my thoughts...my experiences.....

My God and I

2011-01-02T23:25:00.000-08:00

My parent’s 50 year old house in Rajajinagar, where I was brought up had small 2x2x2 place in kitchen..hmm..a cabinet I would say! It was made especially for Gods. All gods- Srinivasa (Tirupathi Balaji), Krishna, Ganapathi, and Lakshmi,..sat in that dark place for hours together. Make that years.. They still sit! A lamp used to be lit day and night for them. But on special days like festivals, wedding anniversary, death anniversary (thithi), their birthdays and our birthdays, they used to get some sweets too!. First, they would be served and only then we used to get our share. Mom had taught me that I should offer them a good Namaskar every morning and evening which I religiously followed. There was no question of why we had to do it. I just had to do it. Myself, along with my cousins used to chant Suprabhatam every morning. I was most attracted to the colorful pictures in Suprabhatam book where Lord Vishnu sleeps on his snake, Adishesha on the milky ocean.. Pictures on each page were like a fairy tales!. I used to begin dreaming of meeting Lord Vishnu, while looking at it!!.. Also, the stories about gods and goddesses, told to me by my granny, were a treat to hear.

There was an Ayyappa temple near my dance class. Every year, there used to be a grand procession in that area, before the pilgrims took off to Sabarimala. I used to wear my Jarilanga (traditional silk long skirt) and attend this religious gathering. My Amma used to give me some fruits, a coconut, beetle leaves and flowers to be offered to Ayyappa Swami, a bachelor god!. I used to love hearing the devotional songs sung in praise of Ayyappa...especially “Sabari Malayil Thanka Sooryodhayam”, a song sung by Yesudas. I used to love the Paayasam (made of rice and jaggery..paal paayasam) that they used to give as prasaadam.. The decorations made of coconut leaves, and the temple carts were very beautiful.

I would say, in my primary years, my main attraction towards festivals was to wear my new Jarilanga, and Bhakshanams(special snacks like chakli, thenkol, kolkatte, obattu, Holige, kodbale, thenginkayi burfi,….) During Navaratri celebrations, the fun was to arrange all existing Dolls and Idols in one corner of the house; make a miniature play area; put some wet mud to grow Raagi; leave some toy wild animals there picturing it to be a zoo!.. Every day, different sweets were prepared as an offering to God. Well, in the name of God, we all used to eat! :-)…Then go to all neighbours’ houses and invite them to come and take a look at our Dolls on display! One such time I still remember, when I was strolling along with my friends on the street, I saw an idol of Saraswathi made of clay, thrown into the street’s corner garbage dump. I literally put my hand through all that garbage took the idol out and brought her home. There was also a shiny garland that I found in the same dust bin. Saraswathi, adorned with that garland, also occupied a place in my dolls’ display section!

I would say the Ganapathi festival, was an all time favorite of mine. I had heard from elders that if one manages to see 108 Ganapathi idols on that festival day, it was a blessing in disguise; a very auspicious sight. I used to set off with my friends to 108 houses showing off my Jarilanga and jewels. Standing in front of every house, irrespective of whether we knew them or not, we used to shout…ree, ganesha koorsiddeeraa?( hello, have u kept an idol of ganesha??)..If they said “Yes” we would jump with happiness, not because they had kept a Ganesha there, but so that we would definitely get sweets to eat.. ha ha ha:)… what a life!.. Simple, innocent,. Will it ever come back I wonder!

During my middle school years, my Amma used to take me to Rama Mandira temple nearby my house mainly to attend Carnatic music concerts, during the festival seasons…. especially..Ramanavami; Ganesha chaturthi; Narasimha jayanthi. Before the concerts began, I would go and pay a visit to all gods there, have Panchamritham as prasadam and then sit and listen to the kutcheri. I used to love that Panchamritham..made of Banana, milk, ghee, sugar and honey!.. What a combo!. I often heard great stalwarts like MLV, Balamuralikrishna, Bombay sisters, Madurai somu, Flute Ramani; and so on…….

Then during high school, I don’t remember any close contact with God except that I used to learn few compositions in praise of God. I used to sit and watch in awe as my teacher Usha Datar practiced and performed different leelas of God. All looked so real. She had tiny eyes which were very powerful n expressive!

Also, that age in particular was meant for questioning. Questioning the existence of God; questioning every thing happening around us. I used to have long fights or conversations with my Grandpa (my mother’s father), who was a staunch Sri Vaishnava!. Sri Vaishnavas believe that Lord Vishnu is the ultimate god and all others are nowhere near his caliber. My Taatha never even used to step into Ganesha temple leave alone Shiva and other gods!.. I used to get mad at him. For me, all gods were same. There was only one God or Supreme Being or super power that we used to address by different names. But when ever Tata saw me performing dances on Shiva or any songs on Saraswathi, his face used to beam with joy. He used to call me Natyasaraswathi..!! When ever I performed, I used to just enjoy performing. I really didn’t know whether God existed. But I used to act as though he existed. Slowly as more and more experience I gained in performing, I really started feeling the power of Supreme, but still the question of his existence was always at the back of my mind. But the moment I was on stage, the story would be different!! God used to be my child; my friend; my lover; my guide; He took different forms!

Well. I had lot of disagreements with my father too. Many questions like where is God; why can’t we see God; Why should we worship; Why should we chant; what is the meaning of these chants; what is the meaning and purpose behind celebrating festivals; and so on.. All these questions were unanswered. Only thing was - Do what elders say!. I completely protested. Every festival, there used to be big arguments going on; I always ended up in crying; Slowly, I started hating those festival days and even later in my life, I didn’t really feel like celebrating any of those. Now, for me, receiving guests at home is like a celebration....fun of being together; chatting together; doing things together; This was the purpose behind every festival I guess – lovely family re - union, which elders couldn’t put it across to us properly. In the name of God, a good family re union!. So much fun! Isn’t it?!

In the mean time, I had strong disbelief in few customs like.. Girls during their menstruation shouldn’t visit temple, should not attend auspicious occasions, should not light the lamp and so on.. Why? Did God come down and gave instructions like that!. God would never do that. I realized it was sheer due to hygiene reasons; our people from the past have put down these rules. But now, you are in a better world. Better hygiene is followed. So, I never had two thoughts to go to temple or attend any religious functions. In fact, I had to perform in a temple one such time and the priest took me directly into the Sanctum Sanctorum!. God didn’t say anything. In fact, I feel He was very happy after the performance and hence decided to bring me all the way into the Sanctum sanctorum!

Well, as I stepped into college for my graduation, my faith in HIM became strong. Probably I was in a relationship with my dear hubby!! Ha ha:). Probably, I wanted the relationship be strong and end in marriage. Whatever the reason, I started bribing Lord Ganesha with regular weekly visits to Rama mandira temple and daily prayers! Naturally, He seemed to be very pleased and granted all my wishes. Got married, had baby; settled down happily; lot of performances; traveling; bought house and very conveniently I forgot my God amidst family tensions and pressures of demanding life. I used to light the lamp only when I felt like. My feelings had changed.. One should not pray only when one is in trouble; one should not light the lamp when one is not in good mood; one should not keep asking god for more and more things in life; and so on…

Life went on until one day I was down with Chikunguniya in 2005 which turned my whole life and routine upside down; that was turning point once again in my life. As I could not fight the disease for almost 8 months, I joined yoga therapy for two weeks at Vivekenanda yoga ashram, Jigani, near Bangalore. Daily, the day used to begin with wonderful morning prayers; Bhagavadgita chantings; yoga sessions; Lectures on Gita and life; True meaning of rituals, sacrifices; pooja; festivals; were explained. It was heavenly. Bhagavadgita was such an eye opener. I was highly inspired. India truly has a rich cultural heritage but sad that somewhere down the line, all significance behind the religious activities had been misinterpreted and misled by unwanted elements.

Hmm.. In the mean while, I had stopped performing. But I continued teaching. Later, trekking and mountaineering occupied my life completely. I enjoyed every moment in the nature. Whether it was Sahyadris or in Himalayas, Nature was awesome and its grandeur was overwhelming! At times, I felt the power of God all over again. I started to live. Slowly I found my passion in dance crawling in my mind. In fact, God came in my dreams and yelled at me – “Seen enough of your stubbornness Indira. It is high time you started dancing. Wake up!” … Life was beautiful again!

Oh! I forgot to mention that I had struck a deal with Tirupathi Balaji a decade back when I bought a house that I would visit him every year. But due to various reasons, I could not make it. I also gave my own reasons for it. God is everywhere. He is in my heart too. He is in my work that I do. So, work is like worship and bla bla bla… But a few weeks back, I got to visit Tirupathi to attend Ram’s concert. We had good Darshanam. The moment I was in the temple premises, my mouth started chanting his Holy name..Om Sri. Venkateshaya namaha!..My mind suddenly stopped working and it said..Hello Indira, why chant only the name of Venkatesha. Poor women! Rich Lakshmi is there too!. So, I started chanting her name!. In few minutes, I was there right in front of Lord. My mom in my younger days had taught me not to ask anything from HIM but thank him. But I had my own conversation with HIM that day.. …………..“Oh god. Let everyone be happy. Let all have great health and be peaceful; Thanks for whatever you have given me in this life; But very sorry that I didn’t visit you every year as I had promised…Hold on!.. one sec.. Why should I tell sorry for not visiting you.. Who said I am not thinking of you. Of course, I have taken so much pain and trouble two to four days in a month to see you in the form of nature during treks. I slog; I sweat; I take so much pain; So, no sorry.. In fact I am going to Himalayas for my advance mountaineering course in few days time. So, you better bless me with strength and courage. After all I am coming to see you only carrying 20 kilo loads on my back; trekking steep hills; confronting extreme temperature!!!!!!...love you GOD. Take care..M u a hhhhhh J “

Well, this is my God. All of us have our own God; our own beliefs; our own faith; our own relationship with HIM. What ever it is, God is fun to converse with… only one way conversation!! God in the form of child; in the form of friend; in the form of teacher; in the form of nature; in the form of work… Why other places!?...He is right there with in us too.. All of us certainly have some good qualities. We just need to recognize that. That goodness inside each one of us is Godliness.. Isn’t it?!! ..But we fail to recognize it especially if one is our spouse …ha ha ha ha…….

SOMAPANA, The divine drink !!

2010-09-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

SOMAPANA – The Divine Drink !!

Mythology says - Deeply drinking the Somapana (a holy drink) of your grace we have become deathless. We have reached the ultimate. We have seen the devas. Who can cause any harm to us? We humans do not have any shortage of that nectar (your grace). 3-2..Atharvasiras Upanishad…

Ayurveda says -Somapana – Drinking warm water (roughly 200 to 400 ml) early in the morning before intake or any other food or drink, cleans the entire digestive system. This helps one solve the problem of constipation….

A blog says -Soon we may find bottled Somapana in all liquor shops and cow-urine in all medical shops and you can bring back your glorious days….

Well, I happened to read this online about this exquisite drink –

Ethanol is called ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol or pure alcohol or drinking alcohol or simply alcohol or spirits. It is psychoactive and imparts intoxication to the consumer, commonly referred to as “high”. It is one of the oldest recreational drugs (referred to as soma pana in Vedic times). Ethanol has a formula C₂H₅OH and has a linear structure CH₃CH₂OH. Its structural formula …:….

Oh oh oh!!.....Let me stop at this..

Well… coming to the point....

This blog is about my friend whom I know for so many years. It is about his drinking habits as the name suggests. I ask him one day why he drinks. Here are the reasons that he gave on several occasions

Very happy today..so

Not feeling great today..so

I didn’t like the way the boss spoke to me..so..

Boss agreed to my ideas…so…

All Friends got together..so..

Feeling lonely ..so..

I got promotion …so..

I am not even recognized…so..

I am happy my kids are doing well…so..

I don’t know how to handle my kids..so…

After a long time, meeting all my cousins…so..

I don’t know when I am meeting them next….so….

Work was hectic today. Need to unwind.. so…

Came home early today.. thought I will chill out…so..

My wife is in good mood.. so…

My wife is growling… so..

Today its my wedding day.. so..

Today it’s my wife birthday.. so..

My wife going on a official tour for a month.. so…

My wife is back today!.. so..

Weather is so hot and unbearable..so..

It’s quite cold….so…

I am feeling good after a great work out.. so.

I am not feeling well.. so..

Had a long trek.. tired..I want to sleep well… so…

just felt like ..so

This is my last time..so..

My friends forced me.. so..

I envy people who drink. At least they have something to blame everything on." Oscar Levant.. ha ha ha

Ayyo…ayyo..ayoyoyo…... so much of excuses to drink?!...

Well, I think He is a drunkard…certainly!

Is he addicted? !! .. He says he is NOT.. ….!!!!!!

I am in fact very disturbed by my friend’s take on drinks. Imagine about his family. How much they would be disturbed. Has he thought about his health, his family, his parents, , ,.?……. First the man takes a drink; then the drink takes a drink; then the drink takes the man…………How true!

What values are we teaching our next generation? Are we teaching them that its alright to drink..or .It is good to drink…or it is fun to drink… or If you have problems in life, get the support of a drink or U can drink and still be good being.. or I can drink but you shouldn’t drink…where are we heading to?!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... What if the kids become a complete drug addict? Will we have face to tell them that it is WRONG to drink!!.. If we say, Will they LISTEN?!...what’s their FUTURE then?!...What a shame!.. Is the human being so weak that he cannot take control of his addictions, his actions, his emotions… ?!

There are some people who say it is better to initiate children at home rather than the children exploring outside without their knowledge!. What logic is this!! And also there we have a sect of people who think it’s cool to drink and it’s cool to create havoc at home or on roads and not just that but also make fun of the Teetotalers. I think it needs lot of guts and lot of courage to get up and say to say NO to Drinks. I admire and respect these Teetotalers.

Satya saibaba says “IF the parent is a drunkard, a gambler and a cheat, no amount of textbook ethics can cure the sons. I like children and the young innocence. I will not allow them to be blamed. The fault lies wholly on the shoulders of the elders, the parents, and the leaders who shape the norms which they imbibe.”

A lot to think for myself too….it’s high time we pull up our sleeves and clean ourselves first. First comes commitment to the family and then comes commitments to the society.

If one has problems in life, one should not get addicted to the lower things instead get addicted to the higher things in life – Jog, work out, go to temples, go to beach, go for treks, meet friends,....common... live your passions!!….do anything but don’t drink. Drinking is a suicide.

Here are some quotes:

The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity – Unknown author

Pleasure which must be enjoyed at the expense of another's pain, can never be enjoyed by a worthy mind. Pleasure's couch is virtues grave…. Augustine Duggane

To see what is right and not to do it, is want of Courage -- Confucias

You own yourself, so if you want to do something that destroys yourself, go ahead. Just don't harm others when you do… Jim Goebel

Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God…Marguerite Duras

People who drink to drown their sorrow should be told that sorrow knows how to swim…Ann

Alcoholism isn't a spectator sport. Eventually the whole family gets to play…Joyce Rebeta

Alcohol impairs calcium absorption by affecting the liver's ability to activate vitamin D. Vitamin D is important in the metabolism of calcium. The more alcohol you drink, the more you hinder your body's ability to build up and maintain healthy bones…Harvey, Marilyn Diamond

I come from a family that had an alcoholic and a binge drinker in it. It took many years for me to overcome the flashbacks from my childhood. I lived it. I know the truth. Drinking has no place in the home….Duane Alan Hahn

SAY NO TO DRINKS.....................................................

202 - not out !!

2010-09-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

202 - not out! .. 202!..What’s that?!.. Just a number? Hmm.. na.. .then, what? ..Well… let me begin..

Suzanne, 32 year old fit and smart young and tall well built lady, who happened to be my instructor at the basic mountaineering course came over to Chennai to do a bicycle ride from Chennai to Pondicherry along with a guy called Veeresh, whom she had met in Himachal during mountain biking. I was dumb struck..wow!.. Cycling all the way to pondy?.. Oh man!..I never heard about that. She had guts!!.. I was fortunate to host her in chennai. I got to meet Veeresh too.. Till I met them I never knew, that Bikes cost go up to 2 lakhs!!. Mad I thought!. Both of them took off to Pondy in their awesome road bikes. Next day, Veeresh came back alone from Pondy by bus and dropped his bike at my place. First thing he told…Oh god..”Yeendree..Indra, Avalu ondhu raakshasi!!”..(kannada: Indra, that women is a devil)!!..I thought they had some problem in between n fought or something like that. Then he said..ayyo..nothing like that..no fights..She is a super rider. She just zipped off to Pondy just like that!!.. What amazing stamina!, cool:)

Later, He told that he will keep his bike with me for few days and I could try it for a Mahabalipuram ride that was coming up in the following week end. Me to Mahabs!!.. No way. Last I rode my cycle was in my college days 5 to 6 kms and it was 24 yrs back!. I thought I would just try for fun. I convinced my husband to ride along telling him that there would be a support van coming along just in case if we are not able to ride. My son joined the ride looking forward to the breakfast at GRT,Mahabs. So, there we were!. Three of us were exploring cycling to Mahabs. I thought I could do only 10 to 15 kms maximum..But I did 45 kms in my first ride1..We took our own sweet time to reach..I took 3 ½ hours. After that, I got a hang for it. Cycle was still with me. I went for two night rides (35 kms), early morning rides ( 30 – 35 kms) with Chennai bikers and Tamilnadu cycling club. I cycled regularly as part of my training to do my advance mountaineering course.

