One Chocolate, One Chewing Gum...

I went out shopping for glasses to Chandini Chowk in Old Delhi today. Shopping there is such an experience. You drive from home to Connaught Place and catch the metro to Chandini Chowk. The swank spotless metro always leaves me impressed. Get out into Chandini chowk and the electric wire of energy that is India hits you! It's beautiful.This is where the economy rolls up its sleeves and goes to work. Duck low hanging wires, skip over puddles, shut your ears to the incessant honking and wonder at the myriad things in sale. You also find some hilarious hoardings like the one below. I thought this was one community that did not need to advertize its global presence at all!

The aroma wafting from the halwai's dukan at the end of the lane ropes you in closer. The quaint old beggars make for an interesting study as do the kids frolicking about darting in and out of alleys as the parents conduct transactions. On the way back after we'd managed to procure glasses without having to part with a small portion of my savings I gave in to the tummy that rumbled for fresh chilled mausambi juice. Aaah!

The metro ride on the way back done, we got into the car to drive home. At the first red light this little kid comes around stopping at the car to ask for change as I smiled at him. His innocent smile stole my heart and I called him over to my side. As I rolled down my window I told him it was great to see him so happy and he should always stay so. He felt the cool draft of air rush out of the car and extended the hand over the AC vent exclaiming how cool the air felt. Such is human emotion that both of us knew he was not interested in the money I had preferred, though we went through the charade. Before I could remember to ask his name the lights changed and my friend scampered away with a quick "bye bhaiya"

So entertaining and touching was this eposide, it reminded me of an incident in Mumbai when a group of kids serenaded me and a friend to a chorus of "One Chocolate, One Chewing gum" till we grinned and handed them over some money.

I hope this little kid from today always stays happy and brings cheer with his smile. This is the youth that can transform this country with its good cheer and lack of baggage.

Pretty Women on an Airplane

Why is that you find pretty pleasant airhostess rarely and that happens to you the one time you travel with your mother in the 7 flights in the last 6 months?! And this one was a record when the airhostess came up and spoke to you, asked you where you were from and if you were in the army... and told you looked like you were in the army (by which I imagined fighting fit and chivalrous and not grimy and little riotous)... honestly for 2 minutes after that I could have told myself I was Brad Pitt.

My narcissism aside this was a great flight to end the fantastic trip that has covered a successful expedition to Machoi, glacier training, walking snowfields, challenging trekking, beautiful long hill drives, photography... Nice and relaxed crew, ontime and no fuss flying. Just how domestic flights should be but tend not to be.

I think the next 12 months look packed with some hectic work but a skiing trip back in Jan, a trek in May – Aug and work related travel  are all on the cards. That should make for some interesting learning and lot of writing!

Apharwat & Gulmarg

I am lucky that mountains and photography go hand in hand. I’ve been playing with the camera under Navin mamu’s tutelage off and on through the hols and towards the last set the results are beginning to come through. Some shots are truly amazing and I’d say it myself.

Back in gulmarg and with 2 days of chutti in the bag I got it into my head to climb Apharwat – the highest point nearby. 4 hours later on the 22nd we were rewarded with a tabletop at 13,500 feet good for a cricket pitch. Obviously this was not on the moon so someone had built a road from the other side of the mountain to the very top and I did feel like a bit of an idiot. But well I wanted to do it, we got to go higher than the famous gondola and kept a date with the eagles and the clouds. I also got to mess with some snow and my camera. Here is to more impromptu climbs!

It’s been a really great hol and I’m raring to hit Delhi and work.

Poetic Drives & Festive Spirit

It’s Eid today and you can feel it in the air.

We left at 7 am to go see Aroo near Pahalgam. All along the way you could smell incense, feel the bonhomie and see little kids getting ready for the morning prayer. I wish I had 5 pictures about it that will say a lot more than these few lines.

Aroo is wonderfully pretty. I got some great morning shots there. On the way back we met Shaukat a little child and his nomad family astride a bunch of horses moving down for the winter. I thought the kid looked just like me. All the way down from there to Gulmarg we went about waving to people on the road and exchanging silent Eid greetings. I happily also ran out of camera batteries and drove 3/4ths of the way home. As soon as Dad took the wheel I was off to a nap!

The chase for local bread, cute little kids & Pahalgam

It’s the eve of Eid today in the Valley. Since the morning we’ve been crossing small bakeries, vendors and shops selling goodies, meats and most importantly for me local bread. Rushing to our destination, Khanabal for lunch with an old friend of Dad’s after a delayed start this morning (post a delightful breakfast) we’d been putting off stopping for quite a while. After lunch we got caught in driving onto Pahalgam, meeting people, sight seeing (more on that to follow).

