India's daughters and the rape culture

Every single Indian citizen should watch India's Daughter. National embarrassment is not the documentary, but banning it. It's an extremely well made film. It enlightened me on so many new things. For instance- what a pleasant surprise to see Jyoti's uneducated parents selling their ancestral property to educate her to become a doctor! And to allow her to work part-time to pay for her expenses. And those who think its just another foreign film trying to show India in poor light, almost the entire screen time is taken by Indians, as are all the opinions. Not a single opinion from a 'privileged-European morals-looking-down-at-a-third-world-country'. From ludicrous statements from the rapists' lawyers to the massive protests and riots to the awesomeness of Jyoti's parents. EVERYTHING is India.

Saying that the documentary glorifies the rapist is utter nonsense. It's a silent critique. The things that the rapist and his lawyers say so confidently, are just so horrific, there is nothing to comment on. The film digs inside the rapists's brain. It highlights a psyche that is alien to most  middle-class educated Indians but can be relatable by a large portion of illiterate, lower class (yes, I'm erring at relating rape with socio-economic status). If you think of the rapist as a monster and you don't understand how anyone can say have these horrible views of women, wake up and travel around India. Not as a tourist but as a poor backpacker with nothing to loose. I call India a land of segregated diversity. It's diversity is so segregated that we know more about the US and other countries than we know about the culture of other Indian states, or even different economic classes in our own cities! By calling the rapists a monster, you are in a denial that you belong to the same culture. Only thing is that you see the culture manifested differently due to your education and well-being. You may not see men raping around, but of course you would see girls being discriminated against. It's a common link that unites us all Indians- discrimination against women. Uneducated and poor ones will kill their fetuses, will rape them. Educated ones will not educate them, or if they do, it will be to use their education as a leverage for getting a better husband. There is discrimination against girls in everything we do and we don't even realize it (Chivalry is also discrimination). And arguing that "we also worship them as goddesses" is just another hypocrisy we abide by. Like saying we worship Gandhiji, or Shivaji Maharaj (for Maharashtrians). We compartmentalize women so naturally, that I would totally believe if a man is genuinely obedient to his mother, vehemently protects his sister, discriminates against his girl child in favour of his son, and rapes his wife without either of them realizing it, and yet genuinely worship Laxmi or Durga or Kali. He's an Indian man. Not a monster.

And please stop saying "Rape is a global problem that is not unique to India. According to X data, more rapes happen in the US, U.K etc. So stereotyping India is so unfair". Western countries indeed stereotype us. From 'the land of spices and gold' to 'land of mosquitos and snakes and poverty' to 'land of yoga and Gandhi' to 'the land of cricket' to 'land of of filth, slums and rape'. But please don't forget that the stereotypes can't exist without a substance. We ourselves have stereotypes about South Indians, North Indians, Sikhs (Sardar jokes anyone?), UP-Biharis, NE Indians or Nepalis or Chinki as we call them, about brahmins, about muslims, about Congress and BJP. Not to mention stereotypes about women. So many of my friends share memes and videos about women drivers, about girls-boys as venus-mars thing, about girls as indoorsy and bookworms and guys as outdoorsy and sporty. If stereotypes dictate the very way you interact with everyone in your daily life, how can you accuse the world of stereotyping India? Those who argue that "the developed world is always trying to portray India in bad light", dude, wake up. The US was 'found' because the Europeans were desperate to come to India! If their perception of India has changed, WE are responsible for that. How on earth can we justify naked men lined up next to each other and shitting in the open for the entire trains to see? How on Earth can we justify spitting everywhere, creating filth everywhere? We can't. The 'Moguls looted us, the Britishers suppressed us' excuse won't apply for our filthy lifestyle (again please don't deny 'its not me its them'- its us Indians!). I mean, the Japanese were NUKED! And see where they are now. Western countries do not have a personal agenda against us. Frankly, they don't care about us because under the given state of the world, each country is, or has to be, a selfish bastard. Why would anybody (except Pakistan, whose very existence is based on anti-India sentiment) waste time by going out of their way in humiliating us? But if we provide them very compelling reasons to humiliate us, they of course would. Its naive to a point of being childish to call out the West for being biased against the East. Of course they are. And so are we. Grow up! You are not a whiny teenager with bruised ego. You are a freakin' government representing 1/7th of all existing humans!

And people make films at the drop of the hat. Heck we made a Bollywood movie out of the Mumbai-terrorist attacks. Weren't those attacks a national embarrassment? Wasn't the fact that the terrorists used the live, breaking-news channels to know the police operations and using it to their advantage a national embarrassment? How come nobody said anything about the crappy, masala movie that seeked profit at the expense of the biggest recent tragedy of a great city? And what gets banned? A real life documentary with all real (first hand!) people who were all actually involved in the biggest focus event concerning India's women.

The only people that would gain from the 'West is against us' is our own politicians. Every party, be it BJP or Congress (or local ones), have always placed a strong emphasis on our pride. By glorifying our pride and making us think just because our ancestors were awesome, just because ancient vedic folks were indeed very brilliant, just because Shivaji was born in our land, we are inherently awesome. Just by being born here. In fact they have broken us into as many small factions as possible to highlight a very specific, unique feature that makes us special. Once we are brimming with pride, then their agenda typically is to portray that this pride is under attack. Be it from other caste, class, religion or country. Done. They don't have to do anything else. All we then do is fight against each other and everyone. We become so obsessed with past that we loose focus on how we poor we are presently. How bad our standard of living is. How narrow our attitude is. How rotten and inefficient our government machinery is. And most importantly, how hopeless our future is. We get so obsessed and entangled with the past that we loose our present, and jeopardize our future. In the mean time, the politicians get rich by scams (if Congress) or push their agenda to create a uniform Hindu state (BJP) or take their shot at rewriting history (every political party from gully to Delhi). If only the public awakes from 'The Matrix' created by these politicians! Even when there is no evident fighting, the false pride still exists. I'm from Pune, and I see so many of my Brahmin friends started wearing some ear piercings, showing off their brahminess. They are all good natured folks, but that false pride is still there. I've seen more than one person display a symbol of a Parshu (an axe) showing off that they are kokanastha brahmins. (There I look like just another backward caste person criticizing Brahmins!). If we can't get rid of this silly false pride, we will never be able to look at others what they are, and look inwards to know what we are. And our obsession with history would only mean that we never make one.

