In the 1950s, Himalayan trekking was relatively unheard of. The network of roads deep into the Himalayas did not exist and the hills were more pristine and undeveloped. The approaches to the high peaks were on foot from the road heads which were then at a comparatively low altitude, and routes to the interior took a considerably long time. Even by the turn of the century, the extreme northwest area of Sikkim and some hidden valleys and peaks of Garhwal were not frequently travelled or well known. Himalayas in the 1950s. The photographs reflect those early days of exploration and the onset of interest in the Himalayas among Indian mountaineers and trekkers.
Garry Weare is enigmatic, funny and he has an enormous conscience. He brings into the story of his Himalayan traverse a succession of vignettes 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'. Peter Hillary Weare's finely rendered story of his five-month trek from the sacred source of the Ganges through the Kullu Valley, Zanskar and Ladakh to his houseboat in Kashmir is remarkably entertaining. The people he meets and travels with are fully-fledged characters that the reader comes to know and care about while the Himalaya, captured in all their variety, cast their spell. It is as if the act of walking allows the author to fully understand all the nuances - spiritual, environmental, social and political - of this inspiring region. 'A Long Walk in the Himalaya' is a book to savour, a book that the reader will return to again and again. English-born Garry Weare has had a long-standing relationship with the Himalaya. In 1970 he first went to Kashmir to teach. It changed his life and he went on to live on a houseboat in Kashmir, to pioneer many classic treks and to research the 'Trekking in the Indian Himalaya' guidebook published by Lonely Planet, now in its 4th edition. Weare is a life member of the Himalayan Club, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a noted mountain photographer and a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. He has one daughter, two stepdaughters and lives with his wife Margie Thomas in the Southern Highlands, NSW.
Himalayan Hermitess is a vivid account of the life and times of a Buddhist nun living on the borderlands of Tibetan culture. Orgyan Chokyi (1675-1729) spent her life in Dolpo, the highest inhabited region of the Nepal Himalayas. Illiterate and expressly forbidden by her master to write her own life story, Orgyan Chokyi received divine inspiration, defied tradition, and composed one of the most engaging autobiographies of the Tibetan literary tradition. The Life of Orgyan Chokyi is the oldest known autobiography authored by a Tibetan woman, and thus holds a critical place in both Tibetan and Buddhist literature. In it she tells of the sufferings of her youth, the struggle to escape menial labor and become a hermitess, her dreams and visionary experiences, her relationships with other nuns, the painstaking work of contemplative practice, and her hard-won social autonomy and high-mountain solitude. In process it develops a compelling vision of the relation between gender, the body, and suffering from a female Buddhist practitioner's perspective. Part One of Himalayan Hermitess presents a religious history of Orgyan Chokyi's Himalayan world, the Life of Orgyan Chokyi as a work of literature, its portrayal of sorrow and joy, its perspectives on suffering and gender, as well as the diverse religious practices found throughout the work. Part Two offers a full translation of the Life of Orgyan Chokyi. Based almost entirely upon Tibetan documents never before translated, Himalayan Hermitess is an accessible introduction to Buddhism in the premodern Himalayas.
