SO MANY MILES TO GO
"My family, somehow, we could not resist the call of Himalayas. The mountain range lying there. My grandpa, my dad, and now me - we all have one thing in common. We all wore the mountaineer's outfits and we all carried ice axes to reach the peak called Mount Everest. And reaching there, I found the pick of my life. Amazing feelings. I realize that one day, my son will also be no exception to the gene factor that our family is all blessed with." Saying all this, Ralph Watson had been highly emotional, standing before the good crowd of two hundred odd folks in his felicitation ceremony that had been organized by the Adventurers' Club at the John Hunter's auditorium of Iowa.
"Please tell us all about this long but memorable expedition to the top of the world," one young enthusiast in the age group of twenties puts up the question.
Ralph was glad to tell all about it - with equal passion. In his speech, he describes how the starting point of this journey was Rudra Prayag (at 14000 feet up from the sea level), which has a road up to this point, beyond which, trekking was the only option up to 18000 feet. Thereafter, mountaineering or climbing remained the only option till he reached the highest peak, called Mt. Everest at twenty-eight thousand feet, where every climber has to discover the truth - that man is a loner.
Smilingly he starts to get into the subject of his passion, "That's a long story of a journey - not frequented by miles but of meters and feet, not by ease and comfort but by toughness and solitude of life and death." Thus he goes on, with a stick pointing at the hanging map.
He speaks of the locale and the local people, the frost bites and the avalanches, the maverick nature and the magnanimity of the monasteries. He makes special mention of a bare-bodied Indian saint, who, at the height of eighteen thousand feet, maintains an "Ashrama" (a shelter), and who, during chilly nights, has regularly been feeding pilgrims and mountaineers hot loaf and vegetable curry free of cost and also providing free blankets for a comfortable sleep. He also guards the guests with his men. What a height of benevolence!!!
The pin drop silence in the hall declares that the audience is spellbound like never before. Ralph's passionate description of climbing ten to twelve thousand feet has made the time ticking away in wonder.
"Excuse me, Sir! How can we reach to the Himalayan valley from Iowa?" a young boy asks.
"By flight and cars, of course! It takes about a week to reach Himalayas via Nepal or India. Why is this a question?" Ralph replies.
"Because, I am thinking of a time, when such an expedition will have to start from Iowa itself. The reason is simple - all oil wells will be dry someday, but people's urge to discover new things will be a never ending process."
Ralph neither answers nor smiles. Instead, he shrugs hastily as if to say, "I haven't thought about this yet. So, I guess we have many miles to go from here to the Himalayas."
By Partha Pratim Majumder