Author: Stephen Alter
Publishers: Penguin Books
Pages: 347
Every summer, many people head to Uttaranchal in the Indian Himalayas for a pilgrimage called char dham yatra(translated – four stops pilgrimage). It is pilgrimage to the four places where the feeder rivers to Ganga originate – Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. People now hop through these places in buses and jeeps but there was a time when it was done by foot.
In this book, Stephen Alter writes about his journey to the four points by foot, trying to retrace the traditional route and his amazing experiences on the way. The route to char-dham yatra is not easy, and involves travelling in extreme weathers, and distances are very long. Alter writes –
“My objective was to retrace traditional pilgrim trails, many of which have fallen into disuse or disappeared altogether… the total distance covered was roughly six hundred kilometers and altitudes ranged from four thousand to fourteen thousand feet…”
His experiences of the journey are amazing and varied. He meets friendly villagers who are more than eager to help him. He also meets weary poachers who try to stay away from him, and unfriendly swindlers who eyed on his money. He visited the most beautiful vistas, peaks and lakes in the Himalayas, making his journey worthwhile. He also gets to see the way of life in the villages of the mountains where he interacts with them in plenty and enjoys their hospitality. There are times he lost his way, only to encounter most beautiful landscapes that he would ever get to see.
He has every kind of story to tell is the book. He explains about the transcendent bliss he experienced in some places on his way, about the beauty of the Himalayan peaks all along his path and the variety of flora and fauna he sights in his journey. But it was no path filled with roses. There was a time when he was stuck in the fiercest thunderstorm with strongest winds and lightning he had ever experienced, and the fear that filled his body. He muses on the destruction inflicted on the fragile Himalayan environment, whether in the form of deforestation or by constructions like the infamous Tehri Dam.
Alter is not just a writer who travelled the Gharwal Himalayas and narrated his story. He is a naturalist who is well aware of the fauna and the vegetation of the region and is sensitive about the environment. He also is conversant of the local language and people’s way of life, and takes the role of an anthropologist in parts of his book. His knowledge, combined with his experiences of the journey makes this book complete, and is an excellent read from cover to cover. A must read book for anyone who is in love with the Himalayas, its beauty and its people.
Publishers: Penguin Books
Pages: 202
Edited by Amita Baviskar
Price: Rs. 295
Whether it is Ganga in the north or Kaveri in the south or any small river in between, there is a good amount of romanticization of every river that flows in the country. And ‘Waterlines – Penguin Book of River Writings’ does a perfect job of representing this romanticization.
The book is a collection of writings by various authors, edited by Amita Baviskar. The book covers every aspect that goes with the river including journeys along with or on the river, holiness of our rivers, people’s love for their river, some fiction that revolves around our rivers and even grave issues of modern India like pollution that the rivers are suffering from.
The highlights of the book includes pilgrimage travel along river Narmada and Bhagirati by Geoffrey Waring Maw, Jim Corbett’s experience of catching fish and much more. Reader’s heart pains to see what we are doing to our rivers when we hear about how dams and pollution are killing our rivers like Amaravati in TamiNadu and Bharatapuzha in Kerala. Romulus Whitaker shares his amazing experiences with crocodiles and snakes by riverside while he also moots sadly on how we are destroying our rivers slowly.
Must read are the narration of Badrinath pilgrimage by Stephen Alter and wonderful depiction of life by the Ganga at Banaras by Nita Kumar. Kumar writes –
“The river, in its changing persona through the year, gives Banaras their understanding of time. Their attitude seems to be marked by unpunctuality and disregard for time distinctions. But it is not that time has no importance. It is rather too important to be sacrificed for arbitrary purposes. It has to be lived with the full, every bit of it”.
Along with her subtle attempt to make one realize of blissful inactivity by the river, she describes the way town changes its habits every season along with changing moods of the river which involves you through the entire story and carries you along with it.
Some of the writings involve careful and scientific study like the origin, history and stories associated with rivers that could be dull reading for a section of readers while enlightening the rest. An excellent book for any one who has fallen in love with our beautiful rivers.
Publishers: Penguin Books
Pages: 239
Into the high ranges is a collection of short stories of travelling into the mountains written by various authors and edited by Ravina Aggarwal. The book contains many interesting stories – some about people going into the mountains to explore them, some of them living there and many more journeys with many more purpose.
The collection notably includes stories from Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Tenzing Norgay attempting to climb Mt Everest, Ruskin Bond’s romancing with the alpine trees, Allan Sealy’s short write-up which includes stories on terrifying leeches.
The stories cover many aspects which includes travelling into the mountains of India all the way from South to North, environment issues, culture and anthropology of people of the mountains. The book offers an excellent collection of stories and is worth a read for anyone with faintest interest in travelling and life in the mountains.