Himalayan reading

Dilliwala

I have Christina Noble's other book* lying about, which I've browsed thru fairly extensively (not in logical order though ). I'm surprised she's not mentioned Lady Penelope (at least I don't recall that she did?), when she's written in a fairly detailed manner about John Banon and Duff Dunbar. Espesh since Penelope took trekking groups for her.

* 'At Home in the Himalayas' (1991, Collins,London)

- a Scottish woman writes about life in Manali/Himachal in the 70's and most of the 80's - treks into the neighbouring mountains and Zanskar/Ladakh, marriage/kids/settling down in Manali, starting organised treks for foreign visitors which soon developed into a busy tour/trekking company, and her life in general. I wouldn't call it an excellent read, but certainly very interesting.

Trivia: The house called 'Duff Dunbar' in Manali, that Noble talks about in her writings as having lived in for a time, was even shown as a separate place in an earlier LP atlas of India. On the wrong side of the Beas river though.
For anyone who knows Manali, Duff Dunbar is "at the top of the hill" (above Dhungri/Hadimba), and owned by a local pol (also a HP minister ar present). The property is out of bounds now as it houses Delhi Public School.

pranavganesh

There is this book by Swami Akhandanand on holy wanderings in Uttarachal... a wonderful read... it is published by RKMission....dont remember its name... read in a Belur Math Library...

By the way Sadanand can you give me some Swami Tapovanam book... where to buy it and all.

Aishah

Nyraghu - what a delightful poem you posted. Next time I'm up in Landour must buy that book. It looks like one you can dip in and out, on and off and enjoy from time to time over the years. You reminded me too, I loved Himalayan Tales - some quite funny writing there as well! And since I am not near my book cupboard at the moment (in Delhi) can you remember which title had that story about pushy women invading his privacy? I will never forget it - I thought it was very funny and also a gem of observation.

__________________
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Sadanand Kamath

I have gone to almost all prominent book stalls in Mumbai but I am not able to get any of Swami Tapovanam's books. Since his books have mostly been published by Chinmaya Mission, they will be the right source for the information.

Sadanand

__________________
Sirf ek kadam utha tha galat rahe shauk mein
Manzil tamam umr hame dhunti rahi.

[Just one wrong step on the way of the quest
My destination looked for me all life long]

nyraghu

Aishah, I wonder if you mean `Running for Cover' [Roads to Mussoorie, pp. 99-107]. It is an essay about people invading the privacy of his home in search of autographs, recommendation letters, and stimulating conversation. Here is a passage:

Raghu.

__________________
colorless green ideas sleep furiously

machadinha

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Aishah

Yes, that's the one and if I were at home could have checked it out! I think it's very funny! Thanks Raghu. I first read it as a featured short story in India Today mag. then was delighted to find it was in the book.

nyraghu

Sadanand, the book you mention sounds like Ruskin Bond's `Beautiful Garhwal, Heaven in Himalayas' (1988, EBD Educational, Dehradun, introduction Nayantara Sahgal). I don't have it, but have been trying to buy it. It seems to be out of print now.

Dilliwala, `Beautiful Garhwal, Heaven in Himalayas' is listed in the EBD catalogue at Rs. 495, but it appears to be unavailable. When I went to EBD, they searched for the book, but couldn't find a copy. They took my address, and said that they will get back to me if it turns up. Hasn't yet, I guess.

Raghu.

Dilliwala

Uh oh, I SAW that and took it as a major error - u know why? That's the exact cover for 'Ganga Descends' too! Obviously they rehash a lot, as is clear from Sadaji's and your descriptions of a.m. book, and this seems to include the cover pic/s. But thanks, now I can take a look at the inside pics next time I'm in DD and decide to buy or not, that's if EBD have reprinted it.

'Himalayan Tales', huh? Seems I have to add that to the list, your extract convinced me!
Won't bother yet, with 'Landour Days' and 'Roads to Mussoorie' though, they can wait. Too much of Bond's themes together can become repetitive.

U know, I'm REALLY glad I found this thread and bumped it up again. 10 minutes reading here is better than 1 hour in a bookshop, trying to determine "shud I, shudn't I?"

capt_mahajan

How come nobody has mentioned Aitken's Footloose in the Himalaya so far?

Enjoyed that one.

Dilliwala

Aaaaarrgh! I was going to in a day or two. U cudn't wait, cud u?

Actually, Raghu and I did discuss it/him in another thread, without naming the book.

So, go ahead, do the description for the esteemed members, save me having to do it.

I liked his descriptions of places and tidbits about local lore, customs, dress, etc. Don't care about his writing style though, too disjointed. One moment he's on a trek over the Sach Jot, next moment he's talking about the GF's origins.
I attribute this to his 12 years in Mirtola.

capt_mahajan

I attribute it to the natural mind wandering thing during a walkabout and his Scots ancestry.

Dilliwala

No doubt! Those who have read 'A Village in Garhwal' know it's a true account of his trip to a village called Manjari in Pauri Garhwal district of UA. But in his short story called 'Maneater of Manjari', he's moved it approx 150 km west into Tehri Garhwal district! 5 km below Kempty Falls, of all places.
Aside: the closest to the real Manjari that I've found on maps fitting into the general area is a village called Manjyari. Spelling licence too, it seems.

