White Holi : Mt. Moosilauke (4802’)

Known alternatively as ‘The Moose’ or ‘The Gentle Giant’, Mt. Moosilauke is the tenth highest peak in the White Mountains & Abhi & I hiked to its top yesterday! With a grueling 3,300 ft elevation gain and 8 miles (13kms) of hiking, the mountain truly lives up to its name -the ‘Giant’ part (I wouldn’t call it ‘Gentle’ by any stretch). Despite the steep ascent and super-gusty cold winds, the trip was very rewarding, made especially so since this was our second attempt. Last winter we attempted to climb it via the arduous Beaver Brook Trail and had to turn back 1 mile shy of the summit due to un-packed trail conditions. This time we went up the Glencliff Trail which I thought was equally steep for the most part, until it met the Carriage Trail near the summit.

We got off to an early start from Boston at 5 am. and were on target for reaching the trailhead the 8.30. Alas! we got lost and went almost 15 miles ahead. Fortunately, we realized our mistake & circled back in time so that the group we were hiking with had not yet set out. Arriving late and the ensuing haste to get ready, left me a little frazzled at the beginning of the hike. Our group started at a steady pace and the trail soon picked up a moderate elevation gain. I was so out of breath!! Inside my head I started blaming myself for all those missed days of exercise and got a little worried about how the hike was going to pan out. Fortunately, my exhaustion was short-lived and soon I got into the rhythm and rigor of the hike. It also helped that the leaders slowed the group pace a bit from what we started with.

I have always liked climbing more than descent. Although it is more work, it is filled with anticipation and somehow feels better on my legs (I routinely have injured knees & hate the pounding they get on descents). But this ascent was not an easy one! It was both steep and unrelenting. There were very few flat areas for respite and we had 2 infamous steep sections to encounter before hitting the carriage road. The best part was the absolutely wonderful New England day—crisp sunshine, clear blue skies, and warmer (20F!) temps made it fabulous to be outdoors. Since we were still below tree-line, there were only pockets of sun to be had, nonetheless it made things so much more cheery! And some good spirit was much needed as the strenuous climbing began – the incline must have been about 60 degrees, though it felt more like 90!! We took small but steady steps – I could feel my quads burn with every step, and recall thinking more than once about how/why I manage to get myself in these situations! And yet, each step got us closer to the top of the ledge and rekindled hope that it may soon be flattening out. After an hour of really steep climbing, we finally  came to intersection of Glencliff Trail with the flatter, though more exposed Carriage Trail. It did feel great to think that the major climbing was done -Yipee!

Soon the trees started thinning out and the bald summit of Mt. Moosilauke became visible in the distance. Viewing one’s destination surely acts like an adrenaline shot and the group hastened its pace to claim the summit. But first, we had to take a break to make sure we had our windproof jackets, face-masks and eye goggles on, to protect us from the 50 mph wind gusts up top. I underestimated the force of the winds and only wore my jacket. But ten minutes in, as the tress totally disappeared and the winds hit us with full force, I realized what a mistake that had been. I had to stop and put on the face-mask and felt a lot better after that. Hiking up the rocky and icy  terrain to the summit, I had to try pretty hard to not get knocked off by the wind! I was literally swaying to the right and fell on the rocks once, and Abhi teased me incessantly afterwards about how I was about to get blown off the mountain! The summit was marked by a board. We all got numerous pictures taken around it and also met up with a good friend SK who was solo-hiking that trail. Despite stunning 360 degree views, it was difficult to stay at the summit for a long time and we soon made our way down. At the intersection with Carriage Trail, we stopped for a quick lunch break, while a few intrepid hikers including Abhi made their way to ‘South Peak’ –  a 0.4 mile round trip.

Once everyone was back & refueled, the descent began. The slower and steeper the climb, the faster the descent!! For a change I felt great during the descent, and Abhi & I tore down the mountain at a brisk pace. By 4 pm we were back at the car. After 3 hours of driving we were back in Boston by 7.30 to catch a glimpse of the humungous ‘Super-Moon’. Home-delivered pizza, ice-cream and Holi wishes phone-calls to India turned out to be a perfect finale to possibly the last winter hike of 2011. Looking forward to spring!

India Calling

This is the title of a new book by Anand Giridharadas, an American author and son of immigrant Indian parents who grew up in Cleveland and worked in Mumbai for almost 6 years, first as a management consultant and then as a writer. He writes the “Currents” column for The New York Times and its global edition, the International Herald Tribune. This week, he gave a talk about his book at Harvard’s Humanities Center. It was followed by comments from Sugata Bose and Homi Bhabha, both well-known historians and faculty at Harvard. The talk was unusual in that it was held at lunch, which made it a little challenging for me to get out and attend. But I was keen on being there – whatever I had read about the book seemed very interesting and the Barker Humanities Center (where the talk was hosted) is a beautiful McKim Mead & White designed building that was even more beautifully restored by my firm a few years back. 

