Dichotomy

One day, two guest lectures and I found my mood swinging from absolute happiness and pride to sheer disappointment. Both luminaries, of course, the one who disappointed was the bigger of the two.

When Vineel Krishna stood before us and went through his harrowing kidnap episode, our hearts went out for him. His unassuming persona, practical thoughts on how to deal with the most burning issues in the nation and the uncorrupted brilliant mind swept me away.   The presentation was pithy, though not presented in the most ‘charming’ way the other distinguished speakers say out here at the Sampoornanad Auditorium, but made the most sense of all talks I have heard till now. In the one hour long discussion he had, he proved beyond doubt that its little common sense and courage which are the only essentials to make a mark in the service. For the very first time since I made it here, I found a purpose. I found a reason to be proud and also a hope of going ahead and excelling in a field which I feel is fit to be my life’s purpose.

As though mocking my initial euphoria, the next session was by the editor of "the journalism of courage"- the same newspaper to which my loyalty is unquestioned, even though I know it sucks now, that too due to him. Now returned the ‘charm’ of public speaking, which poor Vineel must take tips from, and few bouts of drama to make the audience go gaga. The session smacked of moral arrogance and I was disappointed. Well, come on, we know who are the stooges of whom, but don’t test our intellectual abilities to such an extent that we have to see you take defence of your favourite ‘anchor superia’ with whom the buck , apparently never stops. Also, an audience of future civil servants does expect a balanced  and uninhibited view – that too from the editor in chief of a newspaper which stood for all the desirable values , which gave hope to the common man oppressed under emergency and which relentlessly brought out investigative reports, redefining journalism in this country. I really could not gauge the general acceptance of the lecture, but a certain question asked by a friend truly made me happy. I salute his guts to dislodge the hypocrite. I’m happy at least a few have views which do not augur to the conformist ‘bureaucratic structure’ here!

Village Visit

The first activity in FC which I found relevant to the job I will be doing was the village visit which was from 29th oct to 6^th Nov.

All the curiosity/anxiety/excitement that I had regarding the village visit programme crushed the day I saw the district’s name to be Haridwar. It had nothing to do with the place per se but the state from which I was seeking an exit, at least on this account. But all my apprehensions disappeared as soon as I landed in Haridwar. Lovely, sunny weather, lush green fields, clean Ganga and 4 lane roads greeted me, a welcome break from the bitter cold and hilly Mussoorie. I loved Haridwar city instantly and wondered why on this earth they made Dehradun the capital instead of this!

Day 1:

I was the leader for the village sub-group – not an enviable job at all. After completing a short journey of about 3 hrs from Mussoorie to Haridwar, we went and met the district officials at the Vikas Bhavan. A belaboured presentation about the schemes being implemented followed, that too in chaste hindi, which I could see only few people from our group were following. Then we were allotted villages as per our sub groups. My group, which had Karun , Kapil and Saroj with me got Ulheda village in Narsan block of the district. The BDO of NArsan, a lady , and her assistant took us to the allotted villages. On the way stood sprawling campuses of Patanjali Yog Pith of Ramdev. I wanted to go around but decided against it due to lack of time. We then reached Roorkie,  another bustling town, passed by the huge IIT Roorkie campus , then travelled 45 minutes more to reach the village. At first sight, Ulheda looked like a well off village with many 2 storied concrete houses, some with 4 wheelers. We were first taken to the primary school where the village elders gave a warm welcome , fed us with tea and dry fruits(!) and showed us the resting arrangements they had done for us in the school campus. My team was very enthusiastic to stay there but the BDO did not share our excitement and gave us numerous reasons as to why we should rather put up at Roorkie where other 3 teams were also expected. Our first impression was that she wasn’t ready to take responsibility for our stay at the village. Left with no choice, we made our way back to Roorkie after talking for some time with the village headmen(including the Pradhan’pati’ as , well, the lady Pradhan of our village never steps out of her house). The accommodation at National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkie was very comfortable with most of us getting single rooms ( a luxury not entitled to even at academy). Left us all wondering what course was our proposed village visit was taking.

Day 2:

Eating the sugarcane grown in the fields of Ulheda on the way back to the guest house, I dwelled upon the day spent. It was a very different and enjoyable experience in the village. We started our day with a walk through of all the streets to get a general outline of the village. We came across distinct regions of settlement based on caste lines. The periphery regions of Harijans and the middle portions of Tyagi,Saini,Kashyap and other castes. Living conditions of a few were dismal with fallen roofs but we did find contrasting scenes with a few households even owning cars.

The fields were sprawling with sugarcane,turmeric,coarse grains,mango and the most popular ‘poplar’ trees. The lands here are truly blessed – rich alluvial soil and Ganga to feed them. Definitely these regions had to be rich but sadly productivity is not so high. Then we had water chestnut or ‘singhada’, their equivalent of groundnut for snacks.

As the day went by and our walk continued, we started meeting more people and different perspectives started to come out. The Pradhan’pati’ always accompanied us which was very irritating. God knows what he feared. We did plan to give him a miss on our future trips through the village to get the true story. Almost everyone we met had a story to narrate – mostly involving orrupt Government officials. Some cases stood out like one Bhoot Singh, whose pension had been stopped because he was shown to be dead in the register.I can still remember his pleading eyes. Then there was Gyanendra, a 28 year old B Sc graduatewho is unemployed and wasting his time idling in the village due to lack of opportunities. Mr Brahm Tyagi, the self professed ‘elder’ of the village gave us a timeline of important happenings in the village. The totally unbelievable things he said , like mobiles being in their village from 1995 were obviously edited by us!

The team of 4 we had gelled well and I just loved it.It is really hard to find like minded people and I felt extremely lucky about having got one on this trip. After having lunch at a local dhaba (Roti, paneer,rice,dal – what else?) and paying for ourselves(as Pradhan’pati’ would not let us pay), we visited the PDS distribution site. Wheat was of lower quality and kerosene looked ok(I don’t know how to check that, so must be ok J ) We then checked the registers. The expression of those people was a sight not be missed. We were already treated as officers and people were willing to comply! Not just that, we also got lots of petitions from people regarding their issues. The most unfortunate part was that we couldn’t do much other than asking the VDO(Village Development Officer) to speed up or petition in front of the collector. We were left with a sinking feeling of being akin to politicians who just promise and don’t deliver.

Day 3:

Another busy day.We had decided to study the gender issues, which definitely wasn’t encouraging at first sight. After breakfast(Methi Parantha for a change) we landed in the village and got down to work by interviewing the main Anganwadi worker Indira Sharma. She looked knowledgeable and also evinced interest in the issues of the village.

Next came the most awaited event – the chance to meet the de jure Pradhan Saroj Devi. We were irritated by the constant lurking of Pradhanpati and hence this interest about meeting his better half! She looked pitiable – expectedly, and after constant prodding by Saroj and me, started opening up behind her Purdah. A truly enlightening session followed in that Kashyap household – from her compulsion to be Pradhan( with her pati forcing her, of course) , social stigma attached with not following purdah, her illiteracy which cuts her off from all her duties, her poverty and her 5 kids. The helplessness in this first citizen of the village was very apparent. A woman who had never ventured out of her house being chosen the leader of her village is nothing short of a farce and pity us who have to study this disturbing reality. She made a lot of sense too, she never hid any issues and rightly came out with the most pressing issues facing them – lack of toilet facilities. Later, we too realized the importance of this issue – mosquitoes and flies being companions everywhere and open defecation continuing unabated. The Kashyap women had other issues too – no institutional deliveries,large number of kids and huge misconceptions regarding maternal health.

Disturbed as we were, we next proceeded to the greener part of the village – place where we could find women who were better off, the Tyagi community. The houses were huge with tractors and cars and women were clean and healthy. The interaction revealed their high qualification(our host was a BA graduate) and they had at a max 2 kids. However, even behind this rosy picture were the subtle hints of things not being right. These women were also behind the veil, they too never went out of their homes, never attended a single Gram Sabha meet,never were allowed to work even if they possessed a PG degree and definitely had no say in any decision making. Ultimately they too spent time in household activities. None owned land too. Manju Tyagi, our lovely host and her mother in law – examples of the only ‘supposed’ women empowerment in the village.

The Harijan Basti and their women were the next stop. Highly anticipated portion of the day’s itinerary and they didn’t disappoint. Women here had too many problems – no girl went to school beyond 5^th, most women worked as labourers(none had their own lands) with wages as low as 60 to 100 per day(men were paid 200), huge debts with finance corporations, discreet/open caste discrimination, missing BPL cards, widows not getting pension, no sanitation facilities, huge number of kids, unending poverty – to list a few. The atmosphere was emotionally charged with more and more women coming up with problems.

Allegations, counter allegation and counter-counter allegations later, we were let perplexed. We Were caught between the officials who paint a certain picture and the villagers who say the exact opposite. Of course truth lay somewhere in the middle and its pursuit had to be our focus.

Day 4:

Day spent at the village was rather short. We reached at 11.45 and proceeded towards the school. We interacted with the kids and found the conditions of a few dismal. Multiple classes were held in single classrooms and we were left wondering how could they concentrate. It was impossible to say which child studies in what class looking at them and the drop out rate was high (although the teachers vehemently denied that).The village had classes only till 8^th and only the poor went there. For the better off, Gurukul Narsan or still better, Roorkie held a bright future.

The Anganwadi was located next to the school and it was surprisingly a welcome sight. The one we cheked out was colourful with charts.There were 30 kids aged between 3 to 6, whose mothers were mostly farm labourers. Few kids were malnourished, but the rest looked normal. We checked out the nourishment being provided to pregnant women(sattu). The registers were up to date and somehow I felt fully satisfied for the first time in Ulheda.

Next we had food with the school kids under the mid day meal scheme.Rice was properly cooked(although not of great quality)  and potato,chana sabzi was tasty. We had the privilege of eating food cooked by the headmistress herself as the cook had been banished by the village ‘elders’ for some petty reasons! The male teachers, well, looked on.The headmistress, for some strange reasons felt it was her sole responsibility to cook for 100 kids as,’ the other teachers were men and they are not expected to cook or help’.

Then we went on and conducted an exercise involving the villagers about their health related problems.Since it was preference ranking, we had a lot to explain, it took a lot of our time and energy. Nonetheless it was worth the effort. We met the ASHA of the village and interviewed her.One thing which struck me was the meagre amount of income of all the village level workers, be it ASHA or Anganwadi.I still cannot comprehend how they can make ends meet. Especially considering the fact that the dinner bill we paid at the Chinese Restaurant  at the end of the day at Roorkie was equal to their monthly salaries.

