Wanderer's Diaries

Twist in the Tale Another incident which initially caused us to drench with sweats in the middle of cold nights at snout camp; but turned out to be the most funniest part of the expedition in the end; happened while we were coming back to snout from the base camp after the summits. Trek from base camp to snout camp, for a normal trekker would have taken eight hours to reach. (While going up we had an intermediate camp. But while descending we had to skip IM and directly go to the snout thus increasing the duration and the difficulty of the trek) Needless to say for slow hikers, dark walk was but obvious. After two days of copious snow fall, we left the base camp by 9:00 AM on 29 th . All of us were walking at our own paces in buddy pairs.  I was walking with Dada who usually stops after every 10 minutes, but on that day he was walking remarkably faster with very little breaks. Toolika and Saachi were just behind us and walking steadily. Pranav and Marishaa were a few mi...

Evil is a power just as strong as the power of good. It doesn't work by itself but uses people as media But something unusual had happened at the base camp. I met two girl participants from rope six at the base camp while there remaining group was still out for an expedition. One of them told me that Chitramohan had a snow blindness so they had volunteered to take care of him. So they came back sacrificing their own summit. I was astounded to hear this. I admired them and went back for the dinner. But the winds at the base camp were singing something else. Many of the participants were accusing the younger girl for allegedly filing a complaint of harassment against one for the instructors of her group. Earlier also people had pointed fingers at her with baseless accusations. Couple of times she had expressed her strong desire to leave everything and run away to home as it was beyond her capacities to endure. She was on the verge of succumbing to the accusations. And had ...

The base camp and the Summit Next two days we spent in revising basic ice climbing techniques in a nearby icefall. I envied those who got Iranian instructors or at least members in their ropes. They were knowledgeable in terms of alpine climbing, fitness and nutrition. But more than that they were good human beings and willing to share and learn mutually. This one aspect of Indian instructors excluding a few ones, hurt me the most. The ego one nurtures as the person receives fame and success. The very idea of discrimination as students and instructors that creates a wide partition between the giver and the receiver upsets the learning atmosphere. No person is perfect and can never be. Why can’t it be just a platform of sharing of knowledge and skills leaving aside our titles, degrees and credentials? Respect shouldn’t be demanded but earned. Climbathon is a wonderful brainchild of IMF all it needs is a good parenting from trainers and trainees both. At the base camp, ...

The trek begins On the morning of 16 th we hiked along the Chandra river towards the snout camp of Bara shigri glacier. Only obstacle was the notorious Karcha nallah. Previous year while crossing the nallah one of the participants had slipped off. Thanks to the instructor present there who ran towards the scene and secured him out. The climate was sunny and the trail was plane with mountains on left side and the Chandra flowing benignly on the right side. We had already identified famous peaks of the valley such as Papsura and Dharmsura as they could be seen from the road. Within 3-4 hours we reached the snout camp. A lush green meadow upon which red, blue and orange colored tents were set up. A tiny blue watered pond augmented the loveliness of the campsite. But on the mountain side, intimidating moraines and deep jaws of valley through which the Bara shigri glacier flowed, awaited us next day.   At night we gathered in a huge dome tent which accommodated everyone...

To Chhatru and the Batal Camp On 13 th morning we proceeded to Chhatru, a small settlement on the way to Batal. To our surprise climbathon consisted of Rohtang la and Kunzum la cleaning expeditions. I personally  didn't  have any problem in picking up the garbage and trash but what was the outcome of our activity? Did any of the tourists looking at the scene where 60 odd people were cleaning the land, join our hands? We have a strong social networks; did the message reach the masses? Are participants supposed to come here every time to clean up the land, take pictures and go home? As a part of a leadership program,  shouldn't  the leaders’ duty be to set an example, encourage others to follow and device a system which will sustain even in absence of the leaders? I asked local people who out of courtesy thanked us for cleaning the area but expressed concerns of sustainability. Gulia sir explained to me that local government arranges vehicles to ta...

Manali!! Again?? After a grandiose success & magnificent memories of Kumaun expedition in April but equally disastrous failure yet wonderful learning curves through mistakes in Unam expedition in the month of July; my next Himalayan journey was Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) funded Alpine Leadership Climbathon Expedition. I was little anxious about myself in terms of experience and knowledge compared to the participants; most of whom had at least one eight thousander; if not a few six and seven thousander summits as feathers in their hats. But my friend Bhushan cheered me up and boosted my confidence with a pat on my back. I was a novice climber which meant I had ample of skills to learn, ocean of knowledge to dive in, new mountains to explore and that too at a very cheap cost. Honestly speaking, the idea of less expenses made some resounding impression on my mind and I immediately started arranging my climbing gears. Gokhale kaka helped me get the best possible g...

Yesterday I went to watch a movie based on a true story of India’s boxer and five times world champion Ms. Mary Kom. The story was well woven with scintillating songs. The redundant spices which are otherwise deliberately put up in order to gain more outreach among masses were kept at bay. I must appreciate Priyanka Chopra for not only performing the act but also for the mammoth physical efforts she underwent to fit herself in Mary’s shoes. Mary’s story is an inspiration to all the women across India. Every woman in our male dominated society would associate themselves partly or fully with Mary’s struggle story. Be it troubles of initial days to convince her parents for opting boxing as a profession, dealing with the bureaucratic politics without surrendering, marital life, pregnancy or parenting twin babies. But what was more appealing than these struggles was her determination to reenter the arena not succumbing to the mockery of people and overcoming the post pregnancy limit...