BOOK REVIEWS
- BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROPE.
- AN EYE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
- FREDERICK WILSON (HULSON SAHIB) OF GARHWAL.
- SPYING FOR THE RAJ
SPYING FOR EMPIRE - ON TOP OF THE WORLD
- BIRDS OF PREY OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.
- WATER FOR PABOLEE
- INDIA IN MIND.
- THE CAVES OF MEGHALAYA.
- THE HEART OF THE WORLD - A LAST JOURNEY TO THE SECRET LAST PLACE.
- TRAVELERS' TALES INDIA
- A LONG WALK IN THE HIMALAYA
- BUDDHA'S WARRIORS
- SUMMIT- 150 YEARS OF THE ALPINE CLUB.
- ON MY OWN TWO FEET
- TRAVELS IN FAR — OFF PLACES.
- ASIA KI PEET PAR — PANDIT NAIN SINGH RAWAT.
- BHOTAN AND THE STORY OF THE DOAR WAR.
- TOURIST & TREKKING GUIDE TO LADAKH AND ZANSKAR.
- INDIA THROUGH ITS BIRDS.
- INDIA TIBET AND CHINA
- LOST IN TIBET
- SILENT ROAR - SEARCHING FOR THE SNOW LEOPARD
- BEYOND EVEREST 2000 — THE ON GOING CLIMB.
BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROPE. The Biography of Charles Houston. By Bernadette McDonald. Pp. 250, 51 b/w photos, sketches, 2007. Includes a DVD of the film Brotherhood of the Rope. (The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, $18.95).
I first met Charlie (as he insists on being called) at Trerito, Italy. Recognising him, I invited myself to his dinner table, for you do not have chance to dine with history often. As I arrived, his vision being weak, he recognised me by name and for next four days I followed him and we talked and talked. I began to have some insight into his extraordinary life. The missing gaps have been filled by this book by McDonald, which many mountaineers and doctors would like to read. The book beautifully weaves the story of Charlie's life; his young days, how interest in mountains and medicines developed and how that grew in to a raison d'étre of his life.
The story of his life reads like a fairy tale, like that of a child of destiny. Charlie climbed in the Alps in 1931 with his father Oscar, who was a major influence in his life in the mountains. Soon after that, he was admitted to Harvard and joined the Harvard Mountaineering School. He with Bob Bates, Adams Carter, Bradford Washburn and Terries Moore, were known as the 'Harvard Five'. Each went on to make a name for himself. Once on a trip to the Alps, Charlie saw a man climbing and said to him 'we speak the same language', 'Possibly' was the laconic reply from that British mountaineer T. Graham Brown. This chance meeting was to lead to their teaming up for the expedition to Nanda Devi. In Charlie's words 'four American kids and four British Himalayan veterans joined to make a successful climb of the peak in 1936.'
Until now most of the accounts of Nanda Devi are from the perspective of the British. It is with this account that we come to know the American view. Charlie fell sick and did not climb high. However in the latter part he crossed the Longstaff Col to make an exit to the Milam valley. In two year's time, 1938, Charlie came to K2 on his first expedition. 'I was Kim ..... I was living in Kipling's India: indeed I was on my way to the velY land described in The Man who would be the King,' wrote Charlie. The expedition could not reach the summit but they hacl pioneered a route for the future.
Soon the world was in tuonoil, about to go to war. Charlie 'slept through the gathering storm.' Later he was commissioned by the Navy and his first reaction was 'Boy the navy is pretty great'. However, his 'uncompromising attitude and blunt honesty' soon landed him in trouble.
By this time Charlie was an established doctor and his pioneering interest in High Altitude Medicine began to develop. He was on Everest in 1950 ancl returned to K2 in 1952. The story of this expedition is well known, where the climbers risked their lives to save the life of one sick friend. This is what he called the Brotherhood of the Rope and the book offers a DVD of this film with it.
On his return from K2, life in high mountains was almost over. Ardito Desio and his Italian team made the first ascent of K2 about which Charlie said, 'Desio's triumph seemed a violation of (my) mountain'. He was cruel to himself, 'I never quite came through on the prominence: Crillon I missed, Nanda Devi I missed, K2 I missed twice, Everest I didn't try'. It was this frankness and attitude to life that endeared him to a generation of mountaineers. While on K2, Charlie had left a colourful umbrella at the last camp. The Italians brought back this as a memento and returned it to him ! At Trento, Charlie climbed the steps to the podium with this umbrella open and promised to leave it to the Italians in his will ! The claps of admiration almost brought down the house!
His destiny was soon to a take a turn. His family counted as friends some of the high and mighty of American politics, who knew Charlie's worth. One of them was Robert McNamara who became the Secretary of Defence. When the 'Peace Corps' project was launched (where young Americans would serve in Asia) Charlie was approached to pitch in. Mindful of his family commitments and medical interests he relented only after repeated persuasion by Sergeant Shiver who was in charge. That saw Charlie in India for an energetic three years. He travelled the entire country and met many interesting people. When the Peace Corps was enlarged into medical services for Asia, Dr Houston was in charge and in his typical fashion he made a presentation titled 'Urine and Jasmine' - the bitter and sweet!
Back home he was made an offer for high altitude research, a subject dear to his heart - at an high altitude research laboratory high on Mount Logan. He was the first to think that Everest could be climbed without supplementary oxygen and admired Messner and Habeler for proving him right in 1978.
McDonald, who gave up her job at the Banff Center to tum into a full time writer, has written a lucid account of such a wonderful and eventful life. We owe her gratitude for preserving this legacy through this book. She takes us to the end, sensitively and beautifully.
Gazing out across the frozen lake, tears well up in Charlie's unseeing eyes. As he confronts the death that he knows can't be far off, he is not afraid. He savors a life that has been full oflove and adventure and of challenges met. His tears are not offear, sadness, anger or regret. They are tears that spring from a deep well of contentment - a life intensely lived.
The second time I met Charlie was at Attitash during the annual meeting of the American Alpine Club. Charlie, then 92, had travelled a couple of hundred miles, driven by his friend Tom Horbein who was in his 80s! I invited him to Mumbai. 'I will be a bit of nuisance Harish' he said with a chuckle. Then he paid the greatest compliment to India by saying, 'I feel very Indian inside due to the years I have spent there and in Asia. That country has grown in me over the years.' I was keen to know all about his time here, and this book tells it to me in a readable way.
As we departed I bowed with a namaste to him as we do in India to elders and masters of any field. Knowing the Indian tradition he bowed a little, we embraced and laughed. I hope to meet him again for just such moments. If not, I have a signed copy of this book to keep my memories alive.
HARISH KAPADIA
AN EYE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War's Most Daring C.LA. Operation. Pete Takeda 304 pages, 42 b/w photos, 2 sketch maps, 2006. (Thunder's Mouth Press, New York).
Phew, what a book. It is incredibly well written; who needs a thrilling novel when you have a gritty real life story of this excitement, crispness and magnitude. How do you adequately review such a book? How do you express the conflicting reactions that you have while turning the pages? I am going to try and maybe beginning at the beginning will help.
An Eye ... lays out its premise well. Its backdrop fonus the raison d'etre for the adventure that is to unravel. It takes the first four chapters to recreate this story as follows:
In 1965, a CIA-recruited team of American and Indian mountaineers planted a sensor atop the Nanda Devi to spy on troop movements and nuclear missile testing in China, then untrackable by spy planes and satellites. Sometime later, the device stopped functioning. As it turned out, the device disappeared possibly in an avalanche and has never been recovered. There are four pounds of plutonium hidden somewhere in the lap of the Goddess, enough to kill every living thing on earth. There were eight CIA missions between 1965 and '67 to the region, to survey, plant, maintain and search these nuclear powered devices. When the one on Nanda Devi disappeared, they planted one on the neighouring Nanda Kot and later recovered it.
The author, in his compelling manner, describes this legend and how he stumbled upon it. He describes his obsession with the need to unravel the mystery and finally retrace the steps of the spy expedition. He manages to do neither. Pete Takeda revives but does not manage to add much to the story that has been written about extensively, an example being our very own M.S. Kohli's Spies in the Himalaya. His research is limited to drawing character sketches of some of the expedition members (who agreed to be interviewed) and to already published documents. He does not get permission to climb Nanda Devi, a mountain closed to climbers and trekkers. But he writes about this and beautifully.
He finds a way out. Leading a highly motivated small team of three men and a woman, he attempts the second mountain of intrigue, Nanda Kot. They come away surviving miraculously and then he and his buddy go on to attempt the east face of Nanda Devi East. They return home, having enjoyed some of the finest climbing possible, a hair raising tale of survival to share and no summit. The quest is full of many setbacks and some failures; stone walling from the CIA and Indian bureaucratic bungles. Out of this he creates a compelling story, thrilling at times, lyrical in quality.