Day 5:

I was totally pepped up regarding the day’s visit as we had loads of programmes stacked up – major being the Gram Sabha meeting we had called. Although we have no powers to call for that meeting, yet, being probationers its fun to digress rules J So it began, the great meeting of locals at Gram Sabha. About 75 people turned up, men and women almost in equal numbers. Although it might seem too less for an adult population of about 1000, it was a good strength, considering no one cares to turn up.

What we had hoped would help us understand the working of the Panchayat, turned out to be a grievance sunvayi/ bashing session with the villagers almost mobbing us. Most had similar issues – pension being withheld or BPL cards not issued. Since we could not do much at this stage,we had the VDO make the people understand the rules. The villagers, however weren’t satisfied until we wrote their names in our books – which we promised them to put before the collector.

I often wonder at the depth of responsibilities I would have to handle henceforth. This was just one village, that too a small one – beset with all problems conceivable and once we head districts, we would be flooded with a million issues from thousands of villages. But I’m sure its going to be an amazing challenge for me. One big lesson of this visit has been to remain impassioned while dealing with problems, the same way a doctor sees his patients. I find it real tough to put this into practice but I know I will reach that state of mind soon.

Next we met the select bunch of Panchayat members. 5 turned up out of 9 including 3 women, all in purdah, now even more longer than the last time I had seen them in their homes. They were dummy participants , of course and with their respective ‘patis’ ready to jump on every occasion to talk for them, we were witnessing the real women empowerment in out country. Attempts were made by us to drag them in, but with little success. All of them, including the lady Pradhan didn’t have even the faintest idea of their rules or responsibilities.

After some exercises on village problems and getting information for drawing the customary venn diagram, the 3 tired souls, Kapil, Karub and Sindhu had had enough.So, there it was, lunch served at school, brought to us by the pradhanpati.Then we went and roamed around the richest farmers’ land.Kapil was ready with his agri related questions which made little sense to the two of us, so we killed time by eating sugarcane from their farms. Tiring day ended, we made our way back, decided to write something sensible in our reports and went for dinner – this time at a supposedly 3 star hotel at Roorkie. Day always ends on a high note in Roorkie Jespecially IIT campus – its amazing!

Day 6:

Divinity abound, this day marked the high point of my trip. The diyas rose as sun set on the banks of the mighty Ganga at Haridwar and the aarti that followed mesmerised me.

If my day ended with such a visual treat, morning was no less. This day we got a break from the routine village visit in order to visit Haridwar to meet our DM and present our findings. Most were excited about this proposition as it meant that they can run off to Delhi after this formality was over.So all the cheerful faces left Roorkie and reached VIP Ghat first – our (or my) first brush with babudom and its powers.As is evident, this ghat was for a chosen few people like us to bathe and cleanse ourselves in the Ganges, so it was devoid of any ‘commoners’ and on the opposite bank we spotted a sea of humanity. We put in a request to be taken to the ‘common’  ghats as we were public servants who had to be with the public, but it was strongly turned sown. We must surely be national assets!

Next incident went a step beyond. At the famous Mansa Devi temple where people take a minimum of half a day to get Devi’s darshan, we set a record of our own. The queue runs for kilometres, there is a ropeway up the temple which leads to one more queue to get in and finally see the deity. But with great people like us, it was a cake walk as we were the aam aadmi in the queue cursed us – something all of us, helpless souls silently endured.

We then met the DM, very nice chap who heard us out patiently and invited suggestions for improvement. We did our best to come out with our finding, problems or otherwise that each of our villages faced. Some of the issues which the villagrs had themselves requested us to convey to the district administration were duly put forth by us. He then asked us to prepare a master plan for or villageand send him – something that most detested(as it meant more work, one more day at the village and more importantly giving up hope about the Delhi trip)

Nonetheless it was an enlightening day which taught us what to expect from now on in our careers. After resting at the beautiful dam bungalow we made our way to HAr Ki Paudi. This time we had Gaurav Thakur playing both guest and host. The way back to Roorkie was filled with harmless banter and fun.

After dinner we met about 40 students of IIT Roorkie to ‘inspire’ them about civil services.I was happy to see so many people wanting to opt as this for a career option. Discussion went on till 12 PM and I liked it very much

Then, the next day I went to Delhi and stayed at Isha’s sister’s place. There I caught up with my friends Rajeshwari,Prasad, Mitali, Vimarsh and Anirudh. Truly wonderful 2 days spent there. Something I will cherish for a really long time to come.

