A Journey to Impeccable Comeliness...!!!

Well thinking it just as a traverse or adventure, I never thought that choosing this course will turn out to be more beautiful than I thought. If you are a green traveller, then surely recommended but; if not, then must recommended. Well why? Because this brings the best out of your advertence, endurance and exploration in the most beautiful way. And all thanks to Professor Anil Gupta and Professor Navdeep Mathur from IIM Ahmedabad.

We visited many villages and every village brought it’s own unique speciality; whether in terms of food or beauty or livelihood. We visited the first village named as Bhanjararu also known as “colony” among local people, which had all the modern facilities such as college, hospital etc. In terms of forest beauty, Illwasa has no competition. The lusty green and tall trees along the road made the journey more memorable. The meadow in between the forest was the perfect place to rest your body and mind. Then we visited the “Home of Royal Apples” Puguthulla and that day I realised what does fresh apples really tastes like.

Well hard to imagine, but one of the village of Churah Valley i.e. Bairagarh is famous for its senior secondary school and interaction with the students there was itself like huge learning experience and students from nearby villages travelled miles to the school for learning.

Well it was embarrassing and overwhelming too when I saw the hospitality of people in Bhunderi. Old man in 80s offering apple to each one of us without taking anything in return is rare a rare occurrence on this earth. However, this can be seen in every person of this valley which makes this place even more beautiful.

Those welcoming smiles and the food in Mangali was flabbergasted. Some of them, which I remember was Babaru with potato veggies, chook (Pickle made from chillies), local kadhi, Makke ki roti (Corn flour chapatti) and guess what a vegetable preparation from Bichoo booti (a herb in which itching persists if you touch it).

All this was summed up by the scenic beauty of Mangali which was full of the soothing sound of waterfalls and brought serenity in the eyes when I looked over the mountains.

Experience it and you will feel more beyond what you read!

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Bairagarh and Shiv Temple

Bairagarh is a village on the road that connects Chamba to Killar. It is quite small, and not a very touristic place. But this will allow you to experience the local food at its finest. The food bought at the local eateries that you will encounter on the road was delicious: we had exquisite parathas and chai for breakfast and ate bananas bought from the local fruit shop. Continuing uphill on the road, you will encounter beautiful Shiv Temple, that is also a good viewpoint to see the valley. Next to the Temple is a building in ruins that is accessible from a staircase and can be explored to get an even better view of the valley. You can find the exact location of the village on Google Maps by clicking on the link.

Shodh Yatra - A journey to the unknown yet most beautiful places in Himachal Pradesh

A group of 28 IIM Ahmedabad students set out on a journey of self-realization and social awakening. We call this course “Shodh Yatra”. We went on a trek to the beautiful mountains of the Churah valley in Himachal Pradesh. Well that’s an irony!! Mountains of the valley. Our journey was - Full of unexpected experiences and events. But amidst all of that we got a taste of the vastness of nature, the beauty that resides in the landscape of our country and the tremendous love and care that people from the region had in stock for us. We reached Pathankot on the first day and took a mini bus to Bhanjraru, our base station. The next morning, we started our picturesque journey towards Devikothi, which is called the Jewel of the Churah valley. The day we started the journey, we had no idea what the next few days had in store for us and nor did I know that I would not forget this day all my life because of what was going to happen. All set to conquer the mountains Headi...

A day in Churah Valley.

A day in Churah Valley. The first day of Shodyatra began with climbing up the hill to Bhanjararu for breakfast. It was a steep hill. On our way we could see in far away distance mountains which were covered with lusty green trees. Below these mountains we could see dried river covered mostly with small rocks. The entire day was spent on walking up and down the hills on virtually deserted roads. Finally, we reached Devikothi village late in the night. We spent the night in one of the schools. Since we were very tired because of the day long trekking, we slept off immediately after having dinner. On our way to Bhanjraru for Breakfast I woke up the next day to a beautiful sight of the mighty Himalayas and found myself sipping tea with friends amidst the cold breezes. During the day, we had an interaction with a herbal healer from whom we got to learn ancient ways of healing and curing various illnesses. This individual had been doing such practices for years and his kno...

IIMA Shodh Yatra Aug-Sept 2018

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