c u on top - satyabrata dam

We step on the slabs and climb nimbly with utmost care as not to dislodge any of the stones. I wonder what an ingenious way to overcome a typical rock problem that otherwise would need proper gear and rock climbing equipment. As we exit out of the dihedral I heave a sigh of relief. It wasn’t a steady climb at all. As we ascend so does the pale dawn, turning pink and then crimson and then golden-orange, and so does the towering peaks around. I pause to take pictures and walk behind my guide and shepherd friend. We climb through an ice column and across and over several rock ridges and finally I begin to see the top of the Toral Ridge. Shortly I sight the prayer flags fluttering at the pass. My happiness knows no bounds, after so many years I am finally within touching distance of this elusive pass. We have been climbing really fast and in about 40 min from our tent, I finally step on to the slab rock that marks Toral Pass at around 4600 m. What a magnificent sight it is, I take a deep...

Further on the ground keeps getting steeper and with the fresh rain pattering on our head, slippery as well. Through the dense mist comes the bark of typical shepherd dogs though we don’t see anything. Then I start smelling goats and lambs and then suddenly a large rocky slab rears out of the mist like a serpent’s hood. Few odd goats stand atop the slab with a pair of black dogs besides who bark at us from above. For me any wild animal’s roar is a welcoming signal and I coo at the dogs that calm down immediately. No animal ever attacks out of spite or unprovoked anger like human. And if they smell no fear and are not scared of being attacked or hungry then they are gentle and only curious. Around the slab we find another cave with a couple inside. They invite us for tea and roti. We rest for a while and then again take to our trail that I cannot see yet. We enter a boulder field and start hopping from one massive boulder to another. Subhash easily outpaces and outruns me with his inh...

My foot slips on the thin patch of ice on a ground steeper and smoother than the flanks of Eiffel Tower and as I lose my balance and tumble head down into the abyss below I chide myself lightheartedly: ‘Not again Satya, not again. You are seriously getting senile and imbecile if you already aren’t.’ Humor is the only way to counter the deep constriction, the tightening knot at the pit of your stomach (which we sometimes name as fear) one feels at the time one realizes that all is finally lost and you are well on your way to meet your creator. Plus humor also helps me in seeing the world from an extremely humorous angle. Within the next fraction of a second I am dangling upside down, my head banging against the rock face while my heavy sack is pulling me towards the bottomless void from where chilling breeze is rushing up to meet my unruly hair. I am enjoying the upside view as I can see the dark ominous sky above my feet and wonder why am I still stuck at this impossible angle; wh...

I was speeding along the onrushing waters of Gaj River, en route to the peaks and passes on the horizon. The jungles around were green and thick and full of chattering birds. I had only a few days to accomplish my climbs and speed was of essence. As I rounded off one big boulder, by the trail, I came across Sujan Singh (I learned his name later) sitting atop a rock, nursing a young sheep on his lap. He wore a deep red turban, wool waistcoat and a big bright smile. He looked around 50. Where was I going, he enquired, bidding me to rest a while. Hearing my objective he nodded his grey haired head few times and said, ‘Are you sure? I have never heard any outsider going there in my entire life. No one goes there. Do you know the way to reach there?’ I accepted my complete ignorance of the route, except that I could see the peak far up on the horizon and had thought of navigating by pure line of sight. He agreed to take me a part of the way, where his flock of sheep was grazing. He had come...