Footprints on the Mountainside

My parents in law are staunch theists. They believe in the multitude of Hindu Gods and the places they need to travel in order to obtain their blessings. One such location is this trip, which is actually three locations. These are the family Gods of our clan. No matter where we go, these guys are supposed to have their benevolent eye on us.

Apparently, my father in law had ignored the Gods for many years, as had his parents, and bad times came on the family, when my husband was young. Then some astrologer told them that their fortune will change if they go and meet their roots - the Gods who look after their clan. Full of suitable repentance, and reverence, they did so, and claim their luck has changed ever since. Health, happiness and money flowed.

I am skeptical. Where is this flowing health when my mother-in-law needs to take some 12 pills at one time 2-3 times a day? Diabetes, blood pressure, …. Their explanation is it could be worse. It is a matter of their previous actions that is causing them to come to these experiences now. Heh. It could be worse whether you believe in God or not.

But regardless of their beliefs and ours, I really respect them for not forcing us to conform. Except for this one thing. It is quite common in India. Newly married couples go to the temples in their villages to pray within a year of the wedding and ideally, immediately after. In our case, this didn’t happen. We managed to keep avoiding this tour because we were busy or something or the other. But whoever has lived in India, with Indian parents know, that once the mother decides on something, obedience is inevitable. It is simply a matter of time

Raka and I don’t believe this nonsense. We are both atheists. But we do love our parents, and you know how it is in India…… if your parents insist long enough, obedience is inevitable. We tried all the excuses and explanations we could. We didn’t believe, if God is everywhere, what is the need to go to a specific place…. and so on. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with our debating abilities. The parents believe that it is our divine duty and it must be done - never mind that we don’t believe - do the actions.

Whatever. We like the region and are ok with travelling there, but so many temples…..? I guess resistance is futile

So here we are. Leaving for Sangli tonight. By morning we will reach there. Then it will be a merry go round of temples and offerings. We will be supposed to show our gratitude to the powers that be for giving us good lives and asking for good lives

This promises to be very different. Stay tuned. I’m going to be back on the 9th and will be writing about this trip.

Not only can we do things to save the environment, we can spread awareness about the environment and awareness of the choices open to people that they can easily make to create a large collective impact.

Creating awareness can be done in many ways. One of the best is actions. Do it, share it, encourage it.

Another way is sharing information and ideas. Like I’m doing out here, and in my interactions with people in relevant situations.

Another great way is to take an initiative. Announce a clean up drive and encourage people to join in and spread the message. Announce a tree plantation programme. Approach local authorities for the setting up of a rain harvesting scheme for your locality and share your knowledge and experience with other localities.

Confront people who litter and request them to support the environment through their actions and explain why it is necessary.

Create motivation and interest in local schools.

There is so much that can be done. I do things and new things occur to my mind. It is a journey of feeling for this world we live in. Will you do it? Will you travel along?

After a long season of slog, its the good, diyllic times again, before the summer vacations get us. We have plenty lined up for the summer, so Raka and I thought it was time to take a working breather.

Out came the trusty Hero Honda passion, and off we went - just the two of us, journeying because we wanted to, like the old times, and like we rarely get to go now a days.

Out first halt was at the Kamath Residency at Nagothane. It is a place we go to often and consistently like for the comfortable home like environment and outstanding food, which is getting rare, in a world of resorts which taste and feel like all others. We had a hidden agenda here. They are planning an extension of their resort facilities, and want to include an artificial wall as one of the offerings. Naturally, we were in on the discussions, and that was a pleasant evening well spent on talking passion of climbing and planning the ideal climbing wall.

The room itself felt like home. Not surprising considering that we have probably stayed in every room this place has over the years. Raka is trigger happy with the TV remote, and the rest of the evening was pure romance with the old Kamal Hassan, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple film - Saagar. Speak of flash back times, I practically grew up singing the songs from this one. Raka has a huge crush on Dimple, of course

Next morning, we were good to go on. We rode through the Tamhini Ghat, passing the multitude of camping facilities come up recently, right on, past the Garudmachi - the programme location of High Places, which of course was founded by Vasant Limaye, one of the oldest outbound training pioneers in India.

And we rode on….. the two of us and our trusted bike. That’s how we like to travel. Carefree!