After I got back from mountaineering course, I wanted to buy a Cycle. Vibhaker helped me to choose one from Suresh’s shop. Suresh really wanted me to buy Cannondale or Bianchi. I told him that cycling for me is just to exercise boss. I would do 30 kms maximum per day and it is good enough.. That’s it. I don’t plan to do long distance at all. Also, I cannot afford those two high end cycles right now. I settled for Shwinn Sporterra, red and white Hybrid model. Later, I bought accessories for it – Front light, backlight, Pouch, tool kit, wireless cyclometer, Air Pump, cycling shorts, number lock, well.. Apart from cycle, accessories came up to ten thousand bucks. I was very happy with my Shwinn. I bought one more Shwinn MTB for my husband and son. Sitting on new bike and riding along East coast road was such a fun. Cycling, meeting new friends, talking, having breakfast at Arusuvai was total relaxation on week ends. I did 2 to 3 sixty kms ride and one 70 km on ECR. I was planning to do Mahabs and back. That means around 90 kms. Finally Murthy announced a ride in TNCC mail..

12th September

Hi, There are two options for the Chennai Pondicherry Chennai Ride 200 / 300 Kms
1. Start - Madhyakailash- GST road - Thindivanam (116 Km) - Pondicherry - ECR - Madhyakailash - Distance ( 300 Kms ) - Start Time : 4.00 am Ride Time : 12 hours.

2. Start ECR Toll Uthandi - ECR Toll Pondicherry - ECR Toll Uthandi
Distance (200 Kms ) Start Time : 4.00 am Ride Time :8 hours max

Regards
Murthy

Well, I didn’t even bother to have a second look at this as I knew this was not my cup of Tea. But then one more letter came.

14th September,
Hi,
Those who want to do shorter distance can start along at the same time with the group and loop back from either Scenic View point ( 60 Kms) or Mahabalipuram ( 85 Kms) . Please update your details in the spread sheet accordingly.
Regards
Murthy

Wow..This sounds good.. From 70 kms , now I could jump to 85 kms. I registered for it. On 16th September, I met Venkat online on facebook.
Venkat - Hey, joining us for pondy?
Indira – no way.. Doing Mahabs first. Try to get 100 and then think of pondy.
Venkat – common, u have A grade in mountaineering. I am confident. u can do.
Indira – I think I can but I can’t ride along with murthy and vibha who just zoom off, If I do at my pace, I think I can. But I don’t want to pull down the whole group. So, next time. Also, Murthy has mentioned in his letter “The ride is a long distance endurance ride, it would be better if you have done over 100kms in a day previously, so that the group stays together.”
Venkat – No. U can. I will pick u at 3.30am on 18th. We will do it
Indira – hmm.. yes.. no ..yes.. no…well..OK !! .. See ya

On 17th evening, I took my bike to near by cycle shop and got it checked and fixed wireless cyclometer to it. Bought few energy bars; Filled water in camel bag; Kept some enerzal; During this whole process of preparation, my mind kept telling – go till Mahabs with them Indira and come back. Don’t break your head too much.. That night, I could not sleep at all.

I had to get up at 3am on 18th. I made a pair of cheese sandwiches and packed it. I had a glass of milk and banana. I was out near the gate with my cycle at 3.30 sharp..No sign of Venkat even till 3.40. Oh good. I can go back to sleep I thought. He wasn’t picking up his phone too. By, 3.45, Venkat turned up and we removed the front wheel and pushed our bikes in his car and zoomed off to ECR toll in 15 minutes. Vibha and Murthy were waiting there at toll. I guess they were surprised to see me!.. When I saw Murthy’s face, First thing I noticed was his e mail words started dancing in front of my eyes like Taare zameem par “The ride is a long distance endurance ride, it would be better if you have done over 100kms in a day previously, so that the group stays together.”
Ha ha:)..i couldn’t help laughing at myself.

At 4.20am, four of us started. It was pretty dark. Head lights were on. Back lights were flashing. Till 6am, my legs were just on the pedals. Nothing to look around. Good in one way. You don’t know where you are. Just keep cycling or else, mind keeps thinking - ayyo, we are still at MGM? Still at crocodile bank?.. Traffic was quite less. On and off, we could see some buses, trucks, cars and bikes passing by. Good. my eyes started seeing things at the sunrise. We had just passed Mahabs. That was 26 kms then. Around 6.30 am, we stopped for Tea break – 15 minutes and started our journey. Weather was simply superb. I wished it would be like that through out the day. Even at 7.30, there was no sign of sun coming out .He was happily behind the clouds. Good for him. Good for us.. It looked like it had rained previous night. It was cool. Head winds were there which made it bit difficult.

Journey was excellent. Riding along the lovely sea coast, along side backwaters, the smell of wet mud, the green and golden brown lush paddy fields, people walking and cycling, the sound of the bells around the cattle’s neck, grey temple to the back drop of these paddy fields, Bright yellow temple and black goats standing one behind the other in the back drop of back waters; sound of the divine vedic chants coming out of temple; fishing boats n nets, Birds chirping; Magical view of the sea from the bridge at Mudaliar kuppam, the colorful statues of Village deities surrounded by beautiful long coconut trees; kids waving their hands; lovely birds sitting on electrical poles; hot tea steaming off road side shops; sound of the wind blowing all along; Journey was indeed beautiful, colorful and good feast to the ears too.

We broke for lunch at Hotel Mid way, We had traveled 75 kms by then.. I had good Masala Dosa and ginger tea. Others had pongal and idli vada. It was a wise choice. They need not remove gloves nor wash their hands. Just have it in spoon. Hmm. Things to learn. I stretched for some time and filled up my camel bag and bottle of electrol. We got ready to hit pondy toll which was 25 kms away. All along the way, I kept seeing those fast moving white and green AC buses which read ECR. My mind was filled with happiness” yes!!!!!! ..This is the bus I am going to take on my way back from pondy toll..yayyyy Vibha and Murthy were always ahead of venkat and me. Poor venkat was caught up with me. Well. That was the risk he took..haha:)

Finally we reached Pondy toll at 9.40 am..yayyy!!! That was my first 100 ! !!..Vibhas reading showed 100.5 kms and Venkat’s readings showed 102 kms !!.. What ever, it was above 100 !!..ha ha..I.called my husband and then my brother and shared this happy news. We all had good coconut water. Then, My eyes started looking for those white and green AC buses!..But voices around me said – you are coming back Indira with us cycling to Chennai!..we will not allow you to board the bus. Buses won’t stop here. They wont allow cycles… ayyyoooooooo.. NO. I screamed.. gg rrrr….Buses do stop. Buses do take cycles on their top. I aimed at 100. I have done it.. So, let’s see next time :).. Vibha, murthy and venkat again – Common Indira, you will never get this opportunity like this. Who can do 200 in first shot itself without doing 100...common..U can do it . Weather is cool. Jus do it!...

Ok I said..But, on one condition!!. Murthy and Vibha are going to be behind me. They agreed. But after 2 kms, as usual they were some where They just zoomed….Hmm.. Well Venkat and myself had good enjoyable ride too though a bit slow. No issues. In long distance, Endurance is important. It was my first attempt too. I couldn’t help but laugh thinking of Murthy’s e mail “The ride is a long distance endurance ride, it would be better if you have done over 100 kms in a day previously, so that the group stays together.”

Well. Murthy is a very nice person but doesn’t want to stop or take breaks anywhere. His favorite lines – let’s go let’s go!! He is experienced and encouraging too.Vibhaker is a total professional. He was a national champion for several years. This Feb, He is taking part in an International event. And I can’t thank Venkat enough for inspiring me and being with me through out the journey putting breaks on his legs !

Well.. My journey towards 200 began! My mind told.. Indira, take a break at Hotel Mid way, drink something and take a bus and go back to Chennai. Yes. . I am going to do that. Well.. After an hour, as planned we had a stop over at the Hotel, we refilled bottles and my mind was now in a fix.. Do it Indira.. NO..just hop on a bus indira.. Ayyo.. Finally, I thought I will do it but take one step at a time. I am going to aim at only 25 kms at a time. Yes. That’s it. But this break here made my fingers go a bit numb. My knee was hurting a bit but the pain in the butt was not just a pain in the butt but was really a pain in the butt! GG rrrrrrr.. Next stop was for Tea after 25 kms. But Mr.Venkat who had gone ahead forgot to see the Tea shop and just went ahead. So, three of us had to blindly go behind him without a break.

The stretch between 125 kms and 175 kms was killing. My cardio was perfect. But for that Butt!!! ..well. The smiles given by those village women were quite encouraging. But there were few boys who were also cycling. They were in their school uniforms. Looked like typical teenage boys. Full show offJ Sometimes they used to over take me and turn back and grin at me. Then, they kept teasing.. Hello.. Where are u going? Very nice cycle.. and so on. I asked them” hey!.. What are you guys studying? They replied. 9th.and other 10th.. I said” wow. Really!.. That’s nice. Even my son is in 9th now”. They were dumb stuck. They were speechless for sometime…They just said.. Super auntie. Byeee.and went off.:)..ha ha :)

Apart from nice things that I saw, I was sad to see so many little creatures dead on road side. A tiny little snake, a little bird, squirrels, Dogs.. All of them run over by speeding vehicles. Life goes on. Nothing can be done I guess. But, especially, when the dog is on the road, either dog dies or we die. They are so unpredictable creatures when they are on road but at home, they are the most trustworthy.

Everything was an experience to cherish. Only thing I disliked in the whole journey was the sight of that White and green AC bus…GGrrrrrrr.. It kept reminding me of the distance that I need to cycle to Chennai and my speed and time taken.. and my unfulfilled dream of getting into that bus!

Finally, it was lovely to reach Mahabalipuram bypass and we stopped for lunch in a road side small shop. It was 2.30 by then. We had hot rotis and dal. Then, we drank good butter milk. Three of them started their conversation...Hey indira, this is a record. No women as of we know here has done 200 km in one day. We are very happy and proud of you..!.... Wow!..really!..I was jumping with joy. I never knew it nor planned for it. Whether they just told that to encourage me or whether it was really true, that’s not the point. I was in cloud 9. I sent a message to my close friends telling about my feat.I was happy for my efforts. Each time I am learning new lessons. This time, I learnt that one can achieve anything but one has to put their mind into it. Lesson learnt from my advance mountaineering – Take one step at a time. Live in the present.

Then, I refilled my camel back with cold water and here we were in last leg of our 200 km journey – 25 kms more to go..yayy!!..I had got back the energy.. I was feeling good and excited to. Three of them just took off. As I was cycling, I realized, Cycle was not moving at all. I was sure I had lot of power. But then I thought probably my mind is thinking so and my body is weak. All of a sudden, The road seemed to be going upwards!. Something was wrong.. I just bent down to see that tire had got punctured..Ha aha haJ.. Thankfully, three of them were waiting for me little ahead.. Murthy said that I need to go by bus.. Ayyo..my plans of finishing 200! Gone! ??...No way. Mountaineers never give up so easily.

Each one of us had different bikes. Murthy had Road bike. Vibha had MTB, and Venkat had Hybrid. That’s good. My cycle is Hybrid too!!. I requested Venkat to give me the spare tube. Finally Murthy and Venkat fixed my cycle. Now, It felt right. Road was not upwards, It was straight. My body was not weak. It was energetic. So, now I was all set to do the remaining 18 kms at one go. It was a familiar route. I knew exactly when the ECR toll would come. Wow. My happiness knew no bounds. There..5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. I hit 200 + kms!!...But then what’s 202 ??!..That’s the average taken from Vibhas and Venkat’s cyclometer.! One reading showed 201 and other showed 203.!!

Yay…my 202 !!.. Thanks a lot Venkat, Vibha, and Murthy for giving me this wonderful experience…One second please...wait.... I see a mail here on FB.. Venkat says he is doing 300 and counting me for that!.. Hello venkat!!! …NOOOOOO… that’s it.. I enjoyed 202 ! and Iam not out!...but, for now not a km more!! Ha ha ha..

Advance Mountaineering Course

2010-06-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

First All women summit of Rudragaira!

Rudragaira peak - 5219 M (19091 feet)

Credits:

• Course at: Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.
• Course sponsor : T.V.Ramprasadh
• Northface Backpack : Nita and Girish
• High altitude Black diamond gloves: Raghunandan Mudre
• Air tickets: Shreesha Kadambi
• Best wishes: Family and friends
• Thanks for my son Vishnu for wishing me silently to get out of the house
• Rope Instructor : Raju Sahi
• Other Instructors : Girish Rana Koti, Dasharath, Mastaan Bhandari
• Guest Instructor: Sujai from Hyderabad
• Inspiration: Chewang Norbu (C sir) – My god in mountaineering!
• Advance course trainees: 19
• Basic course trainees: 54
• Aim: To learn advance mountaineering techniques and summit Gangotri -3 (6557 M).. But due to bad weather, location was changed to Rudragaira peak. 5819 M. Summited Rudragaira peak; Coordinates: 30°55'56"N - 78°49'57"E.- 19091 ft. This is on record – First all women ascent to Rudragaira peak on 17th June 2010 !!!!
• Photos : Archana Thakur, Krithika Bharadwaj

"The bizarre trend in mountaineers is not the risk they take, but the large degree to which they value life. They are not crazy because they don't dare, they're crazy because they do. These people tend to enjoy life to the fullest, laugh the hardest, travel the most, and work the least." — Lisa Morgan

( But I don’t agree with the last one..work the least )

Well, a month after completing the basic course, I got an offer to join an expedition to Kamet, 2nd highest peak in India. I sent my profile and as I was gearing up for it, I got a letter from N I M too regarding the admission for Advance mountaineering course. My confused mind finally decided to upgrade skills in mountaineering and I enrolled for the advanced course at N I M again, after going through all necessary medical checkups. I had 4 months to prepare.

In the mean time, I went for a 2 day trek with CTC to Kodaikanal and had a bad knee problem. So, I changed my training accordingly. I decided not to go for jogging this time. Instead, I started with 3 days a week of Yoga, 2 to 3 days a week - cycling, and 3 days a week weight training. Everything was going smooth. I was happy with my training schedule until one day….. I thought..”hey Indira, u r doing good so far..just take one week break and relax..” So, after 2 – 3 days, I thought, anyway I am relaxing. So, why not go for a good massage and then relax.

So here I was at Sanjeevanam, a Kerala based Ayurvedic massage centre. Got a good synchronized massage with a strange mix of some Gingely oil and lavender oil....lol...
If I mention this to any Ayurvedic doctor, they will have a good laugh I guess.

God knows what this strange mix did to me. Firstly, it was hot summer, secondly, I decide to get a hot oil massage and third but not the least I decide to get a steam bath!. I did.. Result was I felt dizzy and soon was on the floor. My hands started getting stiffer and stiffer. Slowly I could feel abdomen muscles and heart muscle getting stiff. My speech went slur. All I could remember was to give them my husband’s number and call him immediately. Poor Ram was there in half hour. Still my hands were stiff. Doctor didn’t know what to do. I just got into my car and Ram drove me to the nearest hospital where I got treated in emergency ward. Neck X ray, brain scan, Blood test,….everything was done. All seem to be fine and normal. But what went wrong?!.. Neck X ray suggested that I have degeneration in C5- C6. Doctor advised that I should not carry weights any more. I need 2 months of rest from all activities!.. So, I decided to cancel the advanced course this time and took good rest for few days. But deep inside, I really wanted to know the reason for my muscle stiffness. Hence, I decided to meet my good old Doctor Kannan, a well known sports physiotherapist. As I kept narrating the symptoms, he told me it’s nothing serious. It is a severe de-hydration problem!. I was bit relieved. He told me to undergo few days of physiotherapy and rehabilitation and I will be all set to go for the course. My whole body felt so sore. Right from neck, shoulder, lower back, hip muscles, hamstring,…lol… But after ten sessions with him, all seemed to be fine and I started packing. This time, I was not that keen. I don’t know why. I kept telling Ram..”hey..please tell me not to go and I will stay back”! ..ha ha;) But Ram insisted that I should do the course; that will make him proud!; and of course he will get one more month of Freedom!!

Finally, I left on 24th May from Bangalore to New Delhi. Stayed at my dear friend Madhura in New Delhi and enjoyed her wonderful hospitality. On 25th, I along with Archana and others took Mussorie Express to Hrishikesh and a taxi to Uttarkashi. We reached NIM around 2.30 in the noon on 26th of May. We kept our bags in our rooms that were allotted to us and went to have tea. It was so nice to see some really super fit girls. My heart sank.”Indira, fatty..look! ..How much these girls have trained and come. You think you will be able to do the course..” I just wanted to get back to Chennai. But somehow consoled myself telling” ok..fine..I am going to take each session as it comes. I am not going to think of tomorrow at all”. I started to live in the present totally. As I walked across the campus, I read beautiful lines: “We always over estimate the strength of others and under estimate ours”.. I got some courage and decided, I will do the course and I can.

There was not much difference in basic and advance training except that it was more technical. Lot of importance was given on overall fitness, strengthening of shoulders, aid climbing, Jumaring in overhanging rocks, use of Chest Croll, Double ice axe climbing on vertical glaciers, use of mini traction while traversing, crevasse crossing, etc., Weather and First aid was studied in depth. Introduction to GPS was given. It was quite exhaustive. But fun too. Our main project was to do an Expedition planning which was fun and we had a written test too at the end of the course.

Initially, we spent first four days in Tekhla, rock climbing area learning advance techniques in rock climbing - we learnt Bouldering, Aid climbing using Etrier; Rappelling; Belaying; use of Friend/ Chock/ Jumar in vertical climbing, overhanging rocks; Use of short slings and long slings in absence of other equipments; ….

Next 18 days was in Gangotri area – Rudragaira Glacier learning Ice and Snow craft.

The Expedition/ training :

Day 1, 2, 3 – Left Uttarkashi; 5 hours drive; reached the camp at Gangotri, 3080 M. Acclimatization…visiting temple at Gangotri….. shopping.

