BOOK REVIEWS

1. EVEREST. A THOUSAND YEARS OF EXPLORATION.
2. EVEREST — 50 YEARS ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
3. THE SIEGE OF SHANGRI LA: THE QUEST FOR TIBET'S LEGENDARY HIDDEN PARADISE.
4. DUELS IN THE SNOWS.
5. LUCKY TO BE ALIVE.
6. THE SEARCH FOR THE BUDDHA: THE MEN WHO DISCOVERED INDIA'S LOST RELIGION.
7. FRANK KINGDON WARD'S RIDDLE OF THE TSANGPO GORGES.
8. THE TIMES PICTURE COLLECTION EXPLORERS.
9. SPIES IN THE HIMALAYAS.
10. LIFE AND LIMB.
11. ETHNIC REVIVAL AND RELIGIOUS TURMOIL.
12. MIRACLES OF ARDAAS.
13. GUIDE TO TREKKING IN HIMACHAL.
14. CHRIS BONINGTON'S EVEREST.
15. EVEREST — REFLECTIONS FROM THE TOP.
16. SHERPAS — THE HIMALAYAN LEGENDS.
17. BHUTAN — A KINGDOM IN THE SKY.

 

 

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EVEREST. A THOUSAND YEARS OF EXPLORATION. A record of Mountaineering, Geographical Exploration, Medical Research and Mapping. By Michael Ward. Pp. 350, 25 b/w plates , 68 maps, diagrams and drawings, 2003. (The Ernest Press, Glasgow, £ 25.00).

Michael Ward has written an eminently readable book. It is both compelling and illuminating. He weaves together the history of the attempts on Everest and the advances in high altitude medicine along with the surveying and cartography that provided crucial maps of the Himalaya. Like the three strands of a braid, these three approaches came together to ensure the first ascent on 29 May 1953.

Dr. Ward, a retired London surgeon and mountaineer was directly involved in the events that led up to the success. In 1950 he discovered photographs in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society that indicated a possible route up Everest from the southern Nepali side. At the same time, from early 1951, scientists began conducting intensive research on the affects of altitude and cold on the human body. This led to key changes in the use of supplementary oxygen and in the fluid and food intake during the ascent.

Mount Everest has been climbed many times since then and even finally, without the use of supplementary oxygen. Michael Ward's book takes us on a panoramic journey, back to the earliest explorations in the Middle Ages up to the most recent climbs. What makes the book absorbing is that it is not a mere document of journeys and research undertaken. Brief character sketches of the main players, excerpts from books, articles and letters and the many drawings, photographs and maps, allow the reader to understand some of the frustrations and elations, failures and learnings of the various expeditions.

Michael Ward was Medical Officer on the 1953 expedition. From the point in the book where his personal involvement and account starts, the narrative further gives to readers, unique access to the members and events of the expedition.

Each chapter in the book is followed by detailed references. These along with the index, the list of maps, topographical notes and the chronology of mapping events are a testimony to the volume of work produced on every minutiae of climbing in the region of Everest and also a testament to the painstaking research done by the author.

Finally, Everest — the peak itself, rears up on every page like a 3- dimensional pop-up in a lavish production. The various descriptions and accounts have the ability to transport the reader face to face with the mountain and induce jaw-dropping awe.

Some excerpts:

And finally,

Well we knocked the bastard off!

Edmund Hilary to George Lowe after descending from the summit 29 May 1953.

A grand biography of a truly grand peak.

Deepa Balsavar

 

 

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EVEREST — 50 YEARS ON TOP OF THE WORLD. By George Band. Pp. 256, more than 200 colour and black-and-white photographs, maps, sketches, 2003. (Harper Collins, in association with the Mount Everest Foundation, the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society, London, £ 20.00).

This is 'the official history' published to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. Written by the youngest member of the well-known expedition of 1953, the book provides a full account of that adventure, as well as a detailed description of earlier attempts which, though unsuccessful in reaching the summit, helped to pave the way. As Band puts it : 'One had to see our climb in 1953 in its context as the culmination of a series of attempts each profiting from the experiences — both the successes and the misfortunes — of our predecessors. We were the lucky ones for whom at last it went all right.'

The first expedition — organised and funded by a Joint Himalayan Committee comprising members of The Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society — that went to explore the approaches to Everest in 1921, investigated the north, west and east sides of the mountain and found only one possible route to the summit. Although one member of the team died on the way, the expedition was considered a success and it 'brought back material of the greatest interest from a part of the world about which almost nothing was known, and into which Europeans had never been.' Already the next expedition was being organised under General Bruce, and two members of this team reached 27,300 feet — higher than anyone before, but still 1700 feet short of the summit. Their next attempt resulted in the tragic death of seven people, buried in an avalanche. In 1924, a new team, that included many of the members of the previous expedition, made another attempt, with better equipment, particularly oxygen apparatus. Major Norton, who led this team, managed to reach 28,126 feet, a height record that remained unbroken for nearly thirty years. However, two other members of this team — George Mallory and Sandy Irvine — who attempted the final summit, never returned; it was only in 1999 that Mallory's body was recovered, and what exactly happened to them remains a mystery to this day.

The summit continued to elude the three expeditions in the 1930s, although they demonstrated again the fact that during the monsoon, the mountain was virtually unclimbable by the northern route. With the second world war intervening, more than a decade passed before another team, led by Eric Shipton, set out on a reconnoissance mission in 1951. In response to a request from the New Zealand Alpine Club, two new members joined the party — and one of them was Edmund Hillary. The prospect of a new route, from the Nepalese side, also generated considerable public interest in the expedition. An attempt by a Swiss team — that included Tenzing Norgay — remained a 'gallant failure' although they did manage to reach just a little higher than Norton's record height on the other side of the mountain.

In February 1953, a new expedition sailed for India under the leadership of John Hunt, whose plan for the climb began by stating that 'the ultimate aim of the Expedition is the ascent of Everest during 1953 by a member or members of the party.' This was indeed 'the last chance to be first'. A doctor, a field physiologist and a cameraman joined the team, as did two New Zealanders, Hillary and Lowe, making a total of 13 — but the inclusion of Tenzing Norgay helped the team avoid this unlucky number! The team also included, of course, George Band, whose description of the stages leading to the final success on 29 May 1953, combines personal reminiscences with well-documented accounts to provide a unique perspective of that momentous event. He also records in detail how the team had to face 'The Other Everest' — the avalanche of publicity that followed.

The story does not end there. In subsequent years, more than a dozen different routes have been made to the summit, with over 1500 ascents, and the book pays tribute to some of the most outstanding and innovative of these ascents. The challenge of Everest continues to fascinate climbers — the number of ascents in the year 2000 alone was greater than the total number achieved from 1953 to 1981. And on a single day in 2001, a total of 89 climbers reached the summit!

Finally, what makes the book such interesting reading is not just the technical descriptions of the efforts of the various expeditions — richly detailed though they are; nor is it the excellent photographs that adorn it. It is the small but fascinating details about the people involved, the climbers, and a glimpse into their minds.

Why does anyone go to Everest? Perhaps the answer may be found in the words of Wilfrid Noyce, a member of the first successful expedition, quoted in the book : 'We go out because it is in our nature to go out, to climb the mountains and sail the seas, to fly to the planets and plunge into the depths of the oceans. By doing these things we make touch with something outside or behind, which strangely seems to approve our doing them. We extend our horizon, we expand our being, we revel in a mastery of ourselves which gives an impression, mainly illusory, that we are masters of our world. In a word, we are men, and when man ceases to do these things, he is no longer man.'

Deepa Hari

 

 

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THE SIEGE OF SHANGRI LA: THE QUEST FOR TIBET'S LEGENDARY HIDDEN PARADISE. By Michael McRae. Pp. 230, illustrated, 2002. (Broadway Book, Random House, New York, ISBN 0-7679-0485-0, US$25, Hardcover).

In 1993 when I lived in Arizona, I read in the media that Richard Fisher, a little known wilderness guide from Arizona, had discovered that Tsangpo gorge in northwest Himalaya was the deepest gorge (canyon) on Earth. With a depth of 2438 m, the Tsangpo canyon was three miles deeper than the famous Grand Canyon (732 m deep) in Arizona, and about one mile deeper than the Rio Colca (1052 m deep) in the Peruvian Andes, which was then thought to be the world's deepest gorge. This surprised me because living at the end of the 20^th century, one would have expected that the world's deepest gorge was already known. Now after ten years, I am delighted to read the full story of this geographic finding in Michael McRae's book. McRae is a journalist who covered this story in two articles for Men's Journal (in 1994) and National Geographic Adventure (in 1999), and the present book grew out of these articles. The eastern corner of the Himalaya crowned by Namche Barwa (7756 m) and carved out by the Tsangpo-Brahmaptura river system was the last region of the Himalaya to be explored. Indeed, in the 19^th century it was not known if the Brahmaputra was the same river as the Tsangpo until Nain Singh and Kintup (the Pundit explorers of the Survey of India) traversed the river course in the late 19^th century. Nevertheless, the exact location of Tsangpo's waterfalls into the Brahmaptura was still 'the great romance of geography' to explorers like Francis Kingdon-Ward in the 1920s.

McRae divides his book into three parts. In part One, he focuses on Kingdon-Ward as well as his predecessors (the Pundits and F M Bailey-Henry T Morshead team) and concludes with the 1950 Communist China's take over of Tibet. Part Two is on the spiritual geography of the Tsangpo gorge as Tibetans believe that it is one of the sacred hidden 'power places' ('beyul' in Tibetan) or Shangri La as James Hilton popularised it in his bestseller Lost Horizon in 1933 (sixty years before McRae's publication). Part Three is the modern adventure per se documenting the deeds and thoughts of Richard Fisher, Gil and Troy Gillenwater, two land developers from Arizona (who wrote about their exploits for an outdoor clothing catalogue), Ian Baker, an American expatriate living in Kathmandu, and Hamid Sardar, an Iranian Tibetologist schooled at Harvard (who later published, The Buddha's Secret Gardens, 2001). Their motives in exploring the Tsanpo's course in the eastern ends of the Himalaya contained elements of both sporting (rafting) and spirituality (Shangri La mysticism). While the spiritual aspects always remain individual, their exploration led to placing the Tsangpo gorge on the Guinness Book of World Records. McRae's book details how that single sentence found way to the Guinness Book. It is an interesting story of physical and spiritual geography of a very remote part of the Himalaya. One linguistic indelicacy in the book is the combined use of ' Tsangpo River' ('po' in Tibetan already means 'river').

