Up up and away

In the next 24 hours I will be leaving India for a long time to come. It still seems distant, don't know why? I am filled with mixed emotions. I will definitely miss my parents, home and friends. But I have waited a long time for this - always wanted to study abroad and experience living abroad, so finally here is my time! There is also a sense of satisfaction of a year well spent - loads of time spent at home, with the family, at the factory, reading, traveling, dance classes, german, gym, music, movies, spirituality and so much more. I glad I realized it was time for me to move on with my life and out of AIESEC and put other aspects of my life in place.

The coming months look very exciting and also filled with a lot of uncertainity, on how things will shape up. I guess thatz but normal. Life, as I know it, will change forever. I am especially looking forward to the coming 25 days as I will be spending them with my friends in Europe. Since our EB days we have been planning to go for such a holiday and now its time! In the coming days, I will be visiting Germany, Denmark and Netherlands; and meeting up with some of the people I truly love, admire and respect. Watch the space to know more.

India is but a miracle!

Apparently the devil too resides admist us! Yesterday was an awful day, the day that rocked the nation with blasts in Srinagar and Mumbai. Mumbaikars seem to be back on its feet already – Salaam to the spirit of Mumbai!

If you look at matters that kept the nation busy before this incident – “coalition politics” & “communal politics”. So much time is wasted by the Government in just appeasing different fractions of the coalition that they have lesser time, energy and will to bring about a positive change. Whatever change they want to bring about is shot down by members of their own coalition. The Indian Government is just not giving enough attention to terrorism, education, health, justice & human rights.

I am beginning to think, if a multi-party system for India is the wrong way to go.

Lal Krishna Advani, in an interview few months back mentioned something interesting. He said that after so many years in politics he has realized that religion is the pulse of the nation. I was shocked by his statement, but soon realized he couldn’t have been more accurate. He knows it, the other politicians know it, and they use it again and again to divide and rule. Parties claim to be secular, but have their own sections of the population they get votes from. So they have divided the country based on religion, caste, class, & language. When we dream of India which is secular and a global superpower we first need a country that rises above religion.

In my opinion, a 2 party system would greatly change the scenario. In this scenario, political parties would have to fight over their ideologies/plans for the country. They would have to be secular. People would no longer be able to vote for a candidate of their religion and not be concerned about the ideology/plans of the party. And equally importantly the left, with their outdated policies, would never come to power :)

Such a change would be very difficult to bring out, but something which would be comparatively easier is to focus the Government’s efforts on education, health, judicial system, human rights & terrorism. Government has no business being in business anyways!

Education
Politicians have a vested interest in not educating the entire nation. But what they fail to realize is that the party which does propel India into a true Knowledge Super Power would easily replace the Ghandhi dynasty, and truly immortalize itself! For this the Government needs to reform the education sector. I especially liked the idea (from TOI) of setting up special education zones (much like the special economic zones) with more flexible regulations to invite foreign organizations to set up Universities and schools here.

Health
India has the highest number of malaria and AIDS patients in the entire world, but the amount of money spent by the government on research, prevention, medication & education is insignificant. I think it is an embarrassment for the nation when majority of the research on these diseases takes place in countries where these diseases don’t even exist or are well under control. Bill Gates Foundation is doing much more than the Indian Government!

Judicial System
Clichéd yet true: Justice delayed is justice denied. Daewood Ibrahim, main accused of the ’93 bomb blasts in Mumbai has still not being brought to justice. Now we have the 2006 blasts to take care. I am sure we will have more such blasts at a more frequent rate if these terrorists are not punished for these atrocious acts. After all the noise made by us and the media about the Jessica Lal murder case - the new trial date, if I am not wrong, some 8 years in the future?! Too slow, too bureaucratic!

Aggressive approach to counter terrorism
We are so seasoned with so many terrorist attacks that I don’t even think we notice that the official statement of the Indian government has changed in the last 5 years! If we keep doing the same things we will keep ending up in the same place. I just hope that the PM will be aggressive about counter acting terrorism!

