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TRIP UPDATE - 9 (January 18-26, 2007)
Delhi to Haridwar and Rishikesh
January 18-24 2007. Delhi - Seven frustrating days when nothing got done
Our first and major task was to try and get a road permit to travel across Myanmar to Thailand and further upto Singapore and return the same way. But the Myanmar embassy officials were quite sure of not giving this permission because according to them road entry from Indian side has been stopped since a long time and the only way to travel through Myanmar was to fly into Mandalay or to Yangoon from India. Our interaction with the high commissions of Thailand and Singapore were highly fruitful, with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) even saying that they would sponsor our travel in their country. It was at the STB that we got a tip about Myanmar embassy. They said that if we have a clearance letter from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India road permit would be granted.
We immediately set out to get that clearance and ran from pillar to post from South Block to Shastri Bhavan to Krishi Bhavan and from ministry to ministry. First the MEA secretary spoke kindly with us and advised to submit an application with the ministry of tourism and ministry of youth affairs. These agencies would then send the applications to MEA for scrutiny and then they would take a decision whether the clearance letter would be issued or not. At the ministry of youth affairs we met with Mr. Tiwari who gave us proper information about how to undertake such long and international expeditions.
First we need to approach the state government's ministry of youth affairs and sports and they have to recommend our case and forward the same to the central ministry of youth affairs. Once the proposal reaches the union ministry of youth affairs they would go through a detailed scrutiny and if found satisfactory would forward it to MEA for further action. And then the babus at MEA would take necessary action based on their moods and fancies. "The entire process will take at least 3-6 months and sometimes even a year," said Mr. Tiwari adding that even with a clearance letter from MEA the high commissioners of respective countries have all the right to deny us a visa.
We were kinda aware of the procedure but didn't expect it to take so long. And anyway since we were ill prepared and as per plan we hadn't gotten our visae work done in September-October last year (2006) we had to contend with the fact that we will not be granted visa to enter and pass through Myanmar and forced to abandon the SE Asian part of our tour because we are financially and mentally unprepared to fly our bikes to Thailand and travel to Singapore. So with a heavy heart we decided to cut short our tour and travel only to four countries i.e. India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and if possible try and enter Myanmar at the Moreh-Tamu border and travel about 20-30 km in the country with the help of Indian army.
On the other hand the UMPC provided by Intel was still not working properly. Try as much as possible it was just not going on the internet. We tried wireless internet at Intel's office, the network was detected but no data transfer was taking place. We tried using the LAN connection at a friend's office but even there no data transfer would take place. When we gave this feedback to Yudhistri Sharma, the sole hardware person in Intel he just checked various settings and not finding anything wrong said "sorry, I can't find anything wrong with your computer. Try again in some other place". When I suggested that he connect the computer onto their LAN and try accessing internet, he said it was prohibited by the company. He was too scared to connect the computer to the network and check even after Ajit telling him to do so. I definitely expected better cooperation from Intel in this regard. They gave us a wonderful PC but then it is not serving our purpose at all.
I decided to buy a Reliance Data card for Rs.4,500 at a monthly tariff of Rs.400 hoping that it would enable me to go online. But when I went to the Reliance Webworld they said I couldn't buy the data card because I don't have a local address proof. Frustrated I just decided to just give up the idea of ever logging on to the internet on this PC and use it only to make pages for the website and transfer them to the pendrive and upload them at any available cybercafe.
We were invited to watch the screening of a Kannada drama named "Uchalya" by the Delhi Karnataka Sangha at their auditorium by a troupe of amateur artists from our home state. It was one of the best performances I had watched in a long time. Enacted in a simple conversational style the drama portrayed the trials and tribulations of the people of Uchalya tribe of Maharashtra to get into the mainstream and be accepted as normal citizens of the country. Based on the autobiography of a Dalit author the play was originally written in Marathi and translated into Kannada. The suffering of the author was very touchingly portrayed and it is sad to think that even today hundreds of thousands of Dalit citizens of our country are suffering the same plight. The play successfully depicted the plight of Dalits in rural India and the atrocities they face at the hands of police and other upper castes.
On January 25, we decided to make enquiries at the Nepal, Bhutan and Bangaldesh embassies whether they had any objections about us travelling in their countries on our Indian registered motorcycles. Luckily the staff at these embassies were far more courteous than others and assured that there was no issues in travelling on our bikes in their countries. Only Bangladesh officials said that we need to get a clearance from Indian customs that before entering their country and that the customs post at the Petrapole border would give the clearance.