Coming back to "Statistically more rapes happen in the US, UK etc" argument, rape is of course a global problem, and all countries are affected by it. (In fact, its not even limited to us humans. Just yesterday a colleague told me how duck vaginas have evolved to avoid rape and how their penises are evolved to enable rape- rape is so common in natural world that it influences evolution! But I digress). First, I doubt the very premise of this argument- the statistics. The fine print is 'reported' instances of rapes. You can tell someone something only if you are comfortable talking about it. I haven't seen Europe, and have seen only the western part of the US, but from what I have experienced, women (and men of course) here can talk about anything- from your dick to her vagina to her menstrual cycle to LGBT experiences whatever. Nothing is a taboo. In India, a girl, even when from an educated, middle-class family, can't even talk about her periods with her own dad. If you are Indian, I request you to visualize all the girls you know into these following situations and answer honestly- Would she report?: What if the rapist is someone whom the family knows? What if she's secretly dating someone and he rapes her? What if the rapist is her own husband/brother/father? The only cases which a girl would have no qualms in reporting is likely getting raped by strangers, that too in a situation/ surrounding where it would have been totally unavoidable by the girl. And even if she wants to report, her family will definitely debate the pros and cons of reporting as, it might hurt their position in their community (likely a close group of same caste folks), as well as hamper her marriage 'market value'. If the girl is willing and her family is supportive of reporting, we know so many cases where the police tried to not report the case! Imagine the humiliation! I did the (obviously subjective) thought experiment, imagining my Indian as well as US and European female friends in these situations- and I can say this- almost none of my Indian friends will report, and all my US- European friends will report. Didn't the psychiatrist say that someone raped 200 times (that he could remember!) and was convicted for only 12.

Lastly, I wish to comment on the sex life of average Indian youth. Its essentially non-existant. Once India was an epitome of sexual freedom. The 'sanskaars' that our right-wing folks preach match more with the victorian era British lifestyle (its probably not a coincidence that 'Bride and Prejudice' was made). We (men and women) are expected to remain virgins until we marry. And then expected to have sex with that one individual until death. Sex is a natural need, especially in the youth. Denying it under the garb of 'Sanskaars' only creates a mass sexual frustration. Many of us grow up to vent it positively towards the competitive career race, but many don't. Even after marriage, since both men and women are first-timers, and women have been brainwashed into thinking their body is a shame, there are high chances that the frustration doesn't end. So here's what I think is happening: rapists are sexually frustrated, and assume (correctly) that women are too. But premarital sex is not 'allowed' in our culture. Then what to do? By raping, they get what they want and (they think) victims get what they want, all without committing the cultural heresy called normal consensus sex. So basically, rapists genuinely think they are doing the victims a favour! Rape becomes their 'normal' way of having sex. The rapist Mukesh in the documentary is 28 year old, and have had sex only once (actually twice, but that would mean he'll have to confess the rape). Imagine the level of sexual frustration, and desperation. Add to it the general lack of respect towards women in our culture (yes, our Hindu culture. Please don't point fingers towards muslims. Whether they are worse than us or not, we should own what is wrong in our culture! And if the rapists and the victim were muslims, I'm certain that the government would have welcomed Leslee Udwin with a red (or saffron?) carpet). Add to it poor, uneducated up-bringing, daily struggles and hustles for livelihood. Add to it addiction to alcohol (two of the rapists finished an entire whisky bottle before the act). How can one not expect rape???

-hrishi

P.S. I request everyone to not take things personally. I've witnessed friends 'marrying' an opinion and getting into trouble when it is exposed that the opinion is flawed, and then are forced to use irrationality as an aid. I also request those who have the 'right' opinion to not to humiliate your opposition, and give them an 'escape' to retreat and change their opinions. Ridiculing them makes it an ego issue and the opinion still gets pursued solely to save their honour.

Surpassing the Sar Pass

Note: This writeup is intended mainly for those who are actually interested in going for this trek in the future. Hence, you'll find a lot of mindless details in here. Regarding photographs, all of them are of around 1200px wide, so click on the individual images for larger viewing. Feel free to download them. I encourage you to use them for educational purpose (if any), but as with my other images, please ask me before using/ posting them anywhere else.  

Late March, I decided to enroll for the Youth Hostel Association of India's Sar Pass (Himachal Pradesh) 2011 trek. I did consider their Saurkundi trek, but there seemed to be a consensus that Sar Pass is more beautiful and more difficult. Though many of my friends showed initial interest, they eventually dropped out of the plan. Only a friend- Juhi and I were left. By the time we enrolled, all batches till 19^th of May were full. So I enrolled for the 21^st. The batch was SP_21. Reporting venue was a village called Kasol. After checking for train routes, and asking queries on Indiamike forum, we realized that the optimum route was as follows:

Pune-Nizamuddin: Goa Express

Nizamuddin-New Delhi (ISBT Kashmere Gate): Bus

ISBT Kashmere Gate-Bhuntar: Direct bus to Manali; get down at Bhuntar

Bhuntar to Kasol: local Bus

However, inspite of booking the train tickets more than 45 days before the travel day, our status, at the time of chart preparation, was W/L 5,6! Finally had to book by Tatkal. I have never found New Delhi very hospitable to strangers. At least not the way Mumbai is. People actually just stare at you or grunt and walk away without answering even simplest of your queries. Anyways, at ISBT, we came across an old man who advised us to go to Chandigarh and from there, board a bus to Manali. He was so convincing in stating that we made a mistake by wanting to take a direct bus, that we decided to follow his suggestion. There, changing a well made plan at the last moment is always risky! Once at Chandigarh, we got down at Sector 17, then had to rush to Sector 43 from where buses to Manali leave. It was already 9pm. Now we had no option but to board whichever bus came first. The one that came had only two seats vacant and those too were next to the driver. The bus had come from Dehra Dun and was packed. There was absolutely no room for luggage and hence we had to keep our luggage with ourselves and sleep on them. After spending a very uncomfortable, sleepless night, we reached Bhuntar at around 5.15am. From there Kasol was 1 hour bus ride away.

