Excerpts from A pilgrimage to Kailas Manasarovar - An Odyssey in Tibet by Tarun Vijay VILLAGE OF THE BUDIAL COMMUNITY On August 25, we left Malpa for Budi, the native place of the Budial community. It is about 7 kilometres from Malpa and a thousand feet higher. There are also a couple of slopes on the way. It is a beautiful but dangerous trail. The ground is slippery and landslides block the way. The entire trail is punctuated with waterfalls cascading thousands of feet down the mountain side. Enroute, we stopped at Lamari and had a hot cup of tea. In the many landslides along the way, mountain coolies wearing chappals made of tyre soles were laughing and working to make a two-foot passage. Their vitality was impressive as the mountains. The torrential flow of Kali Ganga held one spellbound. It was as if a sculptor was making the figures of his fancy in huge boulders. Or as if on hearing the flute of Sri Krishna, Radha forgot herself and rushed to meet her divine lover. We saw two rocks in the river that were so big that they formed a sort of a bridge over the river. They were about 30 metres in circumference. On the other side was Nepal, and we could see quite a few pilgrims winding their way up like us. We raised our hands and greeted them with Om Namah Shivaya. They responded heartily in like manner. We reached Budi and were warmly welcomed by the officers and soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. It proved to be an unforgettable experience. Budi is just a hamlet of 50-60 houses. It is by no means materially prosperous, but it is home of a large number of people who have been selected for the Indian Administrative as well as State administrative and police services. As this is a tribal region, the locals are also eligible for special quotas or job reservation. Unfortunately those young people who leave for the cities on good jobs seldom contribute to the improvement of their native village. The beauty of Budi was truly enchanting. Some magical mystery enveloped the entire atmosphere. Gorgeous clouds drifted above--and the mountain peaks played hide and seek with the clouds. The peak ahead of us was wrapped up in this mysterious cloak and stood majestic. The entire region was enveloped in a playful screen of mist and clouds. It was as if this abode of nature was to be closed to human eyes and made visible only for the Gods. Below it, on a ribbon-like trail a couple of goatherds were herding their flock. Suddenly a cloud descended below the peak, and like a gang of playful children, others joined it. Our eyes slowly travelled down the summit, and plunged into the valley. We left Budi on August 26 at five in the morning. After climbing up four and a half kilometres we reached the Vyas Mandir at Chhiyalekh. The temple was to the left, at a slight elevation. Three kilometres from Chhiyalekh, down a slope, is the village of Garbyang. It has an interesting history. Once this was the most populous place in the entire India-China border region, and a thriving centre for commerce with Tibet and China. After trade with Tibet stopped, the villagers migrated to Dharchula and Almora. Then a decade ago an earthquake struck and whatever was left was also destroyed. Even to this date the homes in the village stand partly buried in the ground--as if the earthquake happened just the other day. The doors still have old locks on them. Now a portion of the village has been reinhabited. Our next camp was at Gunji, about 14 kilometres from Garbyang. The Gunji camp is visible from far away, but there is no bridge on Kali Ganga to reach it. So we had to take a 4 kilometres long detour. For the exhausted pilgrims these were very long four kilometres. We had just reached the outskirts of Gunji when a sub-inspector of the intelligence department rounded me up and took me to his post. To read more, place your order in the BUY section |