The centrality of the Himalayas as a connecting point or perhaps a sacred core for the Asian continent and its civilisations has captivated every explorer and scholar. The Himalaya is the meeting point of two geotectonic plates, three biogeographical realms, two ancient civilisations, two different language streams and six religions. This book is about the determinant factors which are at work in the Himalayas in the context of what it constitutes in terms of its spatiality, legends and myths, religious beliefs, rituals and traditions. The book suggests that there is no single way for understanding the Himalayas. There are layers of structures, imposition and superimposition of human history, religious traits and beliefs that continue to shape the Asian dynamics. An understanding of the ultimate union of the Himalayas, its confluences and its bridging role is essential for Asian balance. This book is a collaborative effort of an internationally acclaimed linguist, a diplomat-cum-geopolitician and a young Asianist. It provides countless themes that will be intellectually stimulating to scholars and students with varied interests. Please note: This title is co-published with KW Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
People with a determined mind and physical fitness, should trek at high altitude sometime in their life. Trekking is one grade difficult to walking in the hilly terrains and one grade easier than negotiating the mountain passes. Whatever it may be, trekking seem to be a simple adventure sport, but many a times it turns out to be hazardous and life threatening. From the time, you finish your breakfast and leave the hamlet to start the trek, until the time you return back to the same spot or to any other rest house; you are always at a risk of injury, threat to your life, or at least in a situation of SOS. I have trekked at high altitudes in India and Nepal with my children, aged 41⁄2, and 8 1⁄2 year olds. They did not take a piggyback to the base camps but trekked at 9000, 13000 and 19000 ft altitudes themselves along with us and other trekkers en-routes. Taking such small children at high altitudes were extremely risky and against the views of most trekkers and even our family elders. We do love our children and we are concerned about their safety. It is only a good planning and a careful strategy each time you start your trek, that keeps you safe and accident free. In order to ensure almost 100% safety, my wife and I read several books on trekking, before starting out on our first trek in the Nepal Himalayas; unfortunately many vital information were lacking on safety in all these books. Myself being in fitness since childhood, decided to jot down points that were necessary for a good and safe trek. This was necessary for us to come back home safe and sound after enjoying over a fortnight of bone breaking arduous journeys in the mountain trails of Indian as well as Nepal Himalayas, with a baby and a child, both of whom walked steadily, keeping pace with adult trekkers in the trail. When you leave home until you are back with the experience of trekking, you are prone to many hazards, in the journey as well as in the trails. To ensure that you are safe and well equipped with all the necessities, the same way your grandma or your mom would like you to be in, you need to read this book and carry it along when you start your journey the next time you plan a trek. This small guidebook has endless valuable information which many people and books on trekking, unfortunately, do not provide you with. This is why it is called “God’s guide to safe trekking”, meaning the advice and suggestions here are genuine and sincere which only the Almighty God could provide in such instances, for your safety. The advise in this book is non-commercial and non-biased, not seeking to advertise any specific product or service. This little book on safe trekking is handy and your friend in need. During your trek, you may go through it every evening, while you relax in one of those hamlets in the trails, tucked in your sleeping bag, against the quiet flowing streams and the crackling sound of the candles. Have a pleasant and safe trek now and always, God bless you!
The aroma of baking bread, warm spicy apple pie or just plain fried eggs and crispy bacon, unpretentious food but are these some of your favourite recollections linked to home and hearth? In ‘Seasoned for Family and Friends’, and unusual and quirky recipe book, this is where the author takes you. You will be gifted with culinary hints, introduced to new and unusual ingredients from around the words, while the common and well known are in combinations that are quite different, resulting in some very delectable food. Written with warmth and sincerity, the author connects to the reader instantly. So walk into Morvarind’s kitchen anytime of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner, and enjoy an assortment of delicious recipes to warm the heart. Ingeniously interwoven through the recipes is a wonderfully refreshing narrative of real stories, anecdotes, and events from a gentler past. The author’s childhood in the sixties and seventies in a small provincial town in Southern India, and then through the eighties and beyond on an organic farm in the Western Ghats, which will give you an insider’s view of another India. So while you wait for that whistle to blow, milk to boil or your egg to coddle you might just read a story or two! Noosh-e-Jan
Woven together as a text of humanities-based environmental research outcomes, Himalayan Climes and Multispecies Encounters hosts a collection of historical and fieldwork-based case studies and conceptual discussions of climate change in the greater Himalayan region. The collective endeavour of the book is expressed in what the editors characterize as the clime studies of the Himalayan multispecies worlds. Synonymous with place embodied with weather patterns and environmental history, clime is understood as both a recipient of and a contributor to climate change over time. Supported by empirical and historical findings, the chapters showcase climate change as clime change that concurrently entails multispecies encounters, multifaceted cultural processes, and ecologically specific environmental changes in the more-than-human worlds of the Himalayas. As the case studies complement, enrich, and converse with natural scientific understandings of Himalayan climate change, this book offers students, academics, and the interested public fresh approaches to the interdisciplinary field of climate studies and policy debates on climate change and sustainable development.
Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era. Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.