River along the Base camp

On reaching Kasol, the bus dropped us at YHAI Base camp, which was right next to the rapids of Parwati river. The location of the camp is simply beautiful. You can't ignore the constant rushing sound of the river. The receptionist greeted us with a big smile. We were asked to fill a movement chart, an identity card and submit our medical certificate form. People, please fill the form provided by YHAI alone, else you will be asked to go to a doctor some 9kms away and get the form filled, as 3-4 of our batch mates had to do. YHAI doesn't accept any other medical certificate but theirs. By 7.30am, breakfast was ready. Food was very simple and bland, but good considering the expenses and the camp population. Every batch consists of around 50 trekkers and at the basecamp, there are atleast 4 batches at any given time. Don't forget to bring along our own plate and bowls. Washing the plates is not a good experience as the water used for washing is the one pumped from the adjoining river and is full of suspended particles. Its color is all muddy. Plus, the water is chilling and one tries to get done with washing utensils ASAP. As washing powder gets over soon, try cleaning with soil or use a tissue paper instead to clean off the oil stains. One member was smart and had plastic sheets on the plate. Thus the plate didn't get dirty and all she had to do was throw away the sheet in the dustbin.

During the acclimatization walk 

There is nothing to do on the first day except report and rest. I was accomodated in a tent full of SP_20 trekkers. Aparantly, SP_21 members came very late and a few came the next day. So if you are pressed on time (such as getting leave and all), then you can skip the first day. The only events (apart from morning exercises and other routine events like camp fire) for the second day are a 3 hour acclimatization walk in the nearby woods and an orientation session. The walk is enjoyable and refreshing. You walk mostly beneath the trees and henc even if it is sunny outside, you feel the pleasent cool wind. We were issued a backpack, two blankets and a sleeping sheet before the walk and we were made to carry this and a litre water bottle for the walk. There is a chance that you might feel awefully tired during this walk alone and have immediate doubts about completing the actual trek. If this happens, just rubbish these thoughts out of your head. Don't overthink. That should be your mantra for the trek. Orientation session was informative. A lot of suggestions, warnings were given- regarding behaviour, clothes to wear, things to take for the trek etc. Be open to all suggestions.

I've come to realize that it is impossible to know what is the right gear to carry unless you actually carry it. So unless you have trekked in the himalaya before and are set regarding gears, better carry a little more. We were told that rain sheets, which can be bought in the base camp or in the Kasol market for Rs.40-100/- are enough to protect you from the rains. There are people who have successfully used them and who vouch for them. But my rainsheet got torn in the first 10 minutes from the market! We bought rain jacket and rain pants for INR 250/-, all the while cursing why I din't bring my jacket from Pune! One advantage of wearing a long raincoat or jacket-pant pair is your hands are free to move. Though same is true with the rainsheet, in heavy winds and rains, you need to actually hold it onto you. Also, later on in the trek, you are supposed to slide on the snow for about 2kms. A rain pants is extremely useful for this as it prevents your pants (and thermal, if you are wearing one) from getting wet. My advice- get your own sturdy raincoat from home and buy the rainsheet from the base camp for 50/- in order to cover your bag. While going to sleep, ensure that your shoes are inside the tent else, they will get wet due to due! Buy a candle from the Kasol market and rub it on the outside of the shoes to make them waterproof. Bring a pair of woolen socks or buy them from the market for around 100/-. Wearing them during night keeps feet warm. Shoes form the single most important item. I had got Quechua Forclaz 500 Ventiv following suggestions from Indiamike forum members (there is a long thread there on alpine trekking shoes, do visit it). My friend wore Forclaz 100 Lady and found it comfortable enough. Indeed, though everybody recommends a Forclaz 500, if on budget, do consider Forclaz 100. If you become a member of decathlon.in, you can get it for INR 700 instead of INR 2000. As a decathlon member, my shoes had cost me INR 2500 instead of INR 3500. Of course hunter shoes from Bata and other local manufacturers are also recommended, but I don't find them comfortable to use. In case you go without a good trekking shoes, you can buy hunter for about INR 250 at the Base Camp or in the market.

Base camp at before dawn

The third day involved a rock climbing session. The rockface was 25feet tall, all natural (quartzite with fractures) We were made to climb using these cracks/fractures. It was considerably difficult for a number of reasons. First, it was not an ideal rockface for first timers, which majority of our batchmates were. The cracks were too small and too wide apart and for people below 5.5”, where in majority of the ladies fell, getting a grip was next to impossible. Secondly the shoes which we all were wearing were high cut, hardcore trekking shoes. It was downright stupid of YHAI trainers to expect someone to do rockclimbing in these! As my shoe was a number larger than my feet, my toe was about an inch smaller than the shoe, making it almost useless to get any grip. Also, after a point, there was simple no notch in the rock and we were expected to simply leave all grip and leap upward and try getting hold of the rockface top! Of course there was a rope and ultimately the trainers had to help almost each one of us. I got severe cramps due to rock climbing as I had to use all my strength. (I do endurance training but not weight training!) My advice, don't try too hard during rock climbing, it is somewhat pointless and might jeopardize fitness for the trek! But do try sincerely and follow all the instructions given by the trainers, they are very useful. Another activity was rapelling. It was a piece of cake for almost all of my batch. Remaining of the day went in planning the gear for the trek. It was our last chance of buying things from the market.

A Pashmini lamb while on the way to Grahan

We left for the trek on the fourth day. It our first destination was a village called Grahan. I was down with fever, cold, severe headache and body cramps. The initial walk through the woods was very pleasent. However, after a few hours, once we came out on the open patch, we were hit by the glaring sun. It was downright hot and going got very tough. Almost all of my batchmates rate Grahan trek as the most difficult one of all. (Note: There is no need to carry more than a litre of water. The route is almost always along the stream/ river and one can refill the bottle anytime. Make sure to add a drop of chlorine to the water. ) We heard that a member of the previous batch suffered from acute dihearrea, so much so that he was shitting blood! Of course he had to go back. On our way to Grahan, we met Meenakshi, a young porter from Grahan. I was taken aback to hear that many trekkers hire porters during the trek. Initially I thought it betrayed the very concept of trekking. But then I considered that it is obviously justified for someone who wishes to travel, rather than trek through the Sar Pass. About 5 members of our batch hired Meenakshi's services. Along with her was her sister in law- Reena who shared the baggage with her. Grahan village comes before the YHAI camp. Many of the localites offer hot water bath and charging point for cellphone/ camera batteries. We couldn't do both because we were very late. However if you keep a fast pace initially, you will not only be able to have bath and get your batteries charged, but also avoid the sun for good. During our trek to Grahan, we saw Lammergier, the majestic bird whom I had seen in Yamunotri during the Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009. I was to see it again during the Padri and Ratapani trek routes. Himalayan Griffons were also frequently seen.

