The Unique Day

 June 21 is indeed special. Both in the public sphere and in the private space. Let me explain why-n-how.

First and foremost, June 21 is the summer solstice day. What does that mean? It means that the Northern hemisphere of the earth is tilted towards the sun. Hence it is the longest day and the shortest night of the year.

On this summer solstice day is celebrated the Yoga day in various ways. At least on the wapp group, that is, while watching reels, if not in real life, everybody turns in to a Yoga fan. I suppose, it is absolutely necesary to remind ourselves that Yoga is not merely physical exercise. It is a mental mode. It is a way of life actually. Given the consumerism that envelops existence today, it is but natural that "yoga", too, is a saleable item, and world wide.

June 21 is the world music day, too. Music is the fulcrum of our life. Why, our hearts beat to a proper particular rhythm. No wonder, from the childhood lullaby to any and every form of music enjoyed during the adult life,  music makes magic. Why, even rap, the form that appears the easiest to any and every street smartie, has a unique beat that sure has a calming effect on those individuals. No wonder, music is medicine; music is meditation; music is magnetic. Music, folk to formal/classical, is magic!

Now, the private space. June 21 is Papa's death anniversary. He loved music. He enjoyed the sincere discipline and meditation that underlie yoga. He made meaningful use of every minute. So every day was in a way, the summer solstice day for him. Here is a sincere tribute to his memory! 

Pratima@Each day matters; but some days mean much more!

What goes wrong?

 Actually, the completion of the Kedarnath trek is indeed by God's grace. Anything and everything could go wrong. Sure, the Yamunotri trek is tougher still, steep climb as it is. The road winds and winds to eternity. Each turn leads to another still steeper, still more difficult. It is hardly twelve kilometres both ways, but it appears literally hundreds.

As for Kedarnath, practically everything could  go wrong. First and foremost, it is the climate, the weather. It is absolutely ephemeral. Can change faster than even the moods of the cranky and the crafty. Luckily, my pilgrimage was blessed with wonderful climate. In fact, it was sunny throughout.

The other problem is acclimatisation to the climate. It is cold, with C bolded and on font size seventy two! Sure, one  catches up with it, and fast. Yet another problem is the roads. Sure the roads are not paved with tar, the way they are at the Vaishno Devi at Katra. They are hence both natural but arduous. 

Yet another issue is the mode to trek. One would climb it up. For sure, one could trek it down, what with the Himalayas and the gravity working in your favour, not withstanding the not so gentle murmur, eh, creaking of the knees. But for that one would need lots of time on hand!

But the worst that goes wrong is the attitude of the locals. Sure, tourism often is their  only source of livelihood. Agri business would be minimal as fruits are not forever, only seasonal. Rice, wheat, potatoes could not be beyond mere sustenance. Yep, mining, sure to ruin the region very soon, could be another source of livelihood. Right now it is tourism.

And are the tourists the milch cow! Sure hiking up every ounce of material with the help of the horses and mules, treated the worst way ever possible, is unbelievably costly. Yet tourists' money is hard-earned, too, right? Difficulty cannot be the close relative of manipulation, right?

Luckily for me, the doli/palakhi-wallahs up the hike and the pittu wallah down the trek were simply Good. They were all young boys in their early twenties. I treated them with utmost kindness, fed them sumptuously, chatted with them. I did feel bad to use such human services, no alternative  though. I was told that they had no other way of livelihood, and hiring them was helping them! Anyways, they told me I reminded them of their mother, a great compliment I would say.  Yet even these unfortunate Nepali boys (their wails about their life were tough to bear!) would be advised to fleece me! Luckily they did not! 

The pittu wallah from Gauri Kund to the hotel charged me one thousand for two kilometres. I had decided to pay a little extra to the elderly person. But each time he felt like resting, he would keep the pittu atop a small square pillar of a bridge overlooking a deep trench of some sixty metres, a valley with waters gushing! And he would order me not to move.