Rasoul Sorkhabi

 

 

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DUELS IN THE SNOWS. The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa. By Charles Alan. Pp. 350, 33 b/w illustrations, 6 sketches and maps, 2004. (John Murray, London, GBP 20).

As I stood on the Gyantse Zong (fort) in middle of the Tibetan plains and looked around the country, thought of the Younghusband British expedition was paramount on my mind. In 1904 this military force had approached the Gyantse fort, a sole high feature in the flat Tibetan plateau and at first, had conquered it without firing a shot. The Tibetans had simply run away. But as the British established their headquarters near Gyantse, Tibetans returned suddenly and occupied the fort. After several attempts at dislodging them by superior ammunition and weapons, the British decided to storm the fort. They had called for reinforcements from India and had now with them the full force of the 8 Gorkha rifles. This hardy mountain people climbed one of the impossible looking rock cliffs above which I stood then, and fired on the Tibetans. The bravery of the Tibetans could not stand the training and the onslaught of the Gorkhas and the fort was surrendered. Many Tibetans jumped to their deaths after witnessing the gruesome khukri charge by the Gorkhas. This was the story at almost all the battles which this expeditionary force encountered.

Lord Curzon, then the Viceroy of India, desired that the British must have a presence in Lhasa. To find an excuse, they devised an imaginary threat from the Russians and the British Parliament and the Government were informed that if the British forces did not reach Lhasa, the Russians would (the 'weapons of mass destruction', WMD, theories, existed in early part of last century too). Lord Curzon had an ally in Sir Francis Younghusband, an explorer of repute. He was appointed to lead this military mission. With Gen. McDonald as his military commander they crossed Jelep la from Sikkim and advanced to Tuna and Guru. At first, they encountered no resistance, but as they had crossed the pass in December 1903, the army suffered heavily due to Tibetan cold, wind and barren surrounding. The first major battle was at Chumik Shenko where primitively armed Tibetans came face to face with the Gorkhas and the Sikhs of the British army. Someone threw a stone at the British forces and army opened fire and many Tibetans were massacred. This became the famous 'massacre at Chumik Shenko'. Small battles took place at several places like Guru and Karo la. After storming of Gyantse Zong, they marched to Lhasa and concluded a one-sided treaty.

The renowned author Charles Allen, has researched the subject well and is an expert at such narratives. He brings out the internal differences between Sir Younghusband and General McDonald, the desires of political masters and the bravery of the Indian soldiers under the British command. What he brings out most is the fight put up by the Tibetans. A land - locked country with no sources of supply and a peace-loving nation, had to fight for its survival. Using its surroundings, building rock walls (sangars) and with rather primitive armoury, Tibetans were brave soldiers. But their prayers at the monasteries to drive out the British or their tactics to deny food and supplies to the large contingent of the invaders failed as the British with their military training ran through the country.

This expedition opened Tibet to outside influences. One wonders if the Tibetan civilisation was allowed to prosper without outside interventions, the British in 1904, the Chinese in 1951 or the takeover by China in 1959, what they may have achieved. Would the spirituality of Tibet and the material progress of the last century would have made them a great nation? British had not only reached Lhasa, but they had among the contingent, Dr. Waddle, who at every conquest of a monastery or a territory, rushed in to gather manuscripts, idols and several Tibetan memorabilia for the British museums. Dr. Waddle ultimately studied Buddhism and preserved several of the Tibetan artefacts. Similarly the soldiers who reached Lhasa gathered vast gifts to be taken home.

The Younghusband expedition in a way opened Tibet for westerners and allowed a trade agent to be posted at Gyantse, but of course, like the present day WMD, they did not find Russians there or heap of Russian weapons or rifles in Lhasa.

Charles Allen tells the story well and the book narrates an important chapter in history of Tibet. This is the book for those interested in Tibetan history and its relations with the British India. If you are travelling from Lhasa to Gyantse or other parts of Tibet (which is now very easily possible by good roads and cars), this book opens up the area in your mind.

Perhaps the Tibetans had the last laugh. With the Tibetan experiences, many soldiers and officers of this expeditionary force turned to Buddhism and were conquered by those whom they had conquered. Younghusband and Waddell both turned to philosophy and Buddhism towards later parts of their lives. Once you see the area from the Gyantse Zong and surroundings you will understand why.

Harish Kapadia

 

 

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LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. By Angela Benham. Pp. 164, 17 colour photos, 2 maps, 2003. (Northern Liberties Press, London/Philadelphia, £9.50/ $14.95).