Grahan campsite after sunset

Once at Grahan, I was literally fuming with fever. Batchmates helped me with an array of pills. I had sponge bath at a nearby stream and then had hot maggi at a canteen (actually a small hut) beside our tents. Felt much better. I had taken along my D80, 18-135mm lens, extra battery and a tripod. The evening light was good and I got a few nice exposures. Tried doing star photography at night, but batchmates unknowingly ruined my shots with their torches. I was still feeling weak. Also, night photography consumes a lot of battery and I was unsure as to how fast the batteries will drain and exactly how much photography opportunities will arise throughout the trek. So I decided to rest and continue with night photography during later nights. The camp leader provided with two blankets and a comfy sleeping bag. I had a sound sleep.

A stream on the way to Padri.
This is my attempt at a realistic looking HDR

Next day I felt much better. My brain was able to grasp things as normal. Our next destination was Padri. There is no village at site and the camp is located in wilderness. The trek is 100% forest trek so was very comfortable. The descend from Grahan to a lower altitude is very steep and the soil is all organic-humus and soggy. But we didn't encounter any leeches (I like getting bit by them!). As all expected the route to be a very exhaustive one like that on the previous day, we were pleasently surprised to reach padri within no time! The camp site is beautiful and we get awesome view of snow clad peaks and that of Nagaru- our later camp point. It did rain, and because of that, the night was very cold. Apart from the camp food, I had maggi at the canteen and got the warmth from the chulha. Others had omlets at the same. During orientation session, we were told that our body requires a lot more calories while trekking and hence we were all adviced to eat more. However, I found that I felt much better by eating less! I used to have only one roti, half a cup dalhia, only a few spoonful of rice and dal. And of course maggi at the lunch point. I had no problems whatsoever and I think this diet actually helped me a lot throughout. I had fantastic sleep at night and was very fresh the next morning.

Camp site, Padri

Ratapani was our next camp site and the route was relatively quite long. I carried a friend's bag for considerable time. However I was feeling quite well and was breathing right and didn't feel tired at all. At Ratapani, we were given awesome Delhi style Chola Bhatura for breakfast, thank to our Delhieite Camp leader Mr. Gupta.

Mist and Peaks, while on the way to Nagaru

During Ratapani- Nagaru trek

On the route to Nagaru, out next camp site, we spotted jungle rats- beautiful hare/rat like animals who feed on the available vegetation. I later googled them to find that they are Indian Pika.The trek to Nagaru was magical. We were amidst clouds and the the breeze was cool and pleasent. I also came across the first ever snow on the way! I'll never forget that moment. I was just frantically grabbing as much snow as I could, having no definite plans regarding what to do with it! I didn't wish to part with it. But then someone pointed that I'll get plenty of snow in Nagaru, only then did I continue with my trek.

Nagaru camp was at a serious elevation. It was amidst snow. The terrain gradient was steep. Tents were all inclined and people were sliding on to eachother while sleeping. We went to bed quite early- at around 7.30pm. We woke up at 2.30am and left for Sar Pass by 4. Reason being, snow starts melting as the day proceeds and in that condition, snow becomes scarily slippery. Hence we had to avoid this by crossing Sar Pass at the earliest.  

A panorama of sunset at Nagaru camp

The start of the Sar Pass trek. 4am!

 Thankfully the weather was pleasant and the sky was clear. By the time we reached a mid point, the dawn was breaking and I could see the mountain peaks, which rose above the clouds, glitter in the Sun's golden glory. A magnificent view! Soon enough, the actual snow trek began. We had two sherpas and a localite- Khem Thakur to help us. Sherapas used to dig their feet in the snow and make a step-like way for us. We had to step exactly in their step. The problem was their feet were just too small for most of us and we could barely fill our toes in their entire footsteps. Still it was manageable.

Peaks being kissed by the first of the sun rays

Sherpa is busy texting his girlfriend at 5am!

As I was busy taking pictures, I would almost always fall

behind and sometimes my fellow batchmates used to

 look no larger than tiny specs

A snowscape

Crossing of Sar Pass

'Sar' from Sar Pass actually means a lake. We did see a few frozen lakes like the one in the above panorama

Everybody was carrying walking sticks for additional support. Being left-handed, I was holding my stick towards the valley side and my body was inclined towards it rather than being against it. While the Sherpas asked me to hold the stick in my right hand, I didn't really have any problem holding it left-handed. Quite a few members slipped towards valley, but they used to slide a few feet and then stop. Then the Sherpas used to skate towards them and bring them along. Just at the end of the Sar Pass, right before biskeri top, there is a steep climb. A few members had difficulty in climbing this.  

Snow forms a beautiful photography subject. An abstract snowscape

Mist and summits

Crossing of Sar Pass; towards Biskeri top

Another snowscape

The last, steep climb before Biskeri top

Yet another one

Khem Thakur

 Once on top, the descend began. The terrain was so steep that one has no option but to slide down for 2-3 kms! Yes its a one big long slide on snow with your bag. Don't forget to unfast the waist and chest belt of your bag. 

Me with Meenakshi Di

And then zooom! I enjoyed the slide a lot. As I was wearing rain pants which offered very little friction as opposed to the jeans which most people were wearing, I slided at breathtaking speed. I had the option of slowing down by thursting my feet in snow but I didn't. Before I knew, it was over as I reached gentler slope. I got up quickly as to avoid being collided by the next person down the slide. I didn't feel like removing my camera. I missed quite a few good shots. Though I enjoyed it, sliding was actually quite dangerous. A lot of snow had melted in previous days and many rocks were being exposed. A few batchmates banged against the rocks. With so little precaution, I though it was downright stupid of YHAI to ask people to slide in such conditions. It is just a matter of time before some incident happens. And it did, the very next day, as I later came to know. A bit on that later. My rain pants had gotten torn and my clothes got wet. Once the sliding was over, we reached lunchpoint. Maggi prices, which increased by 5/- at every camp, reached a whooping 45/- at this point. Of course people didn't complain. 

