I haven’t seen Charlie Chaplin’s  film “ The Great Dictator” and I was curious when afl  (http://floatingleaf.rediffiland.com)  gave a link to his speech in the film , in the comments’  section of Jolly’s post on war(http://blackswan.rediffiland.com) which the comment said, would explain the whole thing.

     It's quite a beautiful exhortation  towards a better world. I would like to share it with you .

Here is the video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4

“Look up Hanna"

Final Speech of "The Great Dictator" by Charlie Chaplin wrritten and delivered by Sir Charles Chaplin

General Schulz: Speak - it is our only hope.

The Jewish Barber (Charlie Chaplin): I'm sorry but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black men, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others' happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all.

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say "Do not despair." The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder! Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men---machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have a love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it’s written “the kingdom of God is within man”, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power.

Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill their promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

[Huge hurray from the huge crowd – scene changes to Hanna (Paulette Goddard) a refugee on the floor with eyes still in tears from having been beaten down by the Dictator’s soldiers. Romantic string music in the background. Hanna’s beautiful face and eyes are in awe as to how her Jewish barber friend who was imprisoned by the Dictator’s troops is not speaking as the Great Dictator!]

Hanna, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hanna! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kind new world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hanna! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow. Into the light of hope! Into the future! The glorious future! That belongs to you, to me, and to all of us. Look up, Hanna! Look up!

Hanna's Father: Hanna! Did you hear that?

Hanna: Listen! [as her great acting and incredible cinematography turns her face into a goddess as the music takes the movie to conclusion.]

            I  have just finished reading an old post  of 27^th January, 2007 of my friend Dilip Krishnan (http://myownboswell.rediffiland.com) . It is titled, “The paradox that is India” and you can find it under the category “Issues of the times”. While Dilip pondered over this paradox,  in the course of a metro ride from the centre of the city  to the crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk in old Delhi,  a  recent news item reported in Delhi’s edition of all the major dailies , is what again underlined for me , this sad but true state of affairs.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/11/stories/2008071153700400.htm

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Delhi-govt-trains-manual-scavengers-to-leave-their-old-profession-for-good/334105/

          India is indeed a paradox . What can be more ironic than the fact that  in the capital city of a nation that is so “happening”, the Government is now “boasting” that it will wipe out manual scavenging by 2009!!

        Crores of rupees are going into getting Delhi  ready for the Commonwealth games. Crores have been spent every year , for the past sixty long years in developing the city and yet, the Government has not really been interested in improving the lives of those miserable citizens who have been condemned to  either clean the drains carrying shit or empty the containers of night soil.

      According to a study conducted by Pamela Singla, a lecturer at the Department of Social Work, Delhi University, the main pockets of residence  and place of work of people engaged in the removal of night soil, are in areas like Karawal Nagar, Old Seelampur, Gandhi Nagar, Nand Nagri, Shahdra and Baburpur in Northeast Delhi.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/18/stories/2008051853440400.htm

    Dr. Singla, had conducted a similar study in 2003, ten years after the Act, prohibiting Manual scavenging, had come into effect. The number  of manual scavengers in Delhi then  was 8000, which she says ,  has now been reduced to around 1282 . The Times of India report quotes the  official figures to be 3.42 lakh nationwide, out of which 15,000 are in Delhi!

      The Delhi Government has now launched a number of training programmes to rehabilitate manual scavengers . Better late than never, I suppose. Nevertheless, the apathy of the powers that be, towards those living on the fringes, is truly astounding. All that the Government had to do, was to spend some money to convert the dry latrines into wet latrines ( loans could have been provided to the houseowners having dry latrines)and put in place a rehabilitation programme. (Manual scavenging and construction of dry latrines had been prohibited by an Act of the Parliament in 1993)

     Those of us who hold the view that it is for the individual to try and come out of the morass, it  must also be perhaps understood, that it is not easy for  the illiterate poor , who sometimes for generations , have occupied the lowest rungs , to get beyond the ennui that envelops their lives . Their minds are so dulled by the mere fact of  surviving from day to day that it is well near impossible for them to take any kind of initiative on their own, particularly when living in a society like ours, where the social hierarchy is so deeply etched . The government definitely has a very pivotal role to play . We, the general public too are guilty, when we choose not to see the ugly side and live in a state of euphoria .

“ Olive Riley, described as the world’s oldest Internet blogger has died at age 108, after posting a final message about singing a “happy song” in her nursing home”, says a report in today’s edition of  “The Hindu”.

    “ She was born in the Outback town of Broken Hill on 20^th October 1899, she lived through two World Wars and raised three children while doing various jobs.”

      “Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the East Coast since February 2007, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the 20^th century”.

          My salaam to her spirit.

 Read more about Olive Riley and her blogs at:

               http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/.

              http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com

And here she is on Youtube, singing”Pack up your troubles”J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mTQQpTPGqA

  Responding to the post by Jolly Jacob (www.blackswan.rediffiland.com), Gman (www.mussings.rediffiland.com) had pointed out that “ a very uncomfortable but hard fact of war is that, through the ages and time, it is women and children who have actually suffered the effects of war. The men have fought and gone, the women have had to cope with the after effects” 

        I am sure that GMan had no intention of undervaluing the patriotism, valour or sacrifice of the soldiers who take part in the wars , on behalf of their respective countries, while we , the women sit  back in the comforts of our home. But the truth also is that cruelty soon creeps in amongst all those laudable virtues and the violence that is perpetrated on women and children , persist long after the war is officially over. And Gman should know, being so closely involved.

     The following article by Nicholos d Christoff  , the Op-Ed columnist of New York Times, reveals the more shocking truth, that rape is no more a by- product of war, but is increasingly being used as a strategic weapon for subjugation .

 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/opinion/15kristof.html    

       One had earlier also come across the following report of the UNICEF which details the atrocities of war carried out against women and children and the trauma they carry throughout their lives.

 http://www.unicef.org/sowc96pk/sexviol.htm

         Which brings one to the questions; are we as a species more cruel and violent than the rest of the forms of life that inhabit this planet? Is our very intelligence  responsible for the increasing ways and means in which we perpetrate violence?Is the violence of human beings really a means of survival? Is altruism contradictory to Nature? What are we evolving towards?

      Incidentally, the article of Nicholos D Christoff also finds a place on the site of Paulo Coehlo. I know that he has many fans on Rediffiland. May be they would be interested in accessing the same.

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2008/06/17/the-weapon-of-rape/

Dear friends,

      Sharing with you a few photographs taken during  my recent visit to Kerala.

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadirafromkannur/

     The beach in the pictures, is about twenty minutes drive from my home. When the sky is  clear of monsoon clouds, the sunset is a beautiful sight. Not lucky this time though .

      We also have an old fort in Kannur built near the  seashore. Constructed  by the Portuguese, it was later on taken over by the Dutch. They in turn, sold it to the Arakkal Rajahs, who were the then local rulers. On earlier occasions , one has sat  there  for a long time, on the  stone embankments of the fort, blackened with age, watching  the waves lashing against the rocks, sometimes coming high enough to drench you . Now, to protect the walls from being eroded by the salty air and water, the walls have been plastered smoothly. The whole place has a spruced up look, gardens and all, but it just isn't the same.  The location can get kind of secluded and some years ago, there was a rare case of rape. The local authorities are not taking any chances I guess, for there were constables posted there. Such deployment is being done at all the main tourist destinations.

        Muzhappilangad is another drive-in beach in Kannur. When we went there,  on an evening , the tide had brought in a lot of trash. But soon we saw a group of women walking along the shore with baskets and brooms , cleaning up the entire length of the beach. Employed by the Tourism Department, these women were associated with the "Kudumbashree" project , launched by the Government ,with the aim of eradicating poverty. They are self help groups of women from poor families  now engaged in a variety of activities , ranging from garbage collection , tailoring, pickle making,adult education and so on. Loans are provided and the participating  groups are encouraged to explore new areas  of income generation. They are also trained  to maintain logbooks containing details of the loans , profits generated from the activity they are engaged in , loan repayments etc. It is working quite well. 

      Wynad district, where the other photographs were taken, is slowly becoming a tourist attraction. The place is  not for those looking for malls and fast food joints. For nature lovers though,  the beautiful , gently rolling hills and the verdant terrain is a feast to the eyes. Wynad has a large tribal population. There have been conflicts about their rights over forest land . The successive Governments have been trying to rehabilitate them with distribution of land , schools for their children and so on.

      Tourism is being actively promoted by the State, but with due regard to the protection of the environment. Construction on ecologically fragile areas, even when privately owned  , is being allowed with many restrictions.

     Do visit Kerala . It's beautiful!

     ( No, I am not on the payrolls of the Kerala Tourism Department):-)

           One of the books that I had long wanted to read was “The one straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka  and I did that recently while travelling back by train  from my hometown Kannur to Delhi.

        Fukuoka, who had been trained as an agricultural scientist, left his job to take up traditional farming in his village, minus all the modern techniques of agriculture, the chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Following a method of farming that was as close to the way in which natural vegetation thrived, he has been able to make a convincing case of how Man’s departure from the natural state of being has in fact been detrimental in more ways than just leeching of the soil and failure of crops.