He was not answerable to anyone.  Just like the very many ghode wallah's (horse rides, difficult to decide whom they are crueller to, the animals or the tourists!), the pittu wallah's or the palakhi wallah's. Actually, they are given permits which MUST be checked. Safety, otherwise, would be an imminent danger as every one is at their mercy even when walking it up/down as they push past everyone on a road slippery with slush and dung.

For the hoteliers, every drop of water is to be calculated. Of course, many tourists, too, demand impossible advantages they would not even dream of at home! Tough is the money game, In brief, for priests as well as  people, money is honey!

Pratima@Pilgrimages need not produce piety!

N.B.: Oh, yes, the police! Could they be less indifferent and more polite!?! In the Devbhoomi come pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Literally! Why misrepresent one's own state to the big-n-bad world!

N.B. 2: Sand mining has to be big business here. The rivers, singly and/or as confluence, prove it. Hope there is not any Santosh Deshmukh though!

At Kedarnath

 At Kedarnath! Every breath is a whiff. One remembers the childhood game of *smoke, smoke* so beautifully used in "Sadma", a film I immensely love. It is cold. One does not mind the pleasant dip in the temperature. Eager as one is to go, meet Kedareshwar!

The mandir itself is unique. In the forefront, that is, in the foreground part of the temple, you have the Pandava panchayatan, with their eternal Guru every which way, Shri Krishna. Here rubbing the idols with ghee is the practice. Very soon I shall tell you why. 

The common "janata" is rushed past this "gabhara".  In the "garbhgriha" is THE idol, unique in its shape, given the Mahabharata myth. As Bheema tried to catch the Lord in the form of the "mahisha", the "Nandi", his nail marks scratched the Lord. Hence here it always is the ghee as the material for abhishekam so as to heal the scratch marks.

I could manage the entry in to the "garbhgriha" and the special 'jal' and the 'ghee' abhishek. Sure felt fulfilled. Happy for my entire family whom I merely represent, right?

Equally great was the visit to the "bheemshila" which miraculously protected the temple from the 2013 deluge. It is a wonder  indeed. The devout would consider it as the protection by the Pandavas, or some such mini god as the Bhairava. It could be a coincidence, and natural at that. I look at the phenomenon differently. In my opinion, it is indubitable proof that the entire universe chooses to stand behind the good. Every which way.

The Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi is a great site, too. Its architectural design is simply elegant, and deeply meaningful. I feel eternally grateful to this unique individual whose genuine contribution to Hinduism can never be re-paid. Like Sant Dnyaneshwar, who expired in his very early twenties, having fulfilled the work of  at least ten life times, the great Adi Shankaracharya, who, too, left for the eternal abode at the tender ripe age of thirty-one, too, can never be thanked enough. His statue, so young and yet so eternal, truly signifies all that the Kedarnath clearly means!

Pratima@ I wanted to, but was not exactly allowed to, visit the Bhairaw temple as it is much higher, and dangerous, given the height, and lack of oxygen. Better to listen to local wisdom, right? I built hence the small little home, as per the custom, near the samadhi of the great saint.

The Unique Visit

 Visit to Kedarnath. Unique it is indeed! When it begins near Sonprayag, it begins to appear hellish. You doubt your own wisdom in taking up such a trek. The road is as dirty as is possible, littered every which way.  I was lucky enough to get a bike ride. Otherwise, one would have to walk through slush of every kind, made much worse due to the rain  on the night before. "Shit" indeed!

I would have liked to hike it up. It seems there are seven Himalayan hills/ranges involved! Time tensions are forever present! I did check beforehand in any number of YouTube videos the difficulty level. Well, valour consists of discretion, right? Chose hence the doli as the horse ride indeed is tough.

Soon the hike begins. The slush recedes. Unusual flowers bloom beside the mountain road. Butterflies dance around you. Birds sing their own prayers, their unique hosannas. Natural waterfalls, with water crystal clear, jump down the cliffs.

It is sunny everywhere. Given the height, however, it is highly pleasant. After the Pune summer before the pre-monsoon mad rains began, the sun actually appears a friend. Then at an unexpected turn, HE appears. The master of this visit of yours! The Kedarnath glacier! 