Takeda is in no hurry. Writing for a lay person, he takes his time to patiently explain for example, what a carabiner is or what a col is. He also explains how plutonium came to be 'discovered', the science behind nuclear technology and the horrors of what can happen if things go wrong : say you held two identil:al half spheres of plutonium 239 - one in each hand ... On a playful whim you decide to clap the two dull silver green half spheres together, like a pair of miniature cymbals. "What harm could it be?" you think. The very instant the halves clap together you are washed with an eerie blue glow. There's a blast of unbearable heat and a disagreeable sour tang filling you mouth. You promptly vomit. Even if you managed to drop the shell halves and run (though even an Olympic sprinter could not nm fast enough to escape the radiation) you'd still die. But only after suffering from excruciating bums, severe diarrhea, vomiting, and total disintegration of body functions.
After laying out the sinister possible outcome, Takeda explains the device that was assembled and planted in the mountain. He describes the team that was recruited to plant the device and the toll it took on their professional and personal lives. One of the more poignant passages reads thus: While helping to locate the lost Nanda Devi sensor, Schaller made history with the greatest alpine climbing feat ever accomplished by an American to that date, by climbing alone to Nanda Devi's summit. He kept a journal, took photographs, recording in word and image, the outrageous details of the expedition. The film and journals were confiscated by the CIA and like his amazing climbing feat were hidden from the world.
Come Chapter 5 and he leaves for India to climb the mountain. He walks to the base camp and the pace of the book changes from its thriller speed to a leisurely one, when people, mountains illnesses and idyllic trekking consume the reader. We walk with Takeda while he chats about this and that, about relationships and the changing face of climbing (It's been suggested that climbing gyms are the new singles bar for the vertical athlete. Indeed go to a gym and you'll see stacks of hotties straining away on the wall wearing skimpy sportswear. For you ladies, fear not, you'll sees plenty of shirtless ripped guys grunting and sweating in a venue that doesn't promote the impairment, bad choices and the sometimes bogus interactions like the local theme bar.) He chats about history, politics and local life along the road. He intersperses his trek with passages from M.S. Kohli's memoirs of the spy mission (Kohli was the leader of the Indian component).
And then he describes the storm on the mountain. Avalanche after avalanche attack the four stranded climbers and finally bury them in a snow hole where they survive for four long days before the storm abates. Apart from this extreme climbing team's grit, well conveyed are the group dynamics, and the author's respect for his friends (to whom he dedicates the book).
The last section of the book gets trapped in what often happens while telling a story. You realize that there's not enough time so you rush through to the end. The account of the Nanda Devi East climb is a bit like that. Possibly because after the climax of storm and survival, the story of this part of the expedition is a bit tame.
The book has a racy journalistic style, sometimes unnecessarily simplistic, probably on orders from the publishers to make it American best selling material. It keeps a sober tone while talking about controversial stuff and is careful not to tread on toes. All in all a very clever book, with the two stories well linked. As I close the book, I feel just a bit like something is not quite right. The title? Pete Takeda's only love really is for extreme climbing. The CIA bit is really, almost by-the-way. After all, dry expedition accounts would not sell as well as true spy stories! But what he does, he does well. The quote at the beginning of the book goes, God made man because he loved stories.
God will surely be happy that he created Pete Takeda!
(The book was a joint-winner of the Kekoo Naoroji Book Award, 2006)
NANDINI PURANDARE
FREDERICK WILSON (HULSON SAHIB) OF GARHWAL. By D.C.Kala. Pp. 206, 2006.(Ravi Dayal Publisher, Delhi 2006. Rs. 495).
This is a groundbreaking book in tenns of Himalayan literature. More than a well and warmly researched biography of an English hunter gone native, this is local history at its very best, related by an accomplished naturalist and writer who hails from Garhwal and who writes with passion and rare insight. A generation in its making, this study of Raja Wilson of Harsil is well worth the wait. Every page, sometimes every paragraph, reveals useful infonnation hidden from the eyes of visiting mountaineers. For the first time Himalayan social realities are seen through the eyes of local villagers and Wilson's colourful career is placed in its proper perspective. The distortions about this supposed White loafer seem to have been deliberately put out by polite society. Even today in Mussoorie public opinion assumes Wilson to have been a reprobate and anny deserter. Kala presents him as a self made man, a gifted ornithologist and an enterprising timber contractor who became a director of Mussoorie's bank. Actually he had been invalided out of the John Company army but only after he had trekked to Harsil. Having fallen under the spell of the Himalaya he saved up in England and returned privately to India to lead the outdoor life he loved. This involved walking all the way to Gangotri from Calcutta, symbolic of sympathies that lay more with the Indian villager than bullying white officers. Wilson's own warts are enquired into and his butchering of the environment for personal profit is recorded unflinchingly.
However Kala is fair enough to judge the butcher by the standards of his time, though he quotes Garhwali wisdom to suggest that those who outrage nature never prosper in the long run. The story of Wilson's rise from the ranks to become amongst knowledgable sportsmen the best shikari in the business, unfolds naturally and along the way Kala's knowledge of Garhwali custom and history is put to excellent use, resulting in a biography of brilliance and depth. Because of its unique positioning as an original contribution to Himalayan literature that stands in a class of its own, this book on Hulson Sahib's life and times was a joint winner of the Kekoo Naoroji Book Award 2007.
BILL AITKEN
SPYING FOR THE RAJ : The Pundits and the Mapping of the Himalaya. By Jules Stewart. Pp. 224,14 b/w illustrations, 3 sketch maps, 2006 (Sutton Publishing Ltd, England, GBP 17.99).
SPYING FOR EMPIRE: The Great Game in Central and South Asia, 1757-1947. By Robert Johnson, Pp 304, 26 b/w illustrations, 2 sketch maps, 2006 (Greenhill Books, London).
Spying for the Raj is a fascinating book that traces a 30-year (1864-1894) effort, the brain child of an Englishman, Captain Thomas Montgomerie to map the Himalayas. He undertook the The Great Trignometrical Survey ofIndia, which involved complicated, extensive mapping of a region fraught with dangers, natural as well as political. A major geopolitical reason for the British to undertake the survey was Russia's ambitions in the Northwest frontier region. This was the Great Game of the 19th century, when the Russians had almost arrived at the gates of India.
The British realized that in order to contain the Russian threat as well as consolidate their empire, they would have to fill in the gaps in their knowledge of the trans-Himalayan region, including Tibet, Central Asia and also political affiliations of these remote regions. The immediate objective of the survey was to map contours of the mountain range and the rivers that originated in these areas. The larger plan was towards building trade routes, increasing commercial dependence and finally expanding the empire, a similar strategy as was being used for all empire building.
The British initially sent army officers to map these countries, but the task was dangerous. Europeans, although well versed in the art of spying, disguise, deception as well as in the science of surveying and information gathering, were finally too conspicuous in these wild regions. They were too exposed and many had lost their lives. In the 1860s, Captain Thomas Montgomerie came upon the brilliant solution of training natives from India's border states to be surveyors, and have them explore the region covertly. Captain Montgomerie thus began to recruit local people and established standardised ways of measuring their steps and therefore the distances that they covered.
The recruits were called 'pundits' but they were not 'pandits' as in learned Brahmins. It was an eclectic group of spies, all lovingly etched out by the author. In these pages come alive Nain Singh, a school teacher from Kumaon, his relative Kishen Singh, scholarly Sarat Chandra Das and then the Muslims, gallantly surveying the wildest frontier of the sub continent. These include the famous Munshi, the Mirza, the Havildar and the Mullah, code names for some of the bravest surveyors in history. And how can one forget the plump and lovable lama Ugyen Gyatso who brought in very valuable infonnation to his masters. Finally there was Kinthup, the illiterate but faithful Tibetan tailor's assistant from Darjeeling who perfonned the most amazing feats in surveying the area, that too designated not to him but his corrupt boss.
Interspersing these major stories are those of the linguist Mir Izzat Ullah, who covered a greater distance than any other pundit, the Englishman adventurer Moorcroft and many others. The back drop of the book cannot be faulted. Geographically it extends broadly across Tibet, the North West Frontier and Afghanistan. Historically, it covers the politics of the Great Game, the expansionist policies of the British and the Russians and the small principalities who were mere pawns in the hands of these colonists.
The author obviously feels that Kipling's novel Kim had quite a few characters drawn from the survey. However, if you read Kim, you realize that the adventures, in the 'Great Game' that Kim stumbles on are dealt with quite sketchily, and do not amount to that much more than delivering important documents around the countryside. However, the tenn Great Game has been immortalized by that novel and this book details the characters who played it.
All the Pundits, disguised themselves as traders or lamas. All of them risked their lives for very nominal payments. They did not actually thirst for adventure, risk or mountain exploration. They had no desire for fame. The author observes that risking ones neck on a dangerous undertaking with no hope of coming home to some fonn of public recognition, is alien to the nature of the adventure. What is it that drove them to do what they did?? This final analysis by the author is what makes the book a tribute to these unsung heroes. In his words, "Are we perhaps dealing with some 'special breed' set apart from ordinary men by a shared tradition of toughing it out in the face of hardship and adversity? Hardly so when one considers the pundits' disparate origins: a village school master from the hills of Kuma on, a Bengali engineering graduate, a Sikkimese Buddhist monk, an illiterate tailor's assistant from Darjeeling. Surely there was some other motivation urging these men on against all odds and the answer might be found in the concepts of service and duty, uncomfortable terms in today's lexicon. But the Indians ofa century and a halfago were quite comfortable with the idea of devoting one's life to the service of others. Indeed there was great merit associated with perfonning an act of service with full devotion and detennination and seeing it through to the end. Each of the Pundits held a special dedication to duty. It was through this selfless loyalty that they earned merit as well as the gratitude of the Great Trignometrical Survey of India".
The black and white sketches are interesting but some of them, out of context from the text. The brief but interesting foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes points out that modem surveillance tactics can learn a trick or two from the Pandits' methods, that there is need to shift 'back to basics' to learn about terrorist cells hidden deep in the mountains of Afghanistan. We at the Himalayan Journal are proud that we have been writing about these men and telling their stories to our readers. For the rest, there is Spying for the Raj ...
But this book is a wonderful tribute, the first book devoted to these servants of the Raj who managed to map the Himalayas, Tibet and surrounding areas with remarkable precision, thereby helping the British to consolidate their rule in the Indian sub-continent.
An online book selling site calls the second book, Spying For Empire, perfect partner to the book reviewed above. At one point, I too thought that since the theme was much the same, both British authors, both books published in the same year, there could be a common review. But as I read the books, I got pretty absorbed and so I give each book a definite space, particularly as the readership may differ. Where Spying for the Raj is authored by a journalist, this book is a treatise by a scholar. That one is an easy read, a story well told, a sketch of the Pundits who surveyed remote areas. Dr. Robert Johnson is a scholar of history, with a PhD on British intelligence in the Great Game. He has covered a larger timespan, his context is larger, his canvas, wider. This makes for a more complex and theorised study, perfect for either college-level world history collections or followers of early British history.
Having said that, here's more about the book.
'The Great Game' a tenn immortalised by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim, as defined in this book, was the struggle by Britain to maintain imperial supremacy over southern and central Asia. The threat to India's frontiers compelled the British to dispatch diplomats, or more clandestine agents, to survey, map and monitor the approaches to the Indian subcontinent. Stories of Russia's ambitions in central Asia made the colonists insecure. Besides, they had little or no knowledge of the area's geo political status. The British faced major problems compounded by the unresolved status of Afghanistan, the interception of agents, the Russian threat to India coupled with the instability of the Indian border area which was infested with violent tribesmen who fought the imposition of British rule every step of the way. This is the basis of the book. It is a fascinating insight into how the British intelligence network worked in the 1800s. Most importantly, the book attempts to examine the role and contribution of the relatively small group of British and Asian agents in the dangerous work of infonnation gathering.
Here, as in the other book, are stories of Mir Izzet Ullah, Moorcroft and Hearsey. Besides, there is Arthur Connolly, the man who coined the tenn Great Game ... He wrote to a colleague of the East India Company 'you've got a great game, a noble one, before you' and later 'if only the government would play the grand game', when referring to the clandestine struggle between Russia and Britain.
The book not only recounts adventures and risks of the reckless men but also analyses how intelligence was pieced together, how facts were sifted from rumour, how these were interpreted and often misinterpreted and how this led to so many decisions that are now milestones in history. It highlights the story of enigmatic, beautiful trouble torn Afghanistan, proving that for centuries this area has been pillaged, exploited and destroyed by the world and suffers that fate even today. Another unique aspect of the book particularly of interest to followers of colonial history is that it traces the expansion and penetration of the Russian empire as other the main player in the Great Game. Of course the heroes everywhere are the Brits! The author lays out the historic context; the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857, the Russian war of 1854, the annexing of Turkestan during 1864-73, and thus the large looming Russian threat. Against this backdrop, finally arrive Montgomerie and his Pundits, and the great game is now played in right earnest. Ostensibly to survey unknown terrains and find sources of rivers (which these surveyors do with dedication and precision), the surveyors double as spies for the empire, culling out the geo political reality in daring and innovative ways. This part of the book is in many ways like its 'partner' but more detailed and contextual. Johnson also has an interesting take as to why the pundits are forgotten heroes. Apart from the fact that they were actually spies (and spies have never been considered to be honourable men), they finally did serve the British Empire and this fact was unpalatable to Indian nationalist historians who focused on freedom fighters not on servants of the Raj. Now, however, it has emerged that their contribution to exploration has been invaluable and far beyond the boundaries of their brief.
The arrival of the Russians at the gate heralded the creation of a dedicated British Intelligence division that theorized and collated data while the Russians merrily continued expansion. The wars on the borders continued thus finally compromising on activities of border security. The mood of the British rulers shifted from proactively expanding to protecting what they already had. The book goes on to describe the great game until finally idealism, revolution and a new world order began to change everything. Lenin and communism swept over Russia. The Indian independence movement drove away the colonists. What was left for the author to do was to reassess the traditional view that British intelligence in those years was amateur and limited. Blowing this theory apart, Johnson proves that the system was very sophisticated and its agents 'deserve a more fitting epitaph in the pages of history'
The two sketch maps at the beginning of the book are extremely helpful to trace the complex game and the movement of its players.
Charles Allen observes in his foreword that the Great Game has been extensively written about, but only the amateur one, in the words of explorers, adventurers, gentlemen ... but there was another world, serious, factual dark and infinitely illicit. It is this professional game that Robert Johnson writes about. In his words "As Johnson now demonstrates, there is enough evidence to show that the factual Great Game was not only as dramatic as Kipling's fictional one - but even more spectacular. The book does justice to this.
NANDINI PURANDARE
ON TOP OF THE WORLD: The Indian Everest Saga, 1854-2006. By M.S. Kohli, Pp.303, 15 colour photos, 2006. (Indus Publishing Company, Rs. 600).
There are few who need an introduction to the living legend, Capt. M.S. Kohli. But for those who do, Captain M.S. Kohli, belongs to the exclusive band of three climbers who in 1962 spent three consecutive nights on Mount Everest at 17,650 feet, two without oxygen. He led the Indian Everest Expedition 1965 which put nine men on the summit - a world record which India held for seventeen years. Captain Kohli has fifteen major expeditions to his credit and 26 books. Besides being a climber of repute, he has also motivated a new generation of climbers and continues to do so. He developed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police into a formidable mountaineering organization; he has advised not only Indian but neighbouring countries to draw plans for adventure trekking and tourism.
This book that he has put together is valuable as a ready reckoner for any Indian Everest expedition, a record of the past 50 years and a reference for the future. Example: Till the middle of 2006, 107 Indians have stood on the summit of Everest; one of the first two persons to reach the summit is an Indian; the first man to climb Everest twice is an Indian; the first woman to climb Everest twice is also an Indian. And the three climbers, who hold the world record of spending three nights at about 28,000 feet, are also Indians.
This book has their stories, short and eminently readable. More important, it is motivational book for the youth of our country and should be made compulsory reading as a part of physical education in schools and colleges.
Another interesting aspect of the book is that it is a compilation of essays by mountaineers on their expedition experiences. It is not a boring continuous account and so it makes good reading, even if randomly read. The first part of the book traces the discovery of the mountain, its early history and the first ascent. It also contains essays by Tenzing's son Jamling and grandson Tashi Tenzing - three generations of Everesters. India's efforts and early victories on Everest form the second part of the book and the third part contains the last twenty eventful years of India's tryst with the mountain. It's an eclectic set;
Maharashtrians, women, the army, lots of ITBP climbs, the recent seven summit trick by Malli Mastaan Babu, all these are given a space to write about their big moment. The appendix is a good at-a-glance record of India on Everest.
I would highly recommend such a book as part of any school curriculum. Is anybody listening??
NANDINI PURANDARE
BIRDS OF PREY OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT. By Rishad Naoroji. Illustrations by N. John Schmitt. 74 sketch maps showing biogeographic zones of India and the distribution of each species in the subcontinent. Colour photographs of each species showing plumage variations of age and individual colour phases. Pp. 692. Hard cover, 2007. (Om Books International, New Delhi, Rs 1800).
I was aware that Rishad was 'writing a book on Indian birds of prey'for several years now. I myself have been talking of writing a book on the conservation needs of Indian Birds; the book has yet got to have the first chapter initiated ! I was therefore pleasantly surprised to receive a call from him asking me to review his book for the Himalayan Journal about which he had already spoken to Harish Kapadia. I expected one of those large coffee table books with selected spectacular photographs and racy text, the sort one sees lying around in luxurious apartments; a conversation piece highlighting the owner's sophisticated credentials as an environmentalist. Instead, the book delivered took me totally unprepared for its content; it was a valuable addition to my small collection of bird books. Leafing through, I realised why Rishad had taken so much time over the writing of the book. In my hands I held a weighty work complete in content with well researched information brought up to date.
The book is extremely well printed, and a pleasure to hold, to leaf through. It is however, when one glances over the 'Contents' that one is amazed at the fullness of content. Rishad has indeed set a standard which will be difficult to emulate for quite some time to come. This is a book written from the heart, and yet it is scientific in content. Every individual, how so ever trivial, who played a role in the author's interest and fascination for this fascinating avian group is acknowledged. Rishad's deferring to all those who assisted him across the span of time from early childhood to mature naturalist and across the vast distances across the subcontinent warms my heart. The bibliography running into forty nine pages reveals how much diligence has gone into accumulating information validated by his personal observations. He has travelled from Ladakh with its Bearded Vulture and Golden Eagle to Kerala with its White-bellied Sea Eagle and Jerdon's Baza, and from Saurashtra with its wintering Imperial Eagle and the resident Red-headed Falcon to Arunachal Pradesh with its Mountain Hawk-Eagle and the tiny Pied Falconet photographing. recording observations, learning from experiences of local birdwatchers. all faithfully recorded in simple, easy-to-follow language. This book is high in personal experience.
If he has physically travelled the wide expanses, Rishad has dwelled into records taking his reader back into time. An entire chapter is devoted to Raptors in Indian history and mythology. There are references quoted from ancient Sanskrit literature penned as far back as c. 1000 Be ! We learn that the sixth Sikh Guru skirnlished with Shahjahan for the ownership of a falcon. We also learn that in mcdieval times there were attempts to curb the high trade in raptors captured and sold to aristocrats indulging in the sport of falconry.
Different species of raptors, especially falcons were well recognised a fact to which I can personally attest having in my youth seen the late Dhannakumarsinhji fly falcons and hawks after francolin and hare. His retainers could identify a distant bird perched on a bare tree or circling high in the heavens at a glance! It was the plentitude of these birds half a century ago that made it possible to recognise the jizz of a species. At any given moment in time there would be several vultures, a couple of large eagles, and a hawk circling the vaults of the sky; every next telegraph pole would have perched on it one or the other of the birds of prey.
Today, it is rather difficult to acquire this enviable expertise since birds of prey have drastically declined and here the large number of photographs helps in familiarising one self to some extent in recognising this jizz. Apart from the photographs, many of them outstanding, have been contributed by photographers from Europe, the Subcontinent and Japan, but the majority are by Rishad himself, forty of the sixty nine species have been illustrated by N. John Schmitt. Each species has specific variations shown. Raptors show considerable variation in color depending on age and adding to the confusion we have light phases and dark phases in the same species!
There can be no effective conservation action without recognising the preferred habitats and Rishad has recognised this fact by devoting a full chapter on the biogeographical zones within the subcontinent. Each zone has one or more photographs showing the countryside from the Trans Himalayan deserts of Ladakh to the mangrove forests' of India's tropical coastline. For each of the sixty nine species described, a distribution map has been supplied which makes it possible to identify the habitat preferred by each species. Wildlife managers will find the sections on the conservation needs of different groups most useful. This is indeed a fine book which every naturalist should possess if for no other reason than that it bids fare to become a collector's book in the years to come since it is not likely that a book of this quality will be published again. Without the munificence of the House of Godrej, even this valuable book may not have seen the light of day.
No critic is worth his salt if he does not have something to carp about. Since this review is for the Himalayan Journal, its size precludes it from being carried in a back pack, but then it is a book to be read in bits and pieces during moments of relaxation and I would recommend carrying it on a long journey, or placing it beside ones favourite arm chair.
LAVKUMAR KHACHAR.
WATER FOR PABOLEE : People and Development in the Himalayas. By Robert C. Alter. Pp. 240, 2001. (Orient Longman. Delhi. Rs. 450)
Books on the daily lives of Himalayan villagers by long tenn observers with no axe to grind are thin on the ground and though published five years ago this description of village lifestyle in the Uttarakhand foothills deserves a belated notice, if only for its unusual blend of objectivity and humanity. The Alter family came to India as missionaries but have managed over the generations by their active identification with local aspirations to seem now as much Garhwali as American. This account of sharing the joys and sorrows of the buffalo herder families who supply milk to Mussoorie from the surrounding steep oak jungles combines a scientific assessment of how to improve the human lot without further degradation of the environment, along with a detailed description of the struggles and successes of individual villagers. Studies are made of the fodder demands and method of lopping the oak trees. The governing principle is to avoid the do gooder instinct (with its free handouts) and encourage the deprived villagers to involve themselves in availing of the benefits offered by official schemes. The Alters help with clerical facilitation which while vital does not detract from the villagers sense of satisfaction in having won their rights. Inevitably a certain amount ofNGO jargon clogs the narrative no doubt introduced to guarantee this book a place on official shelves.
Most valuable is exposure to the herders thought processes. The Dalits for example are not bothered that government schemes to supply grain or tin sheets are docked dishonestly for commission by the Dehra Dun traders. But this genuine mood of generosity towards the exploiting upper castes is offset by a general feeling of helplessness that afflicts even the most able-bodied. Some Dalits quite literally sit down and having lost the will to live, die. On another level of hopelessness are forest officers who deny the existence of species growing outside their office front door. Or is it that they do not want to disturb the crease in their trousers?
In an age of acute water shortage around Mussoorie it is revealing to read of the contrast between the response of the politician and the socially conscious citizen. A senior government minister for his new private residence laid an eight kilometre long (!) pipeline to further deplete the town's lean supply. Meanwhile a neighbouring sannyasi has devised a simple and effective method of storing water by digging a tank in the hillside and lining it with a large plastic sheet. When covered with a tin roof rain water alone suffices to keep the tank full the whole year. The value of this book is to show that for real improvement you only need one person of integrity and imagination to sow the seed.
BILL AITKEN
INDIA IN MIND. Edited by Pankaj Mishra. Pp. 351. 2005 (Vintage Books, Random House, New York, US$14.00).
Vintage Departures, an imprint of the Random House publishing company in New York, has recently launched a series of 'In Mind' books in which a well known author collects and introduces writings from various authors of the past about a particular place. India in Mind is part of this anthology series, blending geography, history and literature. It is edited by the young Indian writer Pankaj Mishra (see my review of his book An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World, in Himalayan Journal, volume 62).
For centuries, India has been a place of wonders in the Western imagination. Since Alexander's invasion to India in fourth century B.C. through the establishment of the British East India Company in the 17th century, scanty reports of India had reached the Westem people. Over the past two centuries, more in-depth books about India's land, culture, people and problems by British, French, Gennan, American, and Indian writers and travellers have been published. India In Mind contains selections from the following publications: Hinddo Holiday (19320 by J. R. Ackerely (1896-1967, British); Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue (1957) by Paul Bowles (1910-1999, American); What Am I Doing Here? (1989) by Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989, American); Desert Places (1995) by Robyn Davidson (1950-, Australian); Abinger Harvest (1936) by E. M. Forster (1879-1970, British; regrettably his most famous novel A Passage to India is not represented in this anthology); Indian 10umals (1970) by Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997, American); 'Childhood of the Magician' (1923) by Hermann Hesse (1877-1962, German and author of a more famous novel Siddhartha); Abandon (2003) by Pico Iyer (1957-, British-American-Indian) (in my view, not velY relevant for this anthology); Out of India (1957) by Ruth Prawer lhabvala (1927-, Gennan-British); Kim (1901) by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936, British); Tristes Tropiques (1955, 1973 translation) by Calude Levi-Strauss (1908-, French); Anti-Memoirs (1967) by Andre Marlaux (1901-1978, French); The Snow Leopard (1978) by Peter Matthiessen (1927-, American) (in my opinion, more relevant for Nepal); A Writer's Notebook (1949) by W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1966, British - his novel The Razor's Edge is far better known for an Indian theme); Portrait of India (1970) by Ved Mehta (1934-, Indian); Among the Cities (1985) by Jan Morris (1926-, Welsh); An Area of Darkness (1964) by V.S. Naipaul (1932-, Trinidadian-British of Indian ancestry); Shooting An Elephant and Other Essays (1936) by George Orwell (1903-1950, a British born in India); The Scent of India (1974, translation 1984) by Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975, Italian); Collected Poems (1986) by Octavio Paz (1914-1998, Mexican, also author of In Light of India); Blindfold Games (1986) by Alan Ross (1922-2001, a British born in India); The Jewel in the Crown (1968) by Paul Scott (1920-1978, British); The Great Railway Bazaar (1975) by Paul Theroux (1941-, American); Following the Equator (1897) by Mark Twain (1835-1910, American); Creation (198 I) by Gore Vidal (1925-, American).
With 25 contributions from well-known authors, this volume presents a flavour of travel literature and fiction about India from the late 19th century through the early 21st century. Happy reading!
RASOUL SORKHABI
THE CAVES OF MEGHALAYA. By Daly B.D.K. Pp.86, 2006. (Directorate of Information & Public Relations, Govt. of Meghalaya, Shillong, Rs. 350).
When I first visited India three decades ago that country was not known in the speleological world. At that time I did a limited literature search which the late Soli Mehta was good enough to publish in the 1969 Himalayan Journal. One of the promising places was in the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills in the south of Meghalaya. Unfortunately because of the political and military situation I was unable to cross the Inner Line.
Since then the improved political situation has all owed unrestricted cave exploration to take place. During the past fifteen years the members of the Meghalaya Adventurers' Association, and visiting cavers from Europe and the USA, have organised many joint expeditions to these caves.
This well-produced book summarises their work with 111 cave descriptions, 70 colour photographs, 13 surveys, 5 maps and 117 references to the earlier literature. It contains much more than cave descriptions varying in length from a few metres to 22 km. There are a geological summary, speleo-historical and biospeleological summaries, and a glossary of technical tenns.
This essentially well presented book has some imperfections. Pages 87 et seq. are missing! There is no scale on the survey of the Siju Cave. It is a disappointing that more space was not devoted to the problems of cave conservation. Limestone country has poor soil cover. The caves are therefore prone to degradation because of deforestation, and top soil erosion, to which must be added the irreversible damage done by quarrying activities. If more had been written about this, the book would have provided good propaganda against the ongoing encroachment of the limestone quarries.
The inexcusable error has been made in the introduction by Arindam Som, who claims that the world's longest cave is in his Meghalaya ! That record belongs to the USA where the Mammoth Cave / Flint Ridge system exceeds 550 km.
Despite this criticism this book deserves to sell well. It is an essential guide to the Meghalaya caves for both local and more distant visitors, and a useful addition to the world's cave literature.
S.A. CRAVEN
THE HEART OF THE WORLD - A LAST JOURNEY TO THE SECRET LAST PLACE. Ian Baker. Pp. 511, 110 photographs, 2 maps, 2004 (Souvenir Press London, £ 20).
The exploration of the Tsangpo gorge has captured the imagination of explorers for more than one and a half centuries. Of all the places, the narrow stretch in the vicinity of the 'Rainbow Falls' has eluded exploration and documentation despite many heroic attempts. Ian Baker describes a journey to this remote region revered in Buddhist tradition as being the most important beyul. A chance conversation turns into a glorious obsession and a long journey of discovery and self-actualisation.
Only a person who has been to Arunachal Pradesh or to the north of it can appreciate the enormous effort which such a journey would have entailed. To the author this was more than a physical quest. It was a spiritual journey into the heart oftantric Buddhism. In his words, 'I'd been drawn to these distant gorges by ancient scrolls that invoke a landscape that perhaps one was never meant to find.' The journey has been chronicled in great detail laced with humorolls asides and erudite description ofthe exploration in the Pemako region as well as the history of Tibetan Buddhism, and Buddhist mythology and tradition linked to this area. The description of the legend and tradition is scholarly without being boring with quotes from, Nabakov, D H Lawrence and the like. The discovery of the 108 foot high 'Hidden Falls' in the gorge near Dorje Palmo - 'the glimmering goal of so many explorers,' by the author is the culmination of the voyage. It vindicated Waddell's nineteenth century description of the same based on Tibetan accounts - 'Gathering its waters into a narrow torrent, [the Tsangpo] precipitates itself over 100 feet in depth, cutting and boring its way so deeply through rocks that ... below these falls it is said to go quite out of sight.' Baker describes the waterfalls as, 'The falls were in perpetual motion, without edge or centre, and unmeasurable as such by given tools.' The description of the journey is meticulous and detailed without sounding tedious.
The book interestingly narrates about the Shangrila as written by James Hilton, which according to him lies near the holy mountain of Kundu Potrang. There is more to the book than the journey. The book is alive with flesh and blood people. The lamas, their families, explorers, hunters and porters all have their space. Their lives are described with insight and empathy. Finally, what is really uplifting about the book is the philosophical dialogue which keeps switching back and forth from Buddhist texts to the author's thoughts. 'The Tsangpo gorges had led us into a different way of thinking, into a world in which mind and nature, texts and landscape, interfuse and enrich each other.' The long journey had finally led to self- realisation and wisdom. 'All walls are in the beholder - the marig ki drib yol, the curtains of ignorance, that obscure perception of a synergistic, interpenetrating reality at the heart of all experience.'
It is an exhilarating read and a must for anyone interested in this remote comer of the world - the centre of Buddhist mythology and legend. This book will remain as a reference book for Tsangpo exploration, the Pemako and tantric Buddhism.
WING CDR V K SASHINDRAN
TRAVELERS' TALES INDIA, Third Impression. Edited by James O'Reilly and Larry Habergger. Pp 497, 2004 (Travelers' Tales, San Francisco, US$19.95).
If you, like me, are interested in India, traveling and reading travel books, you will love this book because it has all of these. This book is in many ways a sequel to the book India In Mind (reviewed in this issue of Himalayan Journal) which is an anthology of mostly fiction about India. But then when it comes to writing about a place, especially as large, diverse, complex as India, the boundary between fact and fiction is blurred. Fiction writers are inspired by facts and travel writers insert their own fiction as well. That's why it is interesting to read these two books in sequel.
Travelers' Tales India is part of the Travelers' Tales series launched by James O'Reilly (a co-editor of this book). 'Traditionally, travel guides have answered the basic questions: what, when, where, how, and how much,' the editors write in the preface, 'but something important is still missing: guidebooks don't really prepare you ... this kind of preparation is best achieved through travelers' tales ... nothing can replace listening to the experience of others.' This is the basic philosophy for the Travelers' Tales, including one about India.
Most (but not all) of the materials in this book have been collected from previous publications - some books and some magazine articles. The book is divided into five parts: (1) The Essence ofIndia (14 chapters); (II) Some Things to Do (14 chapters); (III) Going Your Own Way (14 chapters); (IV) In the Shadows (6 chapters); (V) The Last Word (1 chapter). There are also numerous short pieces (boxes) inserted in the pages of the main chapters. The book thus offers a rich dose of reading materials, the majority of which were published in the 1990s. This book is about the contemporary India, but then the contemporary India is a continuation of a long history and deep culture. Most of the authors are Western writers and journalists such as Andrew Harvey, William Dalrymple, and Geoffrey Moorhouse. So only a few natives are present to tell 'their true' stories.
The book opens with a short story ('First Tango in Ladakah') by a Frenchman chasing her girlfriend to Ladakh but he is so taken by his travel experience that the girlfriend simply disappears from the story. 'A Bath for Fifteen Million People' (Khumb Mela) is an Indian experience which comes around every twelve years in Allahabad (and makes an unforgettable story to tell afterward - after you survive it.) I loved the piece "Chai, Chai, Chai!" about an Indian favourite ('for the masses as well as the maharajas') and how chai is prepared by the maestro chai-wallah. I thought 'The Calcutta's Fowl Market' is about my own experience (which was partly responsible for my vegetarianism) but it is about the pink-headed duck (the renowned Salim Ali's expertise). The author Roy Nugent chases this poor pinkheaded duck (last sighted in 1935) as far as the Brahmaputra Valley in the eastern comer of the Indian Himalaya. 'Greeting the Monsoon' is an excerpt from Alexander Frater's hugely interesting travelogue Chasing the Monsoon. 'The Elephant Man' is, of course, Mr. Mark Shand who rode 800 miles on his own elephant, Tara. The British Raj historian William Dalrymple reports on the Sufis and Ramadan in Delhi. My list here is only a sampler. With a modest price, you can read some of the most interesting tme stories about India by very fine writers. The 'Last Word' goes to Geoffrey Moorhouse's Kanya Kumari story - so the reader who had started in Ladakh ends in the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
This book was first published in 1995 and its third impression has added a glossary, a bibliography and an index. Fun to read!
RASOUL SORKHABI
A LONG WALK IN THE HIMALAYA: A trek from the Ganges to Kashmir. By Garry Weare. Pp. 284, 20 colour photographs, 4 sketch maps, 2007. (Transit Lounge Publishing, Warraville, Australia, Aus $30).
For many choosing to trek in the Himalaya the immediate attraction is associated with Nepal - to view the Annapurnas or Everest in the company of the legendary Sherpa guides. By contrast the Indian Himalaya offers what many regard as the 'original trekking experience', to follow less crowded trails through relatively isolated villages and camp under equally inspiring peaks.
This is the precise reason why veteran Australian trekker, Garry Weare considers the Indian Himalaya to be his second home. Garry undertook his first trek in Kashmir in 1970. Since then he has returned regularly and has logged up well over 20,000 km on trails he knows well. Garry splits his time between leading groups in his capacity as a director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation as well as researching his Lonely Planet guide Trekking in the India Himalaya that has over the last 21 years introduced many thousands of trekkers to the delights of trekking in India.