India Day

Rehearsing one last time on stage before the big day, trying on the clothes meant for the
dance, making sure the decorations are perfect, drawing and redrawing the rangoli and later
filling up with colors - Some of the things we did till 2:30 in the night before the mega
event aka India Day. Its a day to celebrate the richness of our country and to enlighten
each other about our diverse culture. With less than 4 hrs of sleep, I had to get ready on
the 21st oct to showcase my 'talent'. The first task was of course to deck up in a beautiful
Mysore Silk Saree (my bro's gift :) ) and then rush to collect the accessories. Here it
meant a weird looking crown and a waist belt, which would transform me into Goddess
Bhuvaneshwari :) All this for the procession which started from the main gate of the
academy. We, from the state had Kittur Rani Chennamma (Rajeshwari looking gorgeous) and
Mysore Maharaja (Sharat at his royal best),the lovely Koorgi couple(Preeth and Karthick
looking too cute),Noth Karnataka flavor(with Deepa in her beautiful Ilkal saree) and the
rest(Vijay,Santosh,Arun,Manju n Manju,Aravind,Fakeerappa,Sandesh) in traditional attire with the Mysore peta looked splendid on the route. The other states also put up a great show, the Kerala gang with their traditional drum display, the Tamils with all their grandeur and the
telugu gang with Tirupati Timmappa leading the pack were the highlights from the southern
gang. Of course,  the traditional attires of the West , North and East zones too were on
grand display and it almost became a contest of who pips whom in being loud as we neared the end of the procession route.Then we proceeded to have breakfast - our Holige being the main attraction along with the Kashmiri tea,whose flavor still remains with me.We also had
poha,vada pav,dhokla and some sweet whose name I cannot recall. At about 11:30, the cultural program of the West and South zone started. A splendid start by the Maharashtra gang showcasing the varied practices of their state(Prasad with his brilliant choreography was
the star) was followed by our kamsale dance. The coordination was good, the atmosphere was
electric and the response of the crowd was encouraging. I was particularly impressed by the
performance of our group considering few of the boys were dancing for the first time! The
best compliment we received was when one trainee who had the performance in the evening said that it was a fully professional display  which had raised the bar for the future
performances :) The next programmes included a lavani performance (Isha looking extremely
pretty and dancing prettier), some energetic Rajasthani performances like the ghoomro dance,
Maharashtrian folk performances, garbha and dandia from Gujarat, a tribal dance from
Chattisgarh (don't ask why this state figured in the west zone !), a skit showcasing the
culture of Andhra,a medley of classical  and folk dances from Tamil Nadu, a Skit on the
history of Kerala and their martial arts display and finally the dollu kunita performed by
the karnataka boys. Amazing display considering they has just 2 days to get the steps
right.Full marks for pulling that one off in style.

The lunch was hosted by North and East zone. The items I remember are Litti Choka(Bihar),
Sarso da saag, roti , sandesh- all tasted good and meat preparation from Kashmir, Fish from
Assam and other stuff which I heard were extremely good. The food was served on the floor
and was a welcome break from the routine self service of the mess.The evening cultural
program was presented by the North and the East zone. The 2 Bhutanese probationers gave us an insight into their culture and this was followed by a video showcasing the North Eastern
culture. Some tribal dances followed and wrapped it up with an awesome performance of Bihu. The Jharkhand gang showed us a skit on the life of Birsa Munda. More than the story, the dances which they performed with meticulous uncoordinated style made for a hearty laugh. A Haryanvi dance and later a skit was funny.The best dance was Bhangra as expected. There were a couple of group songs and also a mushaira of which I couldn't make much sense. The Ladakhi dance was the most awaited by our gang because we all wanted to see Vimarsh dancing and they did not disappoint us.
Dinner was from the South and the West Zone and we made sure there was a sumptuous treat. Some delicious items included Bisibele baat,Mysore Pak, brinjal ennegai (Karnataka), Biryani,gongura chutney(AP), Bajra roti,Srikhand(Maharashtra),Muruku, sambar (TN), Appam and a sweet dish (Kerala) and dishes from Gujarat whose name I'm unable to remember. We served the guests on plantain leaves and were satisfied at the response.

The day thus ended on a high note. A truly exceptional part of the foundation course in
which  I had super fun. Also, a great occasion to sensitize our self about the huge cultural
variation and differences our country offers and how to open our minds to accept the same.
I'm really glad I could be a part of such a well intentioned event :)

busy body,busy mind

How many things can u do in a day? If u want to see multitasking lbsnaa is the place to be!
Consider this - my day started at 6 with a 5 km walk around Mussoorie, then we rushed to
breakfast, then sat through 4 boring classes (with alternating locations which expectedly
involved climbing up and down),rushed for lunch, had a session dealing with TA bill
submission, attended a meeting to discuss what we r going to present for our trek
presentation, went and played 2 badminton matches, practiced folk dance which we will
present during India day for about 2 hrs, then rushed to get dinner and finally come back to
the room to fill this entry! If there is one most important thing the academy is teaching
me, it has to be time management. There is not even a single second to lose here. I wish I
could stop time.

The Great Himalayan Adventure

Here I am writing about my experiences during my unforgettable 9 day Himalayan trek.

One question plagued all of us both before and during that trek-"whats the purpose of it?"

This was more evident in some of our minds who happened to get groups where we knew very few

people or possibly none. We did come up with answers to console ourselves. Some said it was

to build 'team spirit' , few others as a 'way to push ourselves to the limit' and a vast

majority were fully convinced that it was to take revenge on all of us :)

After going through these highly strenuous days a)I dont care what the real reason was and

b)it was not that bad either :) In fact the whole exercise gave me ample opportunity to grow

as a person.I found myself making friends with completely unknown people, getting to know a

few better than I had before  & more importantly forming lasting friendship with a few which

I feel is really special.

My team consisted of a very interesting mix of people right from complete jokers( better

known as the hooligan gang) to the very docile ones.Special mention about our group leader

Gince, amazing guy who managed the trek extremely well, the ham radio guy Chera with his

everlasting smile, treasurer Shrikesh, burdened with a not so likable job of account

keeping, the ever willing to help doctors Sarvesh and Manoj (In fact Manoj was a walking

dispensary dispensing all his medicines to the villagers who would usually come to us with

one problem or the other).Vinay,Maneesh,Naveen, Alok, Mahendra, Susheel - my companions at

the front end of the trek group, Chandan, Priyanka,Varun, Vanditha.. I was the assistant to

my group leader.Pretty easy job as he used to leave very few work for any of us :)

I did try to note down the day's events whenever I could get time and also had electricity,

but mostly these were done under candle or torch light.Thus went my trek from 1st to 9th of

oct 2011.

Day 1

-----

Landslides, thunderstorms and rain - we had it all on the very first day of the trek.

Incredible start for a journey which would be one of our most cherished ones! This is how

the day went - We assembled in front of our allocated buses by 6 AM and after wishing our

friends from the other trek groups, embarked on our own journey at 6:30. Then started real

fun.The way from Mussoorie to Sankri was so tortuous, the little landslides here and there

adding to the fun, that I thought lucky are the souls who took avomin and slept unknowing of

the horrifying terrain our bus was charting.Especially since the bus was moving more on

rocks and water than on land most of the times :)The breakfast we packed from mess wasn't

any exciting either - dried poori :( which we had at a place called Nainbag.In spite of such

small hardships, the thing which had us going  was the spectacular view throughout. Of

course, God was invoked every now and then to save us from an imminent fall! We did cross

through a few places which showed some sign of life - Nainbag,Damata,Puraula,Mori(where the

rivers Rupin and Supin meet),Naitwar and also crossed Govind wildlife sanctuary and National

Park. Then came our destination Sankri at 3:10 PM. Almost 9 hrs for 156 km!! No one can beat

that!

What ensued was a discussion with the mule owners for a better deal as no one was in any

mood or physical fitness to carry our humongous rucksacks.Meanwhile lunch was being cooked

for us in the local Dhaba.Nice place, we kept company with a host of bollywood beauties on

its walls.The lady served us rice and dal and believe me its the tastiest I have had here

(Or it might be due to excessive hunger killing me - don't know)

A jeep trip followed. Even though for a meagre 3 km, it felt like a trip to hell.Pity those

who sat at the side of the vehicle facing the valley as they experienced 'near death' .All

our cajoling efforts aimed at the jeep driver to stop his vehicle so that we walk ,bore no

fruit and he took us till the point where his super machine could no further go. Then we

breathed.

A crossing of a local wooden bridge over a mighty river was followed by trek to Taluka.As

our day's story could not end so blandly,it started raining and we realised most of us had

left our raincoats in our bags which the mules were carrying - and obviously they had left

before us :) So, it was the good old umbrella sheltering 3-4 people all the way.It was fun

though & after braving the rain ,cold and darkness made it to our destination Taluka walking

 non stop for 2 hrs and approx 8 km! Amazing team work and amazing leadership. A married

group leader is always a boon :D

Day 2

-----

Day broke and revealed the splendour of Supin river flowing majestically. All our complaints

of having to do with only 2 bathrooms with 'tough to use' loo were forgotten by this one

scene out of our Forest rest house windows.After breakfast(no prize for guessing - it was

paranthas) trek to Seema started.It was mostly level and sometimes uphill, but we kept a

good pace throughout.The day was filled with dangerous landslide crossings(11 to be precise

- 8 major and 3 minor) and 15 stream crossings over wooden bridges, most of which were ready

to give way.Trek was marked by Chera and me talking over the ham, as no one else seemed to

be listening to our messages. Chera once got lucky though, as he contacted base(great effort

as it was a sunday!). We walked along the Supin river throughout and encountered beautiful

red fields , all full of Marcha (Chaulai) - the local cereal.It was sad that we could not

eat rotis made out of it.Bugials and Devdar trees kept us company for quite a long stretch.

Since we reached Seema early afternoon and its a village of only 3 buildings - 2 guest

houses and a dhaba, we spent most of our time planning what to do next.

As we were getting acclimatised with the trek route , we started observing the plight of

people more closely now and not just the terrain.Villages here have only a couple of houses,

Taluka probably had around 40, Osla a bit more and Ganger , where we had tea didn't seem to

have any more either.The societies are very closely knit with the people of one village

marrying from the only  the other village members (would be interesting to study their

genetic pool). Medical facilities were appalling.The 3 doctors on our group did a great job

by listening to the local villagers' ailments and gave medicines from our kit or prescribed

them a few if we didn't possess it ourselves. The closest doctor, we heard, was at Sankri, a

daunting 25 km from this place and the road is non motorable.Mules being the only hope to

get a sick person across.This was probably our first 'Indian indifference' exposure on this

trek.There was only 1 primary school at Osla ( which had about 120 families). For any

further study, it has to be Sankri again.

We had the first campfire of the trek and dined around it.Followed it up with a few songs

and banter. Have to thank Sarvesh and Maneesh here, for having walked 3km in search of a sat

phone and informing all our families that we were safe and alive :)

btw, took bath in the evening with lukewarm water - both luxuries :) Night was really cold

and the solar lamps went down soon. One more day in the dark.

Day3

----

Destination for the day was tough and at a higher elevation - Har ki Dun. Had seen the map

of Uttarakhand and were happy to find it to be a border village.Stories of this trek going

to be 'way tougher' notwithstanding , we marched ahead.

Life is extremely tough for people here. Jai Hind,a 9th std boy , whom we met on the way has

 to go to his school at Sankri from his place Osla covering a total distance of 50 km each

day!I was left with the thought of what probably can be their incentive to go to school at

all. We have a long way to go. No wonder the SP of Uttarkashi said it was one of the most

neglected districts of the country.