      Says Fukuoka, ”The reason that man’s improved techniques seem to be necessary is that the natural balance has been so upset beforehand by those same techniques that the land has become dependent on them…..

    Human beings with their tampering do something wrong,leave the damage unrepaired and when the adverse results accumulate, work with all their might to correct them. When the corrective actions appear to be successful, they come to view these measures as splendid accomplishments. People do this over and over again. It is as if a fool were to stomp and break the tiles on his roof. Then when it starts to rain and the ceiling begins to rot away, he hastily climbs up to mend the damage, rejoicing in the end that he has accomplished a miraculous solution”.

     Fukuoka explains his philosophy thus…”People find something out, learn how it works and put nature to use; thinking this will be for the good of humankind. The result of all this ,up to now, is that the planet has become polluted, people have become confused and we have invited in the chaos of modern times. At this farm we practice “do-nothing” farming and eat wholesome and delicious grains, vegetables and citrus. There is meaning and basic satisfaction just in living close to the source of things. Life is song and poetry.

    The farmer became too busy when people  began to investigate the world and decided that it would be “good” if we did this or did that. All my research has been in the direction of not doing this or that . These thirty years have taught me that farmers would have been better off  doing almost nothing at all. “

     He goes on to say ..”The more people do, the more society develops, the more problems arise. The increasing desolation of nature, the exhaustion of resources, the uneasiness and disintegration of the human spirit, all have been brought about by humanity’s trying to accomplish something. Originally there was no reason to progress and nothing that had to be done. We have come to the point at which there is no other way than to bring about a “movement” not to bring anything about.”

     I wonder how many will agree with that and yet there is an increasing acceptance of the view that in our arrogance , the human race has perhaps  really  over estimated  our control over nature. The long term dangers of chemical farming, the adverse effects of global warming and the threat of global food shortage looming large have all been responsible for a  renewed interest in the traditional methods of natural and organic farming .

     Please read the following reports in  “The Hindu” in its Science and Technology/ Agriculture section

http://www.thehindu.com/seta/2008/07/03/stories/2008070350781600.htm

http://www.hindu.com/seta/2008/07/10/stories/2008071050171800.htm

    “Slowly but steadily during the last 10-15 years, several farmers have chosen to adopt practices such as ecological and natural farming methods, which are more profitable and environmentally friendly contributing to long term sustainability”, says the article.

     Most of the time, we are not even aware of the subtle ways in which the chemical toxicity of pesticides and fertilizers affect our health.But sometimes, the consequences are too obvious to ignore. How the usage of endosulfan in cashew plantations of North Kerala caused major health problems for  the people there, particularly the children, is one such sad story.

  Those interested  to know more about changing agricultural trends may find some material here: http://journeytoforever.org/farm.html

The above link also carries this report:

UN world agriculture report damns industrial agriculture, calls for small-scale organic farming, April 2008 -- Sixty countries backed by the UN and the World Bank called for radical changes in world farming when they signed the final report of the UN's International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The work of more than 400 scientists over four years, the 2,500-page report is a sobering account of the failure of industrial farming. It reflects a growing consensus among the global scientific community and most governments that the old paradigm of industrial, energy-intensive and toxic agriculture is a concept of the past. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we do farming, to address soaring food prices, world hunger, social inequities and environmental disaster. The key message of the report is that small-scale farmers and organic, agro-ecological methods are the way forward to solve the current food crisis and meet the needs of local communities. The IAASTD is the biggest study of its kind ever conducted and will guide world agriculture development and food production in the coming decades.

    So the slogan for this millennium should perhaps be “Back to Nature”. What do you say folks?

     Call it parochialism if you will, but every time I go back home to Kerala,  I become aware of more reasons to be proud of having been born and brought up there. It is undoubtedly one of the most or THE most vibrant and dynamic state in our country.

     “Maveli naadu vaanidum kaalam, manusherellarum onnu pole”. So begins a poem that was familiar to every school going kid of my generation.  The poem recalls the times when King Maveli ruled Kerala , when  society was as near perfect as can be and honesty, equality and justice held sway. King Mahabali was banished to the netherworld by jealous Gods, who couldn’t tolerate his popularity amongst his subjects. We Keralites celebrate Onam, with the belief that he returns to visit us annually during those ten days.

    Keralites, I feel, live with an in-born nostalgia for those times and may be, it is this longing for such an egalitarian society, that  lurked in the collective psyche of the Mallu, that allowed for the ease with which, the ideals of Karl Marx  took root in that soil.