Armed with this new knowledge we decided to proceed ahead and attempt crossing the national border and enter neighbouring countries. Since Uttaranchal was still unfinished we decided to head to Haridwar and from there move on towards Lucknow and Gorakhpur where we would cross borders and enter Nepal at Sanauli-Bhairava border. While in Delhi we were lucky to have the support of BJP MP Mr. sadananda Gowda in whose guest house we stayed and enjoyed the company of Hari the cook-cum-caretaker. Luckily Hari was a good cook and could prepare south Indian style food and we enjoyed the respite from roti-dal meals to rice and sambar. Couple of days Hari made Dosa, Idly and Upma for breakfast too.
January 25, 2007. Delhi to Haridwar
Started from our residence at South Avenue at about 8.30 am after bidding goodbye to our hosts at MP Sadananda Gowda's house and hit the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Haridwar road which took us through the old city of Delhi, through choking traffic and highly populated and polluted parts of the national capital. The traffic was hellish and unruly and there were all kinds of vehicles on the very very badly potholed road. The 35 km stretch from Delhi-Ghaziabad is supposed to be a national highway but the traffic on this stretch is worse than the city roads in Bangalore. There are cycles, motorcycles, cycle rickshaws, buffalo carts, cars, trucks, big buses and mini buses and even cycle carts for luggage and everybody jostled for the little space available on the narrow road. It is impossible for the government to widen the road because of so many big and small businesses having firmly established themselves till the edge of the pavements.
From Ghaziabad we proceeded to Meerut, a town famous for communal riots and bandhs and the illegal arms industry. This stretch is also quite busy with several shops, buildings, homes and fields all along the road. There is not even a stretch of one km of road which was empty. In fact during all our travels so far I haven't come across a stretch of more than 5 km with no human habitation in our country. India seems to be bursting at its seams due to over population but most people haven't still started to adapt birth control measures in a big way. Especially in the Hindi heartland states of UP, Bihar and MP there are people who have 5-6 children in this day and age. These are not rich couples but very very poor villagers who aren't aware of the many methods of birth control and continue to produce children.
Traffic in this part of the country is perhaps most unruly. Our progress was slow and we barely escaped several times being hit by large trucks who drove as if they were out to get us. Vehicles of all types, shapes and speeds travelled in all directions, even horizontally across the road. Since it is sugarcane season there were thousands of buffalo carts and tractors carting tons and tons of sugarcane to deliver to sugar manufacturing units. These slow moving vehicles were a real menace and occupied almost half of the road and at times even the full road when one tractor driver wanted to overtake another vehicle.
From Meerut onwards the traffic eased a little but it was not really empty like how the roads in Jammu region were and even the road surface was not so good. We made slow but steady progress and reached the outskirts of Haridwar via Roorkee at about 4.00 pm. Before going to our accommodation we stopped to take a peek at the Patanjali Yoga Ashram's naturopathy and ayurveda hospital. Promoted by Baba Ramdev this hospital offers natural, yoga and ayurveda based medication and treatment to its patients. Sited on a sprawling 55 acre plot the hospital building is surrounded by a green lawn and colourful flowerbeds. Buildings on the property houses several laboratories, in patient facilities, out patient department, research centers and a yoga center. As we walked across the campus we noted that a yoga class was in progress and just watched people getting trained absolutely free by the ashram volunteers.
After spending about an hour at the Patanjali Yoga Ashram we moved to the guest house of Samskrita Bharathi where our accommodation was tied up. Samskritha Bharathi is an NGO which runs several free day and residential schools for slum children in Haridwar and Rishikesh. We were met by Paramanand Sharma who assured us that he would take us to some of the organisations projects and also show us the most important sights of Haridwar and Rishikesh. We also met with some of the organisations student volunteers who were highly appreciative of our mission but expressed apprehnsions about the outcomes. "Don't you think working in one slum for six months will produce more results than your tour," queried one of the volunteers. "Indeed we can but then our desire to travel the length and breadth of our country would remain unfulfilled so we want to create an awareness and need for quality education in people we meet as we go along and see the country," I replied. They agreed with our point and said that one has to travel to understand the country and love its people. "I don't think even one lifetime of consistent travelling would be enough to see our country completely," said Kishore. I whole heartedly agree with his observation.
