Accidents create miracles
Chamba kitni duur....
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohz9mrCATUI)
To begin with let me tell you how I ended up visiting Tisa Valley,
located in the laps of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
I am a second year student pursuing my MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. In second
year we tend to take electives as per our choice to fulfil certain minimum
credits. One such elective was Shodh Yatra, a whopping 1.25 credit course which then
I thought can be completed just by taking a trek of 7 days in a certain remote
location, and here underlies my first motivation to take that course. I love
travelling, second motivation let's take it! In hindsight I can say, though the
initial motivation behind taking the course was flawed but it taught me life
lessons which were equivalent if not more during my regular courses I took at
IIMA.
P.S. I always wanted to write a blog, but never did and here I am
starting with it as it is part of mandatory requirement of this course. It's is
never too late to get started, be it your passion of writing, travelling,
academic achievements, body transformation and what not.
So , what exactly is Shodh Yatra, to be referred to as SY further in the
blog.
Shodh Yatra
Shodh Yatra is a journey for the search of knowledge, creativity and
innovations at grassroots and is undertaken by a group of students led by Prof.
Anil Gupta. The idea is to ignite the spark of creativity amidst the students
and community as a whole and also learn from the grassroots innovation done by
people across India and spreading them with due acknowledgment to the creator
of the innovation. I went for 43rd Shodh Yatra which took place from 27th Aug
to 3rd Sept,2018. The visit involved covering the remotest places of Himachal
Pradesh and revolved around the beautiful valleys of Chamba
The lessons taught were of embracing the uncertainty, clarity amidst
haziness which shall be covered in the latter part of the blog as I cover my
learnings from the four teachers as taught by Prof. Anil Gupta.
Day 0
We reached Pathankot by noon from Delhi. It was a beautiful sunny day
and we had scrumptious chhole bhature and our organizers told us to enjoy the
last Delhi meal. We left for Tisa Valley around 2pm. It takes 4 hours to reach
Tisa Valley from Pathankot via road and journey itself was breath taking. As we
freshened up in our respective rooms after reaching our guesthouse in Tisa ,
the beautiful night sky dawned. The Professor called for a reflection session
out amidst the stars. We used to have one or two reflection sessions daily to discuss
about our learnings, experiences, role models in life and reflect on our
learnings of the day. The stories shared were emotional and inspiring and as we
were discussing the stories behind us the moon emerged from the hill and it was
so beautiful that it can neither be explained in words nor captured in a frame.
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| The moon appearing from the hill |
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| Arrival of the Shodh Yatris |
Day 1
We woke up to a beautiful view from our rooms and did a 4 km trek till
Bhanjararu where we had our breakfast consisting of traditional food bablu.
After our breakfast , we went to a primary school in IIwas where we interacted
with the children and enthused them to
generate creative ideas to solve their local problems. The idea was to spark
the spirit of innovation and creativity among the young minds and their ideas
had to be shortlisted for yearly felicitation of young minds by the President
of India in collaboration with Srishti Foundation. After lunch at nearby
village in Puthulla , we visited another middle school there. It was amazing to
hear to such creative ideas from such young minds. Post lunch and interactions
, we headed to Devi Kothi , our final destination for the night and area know
for the famous temple Devi Kothi.
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The view from the room in the morning
|
Community lunch at Puthulla in open unending sky
Day 2 &
3
Day 2 & 3 had a relatively easier trek vis-à-vis the Devi Kothi trek.
The majority of the treks were to visit the school around Gulli and generating
ideas among the children of various age groups. The Professor taught us to do
Shrav aasaan, while it seemed silly to do in the beginning but it was actually
very refreshing and made us gain back energy in a few moments span. The valleys
were beautiful and we posed for a group photograph and had fruits and a story sharing
session.
Practicing of Shrav aasan to relax the body
The happy Shodh Yatris amidst the trek
Day 4
On Day 4 ,we hiked to Beragarh Primary school and night stay was in the
same primary school. We met one of the local quacks there and learnt how with
help of various herbs, he is able to cure various diseases. He was an aged man,
when asked whether he is teaching someone else to carry forward his learnings,
his answer was surprisingly no. It is sad that how with time we are losing the
beauty of our traditional and local medicines and practices. Post that as we trekked
during the day, I met a woman who was protecting her crops by sitting a human
bed. Following is the excerpt from the communication I had with her.
'The lady I met in the
mountains of Churah Valley'-
When asked what is she doing up there, she replied they protect the crops from the wood bed and enjoy the soothing air which she believes can cure anyone. Yes, she was right in her saying as I felt the pain of the day's trek going away as the whiff of fresh air blew. She requested me to come up to enjoy the view. When i asked her if I could click a photograph, she happily agreed and posed for the camera.
After this beautiful interaction and post lunch in another primary
school we trekked and reached our destination for the night i.e. Beragarh
Primary School.
Day 5
The day started with intearctions with the students in Beragarh primary
school . It is one of the biggest schools in the area and had really talented
students buzzing with creativity. We trekked for 7 kilometres to reach Bunderi
and had our lunch there. It is a small beautiful town 8 kilometres away from
our final destination Mangli. The below is the picture of the view surrounding
us.