So its only now at 1945 in the evening, that I, FINALLY, commandeered Dad’s car and drove into Pahalgam town to procure some bread. My guide led me to the perfect little bakery off the main road in a small lane. Like a young kid in a toy shop I picked out macaroons, local hard bread shaped like little rocks, some sweet bread & biscuits. I hate it that my descriptions are so vague. Very frustratingly, my guide insisted on paying & talking the local language and negotiating. Very well meaning but I missed out on exchanging pleasantries, getting to know the quaint old man & the young grandson like figure running the shop and the whole experience. I can feel myself frown as I write this. Grrr... the guide was so well meaning that I did not have the heart cut him short and do this myself.

The day has been mildly frustrating. We left Sonmarg early this morning to go to Pahalgam via Manasbal late. The drive to Manasbal was beautiful in most parts but struggled to reach standards set by earlier drives. As soon as we reached Manasbal we were redirected to a new route and refused access to the entry point we were to go to. I don’t know why. As soon we reached this side entrance we were hounded by 3 very vella Kashmiri youth out to make a quick buck. They insisted we go to some temple nearby invoking every possible blessing we might need. I just wanted to tell them I did not need to go to a temple to pray. Letting that pass, I took the wheel to Anantnag and got the wrong side of dusty roads, trucks and aggressive kashmiri cab drivers and the honking. It was very disconcerting as I was just not expecting it and was quite happy keeping my peace with an easy drive without aggression.

Meeting Hanish chachu in Khanabal was a treat. It’s good to meet old friends along new destinations and find them happy and well settled. Dad took the wheel from here to Pahalgam and took away the best part of the drive! No traffic, no dust and no honking.

I found Pahalgam achingly beautiful – achingly so because we found a well meaning bunch of colleagues to take us around but with BORING & RANDOM conversation! I just wanted to get away and explore this place on my own. It is so so beautiful on it own. I sat in the car going around Chandanwari, Betab Valley cringing inside and just wanting to be left alone to explore.
Anyway.. all’s well that end well. I have my bread now & we’re sitting down to a lavish dinner sometime soon. I might have preferred a nice quiet dinner alone / with Dad followed by a good coffee. But well tomorrow is a new day and promises to bring something good.

The Summit

Jamling Tenzing Norgay wrote “Touching my Fathers Soul” after his ascent of Everest. It might not be the most well written book on the ascent of a mountain but I identify with it. Just how much I only realized when I summitted Machoi. On the top of the mountain I radioed my Dad at base camp. As I told him it was to be atop the same peak as he was 2 decades ago my voice broke surprising me more than anything else.

The summit was special. I remember unfolding the tricolour and wanting a picture with my climbing partner. Someone pulled out Dad’s regimental flag and the shutters clicked overtime to catch the moment in time. The view over the mountains was sublime. Someone pointed out Nun & Kun, Sheeshnag glistened in the sun just over Amarnath and Harmukh 180 degrees opposite. Just shy of 6000 meters it felt like on top of the world as snow clad mountains shone below one.

The immediate moments after are a bit of a haze. I remember stumbling and falling as soon as I began the descent. It must have been the euphoria. I anchored my carabiner to the rope and scurried down the main scree section. In careful rappelling stance I descended the sheer rock face and rested just under it near the cornice that formed over the gully with a box of juice.

Tired and hungry I rappelled down the entire 500 meter, 80 degree gully in 15 minutes (it had taken me more than 2 hours to climb) replaying the azure blue sky & snowfields from the summit in my mind. At the base of the gully we rested for 20 minutes with some more juice and a sandwich.

As I type someone has just walked in with a framed impromptu picture of me and Dad. Taken on the 13th just before  we left for a walk, just after he’d removed his overcoat it is one of the pictures that captures a rare moment. We’d forgotten all about it till now. Dad will be kicked to see it too.

It’s the walk back in daylight that captures the intensity of the experience. The stars seemed closer when I left summit camp at 0230 hours and now you know the sun IS CLOSER! And if the walk back is educative the ascent is a draining experience. As I said we left at two thirty and walked 4 hours over a ridge, snowbridges, the glacier with crevasses to reach the base of a gully that leads to the summit. A 500 metre, 80* ascent with loose stone is followed by a cornice that you’re hoping is the peak itself! One then negotiates a rockface and has to climb a seemingly never ending scree slope which you wonder how you’re going to descend if you manage to reach the top. As I said I did not even think of jumaring back through the gully post my descent. I just twisted the rope into my descender and came down the easy way. Back at camp at 1400 hours you’re drained of thought.

