All About My Hikes

How My Passion for Hikes Ignited

For decades, I have been wanting and meaning to pen down as many of my experiences as a hiker as possible. Today, as I have changed career paths to do something distinctly different, I embark upon my desire to share my experiences. Let me begin — well, where else than where it all started.

As you read, you may come across details from the experience I have gained on hikes, as well as pieces of information, insights about things to do or not do, tips, and so on — so definitely look out for those. At least that is what I have in mind as I start to write this memoir.

Parasnath

I was probably only 12 years old when we went to Parasnath, perhaps the tallest mountain in Bihar, a state in India. Today Bihar has been split into two states, Jharkhand and Bihar. Patna has remained the capital of Bihar while Ranchi is the capital of the new state. Parasnath is located in the state of Jharkhand.

We used to live in Bokaro Steel City and the trip, I imagine, was decided by my father, as were most of my childhood trips. I use the word "imagine" since, to the best of my memory, my father planned everything meticulously. There were no MapQuest or Google Maps at the time. My father had a huge folding map, "Road Map of India", with all and more details than what we can find on Google, even with all its layers. As a side note, that map still exists in my home in Pune, and if I am not too wrong it was a 1968 edition. When our trip to Parasnath happened, my sister Vasudha would have been about 7 years old, and I recollect that it was at least the four of our family and another family, Mrs. Rashmi & Mr. Gopal Deshpande, who went on the trip.

I do not recollect many details of the trip — the distance, the travel time from Bokaro to Parasnath, any stops we took en route for snacks — but I am certain we travelled in our Hindustan Motors Ambassador car. I do think that the plan was to stay overnight on top of the mountain. However, I am certain we did not stay on the mountain, since I recollect it being quite dark as we were descending.

Parasnath, or Parshvanath, was the 23rd Tirthankara before Lord Mahavira, the founder of the Jain religion, and the mountain is named after him. I also recollect not being very happy having to wake up early and leave on the trip. My father would always plan to start driving at 4 AM. He had very strict discipline, which meant driving 90 minutes and stopping for 15 minutes. In the end, all our drive trips were excellent, and while waking up and starting the drive at 4 AM was a huge irritation, it was greatly rewarding.

Much later in school I learned that with altitude the temperature drops — this hike had already taught me that from experience. The mountain was, and still is, a holy one for the Jains, as I saw several people walking with no footwear. I do not recollect any women walking up or down the mountain, but I do remember that the path was through a forest, and that my sister and I were ahead of the rest most of the time. The path down was very slippery, and I enjoyed slipping and falling. We were dead tired when we got back home, and it was quite late. The hike was about 10–11 km one way. The Parasnath trip was probably in the year 1972. Thereafter I did not have any opportunity for a hike or mountain climb until 1987, when I moved to Pune.

My First Himalayan Hike

After moving to Pune, the task at hand was to find a job. I had a couple of offers — one as a software engineer, and another, with guidance from my father's friend Prof. V. M. Deshpande, as a lecturer in Computer Science at an engineering college. I chose the latter, as I liked being in front of people. I had developed a liking for this purely from the Wednesday school assembly at St. Xavier's School, Bokaro Steel City, where one of us from the senior-most class would deliver the weekly news. I enjoyed doing so, was nervous at the first go, but got quite used to it.

It was August 1987 that I started my first job as a teacher. It was a very rewarding experience, especially to see the eyes light up on a child's face when they had understood a point I was trying to make. I soon came to know that this job had a lot of paid vacation — summer break would be almost 60 days. But I could not stand the idea of doing nothing. Instead, I began to look at options to spend the vacation in a constructive manner. I got acquainted with my hiking guru, Chandrashekhar Bapat, an amazing photographer and a regular hiker in the Himalayas.

In June 1988, I came to know of a hike that Bapat had completed. This was my opportunity to ask if I could go on a trek with him. I did not get a positive answer; instead I heard how difficult it was and how one person's failure would affect the entire group. I was determined not to let that person be me. I started practice hikes — climbing up and down the Sinhagad fort, some 30 kilometres from Pune, was one criterion. The first bus departure was 4:30 AM. After reaching the trail head, I would have a quick cup of tea and start the hike. Soon I realised this was a pretty steep climb — the overall gain is about 2000 feet (600 metres).

I made it to the top in 1 hour and 26 minutes. Once again I only got negative feedback from Bapat, that my timing was dismal. I ignored everything he said and continued my weekly hikes, not only timing myself but making notes about how exhausted I felt, how I had slept the previous evening, what I had eaten, the temperature, the humidity, what I was wearing. Pretty soon I had knocked off a good 20 minutes from my first attempt, and in due course timed my best at 56 minutes. More importantly, I was gaining the confidence that on a hike in the Himalayas the group would not suffer because of me.

In December 1988, Bapat indicated he was planning a "Char Dham" yatra in the summer of 1989 — a pilgrimage to four places: Yamunotri and Gangotri (the origins of the rivers Yamuna and Ganga), Kedarnath and Badrinath. The timing could not be better. I asked to be included in the team, and having witnessed my Sinhagad progress, there was no reason for Bapat to turn me down. More serious practice hikes commenced. We also started carrying backpacks with weights, which went from 5 kg to 20 kg closer to the actual trek day. We travelled from Pune to Delhi by train, then onward to Rishikesh and Haridwar, before proceeding to Janaki Chatti, the trail head to Yamunotri — but that is a story for another essay.