Day ,4, 5, 6 – Killing.., steep ascent with 20 kilos of load on our backs; Avalanche prone area; slippery trails; height gain was a little too much for the first day – 3010m to 4280m; Many fell sick and at least 20 trainees got back due to AMS(acute mountain sickness) and HAPO too (High altitude pulmonary oedema). This was our intermediate camp; we could see the peak Jogin; Heavy snow fall up to 2 feet; Our move to base camp was halted; Whole night kept ourselves busy cleaning the tent so that snow doesn’t accumulate;

Day 7 – Load ferrying to base camp..4280 M

Day 8 – March to base camp; pitched tents; lectures on weather, first aid; etc …..could hear Avalanche happening nearby!

Day 9,10, 11– Training on the glacier wall – revision of basic techniques, Aid climbing, two piton base climbing, tip toe climbing + climbing using double ice axe..; lectures and demonstrations; work on expedition planning project;

Day 12, 13 – Snow craft – Toe kicking, Side stepping, heel kicking; Glissading; Different types of belaying; Ice axe retrieval; Crevasse crossing; Rescue techniques in crevasse using C pulley and Z pulley; detecting avalanche prone area; lecture on avalanche rescue using DTS;

Day 14 – March to Summit camp 4920 M.. Load was bit less; But few parts were very steep; bad weather made it difficult too. One mess tent, 5 three men tent were pitched along with 3 more tents for instructors. Amidst cold wind & bad weather, the best moments were having tea and snacks inside mess tent along with all instructors. Each group had to cook Maggie (training to cook in high altitude). One had a lovely 360 deg view of mountains Manda1, Manda 2, Brighupanth, Jogin on one side and on the other side, we saw Gangotri massif shining gold in the sunset time;

Day 15 – 17th June 2010…3.30am – Had porridge; quickly got ready for the D day! – The Summit day!.. The Summit of Rudragaira peak..5819 M; First group left at 4. They opened the route. We, the second group left half hour later; quite windy; temp sub zero; 2 to 5 feet of snow; 7 layered clothing – 3 T shirts, 1 sweater; 1 light jacket; 1 feather jacket; 1 wind proof jacket and trouser; gaiters, snow boots were on; helmet + all technical gears including ice axe and rope, which are the life line of a mountaineer and of course packed breakfast; one litre of electrol…

Few fit ones marching ahead; few found it difficult to breathe and were slow.. heavy snow; steep climb – almost 70 degree gradient. At patches, the steps made on snow by the first batch of trainees were very large and short people found difficult to climb; difficult to break it and make new steps; for sometime we used the fixed rope climbing technique. We could hear girls panting and exhausted… 2 to 3 gave up. The first batch summitted, clicked photos with the Indian flag and began descent. The second batch were trying hard fighting bad weather which crept in. The last stretch was the killer; few of us left our back pack at a safe place and started our final leg. I was dehydrated but held my water bottle tight and kept moving at a snail’s pace. Weather turned bad; white out for a short while. We could hear instructors shouting… “move back”. But few of us didn’t want to give it up; we didn’t know when we were going to come back to the Himalayas again. Even if we do, whether we would summit any peaks?? We motivated each other and… Finally we made it around 9.25 AM !!!!; click.. click.. click in all angles with Indian flag!!; what a proud moment it was!!
"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb." — Greg Child.

Hardly 5 minutes on the top of the peak and we started descending down; As I kept walking down the snow peak , I realized, it was never ending..1 hour; 2 hours...3 hours….shucks!! – Did we climb so high!? ..It never felt that way!!!...exhausted……
"Getting to the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory." — Ed Viesturs.

Hmm..I landed finally in summit camp to a wonderful applause by other friends/ instructors – grabbed 4 mugs of juice and picked up my back pack and started towards base camp!!!...It was a total 13 hour non stop hike from Summit camp to summit and back to Base camp. I was totally drained when I reached the base camp; But what a welcome for us at the Base camp, from the basic course trainees and all other instructors; kitchen staff and porters; Grand welcome!!!!!!!!; lot of cheers, hand shakes… I was overwhelmed. I cried hugging my instructor….It was a wonderful feeling;
"What is hard to endure is sweet to remember" …isn’t it?!

Day 16 – Navigation test using GPS, winding up of base camp… packing backpacks to move back to Gangotri.

Day 17 – Nonstop march towards Gangotri camp; it took us 6 hours to reach, followed by lunch and feed back session.

Day 18 – Back to N I M, Uttarkashi….written test…valedictory function practice….relaxing…

The weather was quite pleasant when we got back… no more sweaters! Skin was tanned a lot ! Lips were bad too….could not eat anything spicy. Some had chill blains, injury to toes and fingers due to exposure to extreme cold. By God’s grace, I came back with surprising fitness; my knee was in perfect shape and so as my back and neck. Later in the day, we had to clean and return all our equipments. We then got busy with the graduation ceremony rehearsals and finally on 22nd June, the stage was ready for us to receive the Badge from our chief guest Chandraprabha Aitwal!! She was the lady who had inspired me to do the mountaineering course and to receive the badge from her was such an honor. We had tea and a photo session with her.

In the evening we had cultural programs planned. I took two hours to get ready..make up; costume…I performed for ten minutes. It was very satisfying as it was the least that I could give for my Instructors; Principal; Chandra didi and Chewang sir. Later we had a lovely dinner with the chief guests, packed our backpacks, cleaned our rooms and slept.

Next day, by 6 AM we were ready to leave after bidding good bye to all our friends, instructors and it was sad to take leave of C sir, my inspiration!. C sir, a very humble gentleman; a true mountaineer; a great teacher; a great human being, who every mountaineer should meet!

Back in Chennai..I have LAS…low altitude sickness..ha ha!!!..lazy to wake up; boring to cook; brushing/bathing everyday! …indulging in varieties of food; chatting online;…not fit for city life anymore!!....Now, waiting for the certificate and depending on the grade, I will plan for the next course..ha ha… na..na..no way..! … This is how I am feeling at present.. After few weeks, who knows what’s in store for me?. I may be back in mountains!!!! "The Himalayas are heaven for the hardcore trekkers"

"To those who have struggled with them, the mountains reveal beauties that they will not disclose to those who make no effort. That is the reward the mountains give to effort. And it is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly to those who will wrestle with them that men love the mountains and go back to them again and again. The mountains reserve their choice gifts for those who stand upon their summits."
— Sir. Francis Younghusband.

Advance Base Camp - Mountaineering course

2010-05-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

( in continuation ......http://indirakadambi.blogspot.com/2010/04/base-camp-mountaineering-course.html)

3rd November. Load ferry day. That means, we ferry few loads to advance base camp and get back to base camp on the same day. On previous day, we packed all things required for ABC. Load was bit heavy. The march was bit tiring. It took 3 ½ hours to reach ABC. The route was slippery. Lot of ice formations on rocks made it little tricky to walk. The water here and there was frozen. The cold breeze made us bit difficult to breathe comfortably. Nose was leaking all the time. Tissues were never enough. Head scarf came in handy sometime to blow the nose and to wipe the sweat too!. We didn’t have any choice. Location where the advance camp was held was splendid. All around us were lovely snow peaks, glaciers, and beautiful ice formations. We all put our things in a store tent, had tea and clicked few pictures and came back to base camp after spending half an hour there.

In the mean time, four girls were called for a meeting with Vice principal and few instructors. I was called too!. Initially, I was taken aback! What would be the reason for this meeting?. Well.. I was the oldest student. I knew Tamil, Hindi, and English. So, they needed me there for translation! Also, I could bridge the gap between the girls and instructors. These four girls had fitness issue. They weren’t coping that well with the training and weather too. So, they had to be pulled out of the course. It was such a sad moment for these girls. They were all mentally quite tough. But physically they were unable to match the fitness level. It was such a difficult situation for me. I felt like sandwiched between them and instructors. They were asked to stay back at base camp and not proceed to advance camp. We all felt very sad to leave them and go. But we had no choice.

Next one week, we had to be in ABC for snow craft training. On 4th Nov, we all marched towards the ABC, which was at a height of 14800 ft. That days lecture was on snow craft which covered various topics- Types of snow, types of snow climbing, and different types of descending in the snow, snow anchoring, belaying, Glissading;.. I was so very tired that day. I slept through out the lecture! Thank god I was wearing dark sun glasses and lecturers could not see what me eyes were up to!.

Late in the evening, we had lovely sunset. The weather was pretty cold. The tent lights were on. As it became darker and darker, the view of the white tents lit with dim lights to the backdrop of the dark sky looked awesome. At nights, temperature went to -5, to -7degress centigrade. I could see the spilled tea getting frozen in seconds!! I didn’t want to come out of tent even for food. If I had food, then I didn’t want to wash the plates. If I washed it, then hands would go numb in seconds and had to be given warm water treatment immediately. I wore two more layers of t shirts to keep myself warm. For toilet, we had to glide down a little patch of snow and walk few steps behind the rocks! I wished for an attached bathroom in the tent!

Our training area at ABC was an hour trek from the camp. We had to wear those big heavy snow boots weighing around 3 kilos and walk!. We literally had to lift up our feet one after another and walk. Felt very weird! And awkward too! We all looked like one cartoon characters – small feet with huge boots! Hmm.. The trail was quite a trek I should say. Trekking on slippery boulders with those shoes was quite irritating. Before the training started, we had to put the crampons and gaiters. The training area didn’t have sufficient snow. It was dry snow which was totally unfit to get trained in snow craft. It seems hard snows are the best for training and that could be seen only during the month of May, June or so. With the available resources, we learnt the art of snow craft. Suzanne made us practice different types of snow climbing- toe kicking, side stepping, alternate leg kicking, fixed rope climbing. Heel kicking, …While descending, we use heel kicking technique. It felt like Charlie Chaplin hiking down with his stick!

Snow craft training was for two days. After morning sessions, we used to get back to the camp for lunch time. In between, we had rope knot test too. It was nice to see different groups spread all over practicing the knots seriously. Instructors were helping too. For the test, we were made to tie the given knots in ten seconds perfectly!!. If one got the knot, he / she would have forgotten to put the safety knot or one would have tied different knot altogether, or one would tie it loose.. Whatever the reason, many couldn’t do it properly. It was fun watching all doing it in ten seconds time!. Instructors seemed to be having great fun at our cost. I enjoyed it too!

Nov 6th was an important day of our training. Height gain day. We had to trek up to 16000 feet. To get A grade, one had to do this successfully. Early in the morning at 5.30, we all assembled with full gears on – right from helmet to snow boots. We had to wear crampons too. Initially, it was going smooth. I enjoyed walking on glacier with crampons on and holding ice axe. I was as usual slow and steady! We were told to walk in our pace and not wait for our team. As I kept going up slowly, I turned back and could not see Jothi and kamakshi. They had got back! Kamakshi pulse rate had dropped I heard and so she had to get back.. I didn’t see Avni too. I thought she might have gone back too! Archana and Mallika were almost coming along with me. That day duty rope had Mundiya (Sunil) and Gujju (Mihir). We three of us were climbing together talking and pushing ourselves slowly up. As long as I was on glacier, my speed was quite ok. But when once I got into the snow, Speed dropped down quite a lot. It was tough.

We had few breaks in between. When ever I saw group of people sitting in the far end, my heart would be bouncing with joy “Ha! Finally! That’s the end”. But when I reached there, It wasn’t!.. I could see people far away still climbing. Then I decided I would never look up again. I would watch only my steps and keep moving till the next break. There is a quote which I like to mention --

"It's always further than it looks.
It's always taller than it looks.
And it's always harder than it looks." = The 3 rules of mountaineering

Well the most difficult part was after a crevasse crossover. It was a dry snow with a depth of 2 to 3 feet. It was a 200 meter stretch I guess. Inclination of the slope was around 60 to 70 degree. Rope was fixed by the instructors. Carabineers were attached to the rope. I slowly started to climb. I kept one step but my foot got buried in the snow and I came down few steps back. Again and again I kept trying. Every step I used to keep, 2 steps I used to come down! I got so exhausted that half hour time. For the very first time, I cursed myself why I had to come and break my bones here. what for? To please whom?.. Then I remembered Arul’s message – “any time you feel like giving up and you cannot do any more, that’s the time, you should push yourself more and just do it”. Thankfully, I had Sunil and Gujju with me inspiring every minute. Mastaan sir was also there pepping me up now and then. Already, in my rope, two of them were made to leave the course. Four of us were left. In that Jothi and Kam had to get back to camp due to health reasons. I didn’t have any idea about Avni. At this stage, I strongly felt, I shouldn’t leave my rope instructor Suzanne down. Somehow, I pulled myself up and I made that stretch and I stopped there at the end!.. Wow!. What a lovely view all over! But my heart sank again when I saw the other people far away still hiking!!. Then I told myself,- “Common Indira, today is the last day. All these days you have done quite well. Give your best on this final day.You will do it”.. Like a tortoise, I slowly made my way to the top, where all of them had reached. We were there for half hour resting and had some snacks too. After sometime, I was glad to see one more person from my rope joining me! That was Avni!! Yeyyyyyyyyyyyy !! We hugged each other and said- We made it!!! …Well.. In mountains, there are only two grades- you can either do it or you can’t.

“Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top — it is the willpower that is the most important. This will power you cannot buy with money or be given by others. It raises from your heart ..” ----- Junko Tabei

After a while, we all started descending back. It was quite easy. One fourth of the way, we kept sliding down the snow. Then Glacier walks. Finally we were back in tents. I just crashed down in front of the tent for a while. I was dead. I had a quick nap. Put all my things for drying. Then after lunch, I was back on my feet again! I was ready for next session. That night was one of the best sleeps I had in these 4 weeks of training. I had a dream too!! After a long tiring day, I was all set to get back to base camp. But before leaving, we had to undergo Self arrest training in the snow. When one falls, how one can arrest oneself from falling using Ice axe is the self arrest technique. It was done both individually and in the group. It was fun. We were pushed down the slopes in different positions (Head down leg up; head up leg down, side rolling down,…) and arrest our fall immediately. Well, after this, we all got ready to leave for base camp. When we packed our back packs, our load suddenly seemed very heavy. This was because while coming to ABC, we had ferried loads in parts and now at once, we had to carry everything. Apart from our regular stuff, we had to carry Snow boot sand crampons too. I had an extra Rope too!.. That was the heaviest load that I ever carried. May be around 22- 24 kilos?! But fortunately, it was just 2 hrs trek to base camp and a bit of down hill too. I was on par with boys that day!. I carried that weight! I did it. I was very proud of it!!

After reaching BC, we had a map reading session with Suzane again and we were all set for Navigation test the next day! This was a team work basically. We were to find out three locations using three co ordinates that were given to us. It read – E 78, 46’ 28.125 secs,…and so on!!!! It felt like Greek and Latin to me. Seriously! Nothing went into my head. But my other team mates - Jo, Avni and Kam were smart at calculating these. They were at it immediately. Using calculators, they were able to identify the locations. Next step was to collect the form with our names on it and find these 3 locations and get it signed by the instructors who would be waiting for us at three given locations. We were given 3 hours to do this. Using the Map, we started our journey. Here I took the lead. I was quick on my feet in locating the 3 points and in 2 hrs 45 minutes; we were back after completing the mission successfully. It was a perfect team work. We were the last rope to get back as usual. We didn’t mind it at all. We were happy that we did it!

In the same noon, we had a written test on what all we had learnt in these 3 weeks. Many were reading their notes. Preparation was in full swing since one week!. I just rested a while. We all were made to sit in the open sky little away from each other. We were given the question paper. We had half hour time. I did it in ten minutes. There were no essay type questions. It was quite easy. We had to score minimum 40 out of 100 to get through. Then, we were given feed back form to fill up our views and comments on the course.

Later in the evening, we had to pack our bags again to trek back to NIM. All were in great mood. But we were little sad to bid good bye to the Base camp. It was a 16 km trek to Thel. Trail was steep, tricky, and slippery but it was very scenic through out. Dry leaves in various colors had fallen all over the place so much so that it covered the trail mark at few places. Whole Mountain was looking so pretty with colorful leaves. Water level in streams had increased too. I collected few interesting stones and bones on my way. It was late noon when we reached Thel. My upper back was killing. With a tablet, I managed the pain. That noon, we had surprise shower. We were all arrested in the tent! We had great time talking about our love lives, list of crushes, gossiping, … That was really hilarious. We laughed our hearts out. People from other tents were amused at out loud laughter. In the mean time, Mallika went out with her raincoat on and got us hot tea. We really missed bhajji’s that day.

Next day, we had a leisurely trek till Bhooki. I was asked to trek along with Bharathi who was moving slowly. I was fortunate as I could really trek leisurely talking to her, cracking jokes and enjoying the sceneries, …It was great to be back to civilization again. Glad to see our bus waiting for us. We drove back to NIM; rested a while; had lunch; had good hot shower; made phone calls home; spoke to loved ones; slept peacefully on our beds! doz z z z z z . Well. I share a secret here about hot shower! Lallu and Billu had got that electrical heating coil from Uttarkashi market which we immerse in water and heat it up. So using that coil, we all girls in our room had a luxury of having hot bath!

Back at NIM - Nov 14th was our Graduation ceremony, where we all receive the prestigious Ice axe badge for successfully completing the course. We had three more days to go for that. We were given rehearsals on where to stand, how to stand, in what order we stand for photographs, how to meet the chief guests, how to shake hands, how to receive the badge; singing of national anthem and so on… I realized that time that I was not only the oldest of all but also shortest!! Hmm.. But unfortunately, those who had not completed the course were not allowed to attend the graduation ceremony. That was quite sad. They should have been allowed to watch it at least.