The kilometers were ticking, the milestones were flashing, and we were in Pune, in time for the first birthday of the son of a very old friend. It was the time for flashbacks, and backslapping and cheer. We stayed with another old friend in Pune and spent the whole day watching Amitabh Bachchan films, while the poor chap slogged away in his office.

I contacted friends from ISABS in Pune, but didn’t meet anyone. Strange how I called when I was in Pune, but didn’t meet. The calling could have happened from Mumbai too. Go figure. Lazy time passes fast, and it was time to head homeward again, but not before my favourite halt on the way - The Japalouppe Equestrian Center. I usually want to stay here, but this time, we were short of time, so it was a quick couple of hours.

Japalouppe is special to me. I love horses and dogs, and this place has them both. Its a farm house cum riding school overflowing with life forms. The owner Rohan More, is a good friend of ours, and its a special thing indeed to catch up with another horseman and talk about horses - just like the good old times. Scratching dogs and being at peace was the chief agenda.

Rohan is planning a new climbing wall too, when he adds some facilities to the place, so we talked about that. Materials, location, planning…… dreaming is fun. its dreams that make us do things once they get urgent enough. We discussed various materials that could be used for the wall, and different ways it could be utilized in the scheme of things at the ever busy life in Japalouppe.

All too soon, it was our deadline to leave. Since we like to travel on bike, we also like to reach places before dark. its really not funny driving long distance on busy roads with trucks claiming ownership of the whole road, and bikers being as vulnerable as mosquitoes.

So off we went, in the direction of Mumbai. Our quick escapade out of Mumbai having succeeded in a most satisfying way.

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.

The New Year is almost here, and the greeating cards with best wishes are flooding in. Just today, I received some 34 greeting cards. Many of them were from people I don’t even remember. I doubt if I am going to read them all - ever. Perhaps some of the really interesting ones, I might read.

If this is the state of my cards, what is happening around the world? How many trees have died, for cards, no one even bothers to read?

I rarely use paper for my work. And when I do, I use both sides, most of the time. It not only keeps the number of papers more controllable in terms of storage, but also helps me be more organised with a computer, leading to an efficient information storing and recovery method, which ends up saving a lot of time and effort for me.

Raka is also very particular about being careful with resources, and we often collect the clean plastic bags we have and return them to shops so that they can be reused.

I am sure we make a difference - however small. What if the many of us could actively involve ourselves into making tiny changes in our habits, to create a massive positive influence on our planet?

With this in mind, I went to the WWF website and got this information to share with the readers here, so that anyone interested, knows exactly what they can do and can begin, without further ado.

I’m not inviting anyone. It is your planet as much as mine.

Save Wood and Paper Return unwanted mail and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list. Always use both sides of a sheet of paper. Use e-mail to stay in touch, including cards, rather than faxing or writing. Re-use envelopes. Always recycle paper after use. Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms. Use recyclable paper to make invitation cards, envelops, letter pads etc.

During Holidays Go on holiday during the off-peak period to prevent over straining resources - you’ll also avoid the crowds. Find out about your destination before you go on holiday - it may be an environmentally sensitive area. Doing this will also ensure you are informed of what to see and any local customs. Find out about places before you visit. You may be visiting a environmentally sensitive area, in which case you must take extra care to stay on footpaths and follow signs. Don’t travel by air if you can avoid it because air travel uses up large amounts of fossil fuels and creates greenhouse gases. Avoid taking things on holiday that you will throw away. Dispose of any rubbish responsibly - it can be hazardous to wildlife. Ask your travel agent or tour operator what they are doing to be environmentally responsible. Use public transport, cycle or walk instead of using a car. Use facilities and trips run by local people whenever possible. Don’t be tempted to touch wildlife and disturb habitats whether on land, at the coast or under water. Be careful what you choose to bring home as a holiday souvenir. Many species from coral and conch shells to elephants and alligators are endangered because they are killed for curios or souvenirs. Don’t leave any rubbish at the beach - turtles are often killed by plastic bags they’ve mistaken for jellyfish and many items take years to degrade as well as being dangerous. Boats and jet-skis create noise and chemical pollution which is disturbing to wildlife - don’t keep the engine running unnecessarily.

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