What could be the motivation for embarking on an 'extended trek' as Garry describes it, which would eventually take five months to complete? From Garry's perspective it seemed the desire to accomplish something substantial as well different from the regular treks he has being doing all these years. He decided on starting the trek from Gaumukh, the source of the Ganges in Garhwal and ending it at Gangabal Lake in Kashmir. This distance as the crow flies is actually 600 kms but on a trek it would mean walking close to 2500 kms. In addition it would involve crossing of 20 high passes in the region of 5000 m.
A Long Walk in the Himalaya thus unfolds as a fascinating story as Garry passes through various regions of the Indian Himalaya. As you read the book you do get a feeling on the enormity of the challenge of walking 20 kms day on day. In the context that Garry was 55 years when he undertook this trek it seems even more creditable. It is fascinating to also to relate with the switching terrain from subtropical forests and meadows in Garhwal and parts of Himachal to lunar geography in Zanskar as well as Ladakh and then back again to meadows carpeted with wildflowers in the Kashmir valley.
Apart from the story itself the highlight of the book from my perspective is the way it has been written. Garry has interwoven vivid descriptions of his travel with people he meets on the way and the interactions that take place. Additionally Garry touches upon the history of places he moves through and puts in perspective the social, political and environmental issues the local people face in their day-today lives. And this all is bundled up in Garry's style of writing where you have to often slow down for a hearty laugh.
Peter Hillary who has written the foreword for the book summarises it perfectly by saying 'Garry Weare is enigmatic, funny and has an enonnous conscience. He brings into the story of his Himalayan traverse a succession of vignette's about people's lives that he meets along the way, relevant history, natural history observations and a delightful sprinkling of his inimitable sense of humour. The warmth of his relationships with his old Kashmiri friends and various people from the trekking fraternity adds a wonderful dimension to this journeyman's tale.'
Regulars who trek often in the Indian Himalaya will relate with some areas they may have been and a lot of places they would like to go in the future. For those looking at getting a feel of what the trekking experience in India is all about there cannot be a better start. A Long Walk in the Himalaya turns out to be an excellent read carrying all the drama associated with high adventure, conveyed in a style which is both thought provoking and entertaining.
MANINDER KOHLI
BUDDHA'S WARRIORS: The Story of the CIA-backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Communist Invasion, and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet. By Mikel Dunham. 448 pages, 2004 (Penguin Books, New Delhi, Rs. 450).
Buddha's Warriors is the first book of its kind. When the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, there was a violent resistance against the bloody and unjust occupation. The fiercest tribes in Asia, including the Khampas, Amdoans and Goloks put aside their internal differences and petty wars to fight the Chinese as one nation. At their side were thousands of Buddhist monks who renounced their vows of nonviolence, grabbing arms for the sake of freedom. Their only outside assistance came from a small group of CIA agents who trained and armed these fighters.
Although, this is yet another Tibet book, it is unique in that it tells us about Tibet before the Chinese communist invasions and describes the transition of peaceful monks to warriors. To gather oral history from diverse sources and then to weave a coherent edge-of -your seat story out of it is an incredible feat. Dunham has achieved it.
There are so many versions of what reaIIy happened when Mao Tse-Tung invaded Tibet. Beijing has one version and the Dalai Lama's followers have another. Besides, there have been semi-fictitious but romanticised films, books and accounts that have fed the myth of Shangri-La. Against this scenario comes a real narrative, based on oral accounts of Tibetans who actually fought wars. Tibetan life, before, during and after Mao, makes for a dramatic backdrop.
Its quite amazing, to read about thousands of non-violent Tibetan Buddhists turning into an anned rebellion, and how the CIA left them high and dry. Above all, the horror of an ancient civilization being thrust overnight into twentieth-century warfare is what makes the book.
The Dalai Lama's brief detached foreword, reiterates that freedom can be achieved only by peaceful means. However, he gives due credit' to the fierce and violent Khampa warriors and praises Mikel Dunham for having written the story.
You don't have to have a background to read this book so do read it and you'll know why the Tibetans are angry.
NANDINI PURANDARE
SUMMIT- 150 YEARS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. By George Band. Pp 256, illustrated, photos, maps, 2006. (Collins, London, GBP 25).
That man, Band (Yes, the name is George Band ! ) has done it again. After his very successful and best selling book on Everest, Band has now produced another winner this time about the history of the Alpine Club. To record 150 years of achievement and happenings in an exciting way is a major challenge which not many would have accepted and executed. Band with his experience of climbing, contact with climbers and his 'insider's' knowledge of the Alpine Club is successful in managing this.
A club is as good as its members, for it is their achievements, interests and help over the years that make a Club what it is today. The Alpine Club is a shining example. Starting with the Matterhorn in 1865 and continuing through World War I and II, many of the Club's members climbed 8000 m peaks, exposed ridges and steep faces as Band records them in detail. In the 70s there were big walls and the Alpine style climbs. If that was not enough, members of the Club, as Band tells us, have had a very hectic last 20 years. In the last chapter, tributes are paid to current staff and some of the Presidents who have led the Club to the position as it is today, may it be Bob Lawford, the Librarian Emeritus or Lady Dennis Evans, the first lady President of the Club in 1986, Michael Westmacott, a driving force behind the Club's unique Himalayan Index and Johanna Merz who associated with the Alpine Journal for more than a decade - are all there and rich tributes are paid to them. The book is a history of our times as what the members of the Alpine Club have done in a century and half is to push the limits of mountaineering to a higher level and brought us its rich traditions.
At the same time, the experience and humour of eccentric British mountaineers who rule the roost are well recorded. Without hesitation, this book is literally worth its weight (yes, it weighs a ton!), not in small measure for the photographs, maps and paintings that it contains. But amidst the pleasure of many pictures, my favourite is a small one which shows Mick Fowler climbing ice which has formed due to a leaking pipe at a small railway station. In the middle of the night, he is involved in what seems to be very delicate and high grade ice climbing. This to me represents the spirit which has made the Alpine Club what it is today and climbers like him with such spirit will surely lead the Club to another century.
HARISH KAPADIA
ON MY OWN TWO FEET - The Life of a Mountaineer. Norman Hardie. Pp. 332, 5 maps 57 photographs, 2006 (Canterbury University Press, New Zealand, NZ $38).
Norman Hardie has led an exciting life. Now in his 80s, this book chronicles his experiences as a mountaineer, civil engineer, member of the Himalayan Trust, rescue volunteer and for one term, leader of New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica.
Hardie has been on expeditions to the Himalaya at a time when first ascents on peaks were being attempted and he was on the expedition that first climbed Kangchenjunga. His accounts of the early use of cumbersome breathing equipment and the experimentation that led to improvements in the same make for interesting history. Nonnan Hardie was also instrumental in mapping many areas of earlier unchartered peaks.
The first half of Hardie's book details his youth and initiation into climbing. It goes on to chronicle his stay in England, his visits to India and the great expedition to Kangchenjunga. A life so full cannot but be crowded by memories of many, many people. Sometimes I found myself having to go back a few pages thinking, 'I know I read about him before, but who was he?' Towards the end of the book the names start growing familiar and you realise that you have followed bits of their lives too.
Throughout the book, the chronology is peppered with anecdotes that obviously hold a special place in the author's memories. They bring their time alive and it is a marvel that Hardie is able to recollect' so many detailed incidents of his life and companions. I wish though that the editing had been a bit tighter and the proofreading a little more rigorous.
One relationship in the book that intrigued this reader was that between Hardie and Edmund Hillary. They are both from New Zealand, have been climbing contemporaries and they also associated on a number of other projects. Hardie often speaks familiarly of Hillary and yet they do not seem to be as close as one would have thought they might have been. One wonders whether there are untold stories there yet to be written!
Hardie has lived a long and adventurous life I hope his adventures continue and that we get to read about them.
DEEPA BALSAVAR
Short Reviews (Nandini Purandare)
TRAVELS IN FAR — OFF PLACES. By Michael Clarke. Pp. 210, colour and black & white photos, 2006. (Classic day Publishing, Seattle, NPS).
Explorers and climbers who have been in the field for the last four decades or more always have a lot to tell, not only in terms of achievements, but also in terms of the changes, the variety of ranges visited and their experiences. This book by a well-known American climber is in this genre. Clarke has climbed and travelled in Africa, Denali, Peru, New Zealand, Tajikistan and Antarctica, i.e. apart from the Himalaya. In the high Himalaya, he has been to Trisul, Nanda Devi, Gasherbrum and Tibet, just to mention a few. The book records his experiences from 1968 to 2001, a life full of adventure. To give one example, on Nanda Devi, being an American team, they were suspected of having something to do with the nuclear device episode, which the earlier expedition had tried to put on the summit. Unfortunately, their liaison officer fell to his death and that caused much displeasure and suspicion with the authorities and they spent some time in interrogation in the Army quarters. Printed on large format, with many colour photos and nine sketch maps, this book is an invaluable reference.