In these three days time, one day we were taken to Uttarkashi market. We hogged on snacks- bhel, aloo tikki, dahi paapdi and what not!! I took Gujju, Avni and Suzanne to Chandra didi’s house. We had lovely Bhajjis and ginger tea there. Then we visited the Shiva temple. One more day, we had artificial wall climbing sessions. I was very tired. I didn’t take part in that. I had a welcome break that day for a change. It was just nice sitting and watching all of them. Later in the noon, we had to clean and return all the equipments that were given to us for the training purpose. Then, another day, we were taken for a day trek to Nagini taang. We had to trek almost 5000 ft in one day! It was such a steep climb. Fortunately, we didn’t have to carry any back pack except water bottle and lunch box. Each one of us was walking in different pace. For a long stretch, I was all alone listening to Suprabhaatam at 12 in the noon!, Tamil hits, Bhajagovindam, vishnusahasranamam,… I didn’t realize the stress of climbing at all. Nagini taang is a temple dedicated to snake goddess. It has 360 degree views of snow peaks all around! After spending some time there and after having lunch, we started descending. We were back at NIM by late evening. That night, we all civilians tried to practice the Defence style of marching to impress others while receiving the badges. But which we didn’t do finally! It was fun though.

Nov 14th! - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s Birthday. Kids of the campus were all dressed for a special function in their schools. We were all very busy packing our stuffs, preparing for our graduation ceremony and rehearsing for our cultural program. In the afternoon, we were given maroon colored NIM sweaters to be used for the ceremony and for photo session. We all assembled at 2.30 in the graduation ground wearing jeans and NIM sweater. The stage and the chairs were arranged well. Audiences were seated. Chief Guest arrived. We had a welcome speech, guest speech and then one by one our names were called. It was a moment of pride for each one of us when the guest pinned badges on. We deserved it!. We all sang national anthem together. Then, we went to pine ground for photo shoot. We had tea and snacks together. Everything was very well planned and executed with perfection in a typical Army style. We had an hour break before our cultural program started.

Well.. Preparing for the show was so much of fun. Especially the skit and the group dance! Every time, we were rehearsing the skit, it was getting funnier and funnier. We just had a broad idea what we were doing. Rests of the dialogues were all very spontaneous, which made us laugh through out the practice. It was about a boy who has got back from mountaineering course and how he is haunted by the training even in his dreams. The program started. Prarthana, Lalith and I sang the invocation on goddess Saraswathi; then we enacted the skit. People watching it and enacting it had a great fun through out; Later we had a song by Avni and a dance duet by twin sisters Tashi and Nunshi; Our group dance Mojahe mojha incorporating all movements from rock craft, ice and snow craft!; That was the ultimate fun! Then few boys sang papa kehte hei.. Later, we had local people singing and dancing to folk songs. After dinner, we saw Happy singh having a Bhangra session in the hostel. Bhangra is a lively form of folk music and dance that originates from Punjab. I also joined him in dancing. It was so fun dancing together. It felt so good in the company of these young girls and young boys. I never felt I was 40. My heart was like 20 still!

We packed and cleaned our rooms. Next day 4.30am, we woke up; had tea; we had last minute photo session in that dark morning! We had asked for a jeep to drop us to Haridwar. One by one every one left. Our gang was in one Jeep. We had nice Aloo paratha after few rounds of vomiting by Avni. The winding roads can make anyone sick. Then after having dinner at Haridwar, Avni left with her friends. Rest of us boarded a bus to Delhi. We reached Delhi at around 1 in the mid night. Archana and Jo went to their friend’s place. Lallu and I went with Kam to her place. It was 2.30am then. We had lovely pasta and tea made by her mom; saw wonderful paintings done by her mom; chatted for a while; It was time for me to leave to airport. Taxi had come by 6.30. After bidding good bye to lallu and Kam, I took my flight to Chennai. Back home sweet home!!

Back home, I am busy sharing my experience with my friends, uploading photographs, e - mailing friends,… wondering if I would go to Advance course if I get A grade! No. never!.. That’s enough. I just wanted to experience once how it feels to do a course. I did. I enjoyed. That’s it…My body as of now is feeling very weak. I am yet to recover from hard training that I underwent. I have not got time to rest even for a day after I have come back. I am having guests continuously one after the other. For once, I am feeling I have to be all alone for a week. Well. After a massage, it is better now. But tips of my fingers are turned pale white with less sensation. Finger tips and toe tips have gone so dry. Even after getting pedicure and manicure done, they still look awful.. Meanwhile, my friend Chaman told me how proud she is that I have done this course and that I should certainly do the advance course, then rescue operation course,… N o o o o . Not again.. But my mind changed already!!... YES… I am going for Advance course in May 2010.!!!!!!! So, I am busy preparing for it right now! LOL  That’s what the trekking does for all. Once you taste it, you never want to leave it.

This is my favorite quote:
"In a sense everything that is, exists to climb. All evolution is a climbing towards a higher form. Climbing for life as it reaches towards the consciousness, towards the spirit. We have always honored the high places because we sense them to be the homes of gods. In the mountains there is the promise of... something unexplainable. A higher place of awareness; a spirit that soars. So we climb... and in climbing there is more than a metaphor; there is a means of discovery." — Rob Parker.

"...by bringing myself over the edge and back, I discovered a passion to live my days fully, a conviction that will sustain me like sweet water on the periodically barren plain of our short lives."" — Jonathan Waterman

You are also welcome to this wonderful world of trekking and mountaineering !!

"Writing about climbing is boring. I would rather go climbing." — Chuck Pratt.

Base Camp - Mountaineering course

2010-04-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

(in continuation... http://indirakadambi.blogspot.com/2010/04/at-nehru-institute-of-mountaineering-n.html

Preparation for the Base camp slowly started. We were sent to Uttarkashi market to do last minute purchases. We all were very excited mainly to eat road side eateries. I just bought a pair of woolen cap to protect the head from cold and few Electrol packets which saves me from getting dehydrated. All of us had few snacks- pani puri, Bhel puri, and then I packed some Bananas, the instant energy booster for all my room mates... A day before we had to leave for Base camp, we all had to check our Snow boots and fitting of Crampons. All equipments had to be checked once again in case if any damage, we could exchange them. Backpacks were checked for Zips, Adjusting Belts… Each one of us were supposed to be paired with one another and known as buddies. We have to be there for each other at all times in the camp. Avni was my buddy.

While packing, we took few things that were in common – Toothpaste, sunscreen lotion, Moisturizing cream, Torch, Extra Batteries, .. We tried to reduce the weight as much as we can. Even 100 grams sometimes count in steep climbs. There was an order in which we had packed the rucksacks. First of all we had to put in a big Polythene cover like a lining inside the back pack in order to avoid the things getting wet due to rains. Then, the cover containing a pair of tracks, 3 T-shirts, few pairs of socks, undergarments, Sweater, 3 pair woolen gloves will go to the bottom; Then, wind - proof trousers; Feather jacket; Crampon bag; Inner cover of sleeping bag; Sleeping bag; Rock mittens; wind - proof jacket; Toilet kit; Medical kit; Tool kit; books and pens; Helmet; Seat harness; short sling; carabineers; Snow boots; Rope; Mess tin in the side pocket; Water bottle and tea cup on the other side pocket; Sleeping mat on one side and Ice axe had to be fixed outside the Backpack. Total weight would be around 22 kilos I guess!. My only worry again was about carrying the weight!.. Ayyo.. Thinking of that itself gave me lot of shoulder pains! ..lol.. Didn’t know how I was going to do it. But then in the evening, we got good news that girls need not carry ropes and snow boots!.. Yeeeyyyyyyy!!!… But on a second thought I wondered whether it was a good news or bad news. Good news is that we are not carrying that load but bad news is that we are not getting trained to carry loads. So, even without those two things, our bag weighed around 17 – 18 kilos easily. After completing the job of packing, we all had dinner. Few had showers as there won’t be any shower facility available for the next 18 days. Then the things that we didn’t need for Base camp were locked and kept in one room that was allotted for us. Later, we cleaned the rooms and slept.

Next morning 25th October, I as usual woke up first. Put on the chant OM that used to resonate in the room. Later, I woke up other girls. We got ready and all set to leave by 6.30am. Tea and Breakfast were served at 5.30am itself. Few packed their breakfast in the mess tin. I kept some fruits in the bag. All the bags were loaded on the top of the bus. I was quite excited but also tensed. There were two buses that took us to Bukki, 34 kms from Uttarkashi. Bukki is the starting point of our trek place. It was almost 2 hour journey. I was dressed in layers. I had worn two T- shirts and a jacket with a track pant. I slept for a while in the bus. In between there was a stop over for tea. After reaching Bhooki, we all assembled rope wise and with our backpacks, we started our trek towards the Base camp. Rope instructors followed the ropes they were in charge of. There were quite a number of porters who carried kitchen groceries, Gas cylinders, huge vessels, and other stuffs.

It takes two days to reach Base camp, which is at Dokariani Bhamak in Dingad valley. Bhamak means Glacier. In between there are two intermediate camps. First day’s camp was at Thel. It was 8 kms from Bhooki to Thel. Initially we hiked down and walked over an old Iron bridge across the river Bhagirathi. The water was very pure and was greenish blue in color. Then the real hike up the hill began. The trail was well marked and scenic. Our rope was as usual in the end. I had lot of energy. But my pace was slow. In fact the whole rope was slow. Compared to our trek to Tekhla, here the terrains were different; Backpack weighed much heavier. But Suzanne was very understanding and encouraging. Breathing had to be coordinated properly with every step we take. Few stretches were easy; few difficult; we had 3 breaks in between to sip some water and to have some snacks and fruits. That day I realized how tough a porter’s life is! What luxury we had in our family treks in Himalayas where porters carry all our stuffs. Bed tea is served inside the tent itself. Hmm.. My mind started to think - Why are you doing this Indira?. But I know God is preparing me for something. For what? I don’t know. From my past experiences, I have understood that what every pains I have gone through, while going through that pain at that moment is very difficult but at the end of it, there is some beautiful lesson that I would have learnt. So, even here, I know all these pains that I am undergoing will have something to do in some point in my life! We slowly marched inch by inch towards Thel. There was a Duty rope who was assigned to come at the end of all ropes everyday. They were there to help who ever needed any assistance. . That day’s Duty rope had Saurabh and Lalith along with 4 other members.

Saurabh and Lalith had become quite close to me. Saurabh is from Chandigarh. He is short; fair; well built; has green eyes; very charming indeed! He loves good food; good clothes; not to forget good looking girls too! It is nice to see his good collection of mountaineering accessories. He is a typical Virgo! His mannerisms reminded me so much of my little son Vishnu. Well.. Saurabh is a good Rock climber. He is trained at Chandigarh’s rock climbing institute. He is planning to Join Indian army. I call him Billu as he thought that I don’t pronounce his name properly! Lol..:)..We had become good Dosts!

Lalith is a short and real cute guy from Haryana; working in Indian Navy; based now in Vishakapattinam; He is a deep sea diver!; He is really fun to be with; Chatter box! Keeps making jokes; He calls me Mamma! I call him Lallu!. There ios so much of warmth and affection in him; So, with the company of Lallu, Billu and other girls, we slowly reached Thel camp around 2 pm I guess.

Thel in Hindi means oil. By the time we reached Thel camp, we really sweated out.. not water but oil!! Thel camp was at 8200 feet above sea level. Dense mixed forests of Deodar, Rhododendron, Oak, Pine, etc. provide an atmosphere of perfect peace and tranquility. By the time we reached, the tents were already pitched. Tea was served. The camp had a permanent kitchen block. We were then introduced to the Dining area and potty area followed by dos and don’ts. The toilet area for girls was a short walk crossing over a wooden log over a small stream. The place had a good collection of bones of different animals and birds scattered all over. It was quite scary to go there in the night. We always had to go with buddy friend. We had to take the ice axe with us, dig the pit and shit and cover it with the mud. It was a big process. So, anyone carrying ice axe and walking meant they are gone for a big Job!..lolJ Later, we put our backpacks inside the tent and ice axe outside the tent. Adjacent to our camp was a big tree under which was a small temple dedicated to Snake god. Closer to that tree, we had a lecture on First aid by our camp doctor Dr.Khan! He was also doing the basic course along with us. Before coming to NIM as doctor, He was posted in the border area to serve the army.. Well.. That day’s lecture was on how to acclimatize in higher altitude! The adaptation of human body to the new environment is called acclimatization. Anything above 7500 feet is called higher altitude.

There are few main principles in acclimatization. 1) Gradual Ascent: One should not trek beyond 2000 feet per day. 2) Work in higher altitude and sleep in lower altitude. 3) Drink lot of water to fight dehydration. Well.. Indian army says - one needs 6 days of acclimatization between 9000 to 12000 feet; 4 days between 12000 to 15000 feet; another 4 days between 15000 to 18000 feet. First few days, one has to take complete rest; next 2 days, walk on plain ground; next few days walk with load;

Medically, Right BP, good pulse rate, good appetite and good sleep are signs of good acclimatization. Everything is right with me except good sleep. It is really so long since I caught up with good sleep. But lack of sleep is not affecting my performance in any way. Hmm.. That night’s dinner was Roti, Dhal and Rice. Later, Anil and I being quarter masters took up the responsibility of distributing Ration for all the ropes tent by tent. Ration consisted of Biscuits, chocolates, Dry dates and few raisins. After little chatting, we all slept in our respective tents. There were two tents for girls – 8 in each. Another 8 or 9 tents for boys. That day, in our tent, all six from our rope was there in addition to Bharati and Anshu. Surprisingly that night’s sleep was the best one that I had so far!

Next day, after finishing our morning routine, at 6.30am, we marched towards our 2nd day’s camp to Gujjar hut. It was a 13 km trek. The route was superb. Very very scenic! Since it was autumn, Green leaves of the trees had turned to Yellow and few to Red. Brown, Orange… There was a lovely stream flowing by the side of our trail. Lovely maple, beautiful Pine and lot of other trees were a feast to the eyes. Unfortunately, it was not a flowering season. But still nature was awesome. March towards Gujjar hut had lot of steep climbs, very few flat trails and it was indeed a very long trek. At some points, I felt that the steep trails were never ending. The distance was almost double on the 2nd day. We had few stops for resting in between. At every stop, Lallu and Billu used to wait for me and welcome me with big applause. It seems they kept thinking of me while trekking –“ are yaar chal chal.. If Indira is doing this, we have to do it! “That was a boost for me to push myself more and more and do well. Trek was quite exhaustive. I was thinking when I would go and crash in the camp. We were always the last rope to reach the camp. Even if we were sent first, we would be the last to reach! One more guy Mihir, a 21 year old Gujju, tall and slim was trekking along with me for a while. He calls me Amma!. He is a Teacher by profession; Stays in Rajkot.; He is getting married on December 13th to Pooja. Reason for early marriage is that He had met with 3 major accidents and parents decided to marry him off!!!. He became a part of our gang too.

When we reached, few were already pitching their tents. We had to pitch ours too. First of all we have to look for the direction of the wind and accordingly adjust the door of the tent. Then the ground sheet had to be spread neatly on a flat ground. The Pegs are plugged in the ground. Top portion – Roof is put up with the help of a centre upright pole. The ropes that are attached to the Roof canvas are tied to the pegs tightly so that the roof is held tight. Then doors are fixed. The ground around the tent is dug up to 3 to 4 inches deep so that in case of rain, water doesn’t enter the tent. Ice Axe and Crampons are kept outside the tent so that in case of lightening, we would be safe. Shoes and socks are kept outside to maintain hygiene inside the tent.

After tent pitching, we had tea and started out for another short trek to the Lake Khera Taal near by!.. Shucks!.. I just wanted to rest .But .. Army rule! One can’t have a say. If you do, you will be marked! Anyway, tea gave me some energy and we all walked under the beautiful evening golden sunlight. Weather was lovely. Those golden rays of the sun on the white snow peaks glowed. I just could not take my eyes off that. At the lake, while Mastaan sir started a lecture on the lake and its significance in Hindu mythology, I was busy clicking the photographs of the lake, reflection of the lovely mountains in that lake… I only could hear Krishna, kaaliya,.. That’s it. I missed the whole story part. It was a bit dark. We stumbled here and there now and then and finally when we got back to our tents. We were briefed about next day’s plans. When we came to know that next days trek was only 3 kms and it was very simple, my happiness knew no bounds. I slept in peace !

After our regular morning routines, we headed towards Base camp. It was a very nice short trek. We could no more see any vegetation there. No trees, no plants. Just mountains all round. Base camp was at an altitude of 12400 ft above sea level. On one side, we could see Joanli peak and on other side we had Draupadi ka Dand -2. In between was the Dokriani Bamak, which is a well-developed medium sized glacier of the Bhagirathi basin. The glacier is formed by two cirques, originating at the northern slope of Draupadi Ka Danda and Jaonli Peak, 5,600 m and 6,000 m respectively. The glacier is 5-km long. The stream originating from the glacier’s melted water is called “Dingad”, which later joins many other snow/ice-melted streams and finally merges into Bhagirathi River near Bukki village. In this beautiful Dingad Valley, after having tea, we all rested a while outside the tent; clicked few photographs; pitched our tents quickly and settled down. We had to be at Base camp for a week.

There are 3 permanent structures built at Base camp – Kitchen; store room; lecture hall. Books and equipments are stored in store room. Lecture hall is for lectures and watching movies. Tents are pitched around these structures. There are separate tents for students, instructors, cooks, porters, and one for Doctor too. Every day we are given a particular time for visiting the doctor. Cold, knee and body pain were common problem. Well.. “Cold injuries” was the topic of the lecture that day. With every 1000 feet up in the mountain, temperature decreases. In cold temperatures, most common sickness is nausea, vomiting, cold, cough, swelling and head ache. In severe cold conditions, one may also have Chill blains, frost bite, trench foot and Hypothermia. The high altitude diseases also include Acute Mountain Sickness - AMS, High altitude cerebral edema -HACE and High altitude pulmonary edema – HAPE and high altitude systemic edema – HASE. In all these cases, first thing is to bring the patient to lower altitude and treat. In worst case, evacuate immediately by air to the nearby hospital. Apart from these, we also have radiation injuries caused by sun’s UV rays which in turn cause sun burn and snow blindness. As we all know prevention is better than cure. Adequate precautions in wearing proper clothing, carrying proper equipments, planning expeditions in right weather conditions, having good presence of mind and having a good team leader will lessen the problems to a large extent.” Never stop learning. Never stop listening” is a good saying!