While going to Biskeri

Englacial drainage

A stream crossing; on the way to Bhandak Thatch 

Bhandak Thatch: 'mini Switzerland'

The Biskeri camp was again at a very good location. But it was nothing as compared to Bhandak thatch camp. It is called 'mini Switzerland'! And aptly so. Its beauty is breathtaking. Unfortunately we didn't get clear blue sky but even in the overcast conditions, I could create some interesting images. All throughout the trek, I was regularly having a drink prepared by Meenakshi. It had nothing but pepper, ginger, salt and sugat, but it tasted wonderful. It kept my throat and stomach all okay.

A 360* panorama of Camp site, Bhandak Thatch

Camp site, Bhandak Thatch

Attempt at night photography, Bhandak Tatch. The illuminated tent belonged to the cook

Another one

A small waterfall on the way to Barsheni

The following day, we descended to a village called Barsheni from where you get a bus to kasol. YHAI pays for the bus as long as you give them printed tickets. On the way we had to walk through a dusty site where a dam is being constructed. The sudden urban construction noise after days of recluse was a little unnerving to me. But that is how things go.

We got down at Manikaran which is 5km before kasol (from Bersheni) and a long bath in one of the hot water springs found over there. There is a maginficient Gurudwara over there and having a good hot lunch at the lunger is heavenly! Later we were invited by Meenakshi to her house at Kasol. She made some good black tea.

At Kasol, we booked tickets for our return bus to New Delhi from Bhuntar. At Bhuntar, we met Aniket from SP_22. He had suffered from a shoulder dislocation during the snow slide. His batch was very unlucky it seems. They got rains at all wrong moments and got snow fall during actual crossing of Sar Pass. They had to hold their tent from flying off during a midnight storm at Nagaru. Aniket was hit the most. He wasn't given any instructions whatsoever by the sherpas before sliding. He slided with his bag's chest belt, waist belt on and his stick dangling over his shoulders (Khem Thankur hadn't let us slide along with the stick- he was being careful and there I had thought he might be intersted in reselling the sticks to the upcoming batches! I felt very guilty for thinking so). Worst was what happened later. YHAI were totally clueless as to what to do with him. The camp leader offered to apply relisprey on a shoulder dislocation! It was here that all the loop holes were exposed. YHAI asked him to climb down – they said no doctor will climb up. Aniket had to climb down in pain till the lunch point and a little after that. There, two guides from Nepal came who carried him by turns. They reached the base camp at 2am!! His elder brother Aniruddh was with him all through. People were demanding exhorbitant money for their help. All except Khem Thakur who was one person who actually helped them. He refused 500/- which Aniruddh had offered to him (and which is equivalent of a portar's gain for carrying two person's luggage for a day), saying he helped them out of humanity. From the Base camp, Aniket was taken to Kullu- the closest place with a hospital. What was evident was that YHAI were totally unequipped and unprepared for something like this! This is unacceptable! I know for sure that two ladies had died during this trek a couple of years ago. YHAI should obviously have more medical help for their toughest trek, especially when all they ask is their stupid medical form. Just keeping medical supplies is not enough, they should have a medical personnal with every batch. It is essential. Even if the person charges say 2000/- per day, it comes down to additional 220/- for the 50 participents. Thus, YHAI should charge that much more to the participants- I am sure everybody will be willing to give more for the additional safety.

While I tried to be as dedicated to landscapes as possible, couldn't resist this one!

The bus journey from Bhuntar was going all okay before we hit a traffic jam, which was stalled for 4km! Our bus was late by 7 hours! We had to catch Jhelum and so we got down at Karnal as per the bus driver's advice. From there we realized that there is no train for Delhi for next several hours. So we decided to go to New Delhi and catch Goa Express instead. The bus we boarded was actually only till Panipat – the conducter cheated us by calling aloud “Delhi Delhi” to attract us. Ironically, the bus broke down at Gharaunda and didn't reach even Panipat! So from Gharaunda we had to board another bus to Panipat. From there we got a bus to ISBT. From there, we boarded one to Nizamuddin (as Goa Express leaves from there and not New Delhi). All the while, we were carring our full luggage! At NZM, after we went through the chaotic process of getting a general unreserved ticket, we went to platform number 7 only to see Goa Express arriving at that very moment! Even if we had been just 1 minute late, we would have had hard time getting seats in the general, unreserved compartment. The chaos that preveiled at the compartment is simply too painful to describe as I will have to relive it to write about it! To cut a long story short, a lady was not getting seat and she claimed that it was a ladies compartment. People ignored her. About half a minute before the train deparature time, she came back with a policeman with rifle and he forcefully made all of us board down. And that very moment, the train began to leave. We made desparate reach for the nearest sleeper class compartment. There we had to pay penalty of 440/- each for entering into sleeper class on a general ticket. Thankfully, it enabled us to be in the comparment. There I found Vinay, another Puneite. He had missed his flight and was in a similar situation like us. We sat on the berth number 57. Bless that soul, he didn't turn up the entire time. However, soon too many people realized this and within no time, 5 people were on the berth. Again I don't want to get into the details. Just imagine the worst you can. Finally it was such a relief to be in Pune. Indeed, whoever said that travelling in India is not for the fainthearted is true. I am saying this as an Indian, who had no language issue with the localites. Imagine if I were a western tourist! Oh God, its uncredible!

My string of bad luck continued in Pune as well. It took me 3 days to process all of my photos in Linux. I dual boot with Linux and Windows. I had kept the photos folder open in Windows and then hibernated it. Then I edited my photos in Linux. The moment I opened Windows again, to my horror, all my photos were gone!!!!! I restarted the computer both in Linux as well as Windows, even tried recovering files with Recuva. All photos gone forever!!! I later realized that Windows must have gotten confused as it had a different memory of the folder than its updated state. Whatever! I cried after a long long time that day. Reliving the argument with the base camp leader over the extra weight due to the bulk of the photography gear, those dilemmas whether to setup tripod or not in the middle of the trek when I was down with fever on the way to Grahan, all those careful compositions for my vertoramas and panoramas, that joy seeing the perfect clear blue sky during Sar Pass. I had created a backup in an external harddisk. However, the files in that were not opening. It was much later that I realized that only about 20% of the files had gotten corrupt on this external HDD. Rest RAW files were intact, to my great relief. Of course, I had to reprocess all the images again, but still, 80% of my images were saved and that is all that matters.