The experience of joining your first-ever expedition to the Himalaya is unforgettable. Angela Benham enjoyed that opportunity on the verge of her 50^th birthday, when she received an invitation to join the Red Rope Climbing Club's attempt on the formidable north wall of unclimbed 7035 m Tirsuli West in the Indian Garhwal. Lacking any experience of serious Alpine climbing it was testimony both to her personal determination and the tolerance and encouragement of her 'socialist' companions that she ever got to the base of the wall.

In face of objective danger, poor weather and lack of time the main objective was abandoned and the team turned to a 6160 m summit above the Siruanch glacier, thought to be Chalab but in fact an unclimbed unknown peak (later named Shambhu ka Qilla — Shiva's Fortress, 6166 m). Instead of fracturing, the team all rally round this alternative objective and insist on Angela joining the attempt. This admirable selflessness very nearly ends in disaster when Angela slips on steep snow during the descent and takes a 300 m tumble. Luckily, she is not seriously injured. This seems to have been a happy trip with a team working together to achieve a success for all members, and the moral should be drawn by those egotistic ambitious climbers who are prepared to let the rest of an expedition crumble provided they get their 'bite of the cherry'.

Angela's account of her experience from invitation to post-trip reflection is honest and personal, completely free of the stylistic burdens of understatement and dry wit that blight many climbing books. However, there is a surfeit of incidental detail which obscures the wider context. We are told the contents of every meal, the timing of every 'wee' and bout of diarrheoa and the most mundane dialogue is recorded ad infinitum. A good editor would surely have wielded the knife to much of this. Instead, we could have enjoyed much more description of the mountains, topography and people of this fascinating area of northern India, but I'm afraid you'll have to read W.H.Murray or Harish Kapadia for any of this. Likewise, the selection of stamp-sized colour photographs fails to bring any sense of the scale or beauty of these magnificent mountains.

Nevertheless, if you want to know what it is live through an expedition as a wide-eyed and impressionable novice Angela's account gives a good read. Her experience might fire a few more closet mountaineers, wallowing in the slough of middle-age and seemingly trapped in their careers, to put steps to their inner dreams and learn to live again.

Martin Moran

 

 

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THE SEARCH FOR THE BUDDHA: THE MEN WHO DISCOVERED INDIA'S LOST RELIGION. By Charles Allen. Pp. xii+328, 31 black & white plates, 2003. (Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, ISBN 0-7867-1197-3, US$ 26, Hardcover).

Charles Allen is a well-known historian of the British Raj. Born in 1940 in India, where six generations of his family served under the Raj, Allen has continuously produced a series of successful books such as Plain Tales from the Raj (1975), Raj: A Scrapbook of British India (1977), A Mountain in Tibet (1981), Kipling's Kingdom (1987), The Search for Shangri La (1999), Soldier Sahibs (2001), and this latest book The Search for the Buddha. It is not the first book that presents how British Orientalists contributed to systematic studies of and documenting in English the Buddha's life and teachings, and the cultural heritage of Buddhists.

Two books, both published in 1988, Philip Almond's The British Discovery of Buddhism and Om Prakash Kejariwal's The Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Discovery of India's Past had already explored this subject. Nevertheless, Allen's popular style of writing gives a fresh breath to this fascinating story. Many Indian and especially Buddhist readers may find the word 'discovery' unfair and inaccurate because Buddhism is an ancient Himalayan religion which emerged out of the Hindu tradition about 2500 years ago, and spread throughout Asia. For these readers I suggest they interpret it as a 'discovery of Buddhism for the West' although it is fair to say that this Western discovery also placed a clear mirror before the Asian eyes to know their culture, history, and geography better. The term 'Buddhism' was coined by British scholars in the 19^th century; however, the 'Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha' tradition was rooted in the lives of Asian peoples for centuries.

Allen's writing is never dull, and in this book he has managed to bring to life the European heroes who pioneered the modern studies of Buddhism. The cast includes Sir William Jones who founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal (ASB) in 1784 and thus ushered in the era of Orientalism; Dr. Francis Buchanan, the East India Company's surveyor in south India; the Hungarian explorer Alexander Cosma de Koros who pioneered Tibetan studies; James Prinsep, ASB's secretary and an authority on Sanskrit inscriptions; Sir Alexander Cunningham, the first Archaeological Surveyor of India who carried out excavations in Sarnath (where the Buddha first preached); Dr. Alois Fuhrer who investigated the Buddha's birthplace at Lumbini; and Dr. Austin Waddell who explored Ashoka's capital of Pataliputra. This book is a page-turner.

Rasoul Sorkhabi

 

 

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FRANK KINGDON WARD'S RIDDLE OF THE TSANGPO GORGES. Edited by Kenneth Cox. Pp. 319, many colour and b/e illustrations, maps and sketches, 2001. (The Antique Collector's Club, Suffolk, GBP 35).

The eastern Himalaya, east of Bhutan, which was earlier known as the Assam Himalaya or NEFA (North East Frontier Agency) have always remained closed to travellers even today. These thickly forested areas were difficult to travel and were inhabited by hostile tribes. Yet they were a botanical paradise. There were many mysteries in these lands. The remote Tawang, the Tsangpo gorge and the tri-junction of China, Myanmar and India.