The metropolitan department, with an accuracy of 50%, seems to be a star agency in comparison to our intelligence agencies. The official from the intelligence agency spoke about the Mumbai blasts and the leads they have as if he was watching the same news broadcast as I was. So many people are employed in these agencies, and they work everyday, I am sure they have some idea of what they are doing! Somebody please reassure me of this fact!!!

My limited knowledge of terrorist networks: they are decentralized and work as independent cells, getting directions from the central leadership time to time. I am sure an IT nation, like India, can hire hackers and IT professionals and together disrupt their virtual communication lines. Make it difficult for them to recognize a directive from Bin Laden or from one of the geeks sitting in Bangalore. Confuse them, weaken them and attack. I am sure someone has thought of this!

According to the media, there is poor coordination between the central government, the state government, and the police and even between the different intelligence agencies. And they also add that this has been the case over a period of years and not specific to the recent bomb blasts.

Who is running India? How is India running? Does it make any difference, which party forms the Government? Is India being run by people like Mukesh Ambani and normal people like you and me?

If you don’t believe in miracles, then open your eyes –
India is but a miracle!

Heaven is a place on earth

Set amidst towering snow-capped mountains and lying beside a lake of pristine blue water, the Sikh shrine of Sri Hemkunt Sahib, looks even to the not-particularly-pious, a place of almost unbelievable beauty and peace. Seven peaks - known as the Sapt Sring- surround the shrine, looming over lush green pastures.

It is said that Guru Gobind Singhji in one of his earlier births had meditated at this place for over 40 years. The Gurdwara (at a height of 4329 meters) is now considered a memorial to Guru Gobind Singhji and a reminder of the saint’s mission. It is believed that Lakshman, the younger brother of Rama, meditated by the lake and regained his health after being severely wounded by Meghnath, son of the demon Ravana, during battle. Even the Pandavas, came to these mountains in search for Heaven. They say that if you take the name of the Almighty once during the entire journey all your sins are washed away.

The trip

It was just like being in one of the amazingly beautiful scenes of Lord of the Rings (New Zealand) or the state of the art amusement park of InGen from Jurassic Park (Costa Rica). I didn’t have to go too far from home to realize this dream. Heaven is a place on earth, it’s in India – our very own Himalayas!

Another observation you can’t help but make, that we are but a mortal at the mercy of forces much mightier than the human body. “I” which is the center of our Universe, but for the Universe “I” am smaller than a blip.

Anyways,

Day 1 – Delhi to Dehra Dun, 7 hrs road trip – piece of cake.

Day 2 – Dehra Dun to Joshimath (1874 meters), 11 hrs road trip. This entire journey is in the mountains. Ganaga and then Alaknanda don’t leave your side. For the people who don’t know – I am VERY scared of heights! I was sitting in the front seat of the Ambassador and hanging onto the car for dear life.

Day 3 – 1 hr road trip from Joshimath to Govind Ghat. From Govind Ghat there is a 14 km trek to reach Ghangaria (aka Govind Dham, 3049 meters) and majority of the stretch is steep! Ghangaria is the base camp for visiting Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers. Scenery was breathtaking, weather was excellent. We started the trek at 8.30 am and reached the base camp by 2.30 in the afternoon.

I walked for majority of the stretch, my parents and Askhirat took horses. While walking I realized what my Mamaji meant when he told me “you don’t have time to get tired”. The natural beauty is breathtaking but the path treacherous. You love the adventure, but your thighs scream in pain. With the increasing height, and decreasing oxygen levels it just gets tougher and tougher. You have to keep God in mind throughout the journey or there is NO way you are going to complete it. All around fellow pilgrims make you comfortable, help you chant and help you keep your spirits high. If you think about feeling tired, you have to stop – if you stop then you body temp is cold again, and it gets very tough to get back into rhythm. The best is to carry some biscuits, glucose, water, walk at a steady pace and forgot everything else, enjoy the beauty and chant His name.