I consider my self a lucky person. So much so that if a plane is to crash and only one person can survive, I can atleast consider for a moment that it could be me! Now, how does one feel when suddenly luck becomes a mixed bag?

I don't know whether to curse God for deleting my images or to thank him for saving the rest. Whether to blame him for the insane travel or to thank him for the perfect wheather and health during the trek. Whether to blame him for making us miss our train or for giving us the sense to be at the berth number 57. Whether to blame him for Aniket's plight or to thank him for seeing us safely through!

I don't know.

The Great Himalyan Bird Count 2009

I shall write about my recent trip in the Garhwal Himalaya. Occasion was the Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009 (7^th-10^th Nov 2009). It was being organized by an NGO called ARCH (Action Research and Conservation in Himalaya) which is headed by a dynamic person named Prateek Panwar. I came to know about the Count from Dr. Bharat Bhushan (Count Director), who is a well known Ornithologist and currently the Deputy Director (Environmental Planning) at YASHADA, and who has guided me in various bird endeavours in the past.  I had asked many of my friends to join in the Count, but only Juhi agreed to come. Just a day before we left, I got my hands on a Nikon D80, its kit lens Nikkor 18-135mm, a Sigma 150-500mm OS and a Lowepro Computrekker bag. My friend Tanmay Mehendale readily gave this gear to me as he is planning to shift to Canon. Tanmay has done some phenomenal work with the Sigma 150-500mm and it obviously made me nervous to carry that monster lens (without doing any practice), into unknown lands in front of unknown people. Later on, it didn’t seem to be such a difficult thing to do. 

We left Pune on the 5^th Nov 2009 for Delhi by Goa Express. The journey was a little tiring and we had weird, though nice, company. There were three men- a Canadian, a Tibetian Monk and a Sikh in our compartment and witnessing their interaction and participating in the conversations (or attempts for conversation) was fun. In Delhi, we were received by Nitin, who took us to his place in Roop Nagar. He is by far, the best host I have seen amongst my generation! After freshening up, we went for a stroll in the Delhi University, where Nitin is studying for his Masters in English Literature. I was impressed by the University campus and certainly would have loved to pursue my higher studies over there. Travelling in Delhi Metro was a pleasure experience, except for the fact that we had to remove and re-wear all our luggage at every other boarding station, and the tough time I had while convincing the security personals at the X ray scan that the 150-500mm is a lens and not a gun!

A snap of a bldg in Delhi University

After reaching Dehra Dun on the 7^th morning, we went to FRI Manthan where all the participants had come for briefing. We met interesting people like Dr. Sayyad Husssein, who is a well known senior bird watcher who used worked in BNHS along with Dr. Bharat Bhushan, Anil Kunte (who made a twitter bird clock), Narbeer (who has done some tremendous work on birds in Chandigarh), Rajesh Sachdev (moderator of various on-line groups dedicated to bio-diversity). Due to time constraints, I was unable to get acquainted with other equally interesting birders from all over India. Some of the participants like retired Wing Commander Mr. Narsimha, were new to birds, but were equally enthusiastic. The opening ceremony was a high profile one which saw speeches of high ranking Government minister and officials, and those by the Count Directors. It was interesting to listen about Jerdon’s Courser from Dr. Bharat Bhushan, who rediscovered the bird after 138 years.  The ultimate aim behind such counts is to rediscover the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa), a legendary bird presumed extinct since 1876. Coming back to the Bird Count; 16 groups were scheduled to cover almost the entire Garhwal Himalaya.

 I was in Group 5, which was scheduled to go to Yamunotri via Barkot. I was excited about the thought of seeing snow clad peaks Himalaya. Our group comprised of Dr. Bharat Bhushan (who was kind enough to make me the leader, thus to bear the hateful task of waking up the group before dawn), Kalpesh Patel; a chemical engineer working in 3M, who became a thick friend by the end of the count, Juhi, who’s an English trainer working with Symbiosis, but a naturalist at heart, and who has got keen vision so useful for spotting birds; and myself. Well, I have some background in environmental science, lesser so in geology, even lesser so in ornithology (study of birds) and odonatology (study of dragonflies).

A view from a roadside Dhaba, near Mussoorie

Finally by 1.45pm we were off to Barkot in a Count vehicle (Mahindra Commander) along with the equipments provided by ARCH (previous year’s Bird Count report, worksheets, First Aid kit, Banner etc). We took our first hault before Musssoorie, at a roadside dhaba to have lunch. Outside the dhaba, the sky was clear and I got a good composition of the distant houses on a hill top with mountains in the background.  Learning camera functions of D80 proved to be difficult. As I didn’t have the manual, I had to figure out things from my own. Nikon proved to be counterintuitive for me. Seldom did I get some function right. Even the mount rotating action to remove and attach lenses is also opposite to that of Canon and Pentax. Worst was the button to be pressed for removing lenses. It needs to be operated with left hand. Now, the left hand is always holding the lens  and hence in order to press the button, one needs to leave the lens which causes imbalance. It was worst because I had to constantly shuffle between the 18-135mm and the 150-500mm. A pain in a$$. As other functions like the L switch remained alien to me, I decided to operate with minimal settings. I shot everything in the A priority mode, AF-S, central crosshair, Burst mode, Single AF point selection, ISO 100  or 400, NEF wherever possible, otherwise Fine or Normal quality Jpeg. I quickly learnt to keep the exposure compensation to -0.3 (thanks to clipped highlights Playback). The lens 18-135mm is simply superb! I didn’t find the need of VR while I used it. Working with it was superfast.  The Sigma lens was another story. It rarely gave me  a sharp photo, but I was using it under extreme conditions of light and I was new to the lens as it was to me. I hope the more time we spend together the better it is, for both of us.