The view in the evening at Mangli
Cultural
Programme in the night at Mangli
The locals not only taught us the traditional dance but also played
their traditional instruments made from various resources within the forest. The
night culminated our stay in Chamba. It was one beautiful day with lot of
learnings of local traditions from the villagers.
Day 6
This was our day of return to Tisa Valley. We listened to various folk
stories followed by a three hour introspection and meditation session to be
done by each of us individually.
The name of the village Mangli comes from the name of the warrior Mangal
Singh. One of the folklore stories behind
the formation of the river near Mangli was, it was formed via the blood drops
of the king when he kneeled there fighting the enemies, hence is a very pious
river and can cure any illness. Another story was of the snake and two men, who
used to go on the hilltop for work and used to play with the snake. One day
they said to the snake, to come and join them home, snake said to carry him on
their shoulders and drop him for a while if it gets too heavy during the going.
The two men carried the snake and dropped him once during the way at a certain
place , where they now have famous ‘Naag Mandir’(The Snake Temple). It was
mesmerizing listening to such stories and post that we did meditation for 3
hours. Everyone took a separate isolated place in the mountain and tried to reflect
on their life, way forward and key learnings from the Shodh Yatra. As I mentioned
before, whisps of fresh air and the beauty of nature cleared my cluttered
thoughts and as I came back from Chamba I had more clarity on the principles of
life and my life goals and a promise to travel and exercise more with every
passing year.
Learnings
from the four teachers:
1.) Learnings from the teacher
within
Embrace and appreciate uncertainty:
In the initial days, I found myself at discomfort of not knowing the unknown and be always focussed on knowing what will be next and be prepared accordingly. The journey of Shodh Yatra taught me to embrace uncertainty and be excited about the unkwown. It was an amazing experience to enjoy different varieties of nature every day and interact with students of different age groups.
Confidence
and moral boost up:
I had doubts before going to Shodh yatra , whether I will be able to
complete the arduous trek and simple living but with every passing day , I not
only felt I am capable but also it gave a moral boost to my confidence and
increased the love for mountains. It taught various lessons of enjoying life
with limited resources.
2)
Learnings from the teacher among peers
The skill of jugaad and holistic management:
There was
lot to learn from all the organizers of our Shodh Yatra who not only assured
all the logistics were in place but also have various alternative in case of
any problem. They made requisite arrangements both in terms of logistics and
hospitality for different alternatives. I clearly remember, how due to landslide
we could not reach a certain area. They not only made arrangements for stay at
an alternative place but also ensured bags reached to us well in time. My
inspiration was Chetan bhai who not only acted as a linking pin between the
Professors and the students but made sure both the parties were on board for
any management decisions taken during days of trek.
The art of interaction with children:
Every day
we visited 2-3 schools and interacted with children to generate ideas that can
solve their local problems. In the initial days of Shodh Yatra, I was amazed
how beautifully my fellow colleagues mixed up with the children and were
successful in making them comfortable to talk to them and share their ideas and
at the same time I could not strike more then an awkward, cold, stranger
communication. I learnt a lot from my peers, specially the art of interacting with students of different age
groups.
The unexpected motivation:
I learnt
a lot from Ms. Nidhi, who was our fellow organiser from Not on Map. It was
inspiring to listen to her stories, how she left her corporate job to explore
her love for travelling and her narration
of her travel stories of Chikmagalur. Also duing also our interaction
session with the Professors, she was always the first to share her experience.
It was amazing to learn from her spirit and her enthusiasm for travel. She was an inspiration, a lively spirit to
talk to throughout the Shodh Yatra.
Learnings
from introspection and reflection:
It was interesting to have sessions on reflection and sharing stories from our respective life. The sessions not only made us reflect on our life decisions but also taught us a lot from the life stories of others. A hearty thanks to Prof. Anil Gupta and Prof. Navdeep Mathur in conducting those discussions smoothly.
3)
Learnings from the teacher in nature:
Clarity
amidst haziness:
Chamba is by far the most beautiful places I have ever visited and it in
all its forms it inspired me to be natural and be as I am. There were moments
when I was just looking at the landscape and there was clarity of thought on
what I wanted to do in my life as I stared at the clouds in front of me.
4) Learnings from the
teacher among common people:
We are
rich yet we are poor, they are poor yet they are rich:
It was Day 4 of our Shodh Yatra and we were coming down after a lengthy
trek and were tried. A local villager approached us with a bucket of apples and
started distributing to everyone. Being a previous resident of Delhi for last
three years, I felt it is a marketing gimmick and he will ask for money after
he has distributed the apples. To my amaze, he brought another bucket of apples
and distributed it amongst the shodh yatris and did not ask for a single penny
in the end. I tried to offer him some money, but he strictly denied so as a
token of respect me and my colleagues took some biscuits and snacks from his kiryana
store. But the incident taught me the richness of their hearts and dirt and
malice of my heart. It made me reflect on what is wealth, who is happy and is
it the right race which I am currently chasing.
Sustenance amidst frugality:
I learnt the art of surviving with limited resources. While it was
difficult in the initial days, but as the days passed by, it was not only
comfortable but also joyful living and enjoying with limited amenities
available. I discovered we appreciate the beauty better, when we are away from
the modern facilities to say unnecessary social handles and other such time
killers.
-Shodh Yatri for life
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