    Kerala has had a long history of communal harmony. It is only in recent times that the air has been vitiated by a few sporadic events of violence , sparked off at the behest of political parties. Trade relations with foreign lands which were established long, long ago and which continued over centuries paved the way for a whole-hearted acceptance of different religions and cultures. Chrisitianity and Islam spread in Kerala along with the coming and going of ships ferrying spices from these shores to distant lands. As the interaction benefited both sides, everything was generally cordial and free of aggression, except when the local kings sought help from one or the other group to intervene in their own feuds with each other.

       The “foreign” presence in Kerala is said to have started showing aggressive overtones with the arrival of the Portuguese. The British who came later were clearly unwelcome as the equations of mutual benefit had been replaced with that of imperialistic designs of exploiting this land. And yet, it was the Portuguese, who introduced the cashew nut tree, which is not an indigenous crop, to this soil . Cashew is now one of the major cash crops of Kerala, being exported to several countries and earning foreign revenue. Tapioca, which became part of the staple food amongst the poor in Kerala , because of its rich starch content and rubber, which is another major cash crop, were  introduced by the British..

    The first elections held after the formation of Kerala State, in independent India, put in place, a communist Government, thus earning the distinction of  being the first state in any country, where the communists came to power through the conscious choice of the people exercised through the ballot boxes. Soon after coming to power, the Government brought in two major laws that has had a huge impact on the transformation of the state and its people. One of them was the Kerala Land Reforms Act and the other, the Education Bill. Through the former, tenant farmers , working for years and years, on land owned by others, got lasting immunity from the threat of eviction; they became entitled to enjoy the produce of the land and they were given the rights to purchase and sell the land, if they so desired. This Act also brought into effect a ceiling on the land holding and the excess land was acquired by the Government and distributed amongst the landless.

       TheEducation Bill sought to maintain and step up the priority that had always  been accorded to the field of education by the erstwhile rulers of this state. Through the Education Bill, the Government took on the responsibility of disbursing the salaries of the hundreds of schools being run by individual/private Managements. The Managements of the so called “Government –aided” schools, provide the building and other infrastructure and in turn are given the freedom to appoint the teachers on their own. The quoted rate for each such appointment several years ago, was something to the tune of one  to two lakhs. I guess it must have been hiked up in the intervening years.  Anyway, this arrangement  has been responsible for free education becoming easily accessible and is one of the main reasons for the high literacy rate of the state.

       Of late though, the Government  schools and aided schools are seeing a decline in the enrolment rate, mostly because with the general, upwardly mobile profile of the middle class, the English medium schools are increasingly being patronized. Another reason is the series of controversies that have erupted, everytime a change in the syllabi or method of teaching or the textbooks were introduced. The Distict Primary Education Programme for e.g was aimed at more active participation of the students and direct observation of the subjects that were being taught, which would any day be a better way to teach a child than making the child learn something by rote. But the changes were seen as jeopardizing the future of the child in the long run, seen from the view point of  the kids having to compete with students who are the products of a more “regular” school and who , it was assumed, would have an edge when it came to the Board exams.  So this was fought tooth and nail by just about everyone, the aspiring parents, the political parties having their own axe to grind, the teachers themselves, who would have to be more active themselves in preparing the lessons and related projects and so on.

    Kerala is in the middle of another  huge such controversy right now. This time the furore is over some of the lessons in the Social Studies textbook prescribed for the seventh standard , in the Government schools. The Congress led opposition , its Christian and muslim factions, the B.J.P and the Nair Service Society, are all kicking up a huge ruckus. Textbooks are being burnt, protest marches being held all over the place everyday and threats are being thrown about that no school would be allowed to teach the controversial textbook.

     Curious to know what the contents of the book were, I borrowed a copy from the neighbour’s  son.  The lessons are mostly in the form of excerpts about the history of  of Kerala , focussing on the social and economic inequities that was once part of our  fabric and which have been done away with or improved through legislations , reformist movements and education. The lessons are designed in a manner to encourage the students to understand the implications of the changes and form their own opinions. The book has  been prepared by the State Council for Educational Research and Training.

    The following is the lesson which is the eye of the storm brewing in God’s own country:

 No religion for Jeevan

Jeevan’s parents came to school seeking admission for him. The parents were seated on the chairs and the Headmaster started to fill up the application form.

“What is the name of your son?”

 “Jeevan”

 “ Good, nice name; Father’s name?”

  “Anwar Rasheed”

 “Mother’s name?”

“Lakshmi Devi”.

The Head master looked at the parents and asked, “What about the religion of the child?”