A view during the drive to Barkot

Juhi

We reached Barkot by night, thanks to skilful driving by Sunil, the Count Vehicle driver. On the meandering roads across the mountains, you are totally at the driver’s mercy. Thats why the Pahari people (people from the mountains) refer their drivers as “Driver sahaab” or even “Pilot”. At Barkot we had a simple yet delicious dinner at a small hotel run by Mr. Rawat. While going to the Forest Rest House of Barkot, I sighted hind legs of some animal. It turned out to be a Jackal. It appeared that there is a pack of them living in the vicinity of the Barkot FRH. We had multiple sightings of them. That is all to be told for the 7^th.

A view from Barkot FRH

Kalpesh Patel, whose tremendous bargaining skills made this tour a real value for money!  :-)

The dawn on the 8^th witnessed the start of our bird count. We decided to wake up early and go for a walk at 5am. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot anything. Neither bird nor mammal. It was when we returned to the the FRH, i.e at 6.15am, that we opened our Count account. Enter Asian Barred Owlet. It was perched on a tree right in front of the FRH entrance, only to be chased by the Blue Whistling Thrush. BWT, we had seen during our way to Barkot and it is a pretty common bird to find in this area. Across the world, there are always species which replace other species found in a different geographical location and which performs similar functional. In simpler terms, two species, same niche,  different locations. E.g the role of top predetor in the jungle is performed by the Common Leopard, the Jaguar, the Snow Leopard etc. Similarly, the Blue Whistling Thrush seems to replace the Malabar Whistling Thrush found in the Western Ghats. Similary, the Asian Barred Owlet might be replacing the Spotted Owlet of the peninsular India.

Asian Barred Owlet

Bharat Sir, all ready for chai

The next interesting bird we sighted, minutes after the Owlet, was the Grey-headed Woodpecker. It was a large woodpecker busy in its trademark activity- woodpecking. It limited itself to the tree stock close to the ground, say till 1-1.5m.  All the woodpeckers I had seen earlier were smaller in size and were always sighted high in the branches. Unfortunately, I got nothing but blurred photos of the GHW, useful  only for its documentation. Next came a flock of Red Billed Blue Magpies, which Juhi spotted. They were playing in the hay stacks, kept on a platform created in the trees. They seemed to busy eating the berries as well. The Grey Treepie also gave us a courtesy call and so did a Tree-creeper. We later identified it to be Bar-tailed Tree-creeper. We saw plenty of tiny warblers like birds but could not identify them then. After having a heavy breakfast of the best Aloo Paranthas in the world (at Rawat’s modest hotel), we set off for Yamunotri. 

Pine plantations

We were supposed to walk a 10km transect and then continue the journey by the CV, but as the sky was exceptionally clear, Dr Bharat Bhushan suggested we go directly to Yamunotri and carry out the transect during  return journey. We did stop a couple of times to sight a Long-billed Vulture, a White-capped Water Red-start, a Crested Kingfisher and, more importantly, to have chai, which I call the elixir of life! The fact that I am a tea-addict was quickly learnt within the group and was respected too, by frequent tea-breaks.  Other group members were also avid tea lovers. Besides, one is seldom too disciplined to not have tea in the Himalayan cold.

River Yamuna

Crested Kingfisher waiting for its next meal

It was 1.45pm when we reached Jankichatti, the place where the motor-able road ends. As most of you must be aware of, Yamunotri is a well known piligrimage site for the Hindu. Yamunotri, along with Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedatnath, constitute the Chardham yatra. The hills are named such that a piligrim would eagerly walk, knowing that he is coming closer to the all mighty. First hill to come is chatty. It is followed by Ranachatti, Poolchatti, Hanumanchatti, Jankichatti, Bhairavchatti and finally the Yamunotri.

First view of Kalanag and Bandarpoonch peaks

A view of the splendid mountain peaks:  the Bandarpoonch and Kalanag

We were greeted at Jankichatti by an exceptionally large gliding bird. It was by far the largest bird I’ve seen in the wild. It was not a vulture. There were two Himalayan Griffons following its route, but this bird was much  larger than them, had a longer, noticeable tail and a wing span not similar to the vultures. Also, its flight was unique. While the vultures were hovering at their usual, boring speed, this bird was fast and was heading towards a cliff in a linear direction. Nor once did it flap its wings. Inspite of this, its speed was astounding. As if the wind was empowering it.  But then the Griffons were so slow. For  a moment, none of us spoke. We were literally transfixed by it. It was sheer overpowering. I was, unfortunately, carrying the smaller lens, and had to shoot with it. Once I got the documentation shot, I frantically opened my bag for the Sigma 150-500 but till then the bird was gone. And so had the Griffons. Once we met Dr. Bharat, who had gone to search for the FRH, I immediately showed the photos to him. His face lit,  met Dr. Bharat, who had gone to search for the FRH, I immediately showed the photos to him. His face lit,  yet he refused to identify the species. He  asked me to search the bird guide. Searching for an unknown bird in the Book of Indian Birds is a game I always loved. Its not the same wwith the Grimmett book. With additional species, changed names and too many illustrations, I find the Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent less pleasurable to read. (However, I agree, handsdown that it is more useful than the BOIB, especially when it comes to the distribution and the plumage variation). Our bird layed on the Plate 61. We had sighted the legendary Lammergeier. Lammergeier is known to feed on the bone marrow. It keeps close to the vultures while they scout for the deads. It then waits patiently till the vultures have their stomach ful (of Dactlophinac?!). Then it carries a nice big bone from the caracass and flies at a high position. From there, it drops the bone on to the hard ground where it cracks open and thus the Lammergeier can feed on the marrow. Exciting? Hell yes!

A documentation image of the Lammergeier

The staff at FRH Jankichatti was exceptionally warm. Actually, every pahari person I have met till date, has been exceptionally warm at heart. Whether the area is Kumaon, Khasi or Garhwal, this virtue is hard to miss.  These people seem to be made of some different breed. Raised in free spirits, unpolluted in every sense.