One person among others who took keen interest in these areas was F. Kingdon Ward, the botanist who wrote several books to encompass his travels for what he called 'Plant Hunting on the Edge of the World'. In 1950s he travelled extensively to gather plants and bring back knowledge of the wealth of these places. His books, rare to find today in print, narrate all the journeys.

He paid special attention to the Tsangpo gorge. The Tsangpo, originating near Manasarovar Lake traverses across the Tibetan plateau to the east. It meets the gigantic walls of Namcha Barwa, and after making a huge southerly turn the Tsangpo rivers falls steeply to cut through the Himalayan chain and enter the Indian territories as the Lohit river. It forms a magnificent gorge with several waterfalls. This river, the fall, and the gorge were a mystery, which were sought to be solved by Pandit Kinthup, of Survey of India. Today, though modern map making has solved many mysteries, the fall of Tsangpo was visited only in late 1990s.

The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges, published in 1926, describes what was undoubtedly Frank Kingdon Ward's most ambitious and successful expedition of the many he made in the course of a long career as a plant- hunter. Several of Kingdon Ward books have been reprinted but for some reason this one remained out of print for many years, and few copies which have changed hands have commanded a very high prices. Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the Tsangpo Gorge area, from Chinese scientists, foreign explorers, plant hunters , canoeists and mountaineers.

So writes Kenneth Cox in introduction to this book. This is a reprint with many additional information, photos and references. This book narrates that journey to the fall, recalls the travels of F. Kingdon Ward in detail. Lavishly produced in a large format, it contains historic pictures and is well edited with interesting present day narratives added. Though expensively priced, for those interested in Arunachal Pradesh (as NEFA is now known as a state of India) it is an invaluable guide and a book to possess.

The area of Tsangpo gorge is still unexplored and due to political and military considerations, remains out of bound to most. Charles Allen ending the chapter on the Tsangpo Gorge states:

Harish Kapadia

 

 

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THE TIMES PICTURE COLLECTION EXPLORERS. By Richard Salc and Madeleine Lewis. Pp.192, 146 colours and 119 black & white photographs, 2003. (Harper Collins Publishers, London, £ 17.99).

This book is a photo exhibition of the great explorers the world has known over the past 150 years. It records the exploits of men and women who have pioneered the way to fresher and newer boundaries in all the six landscapes of the earth.

The book is divided into six sections - Ice; Peaks; Desert; Jungle; Seas and underworlds. It records the adventures and travails of all the leading lights of each era and how they have contributed to the development, knowledge and sheer respect for human abilities, endurance and imagination.

The section on Ice records the explorations of man from the 15^th century onwards to find the northward crossings from Europe to Asia. It recounts the various expeditions, their successes and failures and how the race began to reach the North and South Poles. It also documents the politics of the times and the need to explore the Antarctic and the Arctic zones.

Peaks, recounts the history of climbing, as a sport, and the various advances made through successive years in the skill and technique of these sportsmen. From the origin of the 'Gentleman's' game in the Alps to its spread to the other continents, the growth of rock climbling, big wall climbing to extreme climbs in the Himalaya and Karakoram are all sought to be documented. This section takes within its sweep all the important climbs on all the continents.

Similar are the other four sections on Desert, Jungle, Sea and Underworlds. In the section on Underworlds the journey takes us not only on explorations of the ocean floors but also into the subterranean world of caves. These latter sections progressively grow smaller as compared to the first two sections. It fact Ice and Peaks occupy nearly half the book, but probably, these sections have much more recorded history, more particularly through pictures.

The real strength of the book is of course the large array of fascinating photographs. These are 265 photographs that lavishly embellish every page of the book. Most of these are rare photos from the archives of The Times, and according to the publishers, many have remained unseen for decades. It is truly an imaginative and irresistible collection of photos that document history of all explorations into the various region of earth that have intrigued man for so many decades.

Of the authors, Salc has published works on the history of polar exploration and climbing in the very high Himalayas. The style is mostly engaging and much information is packed in as little space. Sometimes this does get a little trying and one has to go back to reconnect to earlier stated facts. At places there is a yearning for some more information that could have better rounded the many little interesting nuggets that keep cropping up. The main drawback of the book is the complete absence of maps and charts. In each section you feel the real need to keep pulling out the atlas and tracing the travels and fixing the locations of all the explorers. It is infact the major lacuna as most often, one feels lost, about the explorers whereabouts and it actually detracts from the excitement of the story.

Having said all this, the book is really a tribute to the adventurers who have faced all the harsh terrains only to complete our knowledge of the earth and of course increase our collective thirst for more adventure and exploration and for pushing the limit further.

Dinesh Purandare

 

 

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SPIES IN THE HIMALAYAS. Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs. By Mohan Kohli and Kenneth Conby. Pp. 226, 28 b/w illustrations, 8 maps, 2003. (Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, Rs. 395).

Of the several books that Capt. Mohan Kohli has written this is arguably his most thrilling. Written in a third person narrative with Kenneth Conboy, the story as now revealed in its entirety is immensely readable and absorbing; despite the 'plot' having been known to the public through earlier snippets of media coverage as the 'Nanda Devi Affair'. It was not till questions were raised in the Indian Parliament a decade later that the solid lid of secrecy was finally blown. The official file on this 'cloak and dagger episode was closed in April 1978.

The plot, as it unfolded, was hatched in 1964—65 between the intelligence agencies of the USA and India with sanctions from the highest levels of the two countries, to spy upon the fledgling Chinese nuclear programme. China had exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1964 and that was a cause of concern.

In the absence then of high flying surveillance stealth planes and satellites, an ingenious device in the form of sensitive nuclear powered sensors and generators had to be installed high upon an Himalayan peak to track the explosions being set off in China. Of the many peaks considered Nanda Devi, dominating its uncluttered sanctuary, was chosen. Mountaineers were selected to execute the plan and crampons and ice- axes were brought into service to replace the traditional cloak and dagger tools of the trade. Mohan Kohli, fresh from his great success on Everest earlier in 1965, was pressed into leadership to implement the plan with his select team of Indian 'members'and American 'friends', as scientists were kept in the background at strategic stations in the sanctuary to activate the device and to listen into what the sensors would relay.

Though we know what transpired, the narrative holds the reader fascinated all along, in reading of the race against the advancing monsoon, the maintenance of high secrecy in the face of reluctance by those in the support team who were not in the know, failing to understand the need to advance in dangerously increasing bad weather, and the ultimate decision to secure the device on Nanda Devi at a level above Camp 4 to be made operative later; later meaning abandoning the programme in all of its logic till the following spring.

There is much in the story of interest for the mountaineer, as it is for those who enjoy reading tales of espionage. Falling between both stools, I read Spies in two absorbing sittings. The sequel was the follow-up visit in the spring of 1966, of the surprise, panic and wide searches that followed when the nuclear powered generator and sensors could not be found. If these secured devices had been swept away by avalanche as was universally believed, then where could they be? The resulting searches and postmortem led to wild conjecture that in the event of a 'leak' in the device and contamination through seepage into the glacier waters feeding the Rishi ganga and downstream the Ganga itself, nothing then would be sacred anymore, with disastrous consequences resulting upon the environment and the lives of a great many people.

The panic buttons had been pressed at the doors of New Delhi and Washington and an extensive damage control exercise instituted as searches continued. The project from Nanda Devi was shifted to Nanda Kot which Kohli had earlier climbed and had recommended in the first place as a more feasible prospect for its easier accessibility in case of emergency. A new device was installed which remained operative for three years.

The missing device was declared 'safe' at the time that the file was closed in 1978. It was said that the device had an expected life of 100 years from the time that it was activated in 1965. That leaves yet 60 odd years of remaining shelf life lying somewhere within the deep dark icy subterranean depths at which it reposes and perhaps ticks away, harmlessly. The reader is left hoping that the scientific 'safe' surmise is the last word on this highly imaginative and closed episode.

Meher H Mehta, FRGS

 

 

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LIFE AND LIMB. A True Story of Tragedy and Survival Against the Odds. By Jamie Andrew. Pp. 306, 20 colour photos, 2003. (Portrait Books, London, GBP 17.99).

It is doubtful that many a Himalayan enthusiast would have heard of the classic yet harrowing episode of two British climbers who were precariously stuck in the Alps even as rescue teams attempted in vain to rescue them.

The book is at its first reading a narrative of the incidents and lives preceding the incident, an intricate painting of the five nights that changed the lives and perspectives of many and a brilliant description of resilience against the odds.

Three 'books' constitute this novel. The protagonists of the first book are Jamie Fischer and Jamie Andrews (the author). Unfortunately, Andrews lost Fischer to the elements right before his eyes. The book talks of the incidents, thoughts and lives leading to the tedious tale of the two climbers as they are stuck high above the Chamonix climbing the north face of the Les Droites. The book is written simply and this makes the narration effective and often poignant even as it takes us through the 'Miraculous escape of Jamie Andrews' as opposed to the 'Tragic death of Jamie Fischer'.

The second and third books respectively speak of Andrews' recovery and his return to first normalcy and then mainstream climbing. These encompass the emotion of those close to Andrews and Fischer, and that of the community that supported Andrews and spurred him on with flowers, gifts, beer, and good faith.

The books are amply illustrated which help us achieve some perspective, yet none are as vivid as the descriptions with the pen.

Life and Limb is not a genius of a writing style. In fact several parts of the book come across as disjointed as the incidents and lives unfold. At this, let the sheer aura of the incident carry you through the book. For what is seen as the book culminates puts every piece of prose into perspective. The brilliant character sketches of the individuals involved with Jamie Andrews' life either directly or indirectly make the reader almost predict their reactions and every now and then, life and person surprise you.

In this prose, Jamie Andrew brings out 'himself', described appropriately only by his passion, grit and zeal for life that come through in his words. Undoubtedly you are reading the story of a true winner and a clean example of 'What it takes to win at the bottom is exactly what it takes to win at the top'.

The book also brings out what we all tend to take for granted today, the smaller joys in life. Andrews takes us back to basics, showing clearly how much there is in an existence and why it is meaningless to complain of the odds.

The book is a must read. There are parts that a mountaineer may appreciate better, but the book is a lesson in living.

Rahil Mehta

 

 

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ETHNIC REVIVAL AND RELIGIOUS TURMOIL. Identities and Representations in the Himalaya. Edited by Marie Lecomte-Tilouine and Pascal Dollfus. Pp. 341, 2003. (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, Rs. 595)

This book is a studious, anthropological collection of essays by several contributors, each followed by a chapter with Notes and Comments. It is a book by anthropologists for anthropologists, and about their concepts. The general reader might find himself in a club of exclusive writing. The heaviest and largest part of the book is on Nepal, eight of the twelve chapters. The excluded Himalayan regions are the substantial areas east of Nepal-Bhutan was particularly missed — and Himachal Pradesh and Punjab Himalaya. The Kashmir part was in the Northern Region of Pakistan. The general reader, trekker and climber are likely to find most readable the Introduction, and the chapters of Kumaun, Ladakh, the Sherpas and Gilgit. They are more digestible than the complex eight chapters on Nepal's multi-dimensional turbulence.

This book is an anthropological study of the changes I have earlier referred to in HJ58 as 'Changes from Mythical Shangri-La to Globalisation'. Each section goes into recent anthropological studies of those changes of identity; ethnic changes, politicisation changes on ethnicity and religion, and the pulls of new national identities. The reader gets a unique educational experience of the pressures, pulls, and conflicts bearing upon one of the world's most plural regions, and one of the last to be brought struggling and kicking into a modern, globalising world, unknown to their grandfathers. The Himalayan people are in total turmoil.

The book is so heavily discussive of the concepts of the anthropological community inter se, that one misses important other aspects, largely ignored. They are the vital ones of demographic changes in the Himalayan region in the 20^th century - certainly one of the root causes of conflict with migrations in eco-systems exceeding carrying capacities. One also misses the accentuation of ethnic and religious conflicts in the struggle for the fruits of development and modernization in more concrete examples.

In Nepal, one also missed the impact of Hillary's social revolution in education and health in Sola Khumbu, despite a separate chapter on the Sherpas. The passing reference to the influence of tourism and trekking on the Sherpas in too superficial. Similarly, no mention of the impact of the Aga Khan's development project in Chitral, and the impact on it of multiple ethnic and religious recent conflicts of the Chitral people. Nor is there any mention of the impact of the Chinese occupation of Tibet on these Himalayan peoples, especially in Nepal, riven by Maoist insurgency. Although the book was published in 2003, the chapter on Kumaun predates the formation of Uttaranchal in 2000.

Anthropology could have done with a little more history, demography, and economic development to fill the broad canvas of Change. Change is nothing if not multi-disciplinary.

A. D. Moddie

 

 

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SHORT REVIEWS

(By Nandini Purandare)

 

MIRACLES OF ARDAAS. Incredible Adventures and Survivals. By M.S. Kohli. Pp.184, 2003. (Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, Rs. 150).

Capt. M.S. Kohli, was the man who led the first Indian team to the top of Mount Everest and climbed many mountains. With several books to his credit, this new book, is very unique and heartfelt. Ardaas is a key element in the Sikh faith, a form of supplication, invocation or prayer. The book relates many unbelievable but true incidents wherein the power of ardaas or cry to God, has given strength and saved many lives in the savage mountains. Cynics may call these co-incidences or unexplained miracles but the author keeps you enthralled, much in the way of a thriller. It is a page-turner to the end. Read it, whatever faith you may belong to, and even if only for sheer fascination of adventure. The book begins with the author's early childhood and the horrors of Partition. It describes Capt. Kohli's life as a young naval mountaineer and of course, Everest, where he once spent three nights at 27,650 feet without oxygen! Surviving this itself is close to a miracle! Faith or otherwise, this is a remarkable account of courage and the will to get to the top.

 

 

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GUIDE TO TREKKING IN HIMACHAL. By Minakshi Chaudhry. Pp.247, 44 maps, 21 colour photos, 2003. (Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, Rs. 275).

This excellently presented guide covers over 65 treks and 100 destinations in Himachal Pradesh. Therefore it is a wonderful reckoner for tourists as well. It is heartening to note that finally that travel and adventure in the Indian Himalaya is being documented by knowledgeable Indian authors, in books that are easy to follow with good maps and photographs and are reasonably priced. Indian trekking and travel have finally come of age, even in the world of publishing.

Minakshi, who has lived trekked and travelled in Himachal for the last ten years, is the best person to give an insight into the people, mountains and valleys of this enchanted land. She has done it very well. The book's chapters are divided regionally for trekking and there is practical information on road distances, hotels, tourism offices and officers who can be contacted. But what sets this book apart is that every stage on every trail described has a personal feel, almost like a friend telling you about the route before you set off.

