Footprints on the Mountainside

I am not usually an avid cricket follower, but this World Cup has got me, and I am biting my nails from the suspense with the rest of India, as we wait to see if we even get into the Super 8.

Initially, it all seemed to be going well, as we won against the West Indians in the warm up match, but then, chaos struck. India lost to Bangladesh! Many would say its impossible, but then, this is cricket. India seemed to be not fully there on the field, and Bangladesh was outstanding, with the result that India is in its current situation and unsure of even qualifying for the finals.

This certainly was a completely shocking time for both India and Pakistan, when Bangladesh subdued India, without even seeming to be struggling too badly, and Ireland trounced Pakistan so badly, that it has been referred to as sent “Paking”. Both these results were totally unexpected and have shaken the status quo pretty strongly, with some devastating results for Pakistan. They are out of the Cup. Fans have been out in the street screaming for blood and chanting for death to Woolmer and Inzamam. Worse, their coach Bob “laptop” Woolmer actually died in mysterious circumstances on the next day.

I bet the Pakistanis hadn’t wanted their wishes answered so literally. Then followed a spree of resignations from Inzamam himself and others on the PCB in sheer humiliation. The final straw comes with the Jamaican police insisting that the Pakistan team cannot leave the country until the investigation of Woolmer’s death is concluded/they are cleared. Things are going really bad for the poor guys.

India wasn’t too far behind, with that bad, bad match against Bangladesh and the completely shocking defeat. The only consolation being that they aren’t out - yet. Fans in India were enraged as well, expressing their anger out on the streets, burning effigies of players and overall demonstrating how fickle they are, when the results of one match can get them screaming for the blood of those they were worshipping a couple of hours ago. Dhoni’s home being constructed in Ranchi was attakced by irate fans and armed security was immediately rushed to the homes of all players fearing similar acts.

Shame! The defeat hurt. It hurt really badly, but it shouldn’t result in an attack on belongings or the safety of players families, while they are supposed to be away fighting for the honour of their country on the field. This is pure stupidity and could sabotage the emotional well-being of our players and destroy what little chances we have of victory after being put into this tight spot after the defeat against Bangladesh.

However, Raka says that this is India’s way. India has often lost first matches and then pulled up their socks in a hurry to deliver good performances after the shock. I certainly hope it is so. India now needs to win the big one with Sri Lanka after the record breaking win against Bermuda in the next match. The Bermuda win went a long way toward healing the feelings of the fans and advertisers as well as the scores, in case it comes down to a battle of run rates.

It also depends on how Bangladesh and Sri Lanka play and what their scores read like at the end of the day.

Keeping fingers crossed and eyes glued to the screen!

I came across this article on rafting, which plunged me straight into my must fulfill dreams list. Rafting in Iceland! I can only shiver in anticipation. Glacial melt water that will probably be enough to freeze my poor fingers to the paddles, but I bet my heart will fly over the coldest river available for rafting. Folks, if you’re into adrenaline, and you get hooked and go, don’t forget to let me know.

Actually, the reason why I was exploring rafting on the net is that I had complaints from my clients that the site doesn’t really cover a lot of areas of operations of Wide Aware, and one of them was rafting. Its true. I haven’t yet put half the information I really want to on this place, but then, this site is like my temple. I doubt if it will ever be complete [:D]

Another interesting thing I came across was on the Paddling instructor website, where they speak of Yaka - a Goan company (that is the Indian distributor for Perception kayaks) and their show stealing exhibition in the Mumbai International Boat Show on 22-25 February, 2007. I missed the show unfortunately, or I’d have written here about it, but this sparks my interest again. Another area I need to explore.

The other thing worth noting in the Watery adventures world is the Adventure Safety & Rescue Training Workshop that took place in Rishikesh this February. The courses on offer are quite good, and it seems a very interesting option to explore for refresher courses for instructors. For those inclined to head out into the outdoors, this might be a very good training programme to watch out for, in any case. Its not only instructors who need to handle emergencies.

This brings me back to my main focus - rafting. Hmmm….. I promise to add more content. Not just here, but in all relevant areas of the site, but as its a one man show, do have patience and bear with me. meanwhile, I’d like to share a nice rafting information page about rafting in Rishikesh (yes we do that too, though I haven’t yet written about it) by Anand Kumar to keep you all ticking till I get my fingers on to the keyboard again.

See ya’ll!

There is a dog in our building. He was hurt last week. Quite badly. I tried to help him, but he wouldn’t let me come near. He usually doesn’t allow anyone to come close. He’s a stray.

I called up the folks at Karuna last Friday, after trying for two days unsuccessfully. I was told that they were overloaded with requests and the van couldn’t come before Monday. I waited.

The van came on Monday night. The dog wouldn’t come close and couldn’t be cornered and caught, so the folks had to return. They came again at my request today, and I’m just back after a second unsuccessful round of catch-the-dog.

I feel so angry with the poor dog. After seeing me for over a year, he still doesn’t trust me to come to his aid. Actually, I don’t blame him. A street dog’s life is probably not a honeymoon, but still……

The Karuna guys have seen it all many times. They just asked me to make a fresh request and they could come again on the next day.

For those who don’t know what Karuna is, its an NGO committed to the animal welfare in Mumbai. If you find a horse, dog, bird, cow…. any animal that needs medical attention, or intervention, feel free to bring it to their attention, and they may be overworked, but htey will certainly come. If you have some money to spare, you might also consider donating, so that their overworked service can be extended to come to the aid of many more animals that need it.

As far as I know, they don’t have a website, but you can call them on these numbers (below) to request for services, or express your appreciation for the work they do. God knows we need people like them around. Their staff is working from early in the morning to very late at night, constantly attending to the needs of animals. You make a request, and their ambulance will come around - completely free of cost to help the animal. They care. You can see it in their actions, in their untiring efforts, and their willingness to go the extra mile to hunt for the street dog that suddenly went missing when they arrived to treat it, or even bringing their team of people to help catch it.

