A striking reminder
It takes a mix of a reaasonable amount of good fortune and some reasonably good physical ability to appreciate nature. And this is not just its beauty but its ability as the supreme force. I realised that on my trip to Spiti a couple of days back when we went on a trekking trip to the 'forbidden land', atleast thats the impression you get when you stare at the motionless clay formations or the barren mountains as you wind through the valley.
The cloudburst and the flashfloods in Leh a week before our trip were a grim reminder of the fact that man is helpless when it comes to natures wrath. And that no matter what we do, the greatness (in both size and stature) can humble the human ego at any time.
I will take a leaf from my learning from 'Peepli Live' which has so aptly shown the inane human ability to ignore the important in pursuit of the trivial. While it is but natural that we got swayed away by the immense beauty of the valley - imagine an ifinite mountain range on both sides of a muddy, sometimes furious and cold river winding along patchy villages. Women, children and men going about thier daily chores, punctuated with the sip of the hot 'butter tea' and the now regular conversation with the backpacker about how the valley has never seen such bad weather (read nature is getting back). The razor sharp wind that blows through your face and leaves you dazzled. The sun, in all its glory looks over the mountains and bakes the sand under your feet. The mudhouses that till a decade back were the place where a man could cool his heels after a hard days work, were now a liability and invoked feelings of insecurity as rain could wash them and thier lives off unannounced.
It is very easy to get swayed by the astounding beauty of the place and the terrain indulges the shutterbug in everyone of us. But it is equally important to understand that it is our responsibility to keep the place like it is forever. The only way that can come about is by understanding that the huge enormousness that we call the mountains and the river and the valley are all forms of life. And that we cannot choke them to death in thier own land. Because when they riposte, we may not like it.
While we trekked for 5 days through the valley, the villages, its lakes there was a strong sense of hostility that I noticed in the locals. While the more industrious among them make the most the tourists by hosting them, some of them who dont demonstrate that hostility. While they may be few in number but its not a game of numbers in the valley after all.
All in all, I would rate this as my finest trip yet. More so because the plan itself was ridden with uncertainty till few days before the trip.
Nature rules.
The cloudburst and the flashfloods in Leh a week before our trip were a grim reminder of the fact that man is helpless when it comes to natures wrath. And that no matter what we do, the greatness (in both size and stature) can humble the human ego at any time.
I will take a leaf from my learning from 'Peepli Live' which has so aptly shown the inane human ability to ignore the important in pursuit of the trivial. While it is but natural that we got swayed away by the immense beauty of the valley - imagine an ifinite mountain range on both sides of a muddy, sometimes furious and cold river winding along patchy villages. Women, children and men going about thier daily chores, punctuated with the sip of the hot 'butter tea' and the now regular conversation with the backpacker about how the valley has never seen such bad weather (read nature is getting back). The razor sharp wind that blows through your face and leaves you dazzled. The sun, in all its glory looks over the mountains and bakes the sand under your feet. The mudhouses that till a decade back were the place where a man could cool his heels after a hard days work, were now a liability and invoked feelings of insecurity as rain could wash them and thier lives off unannounced.
It is very easy to get swayed by the astounding beauty of the place and the terrain indulges the shutterbug in everyone of us. But it is equally important to understand that it is our responsibility to keep the place like it is forever. The only way that can come about is by understanding that the huge enormousness that we call the mountains and the river and the valley are all forms of life. And that we cannot choke them to death in thier own land. Because when they riposte, we may not like it.
While we trekked for 5 days through the valley, the villages, its lakes there was a strong sense of hostility that I noticed in the locals. While the more industrious among them make the most the tourists by hosting them, some of them who dont demonstrate that hostility. While they may be few in number but its not a game of numbers in the valley after all.
All in all, I would rate this as my finest trip yet. More so because the plan itself was ridden with uncertainty till few days before the trip.
Nature rules.
posted by Saurabh at
5:37 PM
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