Day 4 – At 5.30 in the morning we started trekking the final stretch of 6 km to Hemkund Sahib (4329 meters) from the base camp. We had to trek over highly slippery ice glaciers – a short stretch of about 20 meters – one person at a time, every person for himself, with the help of ropes. If you slip, free fall to some part of the mountain no-one dreams of going to, from 4000 to 1000 m in flat 10 seconds – but you will surely enjoy the view! They say that +5,000 people visit the Gurdwara everyday, but no horse/person slips to his/her death (or serious injuries) – that in itself I think is a miracle!

A hefty woman, sitting on her horse, lost her balance on a sharp turn. My horseman helped her regain her balance with an instinctive movement of his hand. If it weren’t for him being there at the right moment at the right time, it would have been all over for her. I guess many such miracles happen every day in those mountains.

On this stretch, I sat on a breed closest to a mule, but it was more like of an XXL goat. It was quite funny actually. I am sure that it looked ridiculous, but I had more important things to worry about at that time! All horses took 2 steps forward and slipped 1 step back. This animal was more stable and closer to earth – if I stretched my legs I could actually touch the ground and stand up. I am extremely thankful for the animal to take me to the top and down, I couldn’t have walked those 12 Km, esp. at the low oxygen levels!

We reached Hemkund Sahib at 8.30 am – I almost had tears in my eyes. I don’t think I have ever been so happy on reaching a destination. A quick dip in the ice cold lake, with cold winds blowing was enough to get me shivering for over an hour! The hot tea and khichdi (langar), right after, was just perfect.

If I thought my journey was difficult, there were so many people who had completed the journey on foot, (even people in their 60’s or 80’s!); people who couldn’t walk were carried in dolis and baskets (they had bruises all over the bodies because of the constant friction with the basket); a LOT of people walked barefoot(!); newly wedded couples walked; and I even saw a blind man walk with the help of a stick and another’s shoulder.

This is no place for stupid egos; “you know my pair of the Nike’s is better than yours”, or “my Moto Razer has these features …” How much time we spend in these things? There was no class distinction between anyone there. You had mutual respect for everybody there; Everyone was one. You could go and approach anyone and it was guaranteed the person would go out of his way and help you; a lot of people were helping without even being asked.

There must have been like a thousand people in the Gurdwara at the time of ardas (prayer). I think it was a miracle in itself that the entire structure did not collapse under the weight. I can’t really describe the feeling in there; you just had to be there. The energy in the room was more than an AIESEC India plenary. Go back a few centuries, when the Sikhs were at war with the autocratic rulers at that time – the energy of the people in the room is the kind of energy people would have had just before going into war. You could have given those people swords and shields and they would have given everything they had at the word of the True Guru. My own mother had wanted to visit for Gurdwara for over 35 years and it was a dream come true for her on 22nd June 2006!

Because of the extreme climate on the peak and the low level of oxygen, everybody vacates the Gurdwara by 4 pm everyday. The Gurdwara is accessible only for 4 months in the entire year.

The journey back to Govind Ghat (1828 meters) took another 1.5 days. Going downhill on a horse is worse than going uphill. You have no choice but to look down! Mummy and I, who are excessively scared of heights developed a few bruises on own bums and legs. Papa was much better off, and Ashkirat laughed the entire way!

On the way back we also stopped at Badrinath. It is at a comparable height of 3411 meters, and there is a motor-able road right up till the temple. So it has better access and everyone can visit it, but then as a con, some people take it as a picnic spot rather than a spiritual destination. I hope they preserve Hemkund Sahib the way it is! The experience is unique.

Will I go back again?
At present I am still a little shaken up and don’t want to make a trip to the mountains, unless they have 4 lane roads. But I loved this trip. It’s truly the best holiday I have ever been on! The image of the newly weds walking hand in hand up the mountain is still fresh in my mind, and I think the entire trip can have a very romantic angel to it. So maybe, when the time is right :)

If someone is interested:
http://www.sikhtourism.com/hemkund-paonta.htm
http://www.garhwaltourism.com/chardham/hemkund.asp

I have scanned and upload a few pictures, so check the flickr tab on the right. I will try and upload a few more.