The glacier glimmers pure white in the sunshine. It is sheer silver gleaming in the bluish sky. Such is this wonder that the Kedarnath Yatra already appears absolutely fulfilled. Of course, the next morning, it is going to appear all golden glazed at the edges.

At last the forever doli alias palakhi ride finally ends. THE final trek from the base camp! Both the sides are littered with the building material. Hard work of the horses, most inhumanely ill-treated. Not exactly a happy site after such a difficult trek. You climb the steps listlessly.

And then the temple! Built by the Pandavas (or is it Vishwakarma?!?) with rocks possibly not available anywhere nearby, and with an interlocking system invented now ! Rejuvenated by the great Adi Shankaracharya! Intact! Defying time, snow, harsh winters! Kedarnath! All is said, and nothing needs be quoted!

Pratima@ Ah, to be at Kedarnath in June! When the crazy rush is done, and all is well with the God's world!

Heaven-ly Himalayas

 The road to hell, they say, is paved with evil intentions. Could be. I would not know because, so far, I have never ever tried it. Yes, though, sure can I tell you that the road to Gangotri is paved literally with the heaven-ly Himalayas.

 No exaggeration it would be if I were to say that one is winding through tall peaks that touch the skies. One is with the clouds that float around, gently brushing the delicate tips of the spindly deodars and pines that dot the hazy outlines of the mountain ranges that play hide-n- seek with each other as the vehicle whines-n-vrooms through unbelievable turns and twists, horizontal, vertical, hair pin, camber, mention the type, it would be available on this route in abundance.

One does not mind the adrenaline thus pumping through every vein and each artery because the mist is competing with the clouds in creating a translucent veil behind which the heavenly visage of the eternal Himalayas is to be gently hidden for a split second or two.

All along accompanying one is the Bhagirathi, yet to meet her tributaries to become the Ganges. Just because Bhagirathi is all alone along the route, and forever is visible, at times like a school girl ribbon, at times jumping down impossible cliffs with the grace of a doe, do not make the mistake of confusing her gentleness with weakness.  Never would you know how she would be roaring mighty loud, gushing past the hindering rocks with a threatening speed, past the arching bridges, and man-made  water falls generating electricity in the process.

That is what makes this tour unique. The grandeur of nature pulsating with the divine co-exists here with the mighty creativity and ingenuity of mankind. Otherwise, such superb routes to divine destinations would just not be possible. The Border Military Force, I think, has paved these 'divine' (in all senses of the term) roads that sheep, too, share in their naive togetherness.

Yes, the symbolic (at least) dip in the freezing cold Gangetic waters is mythically divine and purifying. I would not, however, hesitate to assert that the very road across the heavenly Himalaya is equally responsible for re-fine-ing your imagination, your ideation, your intellect, your eye/I!!!

Pratima@The colours and shapes of the grainy cliffs as they glisten in the morning sunrays peeping through the mist and clouds add a rugged, tough texture to this heavenly 'vision', yet again in all senses of the term!

Divine Destinations

 It is easy to be devout in Uttarakhand.  The very air one breathes there is suffused with divinity. Very many spaces of the Sanatan Dharma are situated/located in-n-around  Uttaranchal. Temple tourism must be the staple diet of the region, right?

Take the Kashi Vishwanath temple, for instance. A legend in its own right, this modest structure is in Uttarkashi at the foot of the mighty Himalayas. The inside story of this simple structure is a study in both, the indianness and in devotion to divinity.

Every region of India nestles here next to each other in an interior space that includes a series of temples situated next to an ashram like structure. Very many such divine destinations make Uttarakhand the Devbhoomi, the abode of the gods, the Divine.

Yes, as in any devotional place in India, this second Kashi, too, is full of filth, narrow roads, congested traffic, a market place overflowing with the usual knickknacks, not to forget the typical cheap chicaneries of the so-called devout. 

Yet there is a subtle difference, unmistakable, which makes it unique. May be, it is the backdrop of what the great Kalidasa, amongst many, described as the "Nagadhiraj", the king of mountains. Indeed it is easy to be devout in Devbhoomi!

