Sunday, December 31, 2017
Deoriatal lake and Chandrashila summit (4,000 m) - a walk to remember
I went with India Hikes this month on the Deoriatal-Chandrashila trek, and I dive right into the stories. There's so much to say, that I think this post will get constant small additions going forward, and there can be a long edit history at the bottom, like a wikipedia page!
There were 2 camp sites were we spent our three nights- one by the Deoriatal lake and the other beside specks of snow at Chopta, close to the "market" which was the entry to the path that led to the Tungnath temple. But we spent close to one hour per day just changing- adding and subtracting layers. Sleeping bags and the fleece layers that were provided were really warm, during sleep time. All those mighty layers, therefore, are required only in the night at the camp- because you typically set off nice and early in the morning, which means you get warmed up, and during the wee, cold hours you are snug inside the sleeping bags with your warm tentmates closeby. At night, we had fun with deliberately loud cross talk and leg-pulling across tents. The most memorable moment was when we loudly let out wolf howls and dog yelps and all kinds of noises in the anonymity of the night, led by leader of the pack A. It felt like such a release! Our tent was AAA Company, on one side was Hello Brother Company, and on the other side was Bong Company. Hello Brother company joined in our animal cries. Other fun camp routines were- 1) the constant post-dinner bugging of local guides N and A in the warmth of the kitchen tent to give us some mythical/horror stories about the places we were visiting (they always obliged- eg: Roni Bugyal named after the lost shepherd girl whose Rona (crying) was heard for years, the legend of Roop Kund (see last para)), 2) The constant jokes about successes and failures in "doing your business" in the freezing cold (The Coldplay song Fix You with the lyrics "When you try your best and you don't succeed..." is representative of many people's troubles. Oh and Coldplay was also invoked at night in another context- Starry night described by "There's a sky, there's a sky, full of stars". Even Yellow, with "look at the stars, look how they shine for you" is apt. Also, the band itself, "Cold"play- was very apt. I mean, they had a number called "Shiver", too!)
Base camp Chopta, with Blue being dining tent and White being kitchen tent. In the background looms our constant companion, Chaukhamba
S and son- Remarkable story
of father carrying 4 Yr old kid through the trek. And there I was using
cheat codes to play the game- I “offloaded” my backpack on to a mule for the
longest day – the 14km. However, quite a few others did it, and in hindsight
was a good decision- allowed me to enjoy the long walk, the last part of which
was through inches of snow. Deliberations with D helped, and in the end P too
was happy to have offloaded. How to win next time without cheat codes- don't need the two extra layers I had taken, and do core exercises at a friendly neighborhood gym.
Uttarakhand is the "abode of gods"- godliness is bound to happen because it's slightly cut off from the lowlands and because of its natural
splendor. The majestic Trishul peak, the river confluences “prayags” and the pristine
and powerful Ganga. Mythology abounds- for example giving “Roop” kund lake
its name (Parvati saw her Roop there, using the lake as mirror). And Deoriatal, our campsite? That’s the
lake where Yaksha asked Pandavas his questions which knocked out all but
Yudhisthir. The fount of Hinduism, is Uttarakhand.
Mighty Ganga and mountains overlooking religious practice - evening Aarti
Got to see who's who
of mountains, from the Chandrashila summit. Nanda devi (7,800 m), Hardeol
(7,100 m), Chaukhamba (7,100 m), Trisul (7,100m)- more here. The view from the summit- quite a stunning panaroma. On one side is NandaDevi and friends, and on the other side is Chaukhamba and friends. You could really look through the binoculars forever and ever at the mighty
Chaukhamba and Trishul and Nanda Devi. Trisul was majestic- it is shaped like a giant seat and has a vast expanse. Nanda Devi, in fact, despite being the highest of India, is dominated by the Trisul. Trisul has a vast horizontal expanse while Nanda Devi just sticks out sneakily behind it. Kedar dome is spectacular too- literally a
dome shaped mountain. All these mountains look pleasing in different ways - morning white rays, evening pink rays, and under the bright mid day sun. It's all another world, really. What if all these mountains came to life, like the Ents did in the great war?