“Need not record anything. Write no religion.”

“Caste?”

“No need of that too”

The Headmaster reclined in the chair and asked seriously, “When he grows up, if he wishes to have a religion?”

“In that case , let him choose the religion of his choice”

 Below it is an excerpt from the will and testament of Jawarhar Lal  Nehru.

“I do sincerely desire to declare that no religious ceremony be perormed for me after my death. I do not believe in any such ceremonies. To be forced to do them even as a formality is hypocricy and an attempt to scare us and others.”

  The lesson continues thus:-

“Now we read in the papers the fight between man and man in the name of religion and faith. What are the instructions of religions which aim at mutual love regarding human behaviour?”

   There are quotes from the Mahabaratha, the Bible, Prophet Mohammed and Guru Nanak and then there is this activity for the Display Board:-

   “All religions aim at the virtue of man. Teach to live in toleration. We can experience many occasions in which people belonging to different religions work together. Collect newspaper reports, notes , notices etc and display on the Board:”

    This lesson which stresses on the desirability of  religion ( or lack of it) being  a matter of personal choice and not being made  the divisive tool that it has become over time, is what has made the opposition parties see “RED”. According to them , it is an attempt by the Left Government to implant on young minds, communist ideologies and to promote materialism as against spirituality and so on and so forth. The controversy is not likely to die down in a hurry as all those  who have a stake in the elections, which are not far away, would want to pitch in and try and swing the electorate one way or another.

     As I mentioned, I am constantly amazed at the level of involvement of the general public in Kerala. So while the political parties are at their own games, there are countless others who are objectively looking at the textbooks and its lessons and are applauding the concepts that are being put forth. For better or for worse, the lesson “No Religion for Jeewan” brings to the foreground, issues that all of us should be confronting…..

    Shouldn’t the choice of a religion one wants to follow, if at all, be an adult decision and not something one grows up with, just because it is ingrained into us in our childhood …?

    Is religion relevant if it stokes the fires of hatred and violence instead of motivating us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, irrespective of religions denominations ?

      There is something about the abiding beauty and grandeur of the Himalayas that makes you addicted to it , having even once seen any of its ranges. That is what goaded me once again to enroll for the KedarKanta trek organised by the Youth Hostel Association of India, in spite of my lingering apprehensions about my aging knees and blood pressure, that has not quite been normal. But what can I say, it’s all about the spirit being strong, when the flesh is weak, I guess. I went, I saw and I conquered myself.

      Before reporting at Mussorie, some of us from Delhi had paid a visit to the Tehri dam. There was something so very depressing about the bare mountains all around- the price we have to pay for our “development”?

    But the next several days, after reporting at the base camp at Sankhari, about eight hours away, North of Mussoorie, were spent in a different world. We trekked through forests with majestically towering trees, where the only sounds were that of silence, lush green meadows wonderfully alive with the abundant smiles of tiny yellow flowers, so generously spread out, rippling streams originating from melting glaciers and meandering its way through the forests, the water cool and clear. From the Kedarkanta base camp, we trekked up to the Kedarkanta peak, which is at a hieght of around 11,500 feet, slid down snowy slopes on the way to the next camp at Lohasu Thatch and from there to Dhundha, so called because of the proclivity of the weather there, towards mist and fog. Shortly after reaching there,  there was a hailstorm which left the ground surrounding the tents, enveloped in white.

    The route from Dhundha to Talhouti had us traversing several stetches of snowy slopes. Even as we walked, one behind the other in a single file, the guide preparing footholds for us with his axe, my friend from Delhi, Vijaya, blacked out for a split second and the next moment, she was sliding down the slope, rucksack and all, tumbling twice as she went further down and then disappeared from our sight . Those were scary moments. But the snow was fresh, there were no boulders in her way and the guides were with her , even as she reached the bottom of the slope, to bring her back to where we had stopped. She had bruises on her face and shoulders caused by the hardened ice at places and she had sprained her wrist. But Vijaya is a seasoned trekker with a lot of grit and stamina. She didn’t panic. Some of us did though and  all through the succeeding stretches of snow ,which we walked across with the help of carabiners around our waist hooked on to  a rope, fastened across the snow, there were intermittent appeals of  “ Guide Bhaiyya…zara madad karo na..”

    At those higher altitudes, there was no habitation at all and the surroundings existed in all its pristine purity. There was such a sense of harmony all around, the tiniest of seasonal flowers having its place in the scheme of things as the tall trees which had been standing there for years and years. Trees which had lived their lives, lay across the ground here and there, graceful in their death as when they had lived, their stature none the less for the decay that was taking over their trunks and branches.