2008

HJ 64 Editorial 80th Year

The Himalayan Club

80th Year Celebrations

The Himalayan Club celebrated its 80th anniversary with a two day event at New Delhi. On 14 March 2008, lectures, an art exhibition, get-togethers and dinner were organised. On 15 March Mrs. Sonia Gandhi graced the main function as Chief Guest (she is the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, the Congress-led ruling coalition in India). The meeting was addressed by Suman Dubey, President, Hon ‘able Sports Minister, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sir Chris Bonington, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, and Tanil Kilachand, Vice President of the Club. The special film made for the occasion, 80 Years on the Top was premiered.

The celebration was preceded by events in Mumbai (including a harbour cruise, lectures, visit to the Himalayan Club Centre and the Annual Dinner). A rock climbing and trekking outing to Pachmarhi, Central India was also organised.

The New Delhi celebrations were followed by a trek to Dayara Bugyal and a visit to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi. In July a gathering of about 600 mountaineers and trekkers from Maharashtra celebrated the 80th year of the Club in Mumbai.

Excerpts of the addresses of the the Chief Guest Mrs. Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi follow.

Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shri Suman Dubey, Sir Chris Bonington, Members of the Himalayan Club, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to be here this evening with so many lovers of the high mountains. I don’t think I can describe myself as being imbued with your spirit of adventure, but like you, I delight in their serenity and splendour and I cherish the time I have been able to spend in the hills, gazing out across the valleys at the high peaks.

The beauty and power of the Himalaya has moved and inspired our people from the earliest times. Our mountains, rivers and forests have never been viewed simply as creations of nature. As our scriptures and legends so amply testify, they have been regarded as sacred entities in themselves, home to countless places of worship, including some of our holiest shrines. Over the centuries, our people left the world behind and journeyed to the heights in quest of inner peace and harmony. Our ancient sages didn’t scale the summit; they explored their innermost depths in search of wisdom and emancipation.

As modern devotees of the high mountains you have added a very welcome contemporary dimension of sporting activity. Mountaineers too need to find resources such as mental strength and resilience, as well as high levels of physical fitness and endurance, to take them to their chosen goals. I hope that your efforts, and those of other clubs and institutions, to popularise adventure sports, especially mountain climbing and trekking, will bear fruit. These, after all, engender qualities of character building and help us become better human beings. We need to encourage them in our youth.

This was well recognised by Jawaharlal Nehru, who was instrumental in setting up the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling after the first ascent of Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing. Nehru’s own interest in the mountains went back to his roots in Kashmir. He seldom missed an opportunity to spend time in his beloved forests and valleys. It’s largely forgotten now that in 1958, at the age of 69, he made the difficult trek from Sikkim across the Nathu la and Tibet’s Chumbi valley into Bhutan to sign the first political agreements between our two countries.

A 42-year old Indira Gandhi accompanied him on that trip. When she became Prime Minister, she supported new institutions to help train young mountain climbers and expanded the government’s conservation projects including national parks and wild life reserves. Rajiv Gandhi, too continued in that tradition and as prime minister, provided active encouragement to mountain sports, as many of you experienced for yourselves.

It is reassuring that the Himalayan Club is taking up the challenge of environment protection. This is an area which all of us, whether private or public, need to attend to urgently. While we may not be able to turn around the effects of global warming in the short run, there surely are things that we can all do. Problems such as deforestation, the pressure of human populations on fragile eco-systems, waste disposal and the effects of roads and infrastructure building need our urgent and serious attention.

Some issues are not amenable to easy answers. We need to be aware that people in large numbers, whether pilgrims or inhabitants, soldiers defending our borders or visitors to the remote regions, all leave an indelible imprint. Our efforts will be more effective if we are more conscientious as individuals, if we build public-private partnerships, if we all work together. The relative success in environment protection that we have seen in the Dehra Dun-Mussoorie region, for instance, has come from precisely such joint efforts.

At the same time we must keep in mind that the mountain regions are in need of sustainable development and sustainable livelihoods. In many districts new roads, new technologies, new agricultural and horticultural practices, and the ingress of much needed development have created job opportunities and brought prosperity. But in large pans, especially in the remote areas, living conditions are still inadequate, and economic development has yet to make an impact.

Organisations such as yours should come forward to work with the youth in schools and colleges. If you devise programmes that impart skills and training which will enable young people to find employment in adventure travel activities, I am sure my colleague, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and others in the government will not hesitate to help with resources.

The exemplary work of one of your own honorary members, Sir Edmund Hillary, who passed away only weeks ago, is an example of how much individual commitment and perseverance can do to help the mountain communities. And I see no reason why the corporate world would shy away from doing its bit if you take the lead.

As you go forward, I hope that all of you who love the mountains and care for their preservation will turn your attention to these issues. Mountaineers are after all consumers in the sense that they visit the mountains for enjoyment. At the same time, they need to be their guardians as well, because if the mountain environment is damaged in any way, it is all of us who suffer the consequences.

Once again, I congratulate the Himalayan Club on this important milestone in its journey. You will, I am sure, continue to excel in mountain exploration and climbing. It is also my hope that you will continue to care for the mountain environment and help improve the lives of those who live there.

Thank you.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi