Half a dream fulfilled

A very Happy Dussehra to everyone. Or as they call it in my dad's battalion - Dasain. The last time I spent Dasain at the Battalion was way back when dad was commanding - probably 1970 or thereabouts. It has been my ardent wish to be a part of the Dasain celebrations at the unit ever since. Many battalions of the units have been posted close to Delhi and the opportunities had presented themselves a few times in the past, but somehow I never managed to be there. This time too I would probably have been somewhere up the high Himalayas had it not been for the unscheduled snow, avalanches, landslides, aborted expeditions, etc. Had it not been for these causes, I might have been abe to manage being in dad's battalion - 4/3 Gorkha Rifles that is posted close to where we were. But then, we were back in Delhi before the great day and I thought I had missed my chance yet again. But then, fate willed otherwise. The battalion that my dad was commissioned into, and the one that my mother was married into, was posted in Delhi, waiting to sail away on a UN Peacekeeping mission. And I kind of invited myself in to be a part of the celebrations.

I have just come back after a few hours of absolutely breathtaking experiences. Tonight was the night of revelry and celebrations. Three hours of drama and skits and plays and songs - all written, choreographed, directed and performed by the boys of the battalion. I have faint memories of yesteryears and all of them came flooding back in a flash. I felt my dad sitting next to me, holding my hands and participating in the celebrations along with the men he once commanded.

Oh, to be in uniform.

But, this is only a dream half fulfilled. Something in my head has been teling me for some time that my troubles and sorrows are waiting for a sacrifice. I have wanted to be a part of the Dasain celebrations with the unit, but more so, I have wanted to be a part of the bali. And today a bali did take place. But tomorrow is the big day. About 35 goats will be offered to the Mother Goddess as part of an age old tradition of the Nepalese people. And I will be a part of that. Given an opportunity, I would really like to offer a sacrifice myself. That will really be the fulfillment of a long cherished dream. Maybe I am being superstitious, but then, when the chips are down I am willing to clutch at whatever straw is offered to me.

Being a Buddhist I should not be offering sacrifice, when my primary purpose in life is to offer the road to salvation to all living beings. Making a sacrifice ... killing ... another living being is absolutely against all my Buddhist teachings. But given the tradition of the battalion, the memory of my dad and my long desired dream, this is something I need to do and be a part of. The priests are there and the sacrificer solicits the forgiveness of the animal. And there is a dream yet half unfulfilled.

I will see you tomorrow when I would have had a chance to participate in an age old ritual and offer my participation towards fulfilling a cherished desire.

Courage and Resilience in Adversity

We are a team of adventurers on an expedition to better a Guinness World Record of the highest altitude reached by a motorcycle and were on our way to Leh. We crossed the 13,050 feet Rohtang on Sep 19 in the evening just as the rain and snow started to hit the mountains. We reached Keylong on the night of Sep 19 as the snowfall became very heavy. By next morning Keylong town was covered in more than 18 inches of snow. News started trickling in that Rohtang was snowed in and all traffic had been stopped. Also, that some tourists and locals were stranded at Rohtang top. What was more worrying for us was the fact that the road ahead that we had to take to go to Leh was facing severe snowfall. The 16,500 feet high Baralacha La pass was facing very heavy snowfall.

By afternoon news trickled in to Keylong that Baralacha La was completely cut off and that there were many vehicles stranded on the high altitude pass. By Sep 21 news was that there were nearly 1000 people stranded without any food, warm clothing or shelter, exposed to the continuing snowfall. Sarchu, the closest town to Baralacha La Pass was also inaccessible. Over the next few hours, some people managed to get to Sarchu or were evacuated by the local authorities and the Indian Army. All the people were huddled in the makeshift tents with continuing snowfall making the temperature drop to unbearable levels.

There was news of avalanches and landslides all along the route to Baralacha La. By Sep 22 there was unconfirmed news of casualties. News reaching Keylong was sketchy and people talked about six to seven people who had either died of the severe cold or had been swept away in avalanches. Unverified information also came in of some Army soldiers being swept away in avalanches.

The inclement weather conditions and low lying clouds meant that the Air Force helicopters could not take off for essential rescue operations or to drop food and clothing. However, to the credit of the Indian Air Force, we did see some sorties being flown whenever there was a break in the weather conditions making it suitable to fly.

Today on Sep 24, we were there at Stingri helipad and were witness to a group of people who had been evacuated from Sarchu. Among them, men, women and children. We met a family who had with them an infant barely a few months old.

There are supposed to be some trekkers near Chandratal. However, when the IAF chopper flew over the area, they did spot a tent but saw no signs of any movement or any people. The hope was that they were trying to walk to relative safety. The chopper dropped some food, a pair of boots and some blanket near the tent hoping that the team would come back to the tent and find the air dropped supplies. There were also search and rescue operations on in the area to locate people thought to have been swept away in the avalanches.

News from Koksar, a town close to Keylong, is that a shepherd along with hundreds of his sheep and horses have been swept away in an avalanche killing the entire lot.

The crop that was being grown to sustain the local population for the length of the winter is under snow and people are worried that they will not have enough rations to last the winter. In Keylong, electricity has been cut off due to broken transmission wires, water pipes have burst and food is fast running out. And this in Keylong, the District Headquarters. One cannot even begin to imagine the condition of the people who are stranded at high altitude at Baralacha La and at Sarchu, still waiting for some kind of help to rescue them. The administration is doing what it can, but the terrain and the weather is not helping matters. Fortunately the weather has held for the past couple of days and news is of the road between Baralacha La and Sarchu having opened today. The stretch between Zing Zing Bar and Baralacha La is still closed and the JCBs are working over time to clear the road and reach the unfortunate stranded.

Nature continues to play its part. A call from Leh this evening gave us the news of yet another avalanche near Baralacha La which has swept away two trucks and a car. Despite all the havoc that Nature is wrecking on this stretch of Earth, the people are showing tremendous resilience and courage. Volunteers are going out of their way to extend all help and support. The only regret they have is that the troubles they are facing continues to be local news while the rest of the country remains blissfully unaware of the difficulties faced by these incredible hill people.