ASIA KI PEET PAR — PANDIT NAIN SINGH RAWAT. By Uma Bhatt and Shekhar Pathak. Pp. 636. maps, photographs, 2006. (Pahar, Nainital, India, Rs. 1,000). Available at Pahar, Talli Tal, Parikrama, Talla Danda, Nainital, Uttarakhand 263002.
The British devised the term 'Pandit' explorers for the Indian natives who helped them with the survey work in the 19th century. Pandit Nain Singh was one of the leading figures in this team. As the white man was not allowed into Tibet, a system was developed wherein a trained local explorer would travel the length and breadth of Tibet surveying the area and measuring the distance through his walk. When Pandit Nain Singh finished with his second journey and returned to India from Tawang, (Arunachal Pradesh) he was stopped by the locals because they did not want any goods and trade flowing into their area from the north. While he was held in the border town he continued surveying. When he was allowed to leave, all goods were confiscated, but he managed to bring out his notes and the survey reports. Such was his dedication.
The authors, researchers from the hill town of Naintial in Kumaun came across a trunk full of notes in the family house of Pandit Nain Singh. They were happily surprised to find handwritten detailed notes of his journeys. Painstakingly they transcribed these notes into a proper diary format which is now published here. They have added information about his life and explorations. Some of the pages of the diaries are published here in the original, and you can get a sense of the hard work put in by the authors .. Though most of the book is in Hindi, the native language of Pandit Nain Singh, the last one-third of the book is in English, with summaries and notes by the authors as well as a reproduction of Pandit Nain Singh's reports to the Royal Geographical Society. The book contains well researched photographs of the explorers and the maps of the area which Pandit Nain Singh travelled. For his surveying and pioneering efforts, Nain Singh was awarded the Patron's Medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1877. That put him above all the other explorers of that era.
BHOTAN AND THE STORY OF THE DOAR WAR. Dr. David Field Rennie. Pp. 408, 1 sketch map, this edition, 2005 (Pilgrim's Publishing, Varanasi, Rs. 315).
This book is a new edition of a book written by Surgeon Rennie, M.D. published by John Murray, London in 1866. The preface to this edition explains the perspective of the book and what it is about. The specific region talked about in the book is a narrow strip of land, adjacent to Bhutan on one side and Bengal on the other known as the Duoars. It is the area that we now recognize as the road from Siliguri to Assam, filled with tea gardens, skirted by the Bhutanese kingdom. At that time it was secretive, mysterious and of great interest to the expansionist policies of the British imperialists. The politics of warlords, their alliances, the wars that were fought and how the British managed to make a foothold in Bhutan form the substance of the book. David Field Rennie was a medical officer with the advancing military troops and therefore in a good position to maintain records of these travels. It is a lucid account, beginning with observations on the country and its governance. It goes on to describe the politics of the region from the British perspective and how the mission sent to Bhutan by the Indian Government, led by Ashley Eden failed and caused the Dooar war, The Dooar was that part of Bhutan that would have to be annexed to India to secure that part of the border. The history and nature of the political bodies in Bhutan and the machinations between the two warring parties are the focus of this story.
What is really interesting about the book, however, is its style. The account, written in the channing English of the 19th century, includes an invaluable anthropological study of tribes in these areas.
TOURIST & TREKKING GUIDE TO LADAKH AND ZANSKAR. Including Karakoram & Srinagar Valley. By Manmohan Singh Bawa. Pp 206, 16 colour photos, 21 maps & sketch maps, 2007 (Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, Rs.350).
This book offers several trekking choices in Ladakh (Zanskar, around Leh, and Nubral Shyok valleys), Eastern Karakoram, both long and short. It also provides useful information regarding preparations for trekking, health advice and other practical infonnation. Besides there are details regarding excursions to hill-top Buddhist gompas and Pangong and Tso Moriri lakes.
The book is well presented, beginning with the an essay on the romance of trekking and then the history of Ladakh. It also describes Leh town, its present cultural contrasts (such as Christianity and Buddhism co-existing) and its monuments.
The author, Manmohan Singh Bawa has been trekking in the Himalayan ranges for the last 40 years. The fact that the author has a deep interest in anthropology and history is obvious as this is not your dry trekking guide. Bawa is also an enthusiastic cartographer. This is evident from the neat and simple sketch maps, offered generously to the reader through the book.
INDIA THROUGH ITS BIRDS. Edited by Zafar Futehally. Pp. 214,2007 (Dronequill Publishers, Bangalore, Rs. 395).
Ornithology, bird watching, now known as birding, has become very popular. There are several books, to help this passion along. When I first saw this book, I thought what use is a bird book without pictures! But then I browsed. What I discovered was an enjoyable set of essays by bird lovers for bird lovers. It is a bird' s eye view ... of India' s bird life, region wise, by lovers of not only birds but the English language as well. Elegant and simply written, while going through the book, you are prone to exclaim, 'Oh! I have seen that one!' But it maybe a good idea to keep a guide handy while reading the essays, to glance at a pictures from time to time.
The chapters on birds, in cities such as Mumbai and Pune, the endangered birds, the one on garden birds would be of immediate interest to many of us. So are the others, covering most Indian regions such as Karnataka, Andhra, Rajasthan, North East and the Himalaya. The very difficult subject of raptors is well presented in an essay by Rishad Naoroji. One aspect that struck me was, however, what is the period or time line that some of the authors are talking about?
Not only is it a good companion to any guide, but it is a great book for casual bird watchers and beginners, who don't know how or where to start. The collection goes far beyond being a birder's identification and list guide, it puts birds in the context of their habits and habitat. It is a labour of love, by the man who edited Newsletter for Bird Watchers from 1959 to 2004.
INDIA TIBET AND CHINA - The Role Nehru Played. By Ajay B. Agarwal. Pp 204, 3 maps, 2003. (NA Books International, Mumbai, Rs.295).
The book deals with the policy of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in respect of China and Tibet. It attempts to make a political connect between many incidents, such as China's occupation of Tibet, China's insidious entry into India leading to the 1962 war and the one man responsible for every mistake ... mentioned in the title of the book. It is not a new theory, but this book definitely seems propaganda driven, rather that research oriented. It does not unfold any new mystery. In fact there is a book mark that comes with the book from which I quote 'Read in this book: How Nehru did irreparable damage to India's and Free Tibet's interests by his irresponsible and manipulative behaviour! How a world renowned army was turned into a spineless force by him by the time of 1962 Indo-China war!'
The author who seems to be Tibet's well wisher, has attempted to present a comprehensive history of the region, leading to the two events mentioned above. If only he had left some space for the reader to form an independent opinion!
LOST IN TIBET - The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Doomed Plane, and the Will to Survive. By Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt. Pp.232, 14 b/w photos, 2005. (Adarsh Books, New Delhi, Rs.295).
In 1943, during WWII, five American airmen were returning in a C-87 cargo plane on a routine supplies mission, from China to their base in Jorhat, Assam. A ferocious storm blew the plane hundreds of miles off course, forcing the crew to parachute into the remote mountains of Tibet just before the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. Lost in Tibet tells their story. After crossing some of Tibet's most formidable mountains, the five men reached the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, (two years before Heinrich Harrer). They were first held as prisoner-guests in the forbidden city of Lhasa. Their story is very adventurous, with the battle over dominance of the region between Britain and China on the one hand and the Tibetans attempting to win over American sympathy for their cause on the other.
The airmen with this political cauldron swirling, left Lhasa in a hurry. They set out, in the middle of winter, on a perilous journey across the Tibetan plateau, trekking to India, hampered not only by the impenetrable terrain and mysterious culture they encountered, and by the larger political intrigue. Definite movie material, the book is a new story in the growing stock of world war adventure. Like other books of this genre, it has survival adventure, politics and the mystery of Tibet, a sure fire recipe for a best seller.
Film Reviews
SILENT ROAR - SEARCHING FOR THE SNOW LEOPARD: Documentary written and produced by Hugh Miles and Mitchell Kelly. Co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York with Granada Wild at Bristol and Devillier Donegan Enterprises, 50 minutes.
When Peter Matthiessen wrote The Snow Leopard recounting his legendary journey with the eminent zoologist George Schaller to Dolpo in northern Nepal in 1973, he created a myth that the chances of seeing a snow leopard was on par with winning the lottery. I agreed. After trekking the Himalaya for the best part of 35 years I had glimpsed the elusive cat just once. Therefore, when I first heard about the 50-minute documentary Silent Roar I expected at most an occasional shot of the snow leopard on a distant mountainside.
Yet two remarkable filmmakers had other ideas. Hugh Miles, a nuggetty Englishman and Australian Mitchell Kelly worked together with local guides and Dr Rodney Jackson, Director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy. Miles and Mitchell set themselves a formidable goal that almost becomes an obsession, during their four-year quest to film snow leopards in Ladakh.
Indeed as Mitchell Kelly remarked during the early stages of the film 'You almost have to be a snow leopard to see one'.