Well. These are subjective Hazards. What about Objective mountain hazards? Floods, avalanches, land slide, crevasses, lightening,… It is maddening!. Hmm…So, after this session, we had dinner followed by a movie on Everest again!.. No way!. Think seriously. Is it worth being in mountains with so much of pain and so much of risks? Is it really worth?!...But one glance at these beautiful snow clad peaks around us are enough to invite us and bring us back into the mountains again and again!... we climb mountains not because we have to but we love to!!. So true! As Jawaharlal Nehru puts it – “The Himalayas are not only near to us but also very dear for they have always been part of our history and tradition, our thinking and our poetry, our worship and our devotion; According to our mythology, Himalayas are the abode of Gods! “

Hmm.. Temperature at Base camp in day time was 5 to 6 degree centigrade. At night, it goes below zero! I started wearing 4 layers of T shirts and a jacket, Feather jacket and a wind proof jacket too. Thermals are must. 2 pairs of socks - one thin and one woolen adorn my little feet. I had to go for a long walk to do my night duty behind the rocks! Like how dogs mark their boundary, we all had marked ours!.. lol... Wet tissues, soap strips and hand sanitizer come very handy at such times! It was very very cold! I got back into my tent and wished all good night and slowly slide down in my sleeping bag and doz z z zzz z .But I was not able to sleep. Cold was making me to pee often. At least 2 times, I had to wake up at night. Kamakshi was facing same problem. But her frequency was little worse than mine!.. Lol ..

Before I used to realize, 5am alarm used to ring! I used to wake up Avni. First thing Avni had to do was to wear her contact lens. Then, we used to go together and finish our morning jobs and have tea. It was difficult to brush teeth in that cold water. My hands used to become numb. I had to rush to the kitchen and keep my hand in front of the fire. After slowly warming up, I used to be ready for half an hour of PT along with all trainees. Yeshwanth, a student of MOI (method of instruction) course used to guide us in PT. Suzanne used to join too. Without PT, our bodies refused to move. PT was a must.

Our training area was at Dokiarani Bhamak, an hour and half trek from Base camp. Initially, the trail was plain and later it was full of big boulders. We literally had to keep jumping from one boulder to another and keep moving. There was also a stream flowing across the glacier. I guess, if once our feet are in that stream, feet would go numb in seconds. Well.. After reaching the training area, we all wore our snow boots and crampons and got ready for a lecture on Ice craft!. This week’s training was dedicated to Ice craft. Rock climbing is the primary skill that we learn in Mountaineering. Same principles are used in Ice craft and snow craft using Ice Axe and Ropes. In rock climbing, we use PA shoe, here we use snow boots and Crampons. Rock pitons are used in rock climbing and Ice pitons are used in Ice craft to fix ropes. But the feet take few hours of training to adapt itself to ice and snow surface. Rope and Ice axe are the lifeline of a mountaineer.

For working purposes, it is good to know that there are 3 principal varieties of Ice. First is blue ice or grainy ice. Most of glaciers are of this form. Hence they are also known as glacier ice. Secondly, Black Ice. Ice those are more or less continuous and mostly found in layers formed by freezing of water. They are old and hard ice. Thirdly, Snow Ice. These are formed by infiltration of water with snow and there by subsequent freezing. A large dry glacier is the best place to learn snow craft. A weeks practice devoted completely to Ice craft under a good trainer is good enough for all trainees intending to become a mountaineer. We were lucky to have Suzanne with us! She made sure that our basics were learnt very well. Tying snow boots and fitting crampons well to the boots in it was itself quite a circus! We learnt how to use ice axe in different positions in different gradients and climb on glacier. Initially, it felt really very awkward walking with that heavy snow boots. But with practice and experience, it felt natural. Proper clothing, Ice axe, Rope, Sun glasses, Helmet, Snow boots, Crampons and water proof gloves were a must in ice craft. We learnt the art of Belaying, anchoring, fixed rope climbing, Crevasse crossing, traversing, and rescuing technique if any one has fallen into crevasse.

Well, one day at noon, as the weather turned cloudy, we all headed back towards the base camp from our training area.. We were showered with snow flakes by the clouds above! Sky looked awesome. The brown ground and the bare brown hills suddenly appeared white in patches. In few minutes, Base camp looked like a fairy land. Whole ground turned to white. White tents on the white ground looked awesome. Trainees wearing colorful red and black feather jackets looked nice in the white background!. photo sessions had started in full swing. Few were looking at snow for the first time!

After a while, Grey clouds were suddenly turned golden by the golden rays of the sun. At one point of time, we could see the clouds in different shades - blue, grey, white, golden… In the next few minutes, dark clouds started settling down. Whole place turned dull and light dark. But hold on! As I turned my eyes to the peaks!!.. What a view! Every where it is dark, but only the top part of the peak is glowing white!! We could see the bright light of the moon shining on the snow peak of the mountains. The moon above those peaks looked gorgeous. This is where Cameras fail but God given gift – our Eyes only can capture this beautiful canvas painted by HIM!.. Oh god!.. This was worth all the pain we undergo in training!!

Hmm.. Our walk every day to the training area was quite a pain in the neck. But instructors used to fill us with lot of humorous lectures.. Well.. Lectures delivered in humorous way I should say! Lot of drama was added to make the demonstration funny. Especially the one rescuing from crevasse was quite a fun! Most lectures were in Hindi. Few could speak good English. Few were Hinglish ( English with Hindi accent)..That was very difficult for us to understand! In the meantime, few girls looked pretty down. They were home sick. Few were crying. They used the satellite phones to talk to their loved ones. Guess the price. Rs.90/- per minute!! If one is not enjoying the course, it can be very difficult to cope up mentally too. There were two boys and a girl, who had come from NCC, Tamilnadu. They were not instructed by their NCC officers that this was a mountaineering course!. They were here thinking that it was one of those camps where they meet lot of students from other states and they learn and exchange their culture through music, dance and drama!.. My god!. I wondered where is the connection between this and mountaineering? They had not even come prepared with right winter clothing. They had to buy everything before we started to the base camp! One boy took it well. Other one was in tears every other day. I had to keep advising him and encourage him to look at this as a blessing in disguise and enjoy the course. Another girl was mentally strong and took the challenges well but she was not physically fit enough to do the course.. Language was also a problem for them to understand any lectures or mingle with other trainees. I was a mediator many a times between them and their instructors. Suzanne used to tell- Indira , it is really nice that you have been a mother like for many here!

On 2nd or 3rd day at base camp, NIM’s Vice principal, Major Vishal Thaapa visited us. He is short, knowledgeable, and friendly and has quite an attitude too! He knows his subject in and out!....He gave us a lecture on weather and topographical map reading. Map reading was the only subject that I didn’t like. Rather it was difficult for me to understand. With little effort, I learnt how to find ones own position in the ground using the map, taking the readings of the forward and backward bearing. Conversion of latitude and longitude to inches, centimeters, all that just went above my head to the peaks and high above clouds!! Lol ... At least with help of Suzanne, I learnt reading and identifying contours, moraines, roads, rivers, lakes, glaciers, peaks,… Through out the lecture, I was wondering how come they are teaching us this old method of map reading. Now everyone uses GPS for treks and expeditions! Well, one cannot rely on GPS all the time!

Hmm.. Next lecture on weather included topics on temperature, effects of mountains on weather, winds, clouds and its types, weather forecast, weather hazards… If one has to listen to lectures after dinner, don’t ask what will be the result. Most of us were sleeping happily. Thank god it was not well lit. Or else if caught, we would have to run around the camp or hop like a frog! ..lolJ lecture on mountain terminology was bit boring. It was interesting to know about Glacier formations, its types and terminologies. Lecture on Avalanche by Suzanne was quite cute. Her hands were always on black board drawing the scenes!

One of those days in the base camp, all of us had one on one session with Suzanne. It was a feed back time. My overall progress was going good. She mentioned that my team work, attitude and leadership were excellent. I was also fairing good in the practical sessions. Only thing I needed to work was on strengthening of my arms and shoulders and also work on my pace during the marching session. I completely agreed with her.

Hmm.. Practical sessions were going on well. But since there was not enough snow, they decided that they will teach basic technique of snow craft at base camp itself. We had to imagine that we were in snow and do lot of drama .We learnt identifying Crevasses through probing method. Then, crossing crevasses using ladder and Ice axe and the best was traversing. A long rope was tied across a big crevasse. With the help of Jummar, pulleys and carabineers attached to the rope, we were supposed to cross over the crevasse. I could do only 60% to 70% of the length. The guys who were there on the other side belaying me had to pull me across the rest of the length. My shoulders were really paining. I had to take a pain killer for that. Rescuing people from crevasse using pulleys was interesting too. But what if the person fallen into the crevasse is much heavier than the one who is rescuing is the point!.. Well.. We may have to say then.... Helloooo!.. Meet you in heaven baby! Happy and safe journey!!. Boieeee !! ha ha...

Well, at base camp, there were lot of interesting things happening too..”Dho dhil milra e hei..magar chupuke chupuke…”.. It was not dho dhil but more dhils that were connecting with each other!! Well.. trying to connect with each other. Hmm.. Rather we were making it connect with each other. Whatever.. Pulling each other’s legs, passing silent messages, serious advising sessions, outpouring sessions,. thoda fight thoda pyar now and then along with learning rope knots and map reading from one another made our life at base camp all the more fun!. We all became a family! - A family united in the wilderness amidst mountains; sharing morning tea; dining together; working together; helping each other; sharing our joys and sorrows; planning our future expeditions; watching movie together; sleeping together; wow! - A picture perfect well knit family!! – That’s mountaineers family!!

At Nehru Institute of Mountaineering - N I M

2010-04-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

(in continuation to preparation for the mountaineering course)
( http://indirakadambi.blogspot.com/2010/03/preparation-for-mounatineering-course.html )

After bidding good bye, Karan dropped me at the Uttarkashi bus stand from where a bus from NIM was supposed to pick me up at 5 pm. There I happened to meet Chandra Bhaai who had come as a guide with us to Tapovan trek. He is simply awesome. He is like a mountain goat I would say. Very experienced climber and a very kind and caring person. He was very happy to know that I was going for this course. He told” Aapto bahoth fit hei Madame. Phikar mathkijiye.Aap aasaanise karpaavogi”( you are very fit madam.Dont worry. You will do this course very easily). So, with all their wishes, I boarded the bus that was military green in color and on which it was written- Nehru Institute of Mountaineering ( N I M).There were lots of other students in the bus from various parts of India. We reached NIM at 5.25pm. We were the first batch to arrive. We stood in a line in the hostel. We got registered ourselves. Each one of us was allotted rooms in the hostel. There are 3 levels in the hostel. A ground level where our rooms were there and then 2 levels below us has hostel rooms and a Dining hall. I was allotted room no: 5 – named Monal! There were 6 trainees in one room. 3 bunk beds, 3 cub boards, one bath room and a toilet. After dumping bags in the room, I came out and took a short walk in the campus. There I met Avni, Dallas, and Nima, who were also exploring the campus.

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering was established at Uttarkashi in the Ladari Reserve forest area on 14 Nov 1965 to honor the great desire of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, who was an ardent mountain lover. The aim of the Institute is to introduce and initiate young men, women and school children to the mountains and nature through its various Mountaineering and Adventure training courses.

Few more batches of people arrived and all were busy with registration and other stuff. In my room, there were 5 other girls. Avni, Prarthana and Mallika are from Bangalore; Anshu is from Arunachal Pradesh and Bharathi belongs to Vishakapattinam.

Avni sanghvi, a Gujarathi settled in Banglore is a food scientist. She seemed to be quiet friendly. Ask her what on earth she has not eaten!. Right from snails, squids, octopus, and you name it - everything has a place in her stomach.. lol...Well.. That’s her job she says! But at home, she says she is a pure vegetarian! Mallika, very quiet and fair looking girl is half Swiss and half Indian. It took a while for me to understand that her name was Mallika!. She just finished her 12th grade. Her mother who was a mountaineer I heard. Anshu, 28 yr young, is married and has two kids. She has her own adventure organization Himalayan Holidays, which she runs along with her husband. She seemed to be a woman of few words. Prarthana, 30 year young girl had worn an interesting T shirt “I took out L from LOVER and now it is all OVER”. Bharati is 37 yr old and has a son who is in 8th grade now. She is beautician by profession. She is quiet calm and poised. She has done sky diving I heard! Well, this is a small introduction about my room mates.

After everyone got enrolled, we were called to attend an introductory lecture for Basic course 210.This was the first time a mixed gender batch was being conducted. Lecture was in Hindi and was mainly on how we should keep our rooms clean; how we should address the instructors as Sir and Maam; how we should be on time for all the sessions; how we have to maintain discipline and cleanliness on and off campus; …Lt. Ashish Bhandari was selected as our course leader. He is a Marcos – Marine commando specialized in maritime operations. I heard that only about 20 - 25% of the Marco trainees finally get to wear the Marco badge due to high intensity training. Instructor asked if any two were interested in becoming quarter masters. Anil and I volunteered to be quarter masters. I thought by taking up responsibility, I would learn a lot. Our role was to prepare menu for everyday breakfast, lunch and dinner. Note down issues regarding food and hostel facilities and address it to the higher level authorities.

It was already 9pm and we were all very hungry. Dinner was served in Dining hall that accommodates 100 people easily. Tables and chairs were laid out. Plates and cups were kept in one corner. I heard the system is similar to any other Hostel dining room. Dinner was simple. Roti - sabzi, Dhal and Chawal(Rice). Around 10.15pm, we all slept. It was very cold. I had only one blanket. I could not sleep whole night.

It is 18th October, 1st day of our course. I was very excited. I woke up at 5am. After having morning tea at 5.30am, we all assembled outside the hostel at 6.30am for physical training. We jogged a little and did few stretches. Breakfast was served at 8.30am. Training sessions started at 9.30am and went up to 12.30 in the noon. Whole of morning was packed with introductory sessions on mountaineering and equipments. I will talk about those in detail later. In the noon, we had to undergo medical check up. I weighed about 56 kilos and blood pressure was normal. Later, we had a lecture on mountain manners and customs. I like to share few things about this lecture here.

Mountain manners: Do not use polythene bags; No littering; Speak with low voice. Greet every people whom you meet on your way; Follow hut manners; Always walk. don’t run; Do not overtake other group without permission; Halt only at scheduled stops; Ascend in zig-zag manner; Drink water regularly; Maintain low profile, Respect others and nature too; Watch while you make statements; Assume responsibility for yourself and your actions; Learn to judge distance; ….

Environmental protection: Do not bath and wash in the river. Discourage porters from throwing cigar buds; Do not make any new trail; Get educated about environment fragility; Conserve flora and fauna; Develop conversationalist attitude; Educate fellow country men in conserving nature; Reduce noise pollution; Report poaching; ..

Lunch time was at 1pm. We had to collect our backpack and other equipments and had to assemble at Pine ground for a demonstration on how to pack our backpacks after the noon tea. Pine ground is to the left of the hostel. There is a nice stadium like seating arrangements all around. A 15.5 mtr high sport-climbing wall is erected in the middle of the ground. The wall, which is an international climbing wall, is the first of its design in India and the first ASIA Cup, organized in India by IMF in November 2004, was held on this wall.

Adjacent to the pine ground, there is a Gyan Hall, which is equipped with Gymnasium equipment and a 10 meter high indoor artificial climbing wall. The wall has changeable holds which makes it interesting and challenging for the climbers. Next to that is administrative block which has the offices of Principal, Vice Principal, Registrar, Accounts Branch, Training Wing, and Chief Instructor, Instructor's room, Training room, Radio room, Dispatch room and the Duty room. Opposite to the hostel is playing field, Basket ball court, Volleyball court, Handball ground, an Obstacle course and the historic Graduation Ground, a focal point of all courses. Orchards and a mini Nursery are also there. To the right of the hostel is the auditorium, which is beautiful with good seating arrangements and well equipped with latest technology. Next to that is the Library, Medical Section, Equipment hiring and Repairing Unit, Laundry, and last but not the least Hair saloon. Diagonally opposite to the hostel are Cafeteria and Internet centre, souvenir shop and residential complex for the instructors and their families. Well.. This is about the campus.

I forgot to mention that the total number of trainees were 91 approximately. We were 16 girls and rest were boys from Army, Navy and few civilians in the age group of 18 to 35. I was the oldest in the group. Whole group was split into 14 teams called Ropes. Each rope had 6 to 7 trainees and had a rope leader and a rope instructor, under whom we get trained for the next one month!. I was the Rope leader for my group and Susan from USA was our Rope Instructor. 32 yr young Suzanne is tall built – 6’2”.She is like a nomad. A full time mountaineer, she travels widely all over the world training young and old aspirants like us. Our rope had Kamakshi from Delhi, Avni from Bangalore, Vijji from Kanchipuram, Neethu from Lucknow, Jothi from Mumbai and me from Chennai!

Kamakshi sahai – soft looking, soft spoken, very jovial, and friendly and caring too. She is working for an adventure company in Delhi. Looking for Mr. Right to fill her life now!
Vijji is 18 year old studying 2nd year degree and is in NCC. Petite; looks frail; she comes from a very poor back ground. Mom is a gardener. Father is no more. She speaks only Tamil. Neethu is in her late twenty’s or early thirties. She is doing her MA. She fought with her parents and come to do this course. She speaks Hindi. Understands English. Jothi, a Malyali settled in Mumbai has come to do the basic course for the second time! Hats off to her!. She is friendly too, very organized.