"Mussoorie and Landour, Days of Wine and Roses, coauthored with Ganesh Saili, 1997, Roli Books"
Is that a reissue/reprint? Lustre Press and Roli Books have the same owner, but the copy I mentioned on previous page is from 1992.



On the subject of Pahari Wilson -
'Frederick Wilson:"Hulson Sahib" of Garhwal' by D. C. Kala (2006, Ravi Dayal,Delhi)

F. E. Wilson (1816-83), aka Pahari Wilson, aka Raja Wilson was an adventurer, businessman, soldier-turned-entrepreneur, vagabond - depending on who one asked. Lived, among other places, in Harsil, where he bought land from the ruler of Tehri Garhwal and pretty much ran his own fiefdom. He built the first wooden bridge over the Mandakini at Bhaironghati near Gangotri, and charged people for using it! Made a fortune by floating logs down the river and selling them to the British govt for building of the railways. He even issued coins in his own name, e.g. "F. E. Wilson, Hursil, One Rupee". The British establishment didn't like him very much!



Also by D. C. Kala - 'Jim Corbett of Kumaon' (1979, revised ed. 1999, Ravi Dayal,Delhi)

The blurb in the inside jacket says -
"When it originally appeared in a limited edition in 1979, Mr. Kala's book was the first extended biography to be published of the great man. Since then, others less familiar with Corbett and the region he trod have written on him, but Mr. Kala's work remains an important and pioneering source book......
In preparing the 2nd edition, the author revised the text extensively and added some new material....."

nyraghu

It seems to be a revised edition, perhaps reissued. The publication history in my copy is: 1992 Lustre Press, 1997 revised edition, 1997 Roli Books, ISBN 81-7436-033-6.

Thanks, Dilliwala, for the info. I had heard of the book, and have been meaning to buy it. There is a news report at the Uttarakhand Solidarity Network's Web site about the death of the author, Durga Charan Kala, on 14 May, 2007.

Raghu.

nyraghu

Stephen Alter's writing on Garhwal is among the best that I have read on the subject. He is an American born in India, and grew up in Mussoorie. I have read only two of his books.

• Stephen Alter, Sacred Waters, A Pilgrimage to the Many Sources of the Ganga, 2001, Penguin Books India: Based on a series of treks in the Char Dham area of Garhwal, retracing on foot the ancient pilgrim trails to several shrines. In the course of these trips, Alter renewed his acquaintance with various people who had contributed deeply to the social fabric of the region, among them leaders of the Chipko and Tehri movements. But equally interesting are his descriptions of interaction with ordinary people --- the son of a widow running a small hotel in a village on the trail to Dodital, or a Gujjar cowherd whose daughter has lost her speech out of fear during a thunderstorm at Panwali Kantha. His knowledge of the region, its people, and its flora and fauna is vast and detailed, and his observations acute. Beyond all this, the two things which I admire in his writing are firstly, the restraint in his style, and secondly, his approach to nature.
  
  There is an instructive review of the book by Bill Aitken in the Hindu (4 August, 2002), which, I think, clearly brings out the difference between their ways of writing.
  
  
• Stephen Alter, Aripan and Other Stories, 2005, Rupa: One of the stories, `The Climbing Garden', describes a hopeless affair between an aging American mountaineer and a woman who was a friend of his in high school. The title of the story refers to a secret garden the two create using seeds that he brings back from his expeditions in Garhwal and other places. Another story, `The Confluence', set in Kumaon, deals with the memories of a man as he returns to the rivers of his youth to immerse the ashes of his dead father.

Stephen Alter studied at Woodstock School in Mussoorie, where his father, Bob Alter, was a highly regarded principal. Bob Alter's leadership was apparently a turning point in the history of the institution, as he expanded it from its previous role as a school for "mish kids" --- children of expat missionaries working in India --- to one which was more inclusive and international, albeit still "rooted in its Christian heritage and values". The wellknown Bollywood actor Tom Alter is Stephen's cousin, and was his senior at Woodstock.

Here are a few related books that I haven't read, but would like to:

• Stephen Alter, All The Way To Heaven, An American Boyhood in the Himalayas, 1998, Henry Holt: Based on the author's youth in Mussoorie. There is an interesting and critical review of the book by Richard Bernstein in the New York Times (9 February, 1998). The reviewer, though disappointed with what he felt was the author's failure to probe more deeply into the past, says, "One experiences a kind of empathetic nostalgia in reading of Mr. Alter's memories. It does something to one's sense of the breadth of the human experience to have his introduction to the last bands of missionaries to dwell within sight of his beloved mountains."
  
  
• Stanley Brush, Farewell the Winterline, Revised ed. 2002, Chipkali Creations: Memoirs of an American who was born in Kharagpur in 1925, and attended Woodstock before the Second World War. The Winterline is a pinkish band of light that appears on the horizon in Mussoorie at dusk during a part of the autumn and winter, and is described in, e.g., an article by Sudhir Thapliyal in the Garhwal Post. The book is partly available on the Web.

Finally, some excerpts from `Sacred Waters':

Raghu.