Silent Roar was shot in the secluded Rumbak valley less than a days walk from Ladakh's historic capital of Leh. Filming was not easy. For weeks there was not even a glimpse of a snow leopard on the high windswept ridges in the vicinity of 5000 metres. Hours would be spent motionless scanning the rocky outcrops. 'Sometimes these mountains can seem cruel and the sub zero temperatures unrelenting' is how Hugh Miles puts it. Yet they did not give up.
Scanning the barren rocky mountainsides for days on end did not at first bring results. The snow leopard is perfectly camouflaged and virtually invisible on the landscape. For the first month they did not even expose a single frame of film. Then, after what seemed like an interminable wait, a snow leopard is finally spotted ascending a distant slope. It is just a speck on the mountain but it provides the impetus for so much more.
Images of snow leopards follow in rapid succession. Footage from high and remote locations is combined with film taken from four remote video cameras (much like a home security system). Some of the five resident cats are identified by the marking on their face and the shape of their tail. Images from fixed cameras are also incorporated. This is where the work of Rodney Jackson provides an invaluable dimension to the documentary. His team ofIocal field workers had placed 14 cameras along the most likely snow leopard 'trails' in the Rumbak valley. When the snow leopard steps on a strategically placed footpad the camera lens is triggered creating a self-portrait that can be readily downloaded.
The documentary includes stunning footage of a snow leopard in rapid pursuit of bharal while a leopard gorging on its prey provides some of the closest images ever recorded.
The film also touches on the fact that domestic animals are frequently killed by leopard attacks and these can have a devastating Scanning the barren rocky mountainsides for days on end did not at first bring results. The snow leopard is perfectly camouflaged and virtually invisible on the landscape. For the first month they did not even expose a single frame of film. Then, after what seemed like an interminable wait, a snow leopard is finally spotted ascending a distant slope. It is just a speck on the mountain but it provides the impetus for so much more.
Images of snow leopards follow in rapid succession. Footage from high and remote locations is combined with film taken from four remote video cameras (much like a home security system). Some of the five resident cats are identified by the marking on their face and the shape of their tail. Images from fixed cameras are also incorporated. This is where the work of Rodney Jackson provides an invaluable dimension to the documentary. His team of local field workers had placed 14 cameras along the most likely snow leopard 'trails' in the Rumbak valley. When the snow leopard steps on a strategically placed footpad the camera lens is triggered creating a self-portrait that can be readily downloaded.
The documentary includes stunning footage of a snow leopard in rapid pursuit of bharal while a leopard gorging on its prey provides some of the closest images ever recorded.
The film also touches on the fact that domestic animals are frequently killed by leopard attacks and these can have a devastating impact on the villager's livelihood. Hopefully the benefits of wildlife tourism will help to compensate the villagers for the loss. Images of a pair of cubs following their mother across the snow serve as a poignant reminder that there is a chance of survival for this endangered species.
The film does come at a price. After over three years filming at altitude Mitchell Kelly is struck by acute altitude sickness that necessitates an emergency evacuation. Years later Mitchell is still recovering.
The highlight of the documentary is the footage of snow leopards mating. The haunting cries of the female are greeted by the slow but sure approach of the male. What follows is truly remarkable. Indeed it is the first ever film of snow leopards mating in the wild.
Until Silent Roar, the bench mark for snow leopard footage had been set by Naresh and Rajesh Bedi's inspiring documentary shot nearly 20 years ago in Ladakh. Without doubt Silent Roar ranks among one of the finest naturalist documentaries made in the Himalaya.
GARRY WEARE
BEYOND EVEREST 2000 — THE ON GOING CLIMB. Directed and produced by Michael Dillon. (52 minutes).
I first meet Michael Dillon in 1975 during his inaugural Himalayan film festival in Sydney, Australia. Mike had just completed his first film on a trek in Nepal and was looking for an opportunity to return. He did not have to wait long. In 1977 he produced From the Ocean to the Sky on the remarkable jet boat expedition along the length of the Ganges. In 1984 he filmed the first Australian ascent of Everest and returred in 1990 to produce the highly acclaimed Sea to Summit filming Tim acartney-Snape's incredible trek from the Bay of Bengal to the summit of Everest.
Beyond Everest takes us beyond the heroic adventures and Himalayan ascents. It focuses on the legendry work of Sir Edmund Hillary since he climbed Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. It is a fitting sequel to Dillon's first film on Hillary's life and work (titled Beyond Everest 1980) that he made after first meeting on the 'Ocean to Sky' expedition.
For 'Sherpa Hillary' there is a tale to be told and there are few who could do it as well as Dillon. This is evident right from the opening frames when school children chant 'Hello, Hello, Long Life, Long Life, Edmund Hil-Ia-ry' as they wait for his arrival in the Solu Khumbu in 1999.
Indeed Hillary has led a long and rewarding life. He reflects as his helicopter makes its landing approach 'Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine being here in my 80th year being flown in by a Sherpa helicopter pilot back to a place where the most satisfying 40 years of my life began'.
When Hillary returned to the Solu Khumbu region in 1961 he was presented with a petition 'We have eyes but cannot see, we have ears but cannot hear. Please help us?' It was a challenge of Everest proportions that Hillary has more than accomplished during his rich and rewarding life.
Dillon's film provides a sensItive portrayal of Hillary's commitment to the Sherpa people. There are now over 30 schools in the Solu Khumbu region as well as hospitals, medical centres, bridges and airstrips. Hillary has also supported the maintenance of monasteries in the region providing Dillon with an opportunity to film the 'Honorary Lama Hillary' as he dons Buddhist robes during his inauguration ceremony.
Beyond Everest includes archive material as Hillary swaps his ice axe for a hammer and nails and sets about building his first school. Another clip includes footage of Hillary overseeing the construction of the airstrip at Lukla where hundreds of Sherpa people literally paced up and down the proposed runway in order to flatten it out. The runway has since been upgraded!
Hillary gave Dillon permission to incorporate some of his 'holiday films' of his family'S early visits to Nepal. It features his family discovering the delights of trekking, staying in Sherpa houses and clambering up ladders to help with the building projects. Dillon also includes Hillary coming to terms with the tragic loss of his wife and youngest daughter who were killed in an air crash in 1975 as they flew out of Kathmandu to meet him.
Beyond Everest includes archive material as Hillary swaps his ice axe for a hammer and nails and sets about building his first school. Another clip includes footage of Hillary overseeing the construction of the airstrip at Lukla where hundreds of Sherpa people literally paced up and down the proposed runway in order to flatten it out. The runway has since been upgraded!
Hillary gave Dillon permission to incorporate some of his 'holiday films' of his family'S early visits to Nepal. It features his family discovering the delights of trekking, staying in Sherpa houses and clambering up ladders to help with the building projects. Dillon also includes Hillary coming to terms with the tragic loss of his wife and youngest daughter who were killed in an air crash in 1975 as they flew out of Kathmandu to meet him.
Over the years Dillon has also developed an enduring friendship with Peter Hillary. This is amply reflected during the film as Peter gradually assumes the responsibilities of overseeing his father's work.
A film on Hillary would not be complete without highlighting his abiding affection for the people of the Indian sub continent. There are memorable images as Hillary embraces the teeming crowds of onlookers out to greet him every time he came to shore during the 'Ocean to Sky' expedition. Hillary was also the New Zealand High Commissioner in Delhi where he combined his diplomatic duties with returning whenever he could to the Everest region.
Beyond Everest provides a wonderful insight into Hillary's life with the Sherpas and his commitment to the people who made his ascent on Everest possible.
GARRY WEARE
- Kipling and Kim
(Rasoul Sorkhabi) - Seven Years in Tibet
(Bill Aitken) - The Himalaya and Himalayan Birds
(Lavkumar Khacher) - An Inquiry into ‘Fragile’ Himalaya
(Rasoul Sorkhabi) - The Promised Land
(Harish Kapadia) - Exploring the Neora Valley
(Chinmoy Chakrabarti) - Three Weeks In Paradise
(Martin Moran) - More High Passes in Kumaun
(Krishnan Kutty) - Kamet, 2006
(AVM Apurba Kumar Bhattacharyya (Retd)) - AC 150
(Dave Wynne-Jones) - A Ringing Revolution
(Harish Kapadia) - Kajaqiao
(Mick Fowler) - Expedition Autumn 2006 to East Tibet
(Tamotsu Nakamura) - SHISHAPANGMA
(COLONEL ASHOK ABBEY) - TRAVERSING THE GLACIERS OF THE KARAKORAM
(RYUJI HAYASHIBARA (Translated from Japanese by Kei Kurachi)) - Exploration and Climbing off the Pangi Valley
(Sir Chris Bonington) - Searching for the Real Tibet
(Vijay Crishna) - What on Earth is happening?
(Meher H Mehta) - EXPEDITIONS AND NOTES
- BOOK REVIEWS
- IN MEMORIAM
- CORRESPONDENCE
- CLUB PROCEEDINGS