Archana..Archana...Short, slim, strong girl from Mumbai:).Not my room mate.. not my Rope mate..but a very dear friend.She belongs to the family of mountaineers..ha ha ! Most of her cousins and uncles have gone through these courses i believe!.wow..kewl .isn't it?!..well..She is an expert in Spanish language and trains students to speak and write Spanish:)She has also trained our hero Hrithik Roshan!!yes..proof??..there is a photo of her with him!

Well.. Late in the evening we had a film on training so that we will get an idea how it would be and what we can look forward to. After that, we had dinner at 8 pm and got back to our rooms, packed our backpacks with the Snow boots, crampons, wind proof - jacket and trousers, rope, helmet, short-sling … It weighed around 10 kilos I guess. After talking to Ram and writing my diary for the day, I hit the bed at ten. Lights had to be switched off by 10pm sharp.

The next day, we all left with our backpack for a short 3 hour trek behind the campus. Lunch was packed. It was steep climb with lovely pine trees all round. It was to see how many are fit and fine to do the course I guess. Most of us made it to the top in our own pace. Few girls could not carry the weight; one or two could not climb at all;. Few made it falling now and then. On our way to the top, we saw the snow capped Bandhar Poonch range spread out majestically in front of Ladari reserve forest. I had to share with my friends that I was there in the month of May!! That was a lovely nine day trek with family and friends. And not to forget the lovely black dog Shaggy which accompanied us through out the trek. Steep climbs, hail storm, severe thunder storm, playing cricket in that heights, long stretches of trekking on the ridge, playing in the snow, terrible cold nights, eating hot soups, fresh paneer, rasam, potato poriyal, dhal – roti – sabzi, wa waa waaa!… then, trekking down the steep hill, scenic Gujjar hut, Singing along with Ram listening to the flowing of the cold streams, camp fire on the last day, … unforgettable moments!!

Well, the next four days from 20th to 23rd, we had to get set for our practical sessions.1st week was allotted for Rock craft, which were held in Tekhla. Few more loads were added to our backpack. Ropes which weighed 4 ½ kilos had to be carried in turns. So, now with 15 – 16 kilos of weight we had to trek everyday early in the morning at 6.30 to Tekhla, which was 11 kms away from NIM. Walk was simple and straight on the curvy roads. But weight was the only issue. Had to get used to it slowly. We had to walk along side the river Asi Ganga. Early morning sunrays used to peep through the trees and smile on us. Sound of the Ganges and temple bells, vehicles passing and Sadhus (saints) walking was a common sight. We had a rest point in between for fifteen minutes to have some water and relax our backs. Then we used to march towards Tekhla.

NIM has been conducting the Rock craft at Tekhla for past so many years. Tekhla has plenty of Rocks of different sizes, shapes, different gradients, etc., so, it is lovely to explore our skills there. Day used to start with instructor’s lecture in the open air amidst rocks followed by demonstration and then we learn the technique. Let me talk about Rock Craft now.

Rock-Craft’s boulders offer many ways to climb up each boulder challenging each climber’s skills, sense of adventure and creativity. First of all, one should learn different types of Rope knots and Rope coils. Rope coiling is very interesting. Rope is coiled differently for different purposes - Climbing coil; Rappelling coil; Butterfly coil; Causality coil. We learnt different types of climbing rocks – free hand climb, climbing with ropes, chimney climbing, wriggling, etc., Skills of anchoring, rappelling, belaying, and lowering were also taught. There is lot of varieties of hand holds and foot holds that we learn while climbing rocks – Pressure hold; Pinch hand hold; Over hand hold; Pencil hand hold; Jam hold; Friction foot hold; Jam foot hold; …One needs lot of arm strength to do free hand climbing. Climbing on a long pitch rock -175 ft rock was challenging. My arms went for a toss. But I managed well. But rappelling down that rock was simply awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed Chimney climbing and rappelling a lot. I even tried the difficult one: Shoulder rappelling. Here, Rope can cut through the skin if we are not careful enough. I had a light cut near my neck. It was slightly bruised. No pain. No fun!.

There are 3 main principles in rock climbing a) Planning; b) Conservation of energy; c) Balancing. It is a game of technique and physical fitness. Ropes, carabineers, Rock pitons, Helmet, short sling, Seat harness, PA shoes and other accessories are a must in RC. All these equipments should be certified by UIAA-Union of International Alpine Association. The breaking strength of some of these equipments are anywhere between 1800 to 2200 kilos!! Apart from being well equipped, one should have a good knowledge on weather too. Hmm.. There are different types of commands used while climbing rocks. For example: take the slack, belay tight, I am there, I am climbing, and so on. My instructor Suzanne was very particular as to how and when we used these commands. Then we had 2 Indoor wall climbing and 2 outdoor artificial wall climbing too with different levels of difficulty – Hard climb, speed climb… I should say these are way tougher than natural ones that we did. Workout that I did to strengthen my arms and shoulders were not at all enough. I could do only 75% justice to this. It was physically demanding. Most of the girls except one or two couldn’t do it. It was quite exhausting too!. I really need to work on my shoulder strengthening. I slowly became tougher and tougher under Suzanne’s guidance. Suzanne is a very good trainer. Very meticulous, patient, encouraging, motivating and very cool. Under her, safety was given the utmost priority. This was her first experience in Indian mountaineering institute. It is nice to read her blog...http://www.whereisshethistime.blogspot.com/

Hmm.. Coming back to my experience, we six girls and Susanne had built a good cordial relationship. On our way to Tekhla, we used to talk a lot about our personnel life, our hobbies and passions, parents -kith and kins, movies, food, weather… So, except carrying loads, everything else was interesting and lots of fun too. Whole day was packed with practical sessions, lectures; movies … Lectures were on Tent pitching(ok), on Himalayan Ranges(good), Rock craft(interesting), History of Indian mountaineering(boring), Map reading(not bad), First Aid(important)… Lectures were quite humorous too. Instructor’s deliveries of the dialogues during lectures are just simply superb. Great fun! We saw the movie Vertical Limit, a documentary movie on Everest and Quest for K2, a documentary by NGC. All the movies were quite scary. None had good ending. They all spoke only about hazards in mountains and mountain climbing. So many deadly issues.. So many deaths!! After every movie session, we all used to think of putting an end to mountaineering after this basic course.. LOLJ

Well.. In these four days, I have been able to build good friendship. I took every opportunity at lunch, tea and dinner time to meet new people and know them. It was interesting to see the diversity in their jobs. Many trainees were from Army, Navy, Indo Tibet Border Patrol, and very few civilians like me. I was also like a PR person there trying to get people introduced to one another. The cooks were quite sweet too. They were all smiles when they used to serve me with Rotis and Sabzis. They always took out hot rotis out especially for me! And not to forget extra Soup at dinner time! Just talking to them nicely, wishing them and appreciating them every time made them to have a special care for me. After dinner, we all used to make calls home, chat, read, bathe.. But in those 7 days, I had a shower only on one day at NIM. That too exactly in three mugs of cold water! Ha ha!.. Way to go and reduce usage of water!. I can really give great tips on this – How to bathe in three mugs of water !; How to have head wash and bathe too in 5 mugs of water; … lol ... Hmm.. Weather was pretty cold. Water was colder! I was always covered, nice and warm in a sweater, a jacket and a scarf.

Forgot to mention. A day before we planned to go for Base camp, Chandra Didi came to see me and check if I have kept all necessary things that I needed for base camp. So kind of her... ……….

Bye for now.. Preparation to head towards Base camp has to be done. Heyyyyyyyy !

Finally, Abba!.. No more trekking towards Tekhla with those heavy backpacks!. But I will certainly miss Rock craft… dancing on and around the rocks!

At Base camp continues.........

Trek on tracks

2010-04-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

Location : Sakleshpur, March 27, 28, 29th 2009
Organised by Ramki / Indira kadambi

Peter, founder member of Chennai trekkers,had mentioned few times to me.. “Indira, you should arrange some treks now”...I was wondering how to do it. To begin with, I thought the best was to assist anyone who ever is arranging a trek.. There were some mails from core members planning a Sakleshpur trek..lo..I was so excited ..I immediately wrote to Ramki that whenever he is doing this, I will help him. .....Then every day, Ramki and myself exchanged few mails regarding arrangements to be made...food, tickets, and so on..Then, as we moved close to the departure date, there were many queries from new trekkers...Do we have bath rooms there..Do we have separate sleeping place for girls,...Where do we sleep,...and so on...for everything, I had only one answer...All under the sky...lol...:)...

well..25th march...I went for shopping ketchup, sandwich paste,...then few personnel items..started packing my back pack..I was so excited and had to do so many last minute things as I had to leave my family for 3 days..I had to fill up groceries, cook and dump in fridge for 3 days, make arrangement for my son, maid, dog......Thus every time before the trek, I land up having back pain:)

26th march - All set....One by one landed at Central railway station, chennai and there was one girl Arpita..very cute..She had come with her friend srijith , who also joined the trek and her mom had come to see her off and making sure she was safe with right people...She asked me few questions…Aunty, where do I sit, what is my seat number,.. where do i keep my bags,.....which made me feel I was a school teacher ..lol...:)………all 18 were there...and by lalbagh express, we started out at 3.30 pm…oh god!..I really missed my trek mates then..hmm..but Thank god!.. Kannan and Bala were with me..There were few guys from cognizant, who were having their own fun...we attacked almost everything that were passing by us...tea, coffee, soft drinks, vada, cutlet, masala dosa,...:)...

Then, I started clicking few photos for my story.."Trek on tracks"...
We reached banglore at 9.45 pm and walked towards Bangalore bus stand as planned earlier and met Ramki and co who immediately started distributing the food packets to us..Maggie, Teplas, few junks, fruits, jam, ketchup, Aloo, Beans, Onion,….6 others joined us from Banglore..and that made the total number 24.......ha!..I was happy to meet my old friend Subramanya alias subbu after a long time..thanks to net..I got in touch with him and saw that he joined me for this trek..When I gave him his food packet, he said he already had dinner, he doesnt need it..but I told him this food packet was not for dinner but was for the next 3 days !!...:) :)..lol...:)...CTC's eat less, trek lots..:)

Then few of us boarded the bus at 10.45 pm to shiradi ghats..We got down around 4.30 in the morning at the road side Muthappeswara temple..some of us rolled sleeping mats and slept...others were chatting….some were busy clicking photos...But the most happiest person was our photogarapher Subbu I guess...he got his model for the day..Arpita:)...almost half an hour they had profile shoot just behind the temple at the stream:)...By then, others who had left bangalore by 11.30 bus also landed..Some went to brush, some to bathe,...so by the time we started , we were late by an hour or so..We started slowly by 7am towards Donigal railway station..Weather was nice, pleasant..

We all assembled at Donigal station,.. had group photo as usual..Then the trek...TREK ON TRACKS began...initially it was very exciting to walk on those jellikallu( stones that r laid on tracks)...we were all given 3 water bottles each...some of them had already finished 2 bottles in an hours time:)...after an hour or two, as the sun started showing its colours, ..hmm...ayyoda!....It was bit tough to walk in the sun…Sunscreen lotion was applied all over, caps sat on heads, sun glasses on eyes, water bottle in hands,...but legs were on tracks all the time :)….Ramki and few others were quite fast..and so Ramki had to stop now and then to make sure that all of us who were bit behind make up fast…..

..Tracks were pretty simple…straight, some turns now and then…poking stones, lots of tunnels — measuring 100 ft to 500 mts, human wastes here and there, beautiful bridges, 2 to 3 stations, … Trail… full of trees, shrubs, wild flowers,. …some times huge rocks on either sides,…at some places, few constructions were happening…layers of mountains, lovely valleys, beautiful streams, deep gorges, scary tunnels, soothing sound of birds whistling, various shades of green tress, plants all over, dense forests, few bones here n there,….…exciting indeed…of course it would have been more exciting if the mid sun was more kind to us.. Few pro - trekkers trekked enjoying the mother nature in spite of scorching sun…few complained, ..few thought they didn’t expect this kind of trail and that trek would be only on tracks like this…few wished it should have been more exciting….well..i told Ramki…..Ayyo…when is this track going to end ? !..The big mistake I did was not to read the mail sent by Ramki which described the trail. As I always look forward to surprise elements when I trek, I usually don’t read these mails that describe the trail…

On every trek, on the first day, I always have this thought..” what am I trekking here for? .It is better dancing than pulling myself all along this treacherous trail” ..:)…hmm…those who were ahead of us had breakfast at a nice stream. Those who were little behind had to satisfy their hunger sitting on tracks and have breakfast.. Resting often now and then, unable to bear the hot sun, leg slowed down its pace…eyes were eagerly looking forward to some big stream…Lo…there we got a big, long bridge under which beautiful stream flowed dancing between rocks..Immidiately subbu, ramki and myself got down and joined others - kannan, gaurav, bala, and rakesh, who were already having a nice Jacuzzi….We changed into swim trunks and jumped into the stream..Ahaaa..Awesome..This is what our body required at this point of time …great rejuvenationJ…From stream, we could see the bridge high above us.. Few walking across, trains crossing,…When we saw few others crossing the bridge, we shouted at them to come down…but whether they heard us or didn’t want to come down, what ever the reason. Those who missed this really missed the fun…Then, we had lunch and climbed up to the bridge and again our trek on tracks started…Few meters ahead, we met other guys n gals who were resting…Then, we all started our journey again in our own pace..

When I trek, I realized most important thing is one need to walk at their own pace and take deep breathe two three times when ever you are tired... Never take big breaks. It is difficult otherwise to get back to pace. Secondly, you should carry sufficient water. You should never empty the water until you fine the next stream. Water should be sipped now and then, little by little. I usually carry a waist pouch which will have Glucose water in a Tupperware bottle, Dates, Badam, few candys, So that I need not take out my back pack for every little thing and I could keep on walking and energizing myself simultaneously. Then my waist pouch also has suntan lotion to apply often, knife, and lip-balm too. Another important thing is to carry as minimum luggage as possible. just 2 pairs of dress, food, a towel, knee cap, emergency medicines, crape bandage in case you have any ankle injury…that’s it…Carry light is the key word .

Then, we crossed many tunnels…sometimes goods trains passing us in and out of the tunnels. We reached Yedukumeri station and thought that was the camp site….but Rakmi had his own plans…he said NO…Ayyo…again our legs started.. right left right left…marching on the tracks !..but now sun had settled down a bit. Lovely views on both sides…it was pleasant finally. But legs really needed rest. It felt like as if we had acupressure of our life in one single day ..:)….Now, the chirping of birds became more ….and suddenly at sunset time, God gave us a great treat to our eyes…Lovely formation of clouds..dark and light..superb colours .. orange, yellow, golden.. peeping through clouds…It was so true at one point when we saw a beautiful silver lining around the cloud..”Every cloud has a silver lining” was perfect ! and made sense…my camera just could not stop clicking these clouds and trees at the sunset time. It was amazing…suddenly I felt all energized and thanked god for making me go through all the pains since morning and giving a wonderful feast to the eyes and ears in the endJ Most of the time while I trekked, I wanted to be with myself. Lot of questions, and many answers to life’s questions,…hmm..all one can find when we are one with this beautiful mother nature! I guess.. Finally God was kind enough and gave some gyan to Ramki too to end the day’s trek at the end of 21 kms stretch!and pitch a tent next to a tunnel…WOW !…

My happiness knew no bounds…ramki, shiva, kannan, bala got busy in pitching up tents. Few went to fill up water bottles from nearby stream, and few other guys went to collect some woods to make camp fire. but alas!...it started pouring!...So, what do we do for food?...hmm…should we finish up teplas, junk food?..ayyo..what about noodles and all the vegetables that we carried to make vegetable noodles? !…All plans went down the drains..:(…..Then we all sat in the dark tunnel wishing for rain to stop and suddenly we heard the train entering the tunnel…With supers speed, we all got up and what ever bags we could collect, we took it and put it in a safe place and stood safely and allowed the train to pass smoothly..:)..Suddenly we realized three guys had not come still..They had decided to stay back at yedukameri..!..So 21 of us were left……. By then, rain had stopped. We saw that inside the tunnel, there was a safe place where 5 - 6 guys could sit and cook…heyyyy….so, bala got into action. He was the chef of the day!...We collected all soup and noodle packets. Few got into cutting vegetables, few were lazing around, few were resting….But my mind was all into soup soup soup..Hot hot soup !…so, I immediately rushed to the kitchen place..Sat there..entertained the cooks with few songs…warewah !.. Soup was ready!..Soup was a combination of tomato and sweet corn J..Ladies are always served first in CTC…real gentle men styleJ!!...So, I got the first taste of hot soup..no patience at all…just put it in my mouth….oops!..burnt my tongue badly…no issue.. so what.. sip sip some more.. Burnt more..s o what.. Some more..Abba..my stomach was really satisfied with 2 cups of awesome knorr soup. Then my mind started thinking..”My god! Why are guys grumbling to walk on tracks?..It is so beautiful, great views,.More than anything you should have great attitude man! Common!...LOL ..:)….Then soon noodles were ready too…All of us had nice veg noodles …stomach too truptiJ highly satisfied..:)…by then it was 10 in the night, and Ramki told we all had to get up at 5 and start the trek latest by 6 !Some of us inside tents, few others outside tents…either way.. all slept well…suddenly I hear a scream..who is that?! …Arpita!..she had dream again!!..it seems the train ran over her in the tunnel….lol..lol..;)…comedian of our group!:)…hmm…the next moment..all grr..zrrr…