Its been a great time these last 7 days. I’ve driven through Drass, pushed myself to speedy acclimatization, watched eagles fly, ruminated over 2000 sheep munching on grass, honed my table tennis, ascended a peak and its all not over yet! 3 days of a hol left. I’m off to Pahalgam tomorrow via Anantnag. I get to meet an old colleague and friend of Dad’s there and then we’re moving back to Gulmarg.

Signing off as the family sits down to a dinner together...

Glaciers, Bad Weather & Marmots

Sometimes the body gives up easier than it ought to. Heaving and panting I made my way up the mountain to hit the glacier again. We had decided to take a tougher route up and with a heavier pack on my back I knew I was pooped. Moti Sir thankfully had other ideas. We switched gears after we reached the top to traverse a cliff face so that we could reach the glacier without losing the height we’d gained. The series of ups and downs helped infuse some energy into the climb and it was a breeze onto the glacier from there.


The glacier today was like being on national geographic yourself. Crevasses, blue ice, snouts, scree – one could see it all. We ascended a high ridge on the glacier and got a clear view of the Machoi peak for the first time. As we were ascending though the weather which had been packing up, went from bad to worse. We could also hear the rope fixing team that was climbing radio in that a blizzard had hit them. When it started snowing on the glacier we realized things were bad up there and orders were passed for the team to hold on till the storm passed. Eventually the team managed to cross the gully and as the storm blew over crossed the rock face onto the final stretch that helped them reach the summit.

As we came back down the glacier we spotted a lot of marmots out to see what the rain was all about. A marmot is a court jester reincarnated and their antics can be hilarious as they stretch their belies, sun themselves and play the fool. Quite an entertaining watch. A short walk around the camp this evening did not reveal too many though.

We leave tomorrow for the summit attempt – the kit is packed & camera charged. I think I just missed a family of bears caught stalking the dump from the camp mess it would be exciting to be woken up to see them. Looking forward to the morning!

Ice, Glaciers & Machoi Peak

I took sometime to knock off last night but managed well in the end. Got a good 8 hour nap waking up to the sound of radio set crackling and the rope fixing team preparing to leave to setup summit camp or Machoi. It’s basic out here but basic is better than the course at NIM!

The morning was well spent hiking to Machoi glacier with some ice training to follow. Thanks to crampons and an ice axe, ice training is fairly simple and the real challenge had been negotiating the moraine to the glacier. At Machoi though the moraine is fairly benign. We plan to cart some ropes and pitons up here tomorrow, fix a rope, climb a little and then rappel down. Oh yeah , Dad came upto the glacier too. That was great.

 Our camp is beautiful. Some glorious views early this morning and into the afternoon. Makes one want to just sit and soak it in – if it were not for the high wind!

Passing through one of the most starkly beautiful landscapes, NH1D is one the best drives to take (in an off road vehicle!) and experience. I was lucky to drive a good old Gypsy (I learnt to drive on one) from Machoi to Drass via Matiyan. It’s a big dream come true from the last time I was around these parts and its something I am likely to look back to with a lot of nostalgia.

Another good surprise was a good cup of soup at Drass market with Padam Bahadur. Padam a quaint Nepali is trying to eke out a living at the charmingly names Darjeeling Restaurant in the Drass township. I was glad Darjeeling Restaurant caught my eye and it turned out to be a good bet. The soup did much to soothe my belly rumblings which have been caused by a stomach bug – something that is a little worrying. Padam on the other hand is a little disappointed since the 11,000 strong Nepali community that kept Drass ticking over right after the 1999 Kargil war has now dwindled down to a trickle. He is looking to move and setup a Chinese restaurant in Jammu now. He might even run the Gulmarg HAWS cafeteria. Here is to more meals with Padam sometime later in life.

Today also looks like another early night. It is also the penultimate night before we set off for summit camp near Gumri if the plan remains on target. Good luck Tarun!

Machoi Base Camp

This holiday is not going to be  pushover in any form or by any standard. We left Sonamarg for Machoi Base Camp just around 4 pm. It’s a 25 km drive that should take an hour. The bad road and our well planned exit with the day’s up convoy across Zojila from Sonamarg into Drass ensured intense manoeuvring by Dad and a lot of stops as we crossed some 300 trucks rambling up the terrain. The setting sun and the views of the village we used to walk to from a height though provided some great scenes for photography.

