony staircase to Chomrong khola and then did a steep climb up to Sinuwa. Sinuwa is practically at same height as Chomrong. From Sinuwa we passed through a beautiful up-down tree covered trail until the Khuldi ghat. From khuldi ghat we descended further to Bamboo which gets it name from Bamboo forests in vicinity. We reached Bamoo at 10am and it was slightly chilly and a cup of hot ginger milk tea was a welcome relief. From Bamboo we started climb to Dovan and then Himalya. We stopped in Dovan for our lunch By the time we reached Himalya at around 3pm the weather had turned bad and it had started raining. The chill in air was palpable and jackets were out. Even though we had decided to stay at Himalya, Barada wanted to push till Deurali which was at height of 2900 mts and could be better option to spend night and get some acclimatization before climbing up to the base camps. Barada was particularly scared of anyone getting AMS or altitude sickness and wanted to take precautions of not gaining height rapidly. Aravind stayed in Himalaya for night and rest of us pushed to Deurali. The weather by now had gone bad and hails were raining down on us. I particularly enjoyed hike from Himalaya in deteriorating weather and fading light. The vegetations on the trail were becoming sparse and mountains were becoming barren and had snow deposited on them in patches. The whole spectacle around us was mystically beautiful.

(on way to Deurali)

After the steep hike we reached the Hinku Cave from where we could see Deurali with its 3 lodges. From the Hinku cave to Deurali there is a avalanche and landslide prone area. When we reached Deurali, we got little scare as two of 3 lodges had no rooms. We finally got room in 3rd lodge. It was very cold and snow had started on mountains. We moved to only heated area in the lodge which is like a big dinner room in front of kitchen. A kerosene stove is put under the huge table which is covered by clothes from all four sides. Trekkers sit around the table and can put their hands and feet beneath the cloth to warm themselves. Cost is 70 NR for every person. No wood fires are allowed in Annapurna sanctuary region Two of lodges here have solar powered electricity. In lodge where we stayed there wasn't any electricity. After hot and spicy daal-bhat, we retired to bed in darkness. It was raining outside with thunderstorms, the cold was increasing and seeping into primitive lodge and ambience was prefect to share some ghost stories. We found harder to sleep, possibly due to cold or due to height.

Day 4 (April 28): From Deurali to MBC-ABC
Arvind joined us from Himalaya and we started trek to Machhapuchre Base Camp (MBC). From Deurali, towards MBC, there are quite a few avalanche prone areas and trail first climbs gently through a river bed until it rises steeply over the mountain side towards MBC. 30 mins walk away from Deurali; we found ourselves in middle of river bed surrounded by giant looking mountains with their upper portions covered by snow and lower portions showing stony barren features. When the sun arose, the snow on mountains shone and river valley was filled with warm sun rays. The spectacle was exhilarating. It was quite indescribable in fact.

(On trail from Deurali to MBC)

The hike to MBC is tiring but the views keep one going. We reached MBC around lunch time and had our first close up view of majestic Machhapuchre. It looks stunning and when you are that close to a peak, standing right at its base, you realize how hard it must be climbing these giants. They look unreachable. Machhapuchre looks like a huge column of rock and snow with razor thin ridges. How can anybody climb it!! What strength and stamina one must have to climb such peaks. I think one must be mad to climb. Barada wasn’t feeling very well and though he was suffering from some altitude sickness and wanted to rest for day before going to ABC. But after couple of hours rest, we decided to push forward to ABC.

(MBC base camp)

From MBC to ABC trail is pure magic. Vegetation disappears sans some grassy patches on ground. You see snow boulders melting and forming small gurgling water streams. Many such streams from melting snow collectively form rivers downhill.

(on way to ABC)

After a hike of just 30 mins or so, we could see the Annapurna Base camp at far side of trail. Finally we were to reach the basecamp. It took us another 30 min of slightly labored walk to reach basecamp and it was an exhilarating feeling. Here we were at 4200 mtrs height surrounded from all sides by huge snow clad Annapurna. From here only trained climbers can scale the peaks. It started snowing soon after we reached the camp and in few minutes the whole area was covered in whiteness.