2nd day morning, few guys woke up early, finished their morning jobs, packed…one by one we started our march on tracks..R L R L R L…!…This time, I had Subbu to trek along with me. He started the day with nice song and explanation to it…He has a way to tell stories..It was so nice to hear him reciting shlokas, stories,…Got some good gyan!..So, this was my break fast J..Since Subbu had already finished all of his food on first day breakfast time itself!, I shared my food inexchange for his storiesJ…We stopped at few view points, drank the beauty of the layers of mountains, sat ..Had some fruits, exchanged each others life stories too..As we walked along, we met few guys who were working along tracks and came to know that there was a nice stream just after tunnel 82…so, we hurried there in anticipation..WOW!..there....put down our bags, changed and trekked uphill to find a small little water falls…Kannan was there with Bala enjoying it ,,,I had to wait for 10 mts for my turn to stand under the falls which I did patiently..It was superb!..…what else a trekker can ask….water water water!....Then other trekkers followed us and had good bath, breakfast,…it was 12 noon by then..Subbu and myself started again our journey further…Ramki had told that we are supposed to trek 18 kms that day and stop at Siribagilu..Just after an hour of walk, we see the board, Siribagilu!!!...My eyes could not believe that we had already reached..Kept looking at the board to make sure I was not reading it wrong…NO..I wasn’t!..wow!…yee…we were the first to be there…and those who followed later were surprised tooJ… Siribagilu is a small station in front of a beautiful peak..A station master is there with few assistants..But sadly no coffee, no teas available. Atleast, we were happy that we reached very early there…took good rest under the trees and waited for all others to join us…

Through enquiries, we came to know that there is jeep track adjacent to the station which leads to the kukke road..All of a sudden, my brain started working..Ha!..why should we again keep walking on the tracks till tunnel 92..why not take the jeep track , hit kukke road, and go to gundiya check post, have fun in the river and get back to blore…By then subbu already made up his mind to trek along this jeep track and go to bangalore and rest well the next day before he hits office on monday..He immediately packed his back pack, and bid bye bye to us…Then it was turn of Shiva and co to follow subbu…But 7 of us ramki, kanna, bala, rakesh, srijith, arpita and myself were in no mood to go to bangalore…so, we decided to take the same jeep track…

All 20 of us started slowly enjoying the dense forest…it was a beautiful and little scary trek …here and there we could listen to the streams flowing..lot of dry, wet leaves all over the track…At one point, I did not see any one in front of me and when I looked back, no one there too!...my heart started thud thud thud !…hmm..no problem,… my mind started working faster than my legs…what if some animal comes,.. how do I react..what do I do…so on.. lol…!..For half hour I almost was all alone…no fear?..NO..:)…Then litlle ahead, I saw kannan, bala ramki waiting…then rest of guys behind me also joined…then the group of 14 went to banglore and 7 of us went back the trail for a kilomitre and jumped into the stream…. Trek is no fun without water!..absolutely true!...1 ½ hour we enjoyed … just 7 of us had the whole stream for ourselves. By 5.30, we packed and started to walk towards the main road that joins Anila bus stand on kukke road….Wait !....ayyo!…leech !...here, there,…no.. one more here..ayyo..hmm…15 mts went in driving away those leeches….Anyway, we continued further down the tracks,..and there….ROAD !!....yippi yippi ..ya ya ya..

It was 6 pm by then..found a tea shop right there where the bus stops..dumped all our backpacks…gave the tea shop guy some ginger and requested him to make ginger tea. Thoroughly enjoyed 2 cups of tea each of us…then it started drizzling!..hey.. Why not take a walk in the rain??!,,,, ya.. why not ?...ok.. Now, we set a deal with the tea shop guy..decided to stay there that night..He agreed to give his gas and cylinder for us to cook.. …great!...Rakesh stayed back at shop…, Arpita was busy taking snaps with the new hat that she found in the shop..The hat was made of Arichnut tree leaf....very artistic indeed..20/- per hat. ….Slowly then we got ready for rain trek.. Guys removed their shirts..It was already getting a bit dark and we got on the road….wow! ..wow!…no words to describe that beautiful walk in the rain!.....at once I thanked god for bringing me and showing me and giving me such wonderful experiences…No regrets of having stopped performing dance!… The road was simple superb..well laid, nice winding roads, bamboo trees on both sides, and weather!. Very pleasant,.lightning now and then, good breeze, great company..What else you need?..!!..it became pitch dark..one of the guys had a brilliant idea..he told..”Hey!..all of you look up…stretch your hands, close your eyes…now feel the rain, feel the breeze…now walk quietly! “..adada..ahaha…Awesome man!!..We were KIDS there..!!....We didn’t feel like stopping our walk at all..We sat on a bridge there on a pitch dark night looking at vehicles passing in great speeds…good.. Relax!…

Then, we started to walk back to the tea shop.. Arpita and srijith had found a great treasure for all of us!!…we had to sit on the road and observe the vehicle light that was coming from a distance..WOW!!..it was like seeing in a movie where when the god or some great power arrives, u see slowly the rays of light coming and spreading all over!...oh my god !..u will pay anything to watch this scene! ..amazing!!!..can u believe we sat there almost an hour just watching these rays of lights!... some moments cant be erased from our memory at allJ…Simple things in life bring great joys in our life..Isnt it??!...Enjoy life guys..enjoy nature..enjoy treks…! ! ! Back at tea shop, we had hot omlettes, bisi bisi bisibelebath, sambar rice, Tea,.. …yummy yummy..had great dinner that day and rolled our mats, crashed to bed. One or two guys started snoring!..grrr grrr….

Ayyo…arpita and myself couldnt sleep at all…It was around 12.30 midnight I guess..Both of us woke up and stood on the road… our hairs were left open..it was pitch dark.. We sat on a kutti stone watching all vehicles passing by…many of them for sure had looked at both of us…But none dared to stopJ.. no one wants to risk their lives with ghosts…isn’t it??.....lol.:) …That was an experience!.Later, both of us got back into our sleeping bags…r.rrr…rr..

3rd day – Sunday..early morning 6.30, we woke up, brushed , then packed our bags, and started to walk towards gundiya check post..Scenic roads, great weather,..had some fruits, clicking now and then on our way…and around 8 am, we hit the Nethravathi river bridge close to check post..We got down the bridge, got into the river.. Nethravathi was beautiful but muddy, flowing gently, and dancing sometimes in between rocks…We kept our bags under a huge tree..We all freshened up there…Till 9.30, had great luxurious bath and came to check post.. We had Dosas, uttappam, coffee, tea…and boarded a bus to Dharmasthala..There Ramki went to bus stand to cancel others tickets and 3 of us srijith, arpita and myself climbed Ratnagiri hill to have a look at Gommateswara…Bala, rakesh and kannan who were supposed to look after our bags were happily snoring at the bus stand itself !..They were woken up by arpita’s kicks and we then moved to the new bus stand..boarded the bus to bangalore…Before that , we had nice badam milk, spicy butter milk, lemon soda,…and quenched our thirst for trekking

Preparation for the Mountaineering course

2010-03-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is in continuation of the blog - Dancing to the mountains.......
http://indirakadambi.blogspot.com/2010/02/dancing-to-mountains_18.html

Flight just took off from Chennai. I had some breakfast and tea. After going through in-flight magazines, I got back to scribbling in my notes…It was in July 2009 I guess when I got confirmation regarding my participation in the mountaineering course. I had good three months to prepare. In the mean time, in June some time, I got a mail from a guy called Tathagatha from West Bengal, settled in Chennai, whom I had not met at all. He is a CTC member who had come to know that I was planning to take up this course. Here are few letters that we exchanged. It is quite interesting to read this.

15th June 2009

Hi Indira,

I had attended the BMC at NIM in 2008 between similar dates and that was a men-only batch. On checking the NIM site however, I saw that there has indeed been a change in the nature of the batch; it is now a mixed-gender batch. It’s a really welcome change to the strictly gender-discriminated course structure at NIM. Would be fantastic to know how this came about and how you got the information.

Now some unsolicited information/suggestion :) . I am sure you are pretty fit to have opted for the NIM course in the first place. But still I would recommend the following since I personally endured a 28 day course over there and was pretty overwhelmed, and since you did not specifically mention a training plan.

If you are fit you shall regard those 28 days among the best days you've experienced, but if you are not then you will curse every day spent there and may even have to drop out midway because of exhaustion/injury.

The course is pretty physically demanding with no special consideration for ladies. In fact since the course is going to be mixed, it is going to be even harder for ladies. Even we guys found the going tough since we had to match steps with supremely fit army men training with us. The logic they give is: mountains are the same for everybody.

So do train properly and go: CTC treks are good but not nearly enough.

Now, the tips:

A) The physical fitness levels required are:

1. Being able to run continuously for 30 mins at 10 kms/hr since everyday morning at NIM. They make trainees jog all the way down to the river/bridge and all the up to the institute. Plus exercises on the way.

2. Being able to walk for 10 kms (with a break in between) with a load of 15-16 kgs on back on uneven terrain. This would be required for all the walks to the mountains. No concession is made for anybody.

Both are counted in the final evaluation

B) Technical levels

This is a secret :) . Although NIM categorically mentions that no prior technical know-how is necessary, it would be extremely helpful if you could have the following experiences:

1. Knowledge of important rope knots and hitches. They would be taught at NIM but unless you are some sort of a genius, which I wasn't, you most probably won't be able to remember half of them at the time of requirement, ie., on the cliffs. It would really give you the extra edge if you can learn it from some expert here in Chennai. Most students, although they do not mention to the instructors, come prepared. So do not be demoralized. If you find that you are grappling with it while your mate is happily done with it long back.

2. Rock climbing: Again you are not expected to know in advance but , believe me, its not easy to be asked to climb a near vertical face 120 ft high without any prior experience. Again fellow students won't mention it to instructors at NIM but would come prepared. So please try to have at least a minimal exposure to bouldering and rock climbing under the guidance of nobody short of an expert - Do not try on your own.

Here again, one more point, you would be exposed to artificial wall climbing at NIM, this needs considerable strength in forearm, so developing the strength is necessary.

3. Team work: They pretty much observe your every movement there. The way you interact with team members, cooperate with them, help them out, everything counts. We Indians have a tendency to flock to people from the same state. At NIM your group will not have another person from the same state. If you are found mixing only with people from the same state, this will count as a negative attribute.

In short the experience at NIM would be unforgettable one and one needs to be prepared to make the most out of it.

You may be thinking who this crazy guy is, giving away unwanted nonsense. :} Actually i am a bit passionate about nature and mountains in particular. Have tremendous respect for mountaineers. Been lucky to be in touch with some accomplished ones. In fact my ultimate dream is to settle peacefully in Uttarakhand among my mountains!

If you already have the information I wrote here, then please ignore and my apologies :)

If not, then please consider them as humble suggestions from somebody who has been privileged to be associated with a national institute of excellence.

Take care,
Tathagata

16th June
Hey! Thanks a lot Thathagatha:)..Liked your name. Very unique :) so sweet of you..I am jogging. But slowly increase the duration and kms too :)..I am planning to carry 12 - 15 kgs and trek alternate week end through ctc:)..I will try my best :)..But I won’t forget your valuable tips :) As per knots, i did attend a workshop but couldn’t learn more than 3 !!..So, probably I will request them again to teach :)Also try to go to Ramnagaram to do rock climbing. Are you planning to go there? if yes, let me know,. I will join you..Thanks a ton once again :)TC Cheers
Indira

17th June
Hey Indira,
That's the spirit! I am sure you will complete the course with flying colors. Just make sure you are well-prepared and it would be just fun.

You have 4 months to prepare, that's time enough by all accounts. Take it easy and gradually increase the capabilities.

Regarding rock climbing, yes I am very keen but want make sure that the instructors/course conductors are knowledgeable and take all safety precautions. That is very important. This year I did a very enriching RC course under the guidance of Mr. Debabrata Mukherjee in West Bengal. He was the captain of the Indian Mountaineering team in 2005. Every moment was worthwhile and I was thinking.. 'I should have done this course before going to NIM' .
Tatha

Hey,
That’s nice. Thanks a lot ya.. Basically, I am a professional bharatanatyam artist --for almost 3 decades. So, no stamina problem. Have taken a break from my profession and doing more of trekking now :)have a good flair for rock climbing. Only issue is remembering knots..:)Well we will learn in RC..thanx for updating:)cheers
indira

Hi
Wow ! You are quite a celebrity! In fact I felt from the very beginning that I have come across your name before. Must have been in Art and Culture reviews on The Hindu.
Sorry for not being able to recognize since I am an absolute zero in matters pertaining to dance! Music is my passion, especially sitar.

It is pretty obvious then that stamina is not an issue for you. Balance, which is so very important on mountains, would be natural to you as well. My humble suggestion would be to then additionally focus on the mental and the technical aspect of the training like getting used to rocks and ropes and also the issue of bearing heavy loads.

I did the course when I was 34 and so had to adjust intellectually since I had to share the rooms/tents with 18-24 year olds, who if anything were not intellectually inclined /mature. For me I did not get to discuss anything on business/politics/arts/culture/literature for 28 days and that was an issue for me.

However things could be different for your batch in the course and also because of the fact that ladies are more inclined towards the finer aspects of life in general.

Three additional things:

1. The discourse/lectures would be mostly in Hindi at NIM. Should not be an issue for you I am quite certain.

2.Be careful and judicious in selecting rock climbing shoes provided by the institute. Most would be worn-out and ill-fitting. So you need to pick-try-select carefully. An ideal rock climbing shoe should be tight fitting with no gap between the toes and the front. If you have your personal pair, then no issues.

3.. In October-November, due to the weather, there would be almost no snow at lower reaches and the focus of the course would be on ice-craft rather than snow-craft. The normal ladies' course in May focuses on snow-craft rather than ice-craft.
You would be required to wear and adjust to snow-boots with crampons which are cumbersome at best. We do not get snow in south, so pretty difficult to even come across snow-boots here. If you can some how an initial idea have on what it is all about, it would be that much easier to adjust. Again, be very careful about choosing a boot from NIM, fitting is of paramount interest. Ask the instructors pro-actively on the fitting part.
I suffered immensely due to ill-fitting snow boots. In fact I lost both my big toe nails there since snow craft involved continuous kicking on hard snow walls during ascent.

Finally, I shall try to contact the RC agency in Bangalore and if you are interested, shall let you know on how things shape up there.

Take care
Tatha

Hi:)
Celebrity??..I don’t know :) :)...well.. ya.. I was a very active performer. Thanks for your compliments :)I will certainly consider your suggestions provided I get a seat :). I am 40 now :)..Regarding getting along, it is no issue. From high school kids to 60's 70's...it is fine :)Regarding shoe, I will keep all the tips in mind. But what i need to work is about carrying loads..So, when did u do yr course?..Rock climbing…, I want to do. Will wait for your updates.. Well. If you know and remember different knots, probably could u teach me when u r free?Thanx a lot once againTCIndira

I hope you have applied for the course already. The seats get filled up pretty fast. I did
the course in October 2008 and had applied in March 2008. Hope you have the phone numbers of NIM training branch, its better to call up and enquire till you get the confirmation post. The post never reached me since I was in China and reached India a week before the course.

Fitness alone counts, age is no factor. The logic is simple, if one is able to climb mountains even at 55-60 (which is very common) one should be able to do a training which, although intense, is much less risky and rigorous compared to a real expedition.

Regarding carrying loads, i got this tip at NIM (too late for me!!) from Mr. Kushal Singh Rana (summitted Everest recently) : although you would be required to walk with loads there, the preparation should be by jogging with load. Need not be 15 kgs, start with 3-4-5 kg or whatever is comfortable to start with, but jog, don't walk. Then as you get accustomed in a few days, try to increase the load. You could not argue with that. You can even try this out on a tread mill. Another suggestion was to increase the grade (slope) in treadmill and then walk/jog. I plan to go for a mountaineering course next year and so am training this way at present.

Regarding RC , will keep you posted. ..Knot training:... This is important for you. Actually if you do a RC course at Ramnagaram/Bangalore, you can request to devote more time for knots there since knots are used everywhere.
Tathagata

Ok :)..Thanks :)...u really have great patience :)cheers

Indira

:) Been in IT for long. It’s an industry for dimwits! :) Think that’s where the patience comes from.
Tathagata

Well....
Now coming back to my actual preparation:. By nature, I am quite a lazy person. Waking up early in the morning was a sure no. But once I get up, I am all charged. Some one had to be there to push me. Yes. It was my dear friend Ram Dasari, who loved to run and who was preparing for marathon!. Ram used to call me Mom... Here, I would like to share our regular conversations that used to happen !!

IK – hey Ram, jogging tomorrow?
RD – yes mom.
IK- what time?
RD – 5am
IK- please give me a wake up call
RD- sure mom
Then next day, at 4.45 am,..Trin trinnnn..phone rings ………..
IK- hello ram
RD- Good morning. wake up mom
IK – hey! Good morning. I am so tired ram. I want to sleep. Let us jog tomorrow.
RD- moooom!..why r u so lazy..just wake up now
IK – I could not sleep well yesterday. so…
RD- I am leaving now. You are going to be ready in ten minutes
IK – noooooooo
RD – I am almost there. 5 mts away
IK- nooo pleaseeeeeee
RD – I am waiting in front of your gate mom. Come out!,,
IK- shucks man!..ok..One min hang on..
I have a quick brush, quick face wash, put on my jog track and shoe and out in ten minutes..
RD- Mom..why are you so lazy?!
IK- shut up. I am here. Let us go now!!,..

We used to go to Elliot’s beach on his bike. Elliot's Beach is spread along the coast down south from Marina.. This beach is comparatively quieter compared to Marina beach.. Though off late, lot of people are getting drowned due to rough sea. It is located near Besantnagar.. It is a real pleasure to go for early morning or late night walk or jog on the specially laid tracks. Early in the morning, one could see people jogging, walking, sitting and chatting, doing yoga, outdoor gym, Dogs sleeping, police patrolling, some selling fresh Vegetable juices and few selling Organic food stuffs… In the evenings, it is quite noisy, but one can enjoy the local food joints.

