Twenty three ambitious youngsters from all parts of Slovenia gathered to travel to India and explore parts of its Himalayan mountains with some of the highest mountains with best views. And the day came when the varied team gathered on a hot day in New Delhi to start walking toward their adventure. In cooperation with the travelling association of India we joined the 11 day expedition to the Sarpass at the elevation of 4250m. Most of us did not dream we’ll experience much more than just that in these few days.
With a yellow dot on the forehead, full tummies of sweets and woven flowers around our necks we waved farewells to the Delhi, where the Youth Hostel Association of India welcomed us so nicely. On the way to Himalaya our rowdy and cheerful group probably increased the chances of our bus driver to get an ulcer. Despite the warnings of the driver, we could not do without singing and playing practical jokes that made us laugh to tears and changed his face through all colours of the rainbow. His quick and hard push at the break threw as towards the front window of the bus and – who wouldn’t sit down?
Welcome to the unique valley of Parvati, where the river of the same name makes the valley even more special. It’s a valley where life runs slowly, the blushes nature greets you and the snow covered peaks in the back are a great setting for the friendly people to welcome you. They will immediately tell you which way to go, if you get lost, but not before inviting you to tea, without which India just couldn’t function.
Welcome to the base camp Kasol, to the land of paper bureaucracy even more complicated than the one back home in Slovenia. After filling out a number of forms that just never seemed to end, we got a warm welcome, that was spiced up by rules of behaviour that put frowns on the faces of people from the sunny side of the Alps. »Short pants and sleeves are not allowed in the camp. Today we do not recommend cold showers due to acclimatization. Tents are divided according to gender and at 10pm everybody should be asleep. Wake up is at 5am and morning gymnastics at 6am when we line up according to gender and have a head count …« Thus we got a chance to feel the military camp for a few days, or have again became elementary school students in nature camp with prescribed hours to be in bed. But it’s easier for children, for we were grownups facing first cultural differences, which appeared very fast despite the age.
Us westerners usually see
India as a land of freedom, spirituality and peace. The image is further supported by the presence of hippies and their calm and free life in communes and their giving in to narcotic substances. The stories of ashrams lead by gurus sought out by lost westerners looking for their life path and lectures combined with meditation contributed also. In exchange for wisdom they usually get large amounts of money. And while money is being gathered in Swiss bank accounts, the lost souls get contradicting thoughts and suggestions on how to find their path to happiness that bases in defying the material world. It’s all there, but the predominating culture of India showed us a completely different face. We can say that it is still tradition that determines life in most of India and that’s due to the great diversity of their religion, which is still a part of their daily lives and family patterns. The society is mostly gender segregated. You can see that in schools, which can still be divided according to gender. It is also present in public transport, where ticket windows are divided according to gender and seats on buses also.
Despite Kama sutra coming from India, sexuality is still a taboo here. They also do not show their feelings of affection I public as freely as we do.
When children of India enter the educational system, cuing up in gender specific lines to sing the national anthem and do the morning prayer, becomes something completely normal. 1.205.073.612 is the number of people they counted in July 2011 and we could say it’s a large mass to keep under control and manage. But we usually just see it as militaristic and keeping people submissive and manipulative with fear. But can you imagine, what individualism would amount to in such a mass of people? And all of this leads to exploitation and capitalistic doctrine of – if you won’t do it, there’s always somebody who will. On average an Indian works 10-12 hours a day and has 2-3 weeks of vacation annually.
The large mass of people also contributes that competitiveness and egoistical struggle to survive outweighs the empathy and solidarity, regardless if in kindergarten, work or virtual friendship usually only created for gain. But as always – the exceptions prove the rule.
And then we come to such a society, as from another planet. Not a day went by, that wasn’t filled with laughter, wonder, moaning, new friendships, compromises, questions, tempers, glorious nature, superb views and stories that kept being written one on top the other. In fact they’ll be rewritten again soon, on the following pages of Globetrotter.
Barbara Kuhar