Trek continued with our pitying the locals and their condition.Steep uphill climb in the

early morning freezing weather didn't make things any better.As noon fell , the sun shone

too brightly and  made things worse nonetheless! We were greeted by hordes of sheep of the

Bhed Palak community which resides here.The short halt at Bhobina Bhaik Jharna was

refreshing. By this time we had totally forgotten about drinking  chlorine tablet 'treated'

water. It was all natural stream water which quenched our thirst from then on.

Totau, the red berries with a sour and sweet taste was our favourite snack on the

way.Finally came our destination.

Har Ki Dun is a magical place.It is straight out of postcards. I had never seen anything

like this before.View of the Swarg rohini range is breathtaking.And to top it all, we

reached on time through this extremely challenging trek.The locals fed us with loads of

myths about the terrain. My favourite - Rivers Rupin and Supin came out of the two eyes of

Trishanku and hence considered dangerous and impure. In fact they fear Supin so much that

their legends are full of its ferociousness.

Sadly day also saw first signs of fissure and acrimony in the group, with many people

obviously unhappy with our 'fast' pace.Then followed series of 'discourses' by a few

disgruntled on 'team spirit' and I had it.Gince and I decided to put the issue to an end and

solve it amicably.I must say we did a great job at it :P

Coming back to the place again, it was nothing short of heaven.River here flows with such a

force that it stirred up my soul.Sitting amidst this out of the world place were the

recognisable buildings- forest rest house, GMVN guest house and a dhaba. This place is

uninhabited except for a few adventure lovers (like us) so much so that even the dhaba

person comes from Osla which is 14 km away to cook :)

Since it was unbearably cold, we huddled up in a room and played cards. Again no power, all

batteries discharged but hope alive.

Day 4

-----

Finally a long,stretched,exhausting day ended. 27 km trek on any terrain is no joke and on a

hilly terrain is beyond comparison.But the best part is that we made it , as a 'team' from

Har Ki Dun to Taluka in stipulated time walking nearly 8 hrs.Group's camaraderie showed

signs of improvement :) Few of the landslides we encountered on the way up were set right by

the forest department. Truly amazing job at such a remote place.

Coming to Taluka - I just love it.It seemed like a city to me now :P A small hamlet with 

has power and to top it all I got my phone battery charged (not a great deal considering we

were no where even close to getting any signal in days) but still seeing my phone breathe

again filled life into me. I also charged my camera battery. So it was a double delight !

Also took bath with hot water - This place felt out of the world and not too cold either!

The day's trek went ahead w/o much observation (sociological or geographical  or

demographical or otherwise) as we were just retracing the path and none of us had the energy

to make any useful observation.However, we met loads of tourists, trek enthusiasts including

bright young chaps from IIT Roorkie.Most of our provision (read chocolates) went into the

hands of the local kids who would pester us to part with it .The women of Taluka were

friendly and they initiated conversation , which was a bit surprising as uphill ( esp at

Osla and on way to Har Ki Dun) we found very few willing to even answer us! Taluka shows

signs of advancement :)

The faster members of the group made it an hour before the rest.Surely they were

galloping.The best takeaway from the day's trek was our spirit of challenge, grit and

determination which saw all of us make it. The team finally came together :)

Day 5

-----

With the Yamuna (or its tributary - not sure) roaring next to us,Hanumanchatti was

definitely the most advanced level of civilization for all of us after our trek started.The

accommodation we got felt 5 star (esp after Har Ki Dun experience) as we saw clean toilets

with ample water in pipes,flush and even odonil!We were awestruck :P

If Hanumanchatti pleasantly surprised us, we saw other good places too throughout our bus

journey from Sankri till here.Parauli, for instance a taluka HQ was simply unbelievable for

us.We experienced bubbling life after  5 long days of hibernation in the hinterlands.The

shops here had well known brands, there was mobile connectivity (talked with everyone i

could) and 2 ATMs. Too good for us. Barhkot was the place we took money as we found

Parauli's ATMs were out of cash!! Economy is definitely on the rise here!

I had the same expression after reaching Parauli as I had felt after seeing Times Square in

NY :D

Collectively for us it was enthralling to a)find so many people at one go and b)to find

places which sell something other than parantha and tea and c) finally some connectivity to

call home as they surely had a harrowing time not having heard from us for 5 days

Day 6

-----

Overlooking snow capped mountains, our colorful tents at Dharwadhar looked extremely

pretty.The journey from Hanumanchatti till here was fraught with deep difficulties.The

terrain was unforgiving and extremely steep uphill.We had to stop every now and then to

catch our breath.Added to this was the frequent crossing of mules on the short strip of

land. When they arrive we need to make way and wait towards the mountain for the horde to

pass and this took activity irritated us a bit.But once after reaching in excess of 4000 mts

it all seems worthwhile.Freezing cold compounded with equally friendly staff from the

academy gave us some 'solace'.

There were 5 tents and a dhaba with no other sign of civilization in a really long way.The

ham signals lighted up with many cross talk and a great deal of activity.Many other group

encounters were expected and that filled us all with excitement.

We shared our tents with group 3 people.It was a very frigid experience with temperature

dipping down to horrific levels. Added to that was the very early rise to start trekking to

Dodital.

