We started from Mussoorie on a September morning. It was a long journey by bus to Uttarkashi. I remember the route was very beautiful. We stayed the night in Srinagar in Gahrwal District. There was a swift-flowing river, along which I went for a walk before resuming our bus journey next morning. I also remember passing through Tehri Gahrwal, where we stayed in a guest house on top of a hill, from where the whole town could be seen. The guest house had a faded picture of a beautiful Gahrwali women on a wall. Legend said that more than 100 years earlier, the British Collector or Commissioner there was struck by the beauty of this woman and had married her against all odds. The guest house was their home.
The amazing thing was that there was a still-functioning piped water supply system bringing water from below to the top of the hill for the house constructed 100 years ago, with no pump sets or electricity, etc.
Eventually, we reached Uttarkashi and the beautiful Institute of Mountaineering. The Director was Col.Sharma, a very handsome but stern-looking man and a great disciplinarian. It was most appropriate as discipline is the very essence of mountaineering and rock climbing. At first, he was also not too pleased to see me, as he felt I might not withstand the rigours of the training. Ultimately, he was very happy as I was among the ten trainees and one of the two girls to complete the course successfully. The other girl, of course, was Kiran Bedi.
Initially, we trekked on the hills near Uttarkashi to get acclimatised. The hills were very beautiful, steep and wooded. We initially went to 11,000 ft. above sea level, later 14,000 ft. and then 16,000 ft.
We were taught breathing exercises in case we felt breathless. We learnt various ways of climbing, using different types of footholds, we learnt the value of teamwork or group support in rock climbing, use of different types of ropes and equipment.
For the last leg of our training and 'test', we went to Gangotri. We undertook another long bus journey to Rudraprayag, from where we made a long trek to Lanka. From Lanka, we again took a bus to Gangotri. There were a number of glaciers in the area and many interesting shapes formed in ice.
As everywhere, we stayed in tents in Gangotri. It was a small place, hardly even a village. A few Sadhus lived in caves and huts and some Hathyogis could be seen standing on one leg in the middle of the icy river. I made friends with many Sadhus (which did not seem to please Col.Sharma very much). They were in their own world. Some of them did not wish to communicate at all, but most of them did communicate with me, with much interest.
I listened to the stories of their lives. However, I found that most of them, while giving true details of their lives, camouflaged their real identities. Most of them had come away with a real desire to renounce and seek. Many had also found what they were seeking, or were close to it. However, there were a few who seemed to have encountered failure in life and run away from reality. Those few days spent in the company of Sadhus were very enriching for me.
(to be continued next week)
