CORRESPONDENCE

Romesh Bhattacharjee, D- 1008 New Friends Colny New Delhi 110065

31 october, 2003

Dear Harish,

This (HJ 59) was yet another attractive and informative Himalayan Journal.

I have however one discordant note to offer. In your article ‘The God that did not fail’ I find that you have given some peak’s names that do not suit the cultural and linguistic environment of the area that you were climbing in. Padmanabh and Lakshmi are out of place in the Teram Shehr glacier. Most of the earlier explorers when they did venture to give names did so considering local sensibilities and using their language. These names that you have given are impolite and inconsiderate cultural impositions. Nearly every peak in the Karakorams and all the way up to the Aghil mountains that crowd around the Shaksgam and Yarkand rivers had names in the past and some enquiry amongst the older inhabitants may have helped. In any case there is no justification whatsoever to give the names that your expedition have given them.

Best wishes,

Yours sincerely, Romesh Bhattacharji

To,

Romesh Bhattacharjee, D-1008, New Friends Coloney, New Delhi 110 065.

Dear Bhatto,

Thank you for your letter regarding Himalayan Journal, vol. 59 about naming of peaks in Eastern Karakoram.

In fact we have just taken forward the nomenclature of the past. The name Indira Col. (meaning Laxmi, a Hindu goddess and wife of Vishnu) was given by Fanny-Bullock Workmen way back in 1912. Similarly the peak Lakshmi was named and attempted by Fanny-Bullock Workmen in the same year. The pass Col Italia was named by the Italian explorers in 1930. Similarly this area has several peaks named like Ghent, which was named after the treaty of Ghent, in South Africa and so on.

I thoroughly agree that the nomenclature of the area should always suit the surroundings but at the same time the nomenclature has also to progress and evolve by various visitors to the place. We have named the highest peak as Padmanabh, which is a name of Vishu, the husband of Lakshmi. And in a way it is appropriate because it is standing next to the peak Lakshmi, a name which has existed since 1912 and now we have named this as Padmanabh. Moreover the nomenclature has also to reflect the present and current day happenings, if at all, and here Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology is a preserver and this whole area, as you know, is in serious turmoil and we need some sort of a name of a preserver, which would be around.

All other names like Teram Shehr Plateau, which it is, and is named after the glacier of the same name. The other valleys and peaks like in the Rimo areas were named in Ladakhi or Balti nomenclature. Thus there is much ‘mixed’ nomenclature in this area.

I am thank you for the interest in these matters and it is very essential that we guard these principles.

Harish Kapadia

Hon. Editor, HJ