View from Chandrashila (Trishul, Nanda Devi, Dronagiri, Hardeol) (somebody referred to it as brother of Sunny Deol. Yeah but Sunny Deol's probably stronger)
The mighty Trisul from Chopta view point
The mighty Chukhamba from Deoria tal view point- trek leader Y brews his own wine, so we suggested he name his wine "Chaukhamba". Other options- he can mix four drinks for it (Chau) and sell it in a bottle (Khamba). Further, the ice for the drink will literally be "on the rocks" (joke credits to H and P); to Chaukhamba's right is Mandani
To the left of Mandani- Kedar Top, Kedar dome and Gangotri (Ganges' source)
The forest walk was
enjoyable- the longest day was largely through 14 km of forest territory. Birds were largely elusive firstly because it was cold so they may
be hibernating and secondly due to my bright blue down jacket which is
exceedingly photogenic but must be quite a red flag for birds. We missed seeing the Monal (this region is a Monal spotting zone) which is a peacock like beauty (also the state bird of U-Khand). There's the tradeoff between Snow and Flora fauna. When it's really cold in the winter, there's all the beautiful snow around, but that comes with dry trees (More colors in other seasons: Rhododendron red-pink-orange in March-April, Maple red-Orange-yellow in September) and lesser number of birds. I however did catch the Himalayan Magpie (large, social and pretty), soaring Himlayan Griffon vultures and a Brown and Black UFO.
Himalayan Magpie on my phone camera
People were
interesting. Group was diverse and as the trek leader said, almost representative of India coz there were people from South, North, East and West. It was nice to have in the group an ex Mngmt Consult person P - similar work-life experience to talk about- on the long walk back from the summit, had a long fun chat about life and times at work during which I made my work strategies for 2018. P (II) really pushed for Rishikesh and it was thanks mainly to her
initiative that the three of us (including A) ended up doing rafting after the trek. M was a hit with the fauna and ended up getting up close and personal with a Marten. H brought dry fruits in zip lock packs for the entire party- hats off for this initiative. While I pelted D with multiple small snowball hits, he scored a massive smack on my face. I suppose if it were a boxing match, I was notching up the points steadily but he delivered the knock out blow so my points did not count in the end. As sis put it, I got a "white eye" from this particular boxing match (below). Mafia, Fuzzy Duck, Contact, "Pass the numerical message via fingers" game, the "name volleyball" games were good fun. Though that evening I was a bit dazed after 3 kms of super heavy lifting of the backpack.
White eye after the knock out blow administered by D
AAA Company- Squadron leader of Wolf Pack is rightmost (Squadron leader has undergone Paramilitary training), with Subedar A1 and A2
Base camp Chopta, with Blue being dining tent and White being kitchen tent. In the background looms our constant companion, Chaukhamba
Got a lot of induction
into other high altitude Himalayan treks from veterans (S and S who summited the previous day itself - no rest day which we mere mortals had! (S slipped away to the Kuari pass trek from here), M, N, S- among whom Kedarkantha, Brahmatal and Har Ki Dun were covered, and trek leader Y), and have built up a
good data bank. Some of these mountains have so many stories and people know so many of them that there can be a legit round of "Himalayan treks" at the Bournvita Quiz contest, at the above people can team up. Top on the next list are: Sandakhpu in March due to
rhododendrons and birdwatching due to meadow walks; Har ki dun due to long, quite meadow
walks; Kashmir Great Lakes because, well, it's the best trek eva. Got hold of S's Google album which has snapshots of his gazillion treks, so that and IH website serve as a good guide.
The entire wolfpack, at Chopta base camp
Further reading, and watching: Meru, the movie, which CK suggested as a must-watch. It ain't no Everest, but it was summitted only very recently, and the movie's on that. There's the story about the lost nuke on Nanda Devi- a spy story from the cold war times- to be read here . Also, can rewatch and relisten to the wonderful Rammstein rock ballad "Ohne Dich" - set in high altitude trekker context. And the "Roopkund mystery solved" here.