 

 

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CHRIS BONINGTON'S EVEREST. By Sir Chris Bonington. Pp.256, 138 col., 2003 (Weidenfield & Nicolson, London, GBP 20).

The year 2003 was the fiftieth anniversary of the first ascent of Everest. All kinds of Everest trivia, personal accounts, technical and geographical documentations have riveted readers. That is Everest for you, mesmerizing and compulsive for every climber to climb and write a book and write another book as a fiftieth anniversary present! Then there is Chris Bonington's Everest, a beautiful book that reiterates this great mountaineer's love affair with the mountain. It is a rather beautiful book in more ways than one. Why does it not appear in the main body of reviews? Because, in this book, Sir Chris draws from four (no less) of his earlier Everest books to cover fifteen most important years of his climbing life and his intermittent tryst with Everest. He led successful expeditions to the mountain four or five times, and finally stood atop the summit for the first time at the age of fifty. During these years he lost friends to the mountain — his moments of agony, loss and helplessness are beautifully described.

In a way that only wonderful writers can, Bonington has interspersed an overview of fifty years of Himalayan climbing with his personal tryst with Mount Everest. The outer flap puts this perspective succinctly... for the first half of the 20^th century, climbers worked out how to do this (climb the mountain) and for the second half they refined upon this achievement.

Chris Bonington's Everest is broadly divided into three parts — South West Face, North East Ridge and South East Ridge. Together these faces and ridges have bound this man from the age of 35 to 50. They were years of reaching summits, losing friends, of dizzying excitement and deep sorrow 'It is the wives of climbers who are the courageous ones, who have to cope with real stress, who have to sit back and wait, and all too often break the news to wives of the ones that don't come back.'

Every generation must have some books of inspiration, whether they are climbers or not. This is surely one of them. A last word goes to the photographs that form a mainstay of this book. They are superb.

 

 

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EVEREST — REFLECTIONS FROM THE TOP. Edited by Christine Gee, Garry Weare and Margaret Gee. Pp. 141, 2003. (Rider, Random House, London, GBP 8.99).

This little book, published to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first ascent of Everest quotes mountaineers who have actually walked on the summit. These remarkable people share their thoughts of the actual moment of being on the highest spot in the world. The ranges of emotions expressed are as diverse as the climbers themselves. Most importantly, Sherpas without whom, almost none of these climbs would have been possible are widely quoted. Their spiritual bond with the mountain shares space with the more Western philosophy, the climax or anti climax that climbers feel when they reach the top.

This book is dedicated to the Sherpas of Nepal who are born and grow up in the shadow of the Everest.

A lovely book, one you would gift to your children for it is all about heroism, about achievement and about attaining your goals or living your dreams, whatever they might be.

One of my favourite quote is by Tashi Tenzing, grandson of Tenzing Norgay, who atop the summit echoes his grandfather's words Thuji che Chomolungma...I am grateful.

 

 

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SHERPAS — THE HIMALAYAN LEGENDS. By M.S. Kohli. Pp.352, 63 b/w, 2003. (UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, Rs. 395).

If God had not made Sherpas, Everest might yet be unclimbed. This sentiment is being increasingly recognized the world over. This happy hardy and physiologically unique race deserves every word that maybe written on their contribution to the world of mountaineering. What is also heartening is that there are books by Sherpas as well now, providing a deep insight into their motivations and spiritualism, a recent example being Touching my Father's Soul by Jamling Norgay.

Also increasingly, Sherpas are becoming mainstream climbers, climbing for themselves and their country, rather than only as high altitude porters to foreign expeditions. Capt. Kohli has summarised the lives of some of these Nepali Sherpas very well. I use the word summarised because the book gives only a glimpse of these legends. The reason is probably that their lives were not documented well and many of them have passed away. Ang Tharkey, Ang Shering, Pasang Dawa Lama, Nawang Gombu, Ang Temba, Dorjee Lhatoo are only some of the legends covered in this book. Each of these deserves a separate book. But in the meantime there is this one, a veritable text book for climbers and a page turner for arm chair ones.

The book includes the untold story of Phu Dorje, the first Nepali Sherpa to climb Everest. Pasang Lhamu, a very courageous woman climber has also been featured, along with other women Sherpanis. In fact this chapter on women climbers, like the rest of the book, leaves the reader crying for more. There is also a brief account of record breakers, in which miraculous feats are merely mentioned not described.

 

 

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BHUTAN — A KINGDOM IN THE SKY. By M.S. Kohli. Pp.147, 88 col, 2004. (Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, Rs. 1950).

Bhutan — A kingdom in the Sky is a book with stunning photographs, great design and layout. Perfect coffee table material and truly a crowd puller to Bhutan. Much credit must go to Dushyant Parasher for the design and photographs. Capt. Kohli who is lucky enough to have travelled extensively in Bhutan, which has traditionally been a forbidden Himalayan Kingdom, open very selectively to outsiders, has produced a book that covers all aspects of the country as well as trekking. However, there is no mention of costs or practical information that every traveler needs.

 

 

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