Anyways, so the talk…It began with Anand giving a bit of an insight into his relationship with his subject – contemporary India. A remark he made particularly struck me- he said that as a child born to immigrant parents in the US, his first introduction to India was a country that his parents left. It unconsciously implied for him that there was something that was worth leaving. While it was not intentional, many of his parents’ references to India recounted how life had been somewhat limiting in India and liberating in the US. His mother would often narrate how she could not dress in a certain way in India but could do so half way across the globe in Ohio. His childhood visits to India somewhat ratified his parents’ accounts. When he made a decision to live and work in Mumbai as an adult in 2003, the India that welcomed him posed a strikingly different picture. It was this shock that prompted him to write the book. He made it clear at the outset though, that the book is not about the technological and economic revolution that has taken place in India. Rather it is about the cultural changes that are rampant in Indian society yet are rarely talked about. The first major change that he identified was a greater emphasis on the ‘self’. Many personal decisions such as career, marriage, place of residence etc. that were once taken to appease family members, were now based largely, if not solely on personal happiness. While rapidly embracing lifestyles of their western counterparts, the Indian youth were different in that they lived comfortably within ‘simultaneous truths’. They lived in the ‘both/and’ rather than the ‘either/or’ world. While they partied, smoked and doped their way into the evening, they still found time (and sobriety) to have dinner with their grandparents at night. The book chapters are organized under headings like : Love, Anger, Ambition..and so on.  He talked briefly about anecdotes in the book – there is a story of a poor kid from a village who was able to make it big in Mumbai. He counted his conversation with a school principal about the usual complaint that Indian kids are not creative thinkers and are unable to think out-of-the-box. The response he received was that parents and their over-protective attitudes (born out of love) are to blame - the culture of Don’t do this! Don’t go there! breeds compliance and kills ingenuity amongst kids. Under Anger, his book talks about the Naxalite insurgency. There is also an extended interview with Mukesh Ambani.

Anand’s talk was followed by comments from Sugata Bose. After briefly praising the book for tackling an overwhelming subject, Prof. Bose proceeded with some critical remarks. The first being that Anand’s story of India is really the story of Urban India –and not the vast majority of the country which is still primarily rural and agrarian. He asked – where are the stories of farmers’ suicides and the abject poverty of tribals? He asked why there was not a chapter titled ‘Greed’ that talked about the gargantuan scale of corruption that has pervaded every aspect of contemporary Indian life. He also proposed that the ideas of ‘self’ and ‘social equality’ are not imports of the West or ideas that the Indian Maoists have borrowed from China, rather their roots can be found in Indian culture itself—in the texts of Kalidasa and Mahabharata.

I had to leave early so couldn’t stay till the end. Also I haven’t yet read the book. Nonetheless, I thought the talk was very interesting. I agree that Anand’s book seemed biased towards urban India, but I agree with the explanation he gave later, that the subject is so vast he chose to tackle it as a ‘sliver’ of society. He wrote about the cultural changes that he observed living in Mumbai & while he did make an attempt to cover the hinterland, the reach was decidedly limited. Also while Prof. Bose’s comments may be right that historic Indian texts are rife with concepts of reconciling the ‘self’ with ‘society’ and notions of equality etc. their connection with contemporary India is unarguably and unfortunately broken. This is perhaps why the Indian youth turn to seemingly radical ideas from elsewhere around the globe, instead of reaching in-house to our rich past.

Shantaram

The novel came out quite a while back – I read great reviews everywhere – was super-intrigued by the plot, its author and the unusual story behind the book. Yet, somehow I never got around to reading it. Tried to borrow it from the public library a couple of times – but all copies had never-ending queues. Well, finally the public interest faded and I got my hands on a pretty worn and battered copy a few weeks back. And am I glad I finally read it!

Shantaram is definitely one of my favorite books from now on. From the minute I started reading it, I was taken by the remarkable story telling of Gregory David Roberts. The best way I can describe the book is that it is so ‘vivid’ – each location, each character and each sub-plot feels so alive and real. While, of course, this can be attributed to the fact many events actually happened in the author’s life, yet the skill with which he tells their story and fuses it with figments of his imagination is truly commendable. The book takes its readers on a journey of emotions that juggle between suspense, empathy, joy, sorrow and just plain old interest in how the story unfolds.  I have to admit I enjoyed the first half or two-thirds of the book more than the rest. It is very unusual that I jot down lines that I like from a book I’m reading – too lazy to pause and make the effort! Yet, this time around, I felt compelled to do so- I wanted to be able to read them over again. And so I diligently managed to do that for almost two-thirds of the book and then the laziness-effort-part and the anxiety to finish reading took over.

I visited the author’s website a couple of days back and learnt about how this was slated to be a big movie production with Johnny Depp in the lead. But seems like all plans fell through. Anyways, it would have been a mammoth task to represent it all in a 2-3 hour movie.

Logging off for now & hoping to be more regular with blogging! Btw, my favorite character in the book was Prabhaker and the most annoying was Karla.