Labels: Travellog
Monday, December 18, 2017
After an AR Rahman concert, musings on the music and beyond
I went to an AR Rahman concert at Brabourne.
Music good; some new numbers unrecognized
I recognized most of the old numbers; but of the recent ones (Highway, for example) I did not know. My favorite ones from the night (and in general) were; Swades, Urvashi. There was a bass guitarist girl who was good- was it Mohini Dey? Need to figure out more (This post is to be updated). I feel concert energy levels wise, Shankar Ehsaan Loy take the cake. However, it depends so much on the mood you are in, of course (mine today: phlegmatic). Further, see below:
Not exactly within touching distance of the maestro
Sound quality was a bit muffled because we'd scrimped on ticket costs (1,500 per head) and bought far off seats- 20th row from the ground level, at Brabourne stadium (if you've ever been there). In terms of watching a cricket match, it was close enough- pitch was close- but AR Rahman was near the sightscreen area, and I was at deep point (20 rows behind). CSS had an interesting point when she said that she'd decided that she'll go for concerts only if she buys the real pricey tickets where you can get up close and personal with the artist, else she prefers MP3s at home. Maybe it goes hand in hand with the life philosophy of do a few things well vs. do a bunch of things ok-ish.Another maestro is summoned; slightly ridiculous stage props; and cricket
Often, when there was a gap, people started shouting "Sacheen, Sacheeen", which was amusing. The sight of one maestro reminded the crowd of the other? Not really, I think cricket ground and shouts of Sachin go hand in hand. Some of the stage props I thought were bit ridiculous, like a girl dancing inside a bubble. It was like Filmafare awards meets India's got talent. Oh, and they had respectfully cordoned off the pitch and nearby areas. I was imagining a bunch of flippant lads actually playing cricket while the concert was on, completely oblivious of their surroundings. They would have restricted ARR's motion on stage- movement near the sightscreen!India's got few music-alone stars- most are Bollywood
In India, there are few mainstream music "stars" who have made it big without Bollywood. AR Rahman, SEL, Lata Mangeshkar - all are movie driven. I'm keeping classical music aside. The western music scene is just replete with singing mega stars, across genres, who have no connection whatsoever to Hollywood. I wonder, will this change? Hope some of the more music attuned folk will reply below.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Weighty matters at work- a 1 kg dumbell
If Satya Nadella can fondle a Kookaburra cricket ball at work during his conference calls, I need a sporty accessory too -I got this friendly looking 1 kg dumb bell as a companion at work and home.
Further, I will have to take it in to work. Now Himalayas (Deoriatal) beckons in two weeks, and lugging this boy around for the next two weeks in my Samsonite backpack will be good practice for my back.
On Saturdays, it will help my upper body get some action during the Carter road runs- leg muscles do so much work while arms are flailing along uselessly during all those 5Ks. Shoulders, tricpes and biceps were crying for some action- and I have given them this gift. With the cellphone strapped to my arm and this red fella at my hand, I will be the coolest cat running Carter road.
They should just give a 1 kg dumb bell today to all "knowledge workers" to keep at their table. Part of induction kid. All the upper body exercise we get is our fingers- going pat-pat-patter on the keyboard. This one's way better than a stress ball.
Think your cubicle is a cage? Well, get CAGEY at work, then.
On Saturdays, it will help my upper body get some action during the Carter road runs- leg muscles do so much work while arms are flailing along uselessly during all those 5Ks. Shoulders, tricpes and biceps were crying for some action- and I have given them this gift. With the cellphone strapped to my arm and this red fella at my hand, I will be the coolest cat running Carter road.
They should just give a 1 kg dumb bell today to all "knowledge workers" to keep at their table. Part of induction kid. All the upper body exercise we get is our fingers- going pat-pat-patter on the keyboard. This one's way better than a stress ball.
Think your cubicle is a cage? Well, get CAGEY at work, then.
Labels: Esprit de sports, Random Ramblings, Tall (short) tales
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