January 26, 2007 Haridwar to Neelkanth via Rishikesh and back
Today was one of the most happy days of our tour so far. We watched the mighty river Ganga jumping down and creating rapids in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, the ethereal Ganga arathi at Paramarth Ashram, Rishikesh, met with students of the Paramarth Gurukul who are very very committed to promote Indian culture, peace and knowledge across the world.
We started off from our lodgings with Paramanand showing us the way through the narrow streets of Haridwar. Our first stop was at the Daksheshwar Mahadev temple where Lord Shiva's first wife committed suicide by jumping into the sacrificial alter after being insulted by her father King Daksha who made derogatory remarks about her husband. Hearing about this Lord Shiva rushed to this place and destroyed the sacrifice and killed king Daksha. The temple was built later in memory of this incident and of Lord Shiva's first wife. Sited on the banks of one of the channels of River Ganges the temple is in a highly renovated form with garishly coloured walls, dome and frescoes. The main shrine also houses smaller temples dedicated to Lord Ganesh, Hanuman and Durga. We went to the river side and were accosted by several sadhus and brahmin priests who offered us various prayer and ablution services but we just ignored them and moved through the temple and exited.
From Daksheshwar temple we proceeded outside the town on the highway towards Rishikesh, reputedly the world's yoga capital. But before actually hitting the highway we stopped at two interesting places. One is the venue of the 12-years-once Kumbh mela on the banks of the river Ganges. This spot is crawling with people during the Kumbh but now it is empty and highly peaceful because there is hardly anybody there. We were the only ones in the vicinity and it was heavenly to sit there beside the river and watch the water flow by making its gurgling noise. After spending time at the tranquil locale we proceeded further on the highway and visited the Vivekananda park sited opposite Hari Ki Pauri, inside the part a large standing image of Lord Shiva stands majestically and can be seen from any corner of Haridwar and a smaller statue of Swami Vivekananda has also been installed. This too is a wonderful place to spend a quiet moment. This is very close to the place where river Ganga has been dammed in order to store enough water to supply to the bathing ghats in the Hari Ki Pauri area of the city throughout the year.
As we approached Rishikesh we were stopped by Uttaranchal Police who demanded to see our vehicle documents and licence and when they came to know about our tour and mission, the officer in charge said sorry for troubling us and waved us on wishing us happy journey. As we enetered Rishikesh Paramanand directed to Muni Ki Reti on the banks of the celestial river Ganges. The river appears much cleaner and better here than at Haridwar and is also faster in terms of flow. The place is full of temples and yoga ashrams, there are old, new and medieval temples all sited in the same vicinity and along the banks of river Ganges. There was a big havan happening at the location and hence the usually quiet place was buzzing with activity. Not able to tolerate the noise emanating from the public address system we moved away and rode towards Ram Jhula the hanging bridge across the river. The bridge caters to walkers and two-wheelers and shakes as one walks across. Our experience of riding across the bridge was quite thrilling and enjoyable.
Once across the bridge we headed towards the Neelkanth Mahadev temple which is sited about 27 km from Rishikesh town. The road passes through thick forests of the Corbett National Park and is noted for sighting of bears, leopards and tigers. Paramanand informed us that if we are lucky we might be able to sight some wildlife as we ride towards Neelkanth. The initial stretch from Rishikesh to Neelkanth temple was through a thick forests and a steep climb through quiet surroundings. There was virtually no traffic on the road, we would see one vehicle in about 10 km and no people at all. The road weaved up and down hills and dales along the river which became narrower, deeper and more rough as we progressed upstream. We climbed higher and farther from the river and could see it frothing and flowing swiftly far below. Lush green paddy fields dotted some parts of the plains adjacent to river. At some places we noticed river rafting agencies setting up camps where several foreign tourists come to enjoy running rafts and kayaks on the rapids of river Ganges.
Though there were several photo opportunities on the 25 km stretch of scenic road to Neelkanth Kishore hardly shot any. This is perhaps the 1000th time that I am ruing the fact I didn't get a camera of my own. As we got closer to Neelkanth the surroundings once again became stark and barren due to excessive logging the trees in the vicinity have been cut down. About 1 km before the shrine the commercial activity begins with shops, hotels and a large area along the road for parking. The last 3 km to the shrine is via a mud road with no trace of any asphalt, one has to be careful while travelling on a bike for two reasons one to avoid skidding and another is to be careful when a big vehicle passes it raises lot of dust and nearly causes a fog like scenario.