#2 : Lodge, Peak, and everything else in between

Just got back from a wonderful weekend up in the White Mountains, where we (thankfully!) didn’t camp for a change, rather stayed at the beautiful AMC Lodge at the base of Mt. Cardigan. Part of AMC’s Winter Hiking Program, the trip gathered some 65-odd hikers just like us and involved numerous hikes, a bonfire, bunk beds, fireplace happy-hours and lots of delicious food that we didn’t have to cook ourselves! Still a newbie, I often get overwhelmed by all the gear required for winter hiking as opposed to 3-season – numerous layers, crampons, snowshoes, micro-spikes…etc etc.. As a result I was a little frazzled by the time we hit the road on Friday evening after work. Driving in the dark through winding mountain roads is also disorienting, so by the time we reached the Lodge I was feeling somewhat lost and tired. It was only while driving back this afternoon, that I realized what a scenic drive it was up to the Lodge! Anyways, we checked in Friday night, claimed our beds, marveled at how cozy and clean the Lodge was, and went to bed early. Well, or so I thought – for the next hour I desperately tried to blank out the three snoring men (including Abhi) who slept all around. Of course, he vehemently denied the next morning that he was  one of the culprits -  rather his sleep was sooo disturbed by the snoring of the rest of the dorm-mates (including me!!). Nonetheless, after a hearty breakfast we quickly chose between the trail options to select the challenging ascent up Mt. Cardigan. There were 5 hikes in all and our group ended up with 14 hikers. The lodge was consumed with the frenzy of so many people packing their gear, putting on layers, filling up water bottles and meeting at assigned trailheads.

It was a beautiful day- a light snow was coming down and one could clearly see the shapes of the snowflakes, gather like dust on all our clothes. Abhi & I didn’t have micro-spikes so the early part of the trail was a little slippery, especially as it got steeper. Almost 1 mile in, we decided it was getting too dangerous to go on without any traction, so out came the crampons! It took a while to put them on, but thereafter no more slipping or sliding (or atleast less of it!). The trail got even more steep and exposed, and as if things couldn’t get any more adventurous,the leaders realized that we had lost our way! To get back on the right trail we ended up bushwhacking (that is literally stomping and squeezing through not-so-friendly bushes and branches). I was sure that something or the other, carabineer-ed all around me was going to rip off during this detour but miraculously it all stayed in place. More astonishingly, none of us actually fell off the steep rocky ridges as we hung on to frail tree roots for dear life. There was a lot of tush-push (new trail vocab!) at challenging spots and thankfully after a grueling 45 minutes we were back on track. To add some spice to the experience, Abhi’s crampons decided to misbehave right through the bushwhack. They were mistakenly set to be a wee-bit longer than required and needed to be taken off, re-adjusted and put back. Unfortunately, there was no time to take a break and do all this. Once back on track he did get a chance to fix them, and was a lot happier and less grumpier from there on . We were soon at the summit of Firescrew Mountain, which had breathtaking views despite cloudy weather (can’t imagine what it would be on a clear day!). Further up the ridge we could see the summit of Mt. Cardigan, unmistakable with its ice-capped fire-tower. It was very windy and cold up at the top and we couldn’t stay for too long due to fear of over-exposure. Therefore after quickly conquering the summit we headed down a steep slope to ‘High Cabin’ where we ran into another group of hikers who planned on staying there overnight. The remainder of the trail was less strenuous though fatigue was quickly setting in. I ate like a hog all through the hike and was amazed by how much food & water I ended up consuming. We were back at the Lodge after having been out for almost 6 hours and I was quite ready to settle down by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate. And that is precisely what I did as the dinner table was being set up.

After dinner all the groups did a little song n dance describing their experience. Ours involved some choir-singing, a short skit, a bear, and believe it or not, a lot of swearing in Hindi and French! We walked out to sit around the bonfire for a while and were soon ready to call it a day. Surprisingly, I slept really well the second night – oh yeah, they were all still snoring – I was just too tired to notice! The second day we did a shorter, albeit really scenic hike through the woods and got to use our snowshoes. Back at the Lodge by 1pm, we soon hit the road for Boston. Once out of the hills, our phones came back to life and lo & behold! to our utmost shock there were almost 30 missed calls & as many voicemails on them! Unbeknown to us there had been a great deal of anxiety over our disappearance back in India a la desi-shtyle, with both sets of parents trying to reach our phones. Not being able to get through the dead zone, they had called up almost all our US friends and relatives stopping just shy of launching a full-blown search-and-rescue mission!! Parents, parents, parents..sighhh. I must admit it does feel really nice to think that atleast someone will notice if you fall off the face of the earth (literally) although at times you wish just not so much . Thank God they are not yet on Facebook! So now everyone knows we went hiking this weekend and how irresponsible we were to have not called home(Yikes! -I really thought the Lodge would have phone range, really!)….nonetheless, it was all so much fun..including listening to all the chiding, and making ten phone calls to India at midnight IST! For all of them and everyone else --this blog hopefully fills in on the details