After parking the Bike, we used to do fifteen minutes of stretches right from head, neck, shoulder, arms, sides, back, and complete leg stretches till toe. And then start jogging. Initially I started with 3 kms and then slowly increased to 5, 6 and was able to do till 7.5 kms! It was a big achievement for me. I should thank RD for this. On an average, I used to jog 2 to 3 days a week, other 2 days, I used to do yoga, and alternate days, I was doing weights to strengthen my arms and shoulders. I never like to overdo things and hurt myself. Everyone should know their body well and rest whenever required. One should always keep long term benefit in mind while exercising. There is no point in overdoing things, hurt one’s body and injure ones limbs for a life time. You don’t have to prove anyone anything. Later, I went for few 2-3 day treks of 30 to 40 kms carrying 10- 12 kilos of load. This routine was going quite smoothly. I had ten more days to leave. I just wanted to test myself how I feel when I overwork. So, one day, I jogged, I did weights, I did yoga and I went up and down stairs carrying 15 kilos on my back.. idhu rumba overraaa therille?!!(Tamil: isn’t it too much of show off?! ) As I mentioned earlier, what would happen with over enthusiasm?.. Yes..I hurt my back and my knee was paining. I was bit worried. My mind told.” Enough Indira.. Now just relax..”.. Next ten days, I took it cool. Just gave my body a big break. Took some Amway’s Glucosamine tablets to strengthen my knee, then went for few parties, had lot of cheesy stuff like Baked bowls, kulfi,… knowing very well that I am going to burn out lot of calories in mountains!

In between, Chandra didi and Tatha were also in touch regularly to know my progress.

Next was packing of bags. I made a list of items that I had, and things that I had to buy. I made a check list; enquired about the quality of products from different sources, enquired about the prices from different shops and finally zeroed down. Even though the fee for the whole is only 5000/- which includes training fee, hiring of equipments, and food, the price for the additional things that was needed for the course (flight charge, train charge, shoes, track suit,..) went up to 20000/-. + …

All essentials were packed in separate polythene covers. It was a good packing I would say. Little experienced from previous Himalayan treks!

Polyethylene No.1: - Clothings
Polyethylene No.2 - Tool Kit
Polyethylene No. 3: -Toiletry kit
Polyethylene No.4:- Medicines
Miscellaneous: -

I was all set. I was mentally prepared to do well. I set my goals and worked on it pushing my limits every time. Only thing I needed now is the power and strength from HIM to do the course successfully. It was nice of my hubby and my baby for agreeing to take care of them selves in my absence. They were more than happy I guess! ha ha :)

I had lot of best wishes messages from my friends and family.. Some nice ones, some encouraging, some funny…few are here:

Hey!..You can do it!
Do how much ever you can. If you can’t, just come back. No big deal
You don’t have to prove anything to anyone
Take care of yourself and enjoy
I am very confident that you will do it.
We hope to see you back in one piece!
Let us take one last glance at you!
That’s the way to go. Not everyone can do it, all the best!
Kick your ass!
Have a great time there.... a literal Dhamaka - Diwali style!!! :)
Rest in Peace!! May you should find peace in the high mountains :)
Be safe!!!! Be a good gal....don’t be too adventurous!! I
Hey.. Sure u will be having an "out of the world" experience. Just one thing... Never give in..... Just push yourself always & you can make it for sure.
Have a great time. Don’t worry; it won’t be tougher than DOA5 ;).. ( Dead or Alive Treks – toughest treks in CTC)
Hope u find lots of good people, make great friends n have a fun learning time..Do share with us some useful tips on climbing once u return :)
Another mountaineer from our group :) :) Guess you would become a full time adventure sport woman soon :)

Well. Preparation has not stopped yet. It will continue…. In the mean time, ….

Now, flight has landed at Hyderabad airport. I am still sitting in the plane writing my journal. The flight is going to take off shortly to Delhi. I took a short nap. By the time I woke up, I was in Delhi. Flight landed at 3.45pm.Took a cab and went to my friend Madhura’s place. After having Dosa and chai with Madura, we caught up with our Chennai news and gossips. By 8.30pm, we had dinner together and around 10.30, I was dropped at the Nizamuddin station to catch midnight 12 train to Dehradun. I took a share taxi to Uttarkashi. I left Dehradun at around 8.30am or so. Cost was 200/- per head and I got 2 seats for myself in front of the cab. At 10.30am, I had some brunch- Aaloo paratha and sabzi. Route was very scenic. But after some time, it was sick traveling in the winding roads in the mountains. I had to take a tablet to control vomiting. I reached Uttarkashi at 2.30 in the noon and Karan bhaiyya was there to pick me up. Karan is the nephew of Chandra prabha, the mountaineer. He took me to his place. His house is on the banks of River Ganges. The sound of the Ganges could be heard 24x7 !. After putting all my things in a room, I had lovely tea. . It was inspiring to see once again all the awards that Chandra didi had received. No place to keep anymore awards!.. As I glanced through, one of them caught my eyes. “ .. mei bharath ka rashtrapathi…aapko Padmasri pradhan kathaa hu..”.. My monkey mind started dreaming again. It was reading “…mei bharat ka rashtrapathi mountaineer aur bharatanatyam kalakaar Indira Kadambi ke liye Padmasri pradhaan kartha hu…….”…LOL…suddenly I started laughing at my own self. I had not even started the course still but already big dreams!!!.. Fortunately there was no one around. Mind is really funny. At one moment it will be in Chennai. Suddenly it will be in moon in next one sec! Mind travels faster than light I guess!! ..

That day, I just took good rest. Later in the evening, Karan gave me the book to read and get inspired –“Mountaineering – The freedom of the hills” that describes the concepts, techniques and problems involved in pursuit of climbing mountains. I read few pages and slept. Here I would like to share few things from that book…

Passion: “…We do not climb mountains because we must. We do because we love mountains. When we do, we enjoy it and is deeply satisfying”
Mountains do not exist for our amusement. They owe us nothing. Mountaineers have been granted the privileged communion with high places of Earth…”
“Mountaineering is more than climbing, panoramic views and wilderness experience. It is also challenge, risk, and hardship. It is also exhilarating and irresistible as well as frustrating and deadly. These qualities bring inspiration and passion. It is complex and indefinable…. The attraction of uncertainty what we get from this adventure is just sheer joy …”

Tips:”.. Just as important as physical conditioning, our mental attitude often determines success or failure. We need to be positive, realistic and honest with ourselves….Never climb alone. Never climb beyond your ability and knowledge. Never let judgments be over ruled by desire…. “

On environment: “ The privileges we enjoy in the mountains bring the responsibility to help preserve our environment we love… It’s also time to speak loudly for support and wilderness preservation so that our next generation will be able to enjoy…..”

Responsibility and leadership: “.. Assume responsibility for your knowledge, skill and preparedness.. Thinking about the group, its welfare and how you can contribute is in itself a preparation, perhaps the very best preparation for leadership… while climbing, establishing supportive atmosphere is very important. People need to know that their companions care about them and will help them… Both goals oriented leadership and relationship oriented leadership has to be balanced for an effective team…”

Well, I settled down very comfortably the next three days in Karan’s house. I came to Uttarkashi early to get acclimatized to the higher altitude gradually. It was quite cold there considering the fact that I came from Chennai all the way. Weather was a total contrast. Chennai is on the sea level. Weather is hot, hotter, and hottest! Uttarkashi is in lower Himalayas. In day time, I had sweater all the time. Inside the house it is pretty cold and outside, it is quite hot.

Karan had asked to me to jog up the hill facing his house. So, the next day, I woke up at 7am and started jogging. First half km was fine. Then gradually upward slope started. Hardly 200 mts up the hill, I started panting a lot. I couldn’t breathe anymore. It was very cold too!. I had fears in my mind.. Shucks!.. There back in Chennai, I could jog 7 kms so easily. There weather was warm. Roads were flat. What else is required to make jog smooth!. Here at Uttarkashi, steep hills, winding roads, and cold weather made it worse.. I was stuck. My god!. How will I do this course here!.. After 5 minutes break, I continued to jog slowly and soon I could do 4 to 5 km up and down the hill.. I was disappointed. Thought I would try doing it better the next day.
Later in the evening, Karan got a small rope to teach me knots. It was like a revision for me as I had learnt few with Arul in Chennai. For almost an hour, I practiced – Thumb knot, Reef knot, Single sheet band, Double sheet band, Fisherman knot, Clove hitch, and Figure of 8.

The next day, I made up my mind to jog well. I stretched a bit. Karan also joined me. I could do 7 kms up and down the hill. Still I had energy to jog more. But just put a break to my legs. Had 2 cups of hot tea and sat outside bathing in the morning sun light!. Karan was all happy and he told..” didi phikar math keejiye. Aapto aaramse ye course karpaavoge “. That gave me a bit of confidence. After lunch, He taught me few more rope knots – Guide man knot, End man knot, Middle man knot, Prusik knot, Bow line knot and Bow line on the byte. I kept practicing it until I became familiar with it.

As I write, I could hear the sound of Ganges, kids playing, fighting, dogs barking, and the sound of the temple bells,.. But my mind is still disturbed with lot of things that I carried from Chennai. And also lot of fear whether I will be able to do the course well or not… I switched on my cell to listen to Gayathri mantra. I took a small walk to Ganges. I heard Vishnu sahasranamam. Mind became much calmer and peaceful. I felt very relaxed. Every now and then I used to call Ram and seek solace. He was very encouraging. I missed him a lot!. My mother’s messages now and then came like blessings.

I had a day left to leave to Nehru Institute of Montaineering. I started repacking things. The things that I need at NIM; things I need for mountains; things that I need during my return trip. I was quite excited and all set to leave!. I don’t how to thank Didi, Karan and his family who were so very nice to me - took care of me so well, taught me, and encouraged me for the course. I am highly indebted to them.

Next chapter.. At Nehru Institute of Montaineering....... continues

Dancing to the mountains

2010-02-18T23:42:00.000-08:00

Passion

12th October 2009 - Sitting at the airport and waiting to board the flight to New Delhi, listening to Vishnu Sahasranamam, I am wondering how it all started - My passion for mountains. Well, going back to my childhood. I think it all began through my parents especially my Mom, who equally shared her love for nature with my brother Balaji, fondly called Bali and myself. My mom is a gifted writer. It is such a pleasure to read her articles on her experiences with nature. She is a good photographer too! My father was a real inspiration for me. He never stopped me from exploring any things in life. Never said no for anything and encouraged me in all my endeavors. I never had the fear to explore. I had learnt cycling when I was in 3rd grade and had learnt driving a moped in 6th grade. When I got my first car, he just asked me to take him and my mom to Mysore even though I never had any experience of high way driving or even night driving. But my father had lot of confidence in me!

In my childhood days, every holiday especially summer time, I, along with my brother used to meet up with my cousins who used to stay in the Kudremukh amidst beautiful Sahyadri mountain ranges. The place was surrounded by dense forests, little streams, and Bhadra River. We all cousins loved to just take off into the forest, play in the streams, bathe in the river,…Also our idea of a picnic was to be next to river and have fun!. I was fascinated by the huge 900 ft Jog falls, Gajnur dam near Shimoga, Cauvery river at Shrirangapatna, Mysore zoo, dense forests around Kudremukh,.. Thus my love for nature was sown in my childhood itself.

In the mean time, I finished my studies; got married in 1993, and had a baby. I was a professional classical danseuse. I used to travel a lot for performances and teaching. During these years, nothing much happened apart from focusing on my career and family commitments. Here and there we used to go and have fun at resorts, stay at jungle lodges; go for back water rides in Kerala; sun bathe at Goa beaches…

It is during my early visits to USA 2000 onwards, I developed the passion for trekking again. There I used to take a day off for hikes at Santa Monica mountain ranges in California, Appalachian in West Virginia, and the best of all was my hike in Grand Canyon during April 2005. After too much of brainstorming whether to hike there or not, I hiked in GC all alone. ....
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the United States, in the state of Arizona. 277 miles long, it ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles and attains a depth of over a mile (6000 feet). Except for whitewater rafting, I did some hiking and helicopter tours. Many hikers overestimate their fitness level, and become de-hydrated. Due to lack of experience, I didn’t even bother to carry pain killers with me. My camping place after a day’s hike was at Phantom ranch. The trail was steep. Well defined. Some shade was present on the trail, mostly from the canyon walls. The Bright Angel Creek on the northern side of the Colorado River and is the only lodging facility below the Canyon’s rim. The Ranch can only be reached by hiring a mule, by foot, or by rafting on the Colorado River, and is a popular stop-over point for hikers and mule riders traveling to the bottom of the Canyon via the famous Bright Angel or Kaibab trails. The rustic cabins and the main lodge are built of wood and native stone and do not take away the natural beauty. Hiking down the canyon killed my knees and hiking up killed my back! I survived with those pain killers and a Hiking stick that was lent to me by a fellow trekker whom I met at Phantom Ranch. When I got back to the top of the canyon, it was drizzling and then suddenly it started snowing too. I cried my heart out thanking god for bringing me back alive! Later I figured that it was a foolish thing to hike in the canyon all alone. If any mishap took place, no one will ever know that you were even there!!!

Turning point

Dancing Bharatanatyam for over 34 years, 21 years as a professional, I led a very active, athletic life. Ill with Chikkunguniya in late 2006, a potentially dehabilitating joint infection (like severe arthritis), I was down - both physically and mentally. The disease put my life completely off track. I could not even get up from the bed on my own; brushing my teeth, carrying a milk packet or walking up a staircase was infinitely challenging. Dancing or trekking was a definite pipe-dream. After almost 9 months, I beat this disease through Yoga.

I began to walk and slowly, started jogging, but not dance. But I could not dance. Rather I didn’t want to dance due to various reasons. There was so much of attachment to it that I hated it - as not dancing in these past months had put me into so much of pain. I neither wanted to see any program nor meet any one related to that field nor take any classes. In one way, it was good. I got to spend a lot of time with my family. But it was quite childish though when I look back into that. Well. Each one of us learn our lesson on our own pace I guess. When we are going through the pain, it seems very difficult but later after some time, when you look back; it is all for good I feel. . Once I was physically better, I went for a trek with my brother’s family to Coorg. And in May 2007, several of us with the help of Chandrasang Foundation planned a trek in the Himalayas - from Gangotri to Baby Shivling via Tapovan and back.

8 days in the serene Himalayas - the ‘heaven on earth’ : The deeper you trek inside the Himalayas, she reveals more of her beauty to you. Layers and layers of mountains sketched and colored by the Supreme keeps opening in front of our eyes. At Tapovan, when I saw the gorgeous Bhagirathi peaks on one side, majestic Shivling Peak on the other side and the crystal clear stream flowing in between, in the presence of the power of nature, I felt the power of the Almighty. I used to feel the presence of that power when I danced and had missed it since.The Himalayas gave me so much of joy that dance seemed inconsequential in comparison. It slowly brought detachment to dance. For the first time, I could imagine a life – happy & constructive, even without dancing.

After this trek, back in Chennai, I googled one day and came to know about CTC-Chennai trekkers club!, that’s it!. My happiness knew no bounds. I registered myself into that and my first one day trek through CTC was to Tada on 28th Aug 2008, with my husband. Hmm. My hubby Ramprasadh, a Carnatic vocalist by profession is exactly opposite in nature. Warm heart by nature, He is tall. I am short. He is calm. I am short tempered. Rather drives me madJ. He loves indoors and I am outdoor person. He loves resorts and relaxes. I love trekking and sweating. That’s how God makes pairs I guess. Make pairs who are totally different and have fun at our cost!. lolJ..But we do have few common things like music, movie and travel that we enjoy together. It is only after marriage, Ram got exposure to nature and other adventure related activities. What I appreciate is, he never says no to what ever I would like to do and when ever he can, he would like to be a part of adventure activities and tries his best to do well...I just love him for that!

I enjoyed every moment of my treks in deep jungles, in unknown trails, steep, rocky, slippery trails....diving into deep crystal clear pools from different heights, swimming across pools ferrying loads,. It was fun... Well… In the over 15 treks in the last sixteen months, I have discovered, Nature is amazing. Nature is God.

Treks put life back into my life. Friendship and self - lost in deep jungles, sleeping under the open sky, I began rediscovering who I am and what I want.

I started attending The Bhagavad Gita classes. It was such an eye opener! Gita belongs to all. It doesn’t belong only to Hindu or preach only for Hindus. Gita is way of life. It can be adopted by any one in the world who wants to understand life. I always used to think all these philosophy stuffs has to be read by people after their retirement lolJ But after attending these classes, I realized how foolish i was for not having learnt in my younger days. I strongly feel all schools should make it compulsory for all the kids to know Gita so that they would be well prepared to face the challenges of life in a more matured manner. So, trekking and Gita has been the most influencing factors in my life I would say.. My favorite quote from Gita – Chapter 2 ……

Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho 'bhijayate

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

Krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smriti-vibhramah
smriti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati

From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool................................

This is what exactly happened between Dance and myself !. Now, I hope I don't get attached to treks any more..:) Easy to read..But very difficult to follow.Isn’t it ?!
Well,,, In May 2009 after completing a family trek in Gharwal Himalayas towards Bandhar poonch range with Chandra didi, winner of the Padmashree, Arjuna and National Adventure awards, I applied for the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) course. I then jumped headlong into the rigorous training program there.

Thus, at the age of forty, I began pursuing my dream of becoming a mountaineer – a journey whose first steps began with rediscovering an enthusiasm for life via treks.

Now, After this four years of silence, trekking has inspired me to come back to Dancing once again!!. I hope trekking and dancing would be my heart and soul. I am still discovering myself. Probably, I have now started Dancing to the mountains!