Pratima@Each devout  place, every divine space has its unique "sthalmahatym" which pulsates with a special feel, un-define-able but equally unmistakable.

My room in the hotel listens to the lilt of the Bhagirathi. During the day, the Himalayan range overlooks it, while, at night, right now, the outline of the Himalayas is lit with the tiny sparkle of the distant Diwali diya's, actually the tube-lights and bulbs in the ashrams and houses of residents staying up there!

 Apparently, Uttar Kashi has very many ashrams of very many Rishis and of separate sects in Hinduism. I saw the boards of at least three post graduate centres of Sanskrit studies. May be, such seeds of knowledge and wisdom, ancient to modern, add to the uniqueness of Uttar Kashi specifically,  and Uttarakhand in general, as divine destinations.

The Mountains are indeed...

 The title of our blog today is a take-off (dangerous word currently, I know!) on a title by Briana West. It is a book on/about self -development, and the types. My submission today, however, is that the ancient mountains existing silently yet sublimely in India, especially in the Himalayan range, are indeed...Soon, you would realise what they mean to me, but, yes, they are supreme, stupendous, superior!

Today was the first Dham of my Chardham Yatra. Yes, the tragedy at Kedarnath may prove yet again that 'man proposes, but God disposes.' Yet the linguistic conventions force you to write it as "my" first Dham, et al.

The Yamunotri Dham is beautiful beyond words. The mountain range is unbelievably HUGE. The peaks seem to rise infinitely in to the sublime skies. Yet they are not threatening. At least not to me. I watched them, lost to mist as the valley was suddenly overcast with the Himalayan rains during the return journey to the hotel, suddenly draped in dazzling sunshine as I completed my darshan cum my silent prayer-n-pooja, mysteriously 'moon'ing in the early morning with distant stars for company. In a way, I re-lived my Wordsworth and my meagre knowledge of the Rigveda describing the wonders of nature. 

The fierce beauty of the mountain peaks from whence flows the Yamuna is both intimately inviting yet reminding one of the wonders that have lived and would continue to re-live in the moment yet forever. One can sense the very beginning of life in the paleolithic era et al as you watch these peaks silently smiling at you knowingly.

Yes, these forever peaks have a very parental, deeply paternal feel. They reminded me every nano second of Papa, and not only because it is the Fathers' Day today. Both Aai-Papa have visited those tough terrains, Papa without proper preparation, and Aai in that simply terrible "kandi". How they both managed those impossible feats is beyond my imagination! Yet again those silent peaks overlooking human antics with a knowing smile reminded me of Aai-Papa. Fervently I prayed for forgiveness of minor mistakes that might have hurt them. Yes, the majestic mountains, scratched by the human vanities of 'development' are indeed 'us', a treasure trove of infinite wisdom, deep gratitude and immense love!🙏🙏🙏

Pratima@The whole process of finding a "ghoda sawari" for me was a re-read of the heinous Indore murder mystery. Even to the minutest details. To whosoever who planned it, and their agents, I have only two things to say; namely, every tragedy turns a facetious farce the second time, and oh, yes, the absolutely innocent, whom the divine destiny plans to save, survive every evil design! 

Yet another point I must not miss is the animals. They are much better than most human-beings, is my eternal statement of fact.  Whatever happened today feeds in to that faith of mine.  First, very early in the morning, there was this black dog, a thin meagre 'cur' as they would call it, barking madly at "some" people, but in the same direction. It came to me. I chatted to it gently, it calmed down, wagging its tail fiercely. Hope I meet him tomorrow before leaving. Intend a biscuit for him! (N.B.: I did manage giving him a few biscuits before leaving. Felt happy gratefully!)

I had got from Pune a lump of jaggery for the horse who would have to bear my weight! The pony was absolutely mild and gentle, listening to its master, perking its ears when I told his teenage master not to beat it nor to twist its tail. Wonder of wonders, this otherwise absolutely  silent thing, hardly four years old, neighed when back to terra firma because 'its home is here', the young master told me! Indeed much more humane! Why, to compare animals to the beasts on two legs, is a huge insult to the animal world, so close to nature!