The Himalayan Club

THE TALE OF A CLOTH MERCHANT WHO WAS RECENTLY CONFERRED TITLE OF

Honorary Member of The Himalayan Club

2019

Nandini Purandare

Take the quiz: Who is this person?

Clues:

• Cloth Merchant who ran a suiting and shirting shop in Mumbai’s Kapad Bazaar.
• India’s most celebrated mountaineer.
• Recipient of (among other honours) – 1) Royal Patron’s Medal in 2003 by the Royal Geographical Society for immense contributions towards geographical exploration 2) the King Albert Mountain Award by the King Albert I Memorial Foundation, Belgium 3) Lifetime Achievement Award for Adventure by the President of India 4) Gold Medal by the Indian Mountaineering Federation 5) Piolets d’Or Asia Lifetime Achievement Award from the Union of Asian Alpine Associations.
• Pioneer of a famous exploration which traced the course of the Tsangpo in India and confirmed that Brahmaputra is indeed the same river. Many other explorations followed, such as the Siachen glacier and explorations in Arunachal Pradesh on which he will base his next book.
• Author of many landmark books on the Himalaya.
• Honorary Member of the British, American, Polish and the Japanese Alpine Clubs.
• An important and eminent and active member of The Himalayan Club for over 50 years.

If you have not yet guessed, then here is the last clue:

He got involved with The Himalayan Journal as an assistant editor to Soli Mehta in the year 1975 and soon became editor. He published 37 editions of the journal as editor and currently is Editor Emeritus of The Himalayan Club.

In 2020, finally, Harish Kapadia was conferred the title of Honorary Member of THC. For decades he was the face of THC in so many ways that this title eluded him. We often fail to mark jewels in our backyard and this personality who became synonymous with the Club continued to work tirelessly to make THC and THJ what they are today.

It is very hard to encompass a whole era in a few lines. Therefore I would like to write about my own experiences and impressions, which probably reflect his impact. For over fifty years, Harish has been a great mentor and teacher to all those who knock at his door. His child like enthusiasm to get people to go to the Himalaya is infectious. If you ask him for route assistance, he will give you maps, details, articles, references of people in the area, staff support and even equipment. His humour is irascible and cutting so you need to get past that – repartee, intellectual engagement and exchanging stories makes Harish the most interesting mountain companion, not to mention the food and camp comfort. He has sculpted Indian Himalayan travel and exploration without even realizing it.

Way back in the 80s when I started attending THC programmes, Harish was always at the helm, regaling audiences with his slide shows and stories thus making trekking and exploration the most fun filled activity. It was like a picnic, compared to some mountaineers today who make their forays into the Himalaya seem so hard, unattractive and humourless.

The world has few explorers. There are those who climb mountains and others who visit tourist areas. But those who lovingly explore every nook, corner and valley of a particular area the way Harish has explored the Garhwal, Sikkim, Siachen and Arunachal to name just a couple, is very unusual. Over half a century, he has gathered knowledge that makes him a fabled encyclopedia. Show Harish a blurred photo of any range and he will rattle off region, heights, names, coordinates and details that are available nowhere else. It is indeed remarkable.

As one who assisted Harish for several years before becoming editor of the Journal, I can say that the learning curve has been sharp and upward. I learnt what to do, but more importantly I learnt what not to do. Particularly, never compromise content and style. I could go on…

The lightness of being that Harish brings into everything he does makes him so special. This would be his single greatest contribution to mountaineering. He brought the Himalaya home to many of us.

Take a bow, Mr Kapadia for they don’t make them like you anymore!