Our group and the staff at Jankichatti FRH

A kid from Kharsali

Himalayan Griffon over Yamunotri glacier

We had to quickly start our 5km trek from Janki chatti Yamunotri shrine because delay would put our return in jeopardy. Strange course of events, in which I won’t delve, saw us climbing the Yamunotri without food and water. Food was not an issue. Water was. It always is. We reached the temple in 3.5 hours. We sighted birds like Alpine Accentor, Snow Pigeons, Himalayan Woodpecker and a pack of Hanuman langoors. The temple of Yamunotri was almost empty, except for the head pujaari (priest) and a few caretakers of the temple. Constrcution work for the bridge to the temple was on-going, hence a few workers were present. Apart from that, there was nothing. Not even the shrine. Every winter the temple authorities take the goddess down to a village called Kharsali. We saw a hot water spring called Surya Kund over there. It was so boiling hot that people cook potatoes in it and give it as a Prasad to the devotees. The water from the spring is let into two pools, one for gents and the other for ladies. A dip in them is a very good practice, not only because it is considered holy, but also because it takes away all your fatigue and refreshes you like anything. People asked me to jump into the pool meant for gents and I readily agreed. The instant before I was about to jump, I thought it would be good if I check the water first. Hence I dipped my feet inside, to check how hot the water was. The next instant, i was out of the pool, ailing my burnt legs! How can anybody take bath in water so hot? Localites said I overfelt the heat because of the cold. Hence I repeated the feet test after few minutes of allowing them to get ‘acclimatized’. Same result. I felt very stupid, being only on chaddi and too afraid to dip. The temperature was around 2 Degrees C and I was freezing.  However, Kalpesh was soon to face the same problem. J . Localites, gleefully, suggested us to take bath in the tank meant for ladies. The water in that pool was being mixed with cold water, and hence was less warmth. Unashamed, we made a run for the ladies pool and were relived to find it perfect! Next few minutes were the happiest ones in quite a while. I can still feel the warm water touching my whole body. Ultra relaxing. The contrast between the warm water and the atmospheric cold was mind boggling. Being a Geology graduate, I had read a lot about geothermal energy, but experiencing its true potential was truly memorable. A spot like this has to have a temple around it, for it is truely God given. By climbing steep mountains, by challenging the tough cold and then experiencing the rewards of such hot bath, makes you think spiritual by default!

Yamunotri Temple, right in the river channel

It was already dark when we left the temple for the return trek to Jankichatti. We had a forest guard with us.   However, he was cursing us for coming atop so late and now leaving in the dark. He was afraid of the leopards. Juhi was, like always, equipped for the worst. She had two torches and the her cellphone, Samsung B2100 Marine, is meant for such harsh environment. The torch it emitted put the other torches to shame and it became our main soruce of light. The road was narrow, with steep cliffs on one side and the valley on the other. It was constantly turning. Such turns would provide such perfect ambush for a man-eater! I dared not to think. Yet I kept imagining from the Corbett stories I have read so many times. The thought that “This is Garhwal, not Kumaon” provided a little comfort. The guard was telling us to make as much noise as possible. Hence there we were trying to talk. Strangely, none of us could think of any topic worth talking. Funny, life is. We were tapping the walking sticks to the side railings. We came past one of the river bridge. Such areas are more unsafe, said the guard. When we were relieved after crossing the bridge, he said the real danger is ahead, the area where the government had planted a lot of trees. And he was right.  At the edge of the Samsung’s light, Juhi saw a pair of eyes flash. She nudged me and I saw too. Not the shining eyes, but a dark silhoute. Though I had never seen a leopard in my life, I had seen enough of it on media to identify one. Unmistakably, this was one. But what struck me was the speed with which it moved away from us. The movement was beyond anything. How can so large a body move so fast, so suddenly, so silently? That movement would put all my wildest imaginations from wildest dreams of putting up a decent fight against such beasts, to rest. Forever. By the time Kalpesh came to know of it, it was gone. The guard, however, had seen it and didn’t say a word after that. He didn’t have to. Once we came in thee vicinity of Jankichatti, we all relaxed. Cheerful once again, we reached the FRH. The sky was beautiful. The stars and the moon had come out and had gently lit the whole area. I knew I could get some once-in-life time astrophotography shots. I had everything needed for them: a beautiful DSLR with a wide angle lens, a mini yet sturdy tripod and, more importantly, an exceptionally beautiful sky. But, I am ashamed to say, laziness got better of me. Yes, I hid behind the excuses of the air being too cold and me being too sleepy. I still feel the pinch, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

A typical Garhwali house at the backdrop of the glacier

Next day (9^th Nov) turned to be a spoiler. The sky was overcast and gloomy. We went to Kharsali, the hamlet where the shrine was kept. After searching for temples and asking a few localites, we came to the house belonging to a priest, where the shrine was kept. We had darshan of the goddesss, performed Pooja and were allowed to take photographs too. This fact and the hot water bath made me believe that the best season to visit Yamunotri is off season, provided you are able to get permission to go there from the Government. We saw a mixed pack of Crows consisting of Broad-billed Crows and the Carrion Crows. Bharat Sir and Juhi were lucky to spot Yellow-billed Chough. I might have seen one too, but discounted it thinking of a Broad-billed carrying some food item. 

A mixed flock

Minutes after we left for Barkot, it started drizzling. If we had followed the schedule, we would have witnessed snow fall at Yamunotri. However, it would have become too cold for the clothes we were wearing. Morale of the story: Always use your common sense, even if you are given a schedule to follow J. We couldn’t complete much of the transect that we had planned from yamunotri to Barkot. We however, took breaks at the gulley crossings which resulted in spotting birds like Blue-capped Water Redstart and multiple sightings of Spotted Forktail. Juhi spotted a few Common Wood Pigeons perched on the Pine trees. Once we reached Barkot, we had good discussions on every species, with Bharat Sir checking and rechecking every species I captured with the Grimmett field guide. After that, we compiled the Count report.

Snow Pigeons

The morning of the 10^th was memorable. For one thing, I learnt from previous mistake and wokeup at 6 instead of 5. Within minutes, I had seen a Fire-brested Flowerpecker, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a Niltava, and a Whiskered Yuhina! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take a single decent photos of them, got documentation shots of all. Not that these are rare birds over there. Its just that seeing 4 lifers in 4 minutes was too much for me. 

Niltava

Whiskered Yuhina

After we went back to Manthan, Dehra Dun, we attended the closing discussion where all the groups gave an account of their sightings.  Well known theatre film personality Mr. Tom Alter was present too. And so were many big names in the forest department.

I continued to stay in Dehra dun after 10^th till 13^th. But I shall write about it some other time. 

I would like to end this post with a splendid  view from the Barkot FRH