Meeting people is such an uplifting experience.There is always something to look out for.In

our case, we found to our dismay that trek group 3 have the luxury of finishing their

marathon trek session the very next day - something which we could never do :(

This Dharwadhar stay stretched our limits to the hilt both physically and

physiologically.Every time we were saved by the breathtaking views of the glaciers we found

on the way.The one I remember vividly  - Bandar Poonch glacier (literally translates to

monkey's tail)

Day 7

-----

It was next to impossible to wake up from our sleeping bags.Life inside the tent was too

comfortable when compared to going out to get drenched in falling icicles.But our trek is

designed to challenge us to do the seemingly undoable and hence we were out at 5 doing what

we thought was never going to happen :P

After eating pooris we set out on our journey to Dodital. Had heard too many stories about

the toughness of this trek from so many people that we all were anxious. And the trek did

live up to its expectations.We went through numerous uphill and downhill paths, crossed

numerous bugiyals and finally started descending the highly tortuous and stony path to

Dodital.In the middle of all these there were moments of real joy when we caught up with

group 5 people. I was elated beyond words at having met some of my best friends who happened

 to be in that group.

Good things are momentary and we continued on our trek having bid goodbye to our beloved

friends.Then the trek route became long, contrived and unending. The final stretch to

Dodital along the river was the most taxing.Finally after having crossed through dense

forest areas, we saw the extremely pretty lake Dodital sitting amidst a bounty of huge

trees.It was sight to remember for eternity.The cute little Ganesh temple next to the lake

and its not so cute priest who went on and on about we IAS officers not giving money

generously was a real fun :)

Then we had some maggie and hot tea at the local dhaba. It seemed too delicious after a

disastrous lunch of softened poori.

The rooms were pretty clean here at FRH.It rained throughout.Played cards again after Har ki

dun in front of the fire to kill time. Lovely day.

Day 8

-----

What an end to a day which started out on a rather disconcerting note of a 22 km trek! We

found ourselves at GMVN Uttarkashi guest house which for us was nothing short of heaven. Our

first dose of city life in as many as 8 days and naturally all members were rejoicing.The

rooms were too much to handle with too many facilities! To find working geysers and TV for a

bunch of guys craving for power to charge their phones is nothing short of a mirage.But it

was true and we were revelling :)

The trek though was not too enjoyable as our tired bodies resisted each step. Knee hurt like

hell with each steep descent and most of the trek was full of curses thrown at the man who

initiated the trek culture at the academy.There were a few bright points , like the

omnipresent maggi  and soft drinks at dhaba near Agora and the handicraft shop selling weird

creatures made of wood.Sangamchatti , where HAnumanganga and Asi Ganga meet was a lively

place.

Day 9

-----

Got up early to leave Uttarkashi to reach our second home. LBSNAA was calling us and we felt

so happy to be going back. Now everything seemed wonderful - our rooms were the best place

to be in, our mess food unbeatable and Mussoorie , our metro city.But, there was a twist in

the tale. One of the team members had his camera stolen from the hotel room and went to

lodge an FIR. In true filmy style we made mountain out of a molehill,called in no less than

SP of Uttarkashi to help us out and even paid a courtesy visit to his house! So, the

departure time got stretched really far to 10.45 AM. A tiring bus journey to Mussoorie ended

at 6.45 PM with most of the other trek groups already in.

This trek was undoubtedly one of the most memorable events of my life. Learnt a lot about

the way different people behave and got what probably was my first hand experience into how

to handle real people in the field.It had loads of happy moments, great people , great

friends - saw team spirit in action.

Contented and liberated :P

 

Fun - finally

Finally woke up to some fun at the academy - Rock climbing. Although my sore ankle wasn't
letting me take it up, I went ahead. And am glad I did it. I realized how exerting the
activity is and also how little stamina I possess :P The rock was 30 mt long and I could
probably climb halfway when my hands gave up on me. But there were loads of people who
successfully completed on their maiden attempt - I truly admire them.The ITBP guys who hosted
 this event did a good job.
If today was an adventurous outing, yesterday was no less. The DJ night with a live concert
preceding it made us all experience the break free spirit for the very FIRST time
here.possibly the last too as I doubt if we get more chances like these. Music was loud,
dancing full throttle and the crowd simply loved it. I  can't describe the wonderful
feeling I had  after putting on my dancing shoes after such a long time!! I loved it.
Continuous dancing from 7 30 to 11 30. What more could you ask for?
There was a short trek yest morning to George Everest bungalow. Amazing weather, fun and dance
there too :)
My mind is now full of anticipation ( and apprehension) of the great himalayan trek
beginning 1st oct.I hope I get good partners for this 10 day extravaganza.
 

why?

