Himalayan reading

atala

There is a thin booklet which you get at Ramakrishna Mission which describes a Ramakrishna sannyasi's char-dham pilgrimage in the Himalayas around 1890. He bemoans the modern times, the types of pilgrims disturbing the way things were done before. He mostly went barefoot over ice and snow, saying that the shoes (probably his wooden sandals) were too awkward and hurting the feet too much. A really good and inspiring read...

Dilliwala

Probably the same as the one mentioned here.

atala

Must be the one.

kullukid

Penelope Chetwode also wrote an article for the "Cornhill Magazine" in the summer of '72 called something like "Living with hippies & dropouts in the Parvati valley & western himalaya's" which i'm desperately trying to find a copy of. I've Googled it many times & found references to it, but no links to an actual copy. Can anyone help??? KK

Dilliwala

Sadaji,
Referring to "Kulu: End of the Habitable World" , by Penelope Chetwode, 1972
I have found a reference to an Indian publisher on the web. It said Allied Publishers, N. Delhi. They have a website too. It appears their H.O. is in Mumbai. Do u think u cud email them or call them to enquire? It's a very long shot, I know, but still worth a try I think. I have already written to them in Delhi.
Here are their Mumbai contacts.

Dilliwala

Himalayan writing this time - more material for Stephen Alter, I suspect.

Mussoorie, a town where nothing ever happens, apart from the annual summer rush of tourists, has suddenly become a hotbed of crime and vice this year - apart from a few murders, the latest victims of a knife attack are none other than Alter himself and his wife, both getting in the way of an attempted burglary by three men early Thursday morning in their home. Stephen, a big and fit guy, must have pitched into them and got badly knifed in the process. He still managed to run out and call for help. His wife got fewer stab wounds; both were described as stable when I first heard the news up in Landour on Thursday afternoon. What a buzz all over! Outdid the talk about the all-India strike, and cops crawling around till late in the night! Hell, I told some long-time residents that I felt safer back in Delhi and wud be skipping town Friday morning! (Ok, I was due to leave anyway ).

Sadanand Kamath

I missed to respond you on this until I saw your last post .

I called them a couple of times and they said they will come back but never called back. In the meanwhile, my office colleague was also scouting for the book through his contacts but no success.

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]

Aishah

Dilliwala - according to my source who spoke that day with Stephen Alter, it was five men who attacked them at 5 a.m. in the morning. Shocking business... they are thought to be outsiders from a local construction site..
Victoria - just noted the Allan Sealy - The Everest Hotel. Looks like a good read.
Don't think I've mentioned this one - it's long ago published but I only read it about 6 months ago and is M.M. Kaye's 'Death in Kashmir'. Crime fiction (although the Alter news is not fiction) and a real period piece.

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

kullukid

Im surprised you can't find a copy of this, i bought mine new on the mall in Shimla about 4-5yrs ago, it was published by Time Books International K-27 Kailash Colony New Delhi 110048 ISBN 81 85113 20 3. Here's some verreeee expensive copies on Amazon;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...3/ref=dp_olp_2

Also just found this;
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=2&gl=uk
KK

Sadanand Kamath

Thanks for the Delhi publisher's reference. It may now be easier for Dilliwala to try for the book.

I had already seen Amazon but as you said the high cost of the book prevented me from buying.

Sadanand

kullukid

Yes! I have a copy of that, which i bought for Rs20 at the Ramakrishna Mission it's called "In The Lap of the Himalayas" by Swami Akhandananda......wonderful little book! I also picked up a similar one by Swami Chinmayananda called "My Trek through Uttarkand" I enjoyed them both, but the first one really did it for me!! KK

VSK Sharma

One book I would recommend is:
When Men and Mountains Meet by John Keay. It is about The Explorers of The Western Himalayas from 1820 to 1875. HarperCollins Publishers India.

__________________
http://himalayancamping.com/index.php

Dilliwala

Oh, I did email their Delhi office at the same time as that last post and they answered in the negative a day later.

kk,
Thanks for that lead, I'll check it out. Altho I'm not hopeful if it was published that far back - certainly book-sellers in this town describe anything 2 years and older as "very old".

Aishah

Back to Alters' story - in Times of India yesterday a short news item stated there were 4 intruders (not the 5 according to the horse's mouth) so who knows?? Anyway Mrs A is now home and by today Mr A may be. A sideshoot - members of the Congress party gathered the other day as a protest against the police questioning and detaining poor labourers in their bid to make an arrest. Not much faith in the police up here - they have identikit photos of culprits but still no arrests.