(Annapurna Base Caamp at 4200 mtrs)

We stayed in one of 3 lodges and straightaway made ourselves comfortable in warm dinner room. There were some interesting discussions happening there among a motley group of residents. There was an old Russian who had climbed Everest twice before quitting climbing, a lady trekkers who was hooked to Yoga and natural way of living and an American TV cameraman climber who was in basecamp since a month as part of expedition to climb Annapurna peak. The poster on wall was reminded one that this camp which is destination for trekkers is just a starting point for climbers. Those men who climb these huge peaks of snow. It is here that you realize how hard it really must be to climb. It is here that you see the actual scale and sized of these peaks. Those men who need to be absolutely fit and strong to conquer the peaks. These mountains with their vagaries are ultimate arena for men to test themselves, physically and mentally. These are the mountains where strongest of men can die by just a lose stone falling.

Day 5 (April 29): ABC – to- Dovan
Barada and Arvind had problem sleeping at night and Barada in particular wasn't feeling good and though it was because of altitude sickness. Nonetheless we climbed another 150 mtrs on a ridge overlooking the base camp and views from there were stunning. All around us where the huge snow clad mountains. The Machhapuchre ,Annapurna south, Annapurna 1, Hinchuli and other peaks.

(Arvind and Barada on ridge with Annpurna in background)

The basecamp looked tiny and ephemeral in such surroundings. Around 11 am we started to descend from ABC to MBC, Deurali, Himalya and finally to Dovan. Even though we could have gone till Bamboo, we decided to stay for night in Dovan.

(Way back from MBC to Deurali)

Day 6 (April30) Dovan to Chomrong
We started leisurely from Dovan and descended to Bamboo. From Bamboo we trekked up to steep Khuldi ghatStaircase and rested for one hour on a beautiful fountain. Form Bamboo we trekked back to Sinuwa and then descended to Lower Chomrong and from there familiar thousand stony steps took us to Upper Chomrong and we had pizza again at Chomrong guesthouse. The local wine was nice but only after surviving first few bitter swigs. We stayed at Chomrong at same lodge where we had stayed while trekking to ABC.

(Trekking down to Chomrong)

Day 7 (May1): Chomrong to- Jhinu – to--Birthanti- Nayapul-Pokhra
Form Chomrong we took a different route and instead of going to Ghandrug, we descended to Jhinu Danda. 15 mins walk away from Jhinu Danda is Jhinu hot springs. Our original plan was to have a rest day somewhere on the trail but we changed plans and decided to end the trek on same day.

(A Neplai village house on way from Jhinu Danda to New bridge)

So we trekked from Jhinu danda to New bridge and then to Kyumi village where we had beer and lunch. After lunch and towards evening we started trek to Sayali bazar and then down to Birthanti.

(While going to Birthanti from Kyumi village)

By the time we reached Nayapul, it was dark and late in evening. We saw the buses and taxis and trek was finally over. Taxi driver were haggling for price to take us to Pokhra and buses were overcrowded. On spur of moment we decided to travel on roof of a bus and it was fantastic. With some rum mixed with coke, jokes on Barada man and some songs, the journey through the Pokhra valley in darkness on top of bus roof was the very apt end of a wonderful trek.

Day 8 (May 2): Pokhra –to-Kathmandu

(Pokhra on lake side)

Our return flight from Pokhra to Kathmandu was at 4 pm and as luck would have it flight was cancelled due to heavy rains and bad weather. Couple of Nepalis girls at airport offered to share taxi with us to Kathmandu and soon 7 of us were in a mini van (called Micros by locals ) driving in rains to Kathmandu. It was a fun ride with beer and music and we reached Thamel around 10 pm.

Day 9 (May3) Kathmandu -to-Delhi

We did some shopping in Thamel and took our respective flights to Delhi to return to world of frenetic jobs, noisy traffic and maddening rush. The mountains were left behind. I felt as if a part of me was left behind too and I know that I will return soon. If not to Annapurna then somewhere else in Himalayas. Nepal is trekker’s paradise, people in its hills are simple and friendly and there is no other way to un-clutter yourself than to trek in wilderness away from TV, phones, internet and luxuries of modern consumerist life.