Do keep them in mind and keep these numbers safe for the sake of any animal you could end up helping without doing much more than a phone call:

28763856, 28761313

Please keep in mind that for every request, they will need the contact of a person in the area, who can identify the animal and be there with them when they arrive. So if you’re calling about an animal on the highway, it might be worthwhile to speak with a local shop or something and provide their contact, unless you intend to camp there until they arrive.

You can also call them for pets. They don’t charge any money, so don’t hesitate, just be there for an animal that needs it.

Well… our dog needs to wait some more I guess, but another very injured bitch came to notice just as they were leaving and they went there and treated her. So the trip was not a wasted exercise.

This is a particularly sweet memory from my life as a nomadic horsewoman in the mountains.

I lived in Manali, where it snows in the winter. Horsemen here rarely stable their horses, preferring to let them loose in the high altitude pastures in the summer, and tying them together at nights in the winter. The horses themselves are hardy, and I haven’t seen them ever come to any harm like this.

When it snows in Manali, all the Khampa and Kinnauri and often even local horsemen bring their horses down from the alpine meadows and migrate to the Mandi district, where it doesn’t snow, so that the horses can graze by day, and their costs of feeding are lower. They return to the higher areas in spring.
Horsemen come together in small groups for the journey, so that you often have a huge herd of about 50 horses migrating together. Manali to Mandi town is about a 4 day trek, and reaching the interior locations with adequate resources for horses takes another few days. Overall, the journey is about 6-7 days.

We used to travel by the highway and roads, so a huge herd of horses was out of the question in the day. The nights are a different story. The treacherous mountain road is deserted of vehicles by night, so this is when the caravans travel. It was a tough time, as we used to walk all night, and had camp work (cooking and other stuff) and grazing the horses to see to by day. Hardly any time to rest.

But this was also a magical time. Just horse lovers and their precious horses in an age old journey. We used to time the journeys to coincide with full moon nights and a favourite song from my city days took on a whole new relevance. Bear with me, as I share it with you.

Thandi hawa yeh chandani suhani
Ae mere dil sunaa koi kahani
Lambisi ek dagar hai jindagani
Ae mere dil sunaa koi kahani

Mere dil, tu sunaa koi aisi dastaan
Jisko sunkar mile chain mujhe meri jaan
Manjil hai anjaani…….

This cool breeze, this moonlight is pleasing
Oh my heart tell me an (enchanting) story
Life is a long way
Oh my heart tell me an (enchanting) tale

Oh my heart, you tell me, such a tale
Listening to which I come to peace my love
And the destination is unknown…..
And it was like that….. the heart was full of pleasant emotions, as the horses and owners walked in the moonlit nights at peace with themselves…. in harmony….. toward a destination that was an integral part of life for a horse and owner in this part of the mountains.

Saare haseen najare
Sapnon mein kho gaye
Sar rakh ke aasmaan pe
Parvat bhi so gaye

All the beautiful sights around
Are lost in their world of dreams
With their heads cushioned in the sky
Even the mountains are sleeping

And it was like that……….. the world was a beautiful play of moonlight and shadows - a world in black and white - the snow covered mountain tops a very grey against the night. The world indeed seemed to be sleeping, as we walked along the deserted highway through deodar forests silhouetted against the moonlit night. The only sound was the hoofs of horses on the road, and the steady river flowing along.

Aise mein chal raha hun
Pedo ki chaao mein
Jaise koi sitaraa
Badal ke gaon mein

And thus I am walking
In the shadows of the trees
Like some star
In a village of clouds

hmmmm….. drifting along the road…. all night the men, the horses and the night and the journey through the evergreen forests

Thodi si raat beeti
Thodi si reh gayi
Khamosh rutu na jaane
Kya baat keh gayi

Some of the night has passed
Some of it remains
The silent season I know not
What it has said

And the nights….. yeah they passed bit by bit, withthe last kilometer never seeming to end. Its surprising how after walking for 30 km, the last half kilometer seems impossible. It happened everynight, as weary caravans came to open grounds to set camp for the day. Until the night……..

It is a time of my life that was so beautiful, that for all my life, a part of me will remain the simple horsewoman with her simple life and simple cares - away from the complex urban life - far away in the mountains.

I find that the internet acts as a barrier to the morals of many people. Many people who wouldn’t be causght dead stealing in their day-to-day lives steal without hesitation online.

A regular visitor here just brought it to my attention that another blog (which I will not mention here) has been steaking content from this site. She found out accidentally when she forgot the exact url (she has this site in her bookmarks at home) and tried to search for the site from some specific words she remembered in the article she wanted to access. Our site showed up as expected, but another site showed up too, with the same article.

Thinking that it was something I used for a reference, she browsed through it, to see if it was of any interest. What she found is the exact same article, copied word for word, including links in the article to other pages in the site at specific areas. The thieves didn’t even bother to pretend to cover their tracks.

Our logs here show plenty of hits coming from that site, so I’m not complaining. The articles refer to the links in a tempting way, so the thief is actually losing traffic, because people are very likely to click on those links. I’m not complaining
I doubt if it matters to him though.

I wonder what makes people want to steal people’s content. I freely allow anyone to use any information from this site, as long as a live link is maintained to this place. The reason is as much one of credibility, as the fact, that most of my articles and experiences are closely related to my knowledge and experiences from the very off-beat life I’ve led. It will simply sound fake if copy pasted, and the rest of the content in the site is obviously someone else.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter to me, because they can’t really steal in terms of removing content from here. This place is more important to me than some scraper who cares nothing about visitors.

Situational hazard. I shrug and move on.