Why is everybody so desperate to flaunt their intellectual prowess out here? I felt I could
never answer this question especially after an hours' 'discussion' with perhaps the
'brightest ' minds out here. Certain stances were meaningless, some mocked at the sheer
disdain towards the reality and others out rightly preposterous. Whatever it was, academy
does provide u a fora to just talk, talk and well, talk more!
Classes are no better either. There might be glimpses of sense once in a while but on the
whole its a mess. I recall that we used to have better things to discuss in schools. And the
 case study was a mockery in truest sense.
I am bored. Ironically, I'm stuffing myself with loads of activities to come out of this
boredom but everything seems to backfire.Somehow, I feel lost in this huge drama.My role
isn't clear and this script unimaginative.
As someone said today, we experience 'compulsive' fun. U play a game according to ur roll
number and NOT according to ur desire, u fill up ur name for 'adventure' sports so as not to
be left out and u increase your library visits so as not be engulfed in this great
intellectual whirlwind.
I don't get time to read a book properly, to contemplate on issues closer to my heart or to
sing my fav songs. btw.. the vocal class is a comedy hour. But it too is getting too
monotonous with the same bhajans ( more like rhymes) doing rounds. Was exposed to Rabindra
sangeet today , so thats something new :)

hope

Touched, moved and awakened.
I saw in  the eyes of Lakshmi happiness, desire to succeed and dream. When she asked me to
sing for her, it was probably the greatest honour bestowed on me..
Sitting in front of her computer in her lab, the machine which spoke to her so as to let her
know what she was typing, she seemed docile at first..I did drag her into a brief
conversation and in due course she helped me see beyond!! The school for visually challenged
was full of Lakshmis.
So, another worthwhile day here. Previous to the NIVH visit, we were taken to RAPHAEL, an
abode for the intelectually challenged. Saw their classrooms, joined them in their dances
and savoured their hospitality. The biggest takeaway was for me the immeasurable patience of
all the tutors there. Of course, I had my favourites too, Avinash from Jammu and Paras in
particular stole the show :) Those hand printed stoles made by the children will stay with
me forever.
There were a few disturbing thoughts in my mind though.. I felt we were intruding too much
in their routine lives. Sometimes I wondered if this is looking staged, like a celebrity
endorsement.
However, I  hope that my fears are unfounded and that they did enjoy our visit.

Lovin it!!

Resplendent day here at the academy. For the first time I felt it worth to be here.
First there was the visual delight and the resounding commentary on Indian painting by Mr. Goswami. I was left speechless, marooned in the flow. Each color,contour,texture filled me with inexplicable happiness. The varied interpretations aroused the artist within me n filled me with pride. Probably the best 2 hrs that I have spent here till now!The themes he took up mostly from the Gita govinda, the correlations with our revered past and the story behind each episode is hard to verbalise.It was an Experience.The journey into the layers of art through subtle nuances of color will stay with me throughout.
Good things do come in at once as I had the privilege of witnessing a wonderful Bharatnatyam performance by Ms Malavika Sarukkai.I went back in time. Each day at my dance class, each reward for a good effort and each scoff for a laid back attitude came back to life.Ah I remembered her!! My dance teacher!! My ignorance and childishness might have caused me to be vitriolic about her but I regret it today.. I am deeply indebted to her for all the artistic visions she and her classes have imbibed in me.
Now coming to the performance, which was pretty good. The vocal by Ms Vasudha was enriching. Starting off with my favorite 'Mahaganapathim manasa' in Naata , the performance picked up. Although interrupted quite frequently by  Malavika in order to get the relatively 'novice' audience on board (which sort of irritated me a bit), I must say I was impressed be her effort to make the viewers understand the meanings of basic gestures. Performance wasn't heavy, no varnam, shabdam or anything related. The balagovinda performance probably was like by the majority. On the whole, I felt nice, better and happy :) Finally!!!

Boring day

Phew.. leg hurts, the day passes.Another ordinary day which I made it up with some very
pedestrian show of basketball :)
Classes are getting nowhere as I try too hard not to doze off. Could have been a lot better.
I expected a decent show here. Anyway, cribbing never helped anyone!!
Friends here are a real source of solace. Im getting to like my very first hostel
experience.Even if thats not the case I try convincing myself that I'm liking it (I need to
stay here till june!)
Btw.. there are too many gossip mongers here.That came as a complete surprise as I think its unbecoming of an officer!! Or is it?

trek 2

Misty morning, no breakfast and 4km trek uphill to get to food.This is how it started today.I was extremely furious at being made to walk on empty stomach.Since there is nothing much any of us could do, we just, well, follow the instructions (rules,more precisely).After filling ourselves with some unpalatable bread and something which looked like a cutlet (potatoes again!! im getting tired of this tuber.. pls give me something else.. or we all are in serious trouble of becoming gas factories :) ) ,we started trekking towards Binog Hill.(cool 18km dist to and fro from academy). What happened next was truly amazing, slight drizzle became heavy downpour and made my day. Slipping terrain, a twisted ankle and fatigue which accompanied it could not deter me from completing the trek on.Of course full credit so some very dear friends for being with me throughout , getting me to sing thus cheering me up. Truly amazing day today!! Will cherish this for a really long time to come.

Have got a really cool councellor here. Truly blessed I must say!!

First week

Week bygone in the coveted academy which trains civil servents(in courses of civility !!!)
and its hard to get everything onboard. Too many activities which might look like they are
going to stifle me but on the contrary I'm getting to enjoy them all. Be it the daily PT
starting at 6(to which we need to get up by 5) to the arduous treks I'm probably having the
best time of my life!! Sure enough I do miss home and friends a lot but am making a lot many
here, probably too many that I find it difficult to remember names :)
Don't think I will have the time to dwell upon issues qtns like 'is this what I eventually
wanted to do ?' as I had been doing in the past.. Hope this IS the ultimate job.. I really
hope so !!

Did have a brush with elections at the academy.. my FIRST election. Lost it.
Strangely, I didn't feel sad or bad :)
Life is running at a breakneck speed.Can't even stop to think or relax.