Himalaya More Than Mountains

They do not realise that literally the Himalayan range is “More Than Mountains”: there are so many aspects to trekking, climbing and travelling in the range that one life time is not enough to do justice. For a start there are hundreds of valleys and peaks with ethnic groups, distinct traditions, language, dress, religion, and temples and steeped in their own legends. Each of these regions was explored at different times, by colourful and strong personalities. Their wonderful writings are the major record of these areas.

The Himalaya is also home of large variety of flora and fauna, unique glaciers, lakes and rivers. How the major rivers like the Ganga and Indus have carved their way in and across the range is mind-boggling. The explorations course of rivers, especially that of Tsangpo / Brahmaputra was a challenge stretching across almost two centuries involving human expertise of the highest order.

Around this, the aura of the Himalaya has grown. Institutions study and dissipate knowledge about it, train people for the sport, encourage the young to climb mountains. There are railways, which climb to its lower slopes, the range has been classified in sections, its geology and geography has been dissected, and science has taken keen interest in its environs. All these aspects have also produced a vast body of literature and books, which are valuable references and a pleasure to read. The bards have sung praises of it with insights that only an imaginative mind such as theirs can have.

One of my successful trader friends once visited the Himalaya for the first time in his late middle age. On returning, he said to me; “I always thought that you were mad for taking long breaks for climbing and giving up so much business. Now after my first views of the snows, I admit that it was not you, but I who was mad for not visiting the range earlier! “ There is a vast diversity that awaits any visitor… the Himalaya are certainly more than mere mountains.

Harish Kapadia