The Nanda Devi AffairThere Is A Kind Of Brotherhood Between Man And Mountains.... The Inescapable Logic Of Desire Leaves The Mountain Traveller No Choice But To Plan His Next Expedition To The Very Peak That May Have Just Rejected Vociferously The Most Singleminded Of Advances. In His Thirty-Year Sojourn In India, Bill Aitken Has Had Two Serious Affairs One, Essentially Spiritual In Nature, With The Country S Rivers, The Other More Earthy And Passionate, With Her Mountains. In This Sequel To His First Book For Penguin, Seven Sacred Rivers, He Talks Of His Second Great Obsession-Nanda Devi, Patron Goddess Of Kumaon And Garhwal. Spanning More Than A Decade, From The Seventies To The Eighties, Aitken S Attempts To Explore The Sanctuary Of This Most Beautiful Of Himalayan Peaks Were Not, He Admits, Those Of A Professional Mountaineer, But Of A Romantic. Accordingly, What He Gives Us Is, In His Own Words, Neither A Book About Himalayan Climbing Nor A Treatise On Hill Theology But A Diary Of Mountain Relish. Aitken S Deep-Seated Study Of The Cult Of The Goddess And The Folklore And Customs Of The Kumaon Himalayas Is Chequered With Deliciously Acerbic Asides On Bumptious Bureaucrats, The Bane Of Indian Mountaineering, While The True Nature Lover S Concern For The Environment Is Manifest In His Anger Over The Destruction Wrought By Political Motivations And The Ambitions Of So-Called Professional Mountaineers. |
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Page 51
The cave was cold and any comfort totally lacking from its claustrophobic
dankness. We spent a wretched night unable to sleep, my exhaustion from failure
to eat now catching up to add to the misery of altitude. In the morning I decided I
wasn't ...
The cave was cold and any comfort totally lacking from its claustrophobic
dankness. We spent a wretched night unable to sleep, my exhaustion from failure
to eat now catching up to add to the misery of altitude. In the morning I decided I
wasn't ...
Page 109
The drizzle had forced us to take refuge in the cave. Later the weather worsened
and turned to sleet. We woke to a few inches of snow and more was falling with a
steady build up. If we remained in the cave, and the snow didn't stop we could ...
The drizzle had forced us to take refuge in the cave. Later the weather worsened
and turned to sleet. We woke to a few inches of snow and more was falling with a
steady build up. If we remained in the cave, and the snow didn't stop we could ...
Page 133
The cave at Bhogabasa had been constructed by Swami Pranavananda and
must rate as the most chilling dormitory I have ever clapped eyes on in the
Himalayas. At least in the tent we would be protected from the gusting rain. Nathu
got the ...
The cave at Bhogabasa had been constructed by Swami Pranavananda and
must rate as the most chilling dormitory I have ever clapped eyes on in the
Himalayas. At least in the tent we would be protected from the gusting rain. Nathu
got the ...
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Contents
The Moving Mountain | 1 |
Vital Statistics | 11 |
Beru Pakho | 20 |
Copyright | |
17 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
Almora altitude animal ascent Badri Badrinath Bal Singh base camp beauty Bedni Bhagawati bharal Bhotia birch British buggials bungalow cave Changabang chowkidar climb climbers clouds cold crossing deity Delhi descent Devi's devotees Dharansi Dibrugheta Dumyat Everest expedition forest Ganga Garhwal glacier goats Goddess Gopal gorge Govind hill Himalayas Hindu Hom Kund honour Indian inner sanctuary Joshimath jungle Kalanka Karnaprayag Kausani Krur Kuari Kumaon Kundan lake Lata Kharak Latu load main peak Malathuni meadows mist monsoon mood morning motor road mountain Mussoorie Nanda Devi Nanda Ghunti Nanda Kot Nandakini Nathu Nauti never night one's party passed path physical pilgrim pilgrimage porters Pratap rain Raj Jat Rhamani ridge Rishi river rock route Rup Kund sacred season seemed sheep shepherd Shipton Shiva shrine slope snow leopard Sriyantra steep summit Tapovan temple tent trail Trisul turned Uttarakhand valley village weather women worship Yashu