Pradakshina

This year I finally made it to the Himalayas.  In April, we went on a guided climb to the kedarkanTha mountain in Uttaranchal.  There were many other families with their children and so my daughter who had good company, did not even consider climbing with me as the alternative was far more exciting.

On the way to basecamp.  This is the beautiful Yamuna river flowing down from Yamunotri.

One of my favourite stories of Lord Shiva is actually a story about Ganapati.  G and Kartikeya, his brother, decide to race around the universe.  Kartikeya dashes away while Ganesha orbits his parents, Parvati and Shiva, saying they are his whole universe.  

I had an interesting reminder of this story through the hike. 

The gift of not having cell phone range nor electronically reproduced sounds. Also the fact that I was carrying a heavy backpack, soaked up my attention on the first day on the hike. The weight on my shoulders, the chirping of the birds, hydration, songs of the brook, the vast sky, sounds of the children chatting happily as though they were walking on a flat playground. 

We spent the night at a magical campsite at Dhoka. Surrounded by tall chestnuts and pine trees, our tents were pitched in a clearing among large rocks.  Thanks to my friend Radhika Joshi and her electronic tanpura (having a real Tanpura would be a dream), we began the next day with aalap in Raag Lalit and it was as if until then, none of the beauty outside had been allowed into the inner turbulence.  After the music I truly felt like I was part of the surrounding.  It was our good fortune that our generous fellow hikers enjoyed and even encouraged the music. 

We reached our second campsite in only a few hours the next day. This was the site where there is a rock considered to be sacred by the locals.  The kids were on top in no time, without their shoes as a sign of respect, and they were followed by the adults eventually.  

The summit climb started with a 3am wake up call on day three with torrential rain. Most of the younger kids (though not all) were grumpy but grudgingly drank their hot chocolate ragi drink. My shoes had gotten wet in the night. It was cold.  I remembered camp leaders in England and their drill about the importance of dry socks!  The fear of hypothermia!

My thoughts were with my body again as we started the initially steep climb. Hydration, rhododendrons, too much sunshine, breath. As we took breaaks at various pit stops it was as if the mind knew it had to be most efficient now and pay heed only to that which was important. Inhale.... Exhale.... Spine..... Legs..... Shoulders.... Self. 

At the last pit stop there was snow. The kids celebrated.  Despite never having skidded down a snowy slope, they were only excited.  The fear that the cautious adults may have clung to, dissipated fast with sound of joyful laughter.  Now for the final climb…

Rhododendrons

call of the wild

Inhale: take attention up the spine, exhale: attention down the spine. An old practice of mentally chanting a mantra on inhale and another on exhale started spontaneously.  As we were steps away from the summit, my mind cleared.  This practice was my pilgrimage.  Following the breath in its pradakshiNa around the body and the mind.  The sacredness summoned by attention.  The mountain tops provide a much better canvas than noisy plains.  

There was a Ganapati shrine a few steps below the summit and a trishula at the top, other than the magnificent view from 12600 feet above the restless level of the sea.  

Note:  The Sanskrit word pradakshiNa is a ritual of walking clockwise around a sacred object / shrine / town.