c u on top - satyabrata dam

I have seen perhaps thousands of avalanches, big and small, of all sorts all over the world in the span of my life so far. I have rescued buried people, or dug out dead bodies, while being buried myself on dozens of occasions. I teach people wilderness survival and a substantial part of my mountain travel workshop is dedicated to avalanches. I have written scores of articles on the phenomenon and must have contributed to at least fifty research projects on the issue. There’s little or nothing at all to add to what I have already said on the topic or to the vast data and information available in today’s public domain at your literal fingertip. Yet, the point is that avalanches are the biggest killers on the mountains and they kill not only novices but also seasoned hikers, climbers and skiers with a shocking regularity every year, every season. The reasons can be two: either we are not heeding to the information or warnings or we don’t think that it is a real danger, until it hits us or...

This was the toughest list to come up with since the choices were countless and I could include 100 treks of equal merit. But limitations are good since it then narrows down the field to something manageable. To be absolutely unbiased and fair to the entire world, I have therefore selected an odd number like 18 treks. This would represent three treks for each of the six continents, leaving Antarctica out of the field since even a walk of few hundred meters anywhere in this continent ranks among the best. Since I have a list of top ten treks in the Indian Himalaya, my real backyard, no treks from Indian Himalaya is included in this list, though there are a few that would definitely rank among the top treks in the world. Asia is a vast continent with magnificent mountain landscape and innumerable hikes through them and to offer a wider selection I have included only one trek from the Himalaya (which is most unfair).  Even I had a hard time reconciling to this self-imposed restrictio...

There’s no smile Without tear No courage Without fear There’s no darkness Without light No mirth Without plight There’s no now Without a was No would be Without a pause There’s no god Without belief No religion Without relief There’s no love Without pain No thoughts Without brain There’s no rose Without thorn No morsel Without its corn There’s no mountain Without snow No dark nights Without its glow There’s no advance Without retreat No victory Without defeat There’s no death Without life No peace Without strife There’s no one strong Without being weak No one’s bold Without being meek There’s no you There’s no me It’s not life If it’s not we

Attempt must be made even when failure is certain, for nothing in this world can be predicted with absolute certainty; except perhaps the will and struggle to stay alive - since this will certainly conclude in a failure, if staying alive was what you really were attempting. So don't struggle or attempt to stay alive, you will fail. Rather be alive and you will never fail.

This is the first part in my Big City Bashing series with all pun intended. I love getting lost all the time and nowhere do I do it so naturally as in a big mega city. Part 1 reflects my impression of four such cities. I absolutely loathe, detest and hate big cities. There; I have said it now, and all you metro and mega polis lovers can sue me for libel and ask all the big city mayors to ban me entry to their respective concrete jungles. Go ahead; it will suit me to no end. I would avoid them myself if it were humanly possible to circumvent them and head for the places that every country has besides the big cities. Yet, as it is inevitable I had to cross, re-cross, stay and even hibernate at many such cities across the world for reasons beyond my control and wish. But then what or which city qualifies to be called a big city? What are the characteristics of a big city? Which are the top 20 (I can’t cover more than this number in a post for sure, but if you would want me to cover more t...

If you thought intense sport and glamour doesn’t go together – think again! If you thought Indian woman and the gritty world of international sailing can’t meet – think again. If you thought beauty and brains don’t merge – think again. For Rohini Rau defies all preconceived notions. A self confessed ‘smiling’ expert, standing tall even without heels the only moment she is not dazzling the world with her smile and energy is when Rohini is focusing hard on the next marker buoy as she zips across the world riding the waves of the oceans with the finesse of a ballerina and the strength of a lioness. Meet the new poster girl of Indian Sports Rohini Rau from Chennai whose accomplishments and diverse talents can set anyone thinking if it’s really possible to put in so much in one’s life. A 3rd year MBBS student, she has won medals in swimming and athletics and is an adept in disciplines like handball, kho-kho, Yoga and snow-boarding. Rohini is also a seasoned actor and danseuses (both western...

Nearly fifty percent of all my life's conversation has revolved in and around 'snow' or its derivatives. I can't live without them. I simply love the soft flurry substance that falls so silently from the sky above. Most of my friends are snow lovers too. We just love it, no reasons, no justifications... simple fact of life. Innuits have more than 50 synonyms for snow and ice, I have more. But to put things simply has been the underlying principle of my life. Here's a short verse for all my friends who love snow and love what it does to them, and also for those of you who would want to befriend snow. Believe me, there's absolutely nothing like the snow. Enjoy the thoughts: Soft Snow Silent Snow What I want Do you know Soft Snow Silent Snow Cover the night And its starry glow Soft Snow Silent Snow I am tired Please fall slow Soft Snow Silent Snow Fall hard Let it blow Soft Snow Silent Snow Block the roads For she wants to go Soft Snow Silent Snow I love you Please...

I am a voracious and never-say-die reader. I read and read and read. Even in my expeditions I carry huge caches of books for the days when we will be tent bound due bad weather. My personal library exceeds few thousands easily and it keeps growing every month. I borrow books from every library and friends possible and at any given time you will find at least 2 – 3 books on my bedside table. I like to read few books parallel simultaneously. So here comes a post on the kind of fiction titles I like. I would write more posts on my books for sure. There are great books and there are great book titles and then there are great books with great titles. Like a person, books are known by the titles first and then by the names of the authors. Though most often the titles do not necessarily tell us anything about the story contained within, they do ideally give us a hint to the general mood of the story. A hint, a faint clue as to what we might hope to expect. It’s another case altogether that ma...

Should we be scared to fail? What is that we are scared of about failing? And before that we must understand when do we really fail? How do you define failure? Is it objective or subjective? Many questions and there are zillions of documents and research data on this quest. Psychologists make mega-bucks trying to cheer people who conceive themselves as failures. What if these people are not really ‘failures’! They could as well be achievers on a different scale. From a rock climber’s point of view; failure on 5.9 could be a success on 5.8 or 5.7 and in my climbing world reaching the summit is not always the sole criteria for success. Even when we don’t reach the summit it could be a success; as I am wont to say that no matter where you reach, it is still a summit, ‘your’ summit. Failure can and does evoke different emotions within different individuals, at different times under differing circumstances. I could feel disappointed or more encouraged; it could lead to my giving up or redou...