Neelkanth Mahadev temple like most other temples in the Himalayas is thronged by thousands of people and the immediate surrounding of the temple is completely commercialised. There are shops all over the place and even around the temple leaving only a narrow passage for entry. The shops sell everything under the sun from items of worship, souvenirs, handicrafts, junk jewellery, clothing etc and every shopkeeper wants the customers. In comparison I like the Gurudwaras and Jain temples where it is not so commercialised. Inside the temple also there are lots of touts and priests who are out to get your money. This is perhaps one of the prime reasons that today's youth don't respect our culture and religion. We stood in the queue to enter the temple and saw the large idol of Lord Shiva enshrined inside.
We retraced our route to Rishikesh and arrived at the Swarg Ashram at about 5.00 pm and stopped for a cup of tea and some biscuits. Here we had our first glimpse of the famed Rudraksha tree and luckily this particular tree in the premises of Swarg Ashram was laden with unripe fruits. According to Parmanand the fruits will get ripened in the tree and fall off then they are picked up and the shell removed to get the seed out and make beads. We further moved to the Parmarth Ashram where preparations were underway for the evening's Ganga Arathi. Every evening the aarathi takes place in a grand manner with the ashram's students chanting vedic hymns and singing songs in praise of the river and unlike in Haridwar this is a very moving ceremony and the organisers take pains to ensure that every visitor gets an opportunity to perform the Aarathi. We removed our foot wear and sat on the steps leading to the river at the base of which an alter was already prepared and young boys of the ashram were seated ready to begin.
At the ring of a gong/ bell the aarathi ceremonies started off. Two couples one young and one senior were invited from among the members of the public to sit next to the alter and begin the aarathi. Later as the ceremonies progressed more couples joined in and the rest sat on the steps and watched the proceedings. The entire atmosphere reverberated with the melodious chantings and provided an ethereal ambiance to the place. The setting sun with its soothing orange glow added to the serenity of the surroundings and soon the actual aarathi started with almost all the members of public and the students weilding lamps and rotating in the slow clockwise and anti-clockwise motion. It was a sight to behold in the dark the only lights were from these hundreds of small lamps being rotated in tandem to the melodious chanting. The experience of being part of the arathi was truly wonderful and one of the most profound I have ever had in my life. This was the moment when I missed my parents the most, I am sure they would have enjoyed this ceremony and felt blessed. I will bring them here sometime soon and make them sit at the alter and experience the heavenly feeling that I did. Last year during March I had witnessed the
Ganga aarathi at the Hari Ki Pauri in Haridwar, while it is good, it pales in comparison with the grandeur of the aarathi that is conducted here.
Immediately after completing the aarathi there was an announcement by the ashram authorities. "Today is our country's Republic Day and as such we will render a patriotic song. All visitors are requested to stand up and pay respect to our great nation." Immediately I noticed that many of the white-skinned foreigners leave the venue. I felt quite irritated with this show of disrespect. These foreigners come to India to have a good time at low cost but don't want to respect our country and culture. I wish everybody in the audience felt the same rage and had prevented the foreigners from leaving. But in our country nobody is bothered about the country's respect and dignity.
After the aarathi we moved to Rishikesh town and Paramanand told us that we would visit the Gurukul of Paramarth ashram and talk to the children studying sanskrit and culture there. Enthused we said yes and turned our bikes off the highway onto a narrow village road and after about 8 km we reached the Paramarth Gurukul. The gurukul is home to about 400 students aged between nine-17 who are provided free education, boarding and lodging during this period. Primacy for Sanskrit language and culture studies apart the students also undergo mainstream and appear for the class X and XII exams of the state board. According to Paramanand the ashram spends about Rs.1,850 per student per month for accommodation, food and education expenses.
After dinner we had an informal interaction about our mission and tour with the students and staff of the Ashram. The students showed great enthusiasm and said that once they finish their education at the ashram they would go back to their respective villages and teach the underprivileged and poor people the three Rs of learning. It was heartening to see so much enthusiasm and love for the country in these children. I wish every citizen of our becomes as enthusiastic and committed as these kids, then it will hardly take any time for our country to become a developed nation. After a brief interaction we decided to take leave and move to Haridwar, we had a long journey ahead next day. The entire batallion of teachers and students came out in the cold night to wish us good bye and good luck for our onward journey.
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