Just like in most estern civilisations, Nepalis treat Annapurna and Macchapchure as Goddess or abodes of Gods. Reason is that these are not ordinary mountains. These moutains sustain human life. Every morning the skies are clear and sun shines brighter on them. The sun heats the snow on peaks and clouds form bringing fresh snow and rain. Snow and glaciers melts to form streams and then rivers which flow to plains giving us water to drink and water to produce grains. If we temper with this cycle, the repurcussions could be imagined.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Trek To Harishchandragad

This weekend was wonderful. After a long time, I went on a trek to Harishchandragad, about 2.5 hours drive from Mumbai. Start of trek was horrible as we took wrong route from Mumbai to Malshej Ghat, had tyre puncture and all sort of other problems on the way, but all was forgotten once we started the trek from Khireshwar, a tiny hamlet situated near the foot of hills. Our guide and friend, a professional , no-nonsense, boring and extremely serious trekker, had planned night trek, but due to wrong route we took to reach Malshej Ghat, we could only start trek, early morning around 5 am. In hindsight, may be it was good since we could see the panoramic view of hills unfolding around us as dawn was descending form heavens. The air was cooler and morning sun treacherously hid the fact that in few hours it was to become a hot headed and unrelenting monster. The amateurs trekkers in us started the climb stumbling and struggling initially, fighting internally the inertia gathered by months if not years of sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle. Like a car not raced for some time, it takes body sometime to adjust, heat up and get into the rhythm of trek.

To our surprise and to consternation of one of guys, who hates dogs with same intensity as dogs hate him, we were suddenly joined by two uninvited dogs who became our guides on their own will. They jumped, pranced and climbed the rocky terrain with ease, surefootedness and grace which only they are capable . Only the professional trekker between us could give them any semblance of competition. Later we were to find out that these two dogs are constant on this trek. They live in the Khireshwar village and accompany trekkers who come from outside, taking the cue from back packs they carry. They never accompany local villagers. Undoubtedly, we had a great time with these two animal friends and I would personally any day prefer a friendly and understanding dog trekker guide than a serious, boring human guide. Atleast dogs can be cajoled into resting by inciting them with little scratching under their neck.

The first halt was at Tolar Khind, where rocky but shady paths ends and steepest climb on a virtually vertical rock face starts. This is most interesting and enjoyable part of entire trek. The view after reaching the peak is breathtaking and one is tempted to shout for no apparent reason to hear the echo from surrounding hills. A little inane fun doesn’t do any harm I guess. Trek through the Harishchandra Kalsubai wildlife sanctuary is rather easy but enjoyable. The spectacle on reaching Harishchandreshwar is awesome with old temple ruins and caves carved in mountains suddenly becoming visible. Imagine, many thousand years back, some people climbed these hills and built temples and caves and lived there to meditate and seek Gods. I preferred to stop there for a while and soak in the ambience of the place as others went on onto scale Taramati peak to test their endurance and fitness. The place has its origin around 6th century with caves built around 11th century. The temple, dedicated to lord shiva is beautiful. I don’t understand architecture but I like those intricate sculptures on the ancient temples. They tell you a story if you are willing to listen. And you can feel the people who built them there many thousands of years ago. The caves are etched in the rock face on Taramati hills and like any other historical place in India are defaced by insane graffiti. Some trekkers stay in the caves overnight, the curator of site, a old man from local village told me.

From Harishchandreshwar, we walked to the Konkan Kada, a breathtakingly beautiful place and a nice culmination of trek. Konkan kada is a sheer rocky cliff, vertical and concave in shape overlooking Konkan region. Rock climbers must get a adrenaline rush from it. As I read on wikipedia about it "it is an overhang, almost like a cobra's hood. It has been climbed twice so far". We spent some time here and soon decided to start the trek back to Khireshwar as afternoon soon was beating down heavily and rocks were getting mercilessly hotter. On way back, I parted away from the group, something which professional trekkers never do and I am not one. The trek back to village was wonderful. It gave me some time alone with my own thoughts, to feel the heat, the silence and wildness of the place and to get into a rhythm I enjoy the most during treks. Rythem is essence of life, like music, like working, walking. I had run out of water and was dehydrated but the rhythm got me going. There is a strange satisfaction one gets when one is pitted against elements. It is then that you find the hidden strength and resolve from within you. Nothing has ever tasted as good as water I drank when I reached the village. Priceless Moments.