Once again I noticed how a serene mountain view can look breathtakingly menacing under overcast skies & bad weather. For a new hand at the Sonamarg Drass highway (NH 1D) the stretch from Sonmarg to Machoi like me the trip seemed fraught with danger at every step. Only in hindsight I realized it was probably the closing in weather and the trucks around that made it scarier. Traversed thousands of times around the summer season is perfectly motorable (I saw 2 santros and a Maruti Omni van doing it)

Arrival at base camp (like at all base camps) was quite special. You get out of the car and the winds buffets you against the door, the proffered down feather jacket is quite welcome and fortified inside it you begin to brave the elements and take in your surroundings. With the hood over your head though its impossible to hear what the person next to you in saying in the wind but it’s a good filter for the stinging wind is all you want to hear for a while.

We discovered at length though that a spell of bad weather was due and it might ruin our chances of a summit attempt later this week to Machoi. That is sad. The only uplifting thought was India cracking a 309 for their quota of 50 overs against Sri Lanka in cricket. Good comeback boys!

And where the words cannot capture the beauty of this place, I hope the pictures make up. The milky way is clearly visible and the moon seems closer.

Sonamarg

I am back in Sonamarg after 21 years. This is the place where as a 2 year old I frolicked in the snow and probably learnt to walk and talk coherently. This time around I hope I learnt the basics well enough since I am prepping to climb Machoi (approx 18,500 ft).

My knowledge of intricate geography is pretty poor. And I need to do something about it! Though I know roughly where Ladakh, the Zanskar, Pir Panjal, Dhauladhar etc ranges lie and how they divide Jammu and Kashmir, I wish I could map it in my head and hold a discourse on it. I wont be surprised if post my current read (pursuing my other great love - history), I pick up a book on the geography of North India.

This place is gorgeous. We got in on the 11th at 1800 hours. A morning walk on the 12th along the Sind river that flows by (originating near Zojila) and a acclimatization climb to the cliffs behind HAWS has reminded me how some amazing scenery unfolds as you go higher or further. Funny how life in Delhi can corrupt one so much :)

 Col Dhillion and self did this aforementioned climb; “walk” as he called it, gaining 3,500 feet in about 4 hours. Quite appropriately the other side of the cliffs reveal a beautiful high valley called “Happy Valley”. The climb also revealed a flock of 2000 sheep, fierce sheep dogs, bhojpatra trees, new born sheep and just how tiring coming back downhill is.

I am knocking off now for the afternoon. I am tired to the bones...

1600 hours: 60 minutes of naptime later I am the latest convert to the “no afternoon naps’ club. they are disorienting, lethargy inducing and make one woozy. Arghh...

Kick off to a travelogue

No holiday could have started off more eventfully. A 3 km dash through the drizzle with 3 bags thanks to a traffic jam thanks in turn to heavy rains in Delhi. Arrived at the airport sweating to my chuddies swearing I’d find it tough to make the flight but got the emergency exit window seat with ease. Damn... I must be a charmer.

I’ve been around this country a fair bit. Trains to buses, to driving myself around; India’s beauty never ceases to amaze me. I also believe that while I am severely critical of the shortfalls of this country, I love India with a ‘vengeance’ (if I may borrow a line from a friend). I love India for what makes most of it – its quaint people, sheer natural beauty & rustic appeal. I might be biased to the mountains but even the hinterland of Jharkand, the plains or plateaus of Maharashtra or beaches in Goa are a melody of colours, medley of people and full of the myriad ambitions of a country on the move.

And I love traveling. Anywhere. A work flight for me is interesting, I enjoy finding myself a cab in a new place, making friends with cabbies, looking up places, finding places to eat and exploring towns. A travelogue holds more potential for me than a blog. So here goes.

2008 & 2009 have been eventful. I’ve made trips to Dalhousie, Chamba, Dharamshala, Rajouri, Leh & Ladakh, Uttarkashi in the Gharwal region, Gulmarg, Goa & now Sonmarg apart from work related travel o Ahemadabad, Pune, Calcutta & Jamshedpur. More than anything else though the basic mountaineering course in 2008 and the current expedition hold great significance. It taught me that I loved the mountains more than I thought and that there was an intellectual appeal to getting to know them better too. There is a lot to learn about maps, stars, the clouds and the winds and apply it. I’ve been lucky to take a skiing trip in Jan this year and come back now for this expedition to Machoi. Always ambitious sort about squeezing in holidays I hope to make it to Everest / Annapurna Base Camp in 2010. It’s a tryst that I know will continue.