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For the best view of four of the five highest peaks in the world head to SandakphuSandakphu may not ring a bell for many travellers. But for the inveterate adventure seeker or the bona fide trekker, it is the ultimate destination. Tucked away in the eastern edge of India in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal is this tiny hamlet atop the eponymous peak, the highest peak in the state. So what makes Sandakphu so special? The climb to the highest point of this hill station situated at an altitude of 3,636m promises you a sight that will leave you gasping. The arduous trek that takes three to four days to reach the point is well worth the never-before sight of Nature in all its glory. Located to the northwest of Darjeeling town, the trek to Sandakphu packs one memorable adventure. This 32 km adventure trail along the Singalila Range is actually considered a beginner’s trek, the best place for a first-time adventure tourist to begin. One of the most beautiful terrains for trekking, the best time for the Sandakphu experience is April-May (spring) and October-November (post monsoon). But the stark beauty of snow-covered Sandakphu in the harsh winter months is something that only the most experienced trekkers dare to experience. To reach Sandakphu, one has to begin a 12-hour trek from Maneybhanjang, known as the Gateway to Singalila and Sandakphu. It takes four days to reach Sandakphu on foot. The best way to reach the tiny hamlet is via the hill town of Darjeeling. Maneybhanjang is about 26 km from Darjeeling by road. Travellers can opt to take public transport (shared jeeps or buses) upto Sukhiapokhri which is a one-hour drive from Darjeeling and from there change to another onward going transport up to Maneybhanjang. Trekkers can use this latter stretch as a warm-up leg, as Maneybhanjang is a 4km trek from Sukhiyapokhri.
Maneybhanjang, a hamlet on the border of India and Nepal, is situated at the height of 2,150m. Tourists can take a jeep safari in a Land Rover, a relic of the British Raj, to Sandakphu or Singalila National Park from here. If so inclined, break your journey and spend the night at one of the friendly lodges or home-stays. You can check out the Tibetan monastery and the quaint bazaar the next morning before proceeding to Sandakphu. Starting a trek early in the morning is always advisable. If you can leave Maneybhanjang at the crack of dawn, the tea break at Chitrey at around 6am will be rejuvenating. Breakfast can be had at Meghma, a small village; this will come as much-needed relief after the steep three-and-a-halfhour climb up the 7km stretch. It takes another 2km walk to reach Tonglu, one of the peaks of the Singalila Range at an altitude of 3,070m. Meghma Tea House, a small eatery, takes care of the hunger pangs and also offers accommodation. In Tonglu there is a Trekker’s Hut. For those wanting to break journey for a view of the valleys of Nepal, plains of Bengal, the snow-fed Teesta River, Koshi and a number of smaller rivers dotting the bird’s eye view from the peak, a night stay at Tonglu is recommended.
The downhill walk from Tonglu takes the trekker to Gairibas situated at 2,621m. After walking continuously for two hours covering a distance of 9km, through bamboo glades, one reaches Gairibas. From here the climb begins through the charming rhododendron forests to reach Kalipokhri, which is a further 6km trek. It takes around three hours to reach the ‘black pond’, named so because of its black water which does not freeze even on the coldest day. The next stop is Bhikeybhanjan or the Valley of Poison. The valley has got its name from the poisonous aconite plants that grow in abundance here. The weary trekker can have lunch and take a nap before the last lap to the final destination. The last leg to Sandakphu is a steep 4km trek.But the path is so picturesque that it makes the effort worth the pain. In spring, a walk through the forests promises a vista of trees heavy with blooming rhododendrons, giant magnolias, spruce and orchids. Sandakphu is the only spot in the world to boast of silver fir forests, and 600 varieties of orchids. From this vantage point, a visitor can have a never-before view of four of the five highest mountain peaks of the world—Mt Everest, Makalu, Kanchenjunga and Lhotse.
Sandakphu means height of the poison plants, i.e. the aconites flowering on the highest peak in Darjeeling. The aconite flowers are in vibrant shades of purple and yellow, their beauty taking away some of the sting. There are a couple of private lodges and a Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Trekker’s Hut at the village atop the summit. The best time for this once in a lifetime panoramic date with Nature is early dawn. Step outdoors and stand on the hilltop. In the foreground you will see the deep basin with thick vegetation and pops of bright colours—the rhododendrons growing on the slopes. At the back, rise the mountains, impenetrable. The towering Kanchenjanga with her attendant peaks Kabru, Pandim and Kumbhkaran, and the graceful Everest dominate the whole range of mountain peaks. The ranges of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan form 320 km of an unbroken snow barrier but they are dwarfed by the mighty Kanchenjanga and the beautiful Everest. Smaller snowy ranges fill up the space between the two giants.
As the sunlight strikes Sandakphu, the white peaks of the Everest family in the West in Nepal, 160 km from where you stand, become awash in the red-gold hue of the sun. The Everest (20,029 ft) rises in all its glory above the valleys and ridges. You can also see the fifth-highest peak, Mt Makau (27,825 ft), rising like a huge snow pyramid, along with Mt Chamlang (24,006 ft) and Mt Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak at 27,940 ft, further west towards Nepal behind the ranges of the Everest family. Look to your east beyond the great Kachenjunga and you will see Narsing, Donkya, Chola and Chumalhari ranges that form the Tibetan frontier. The red glow of the sun adds a halo to the mountains that look like a crown of snow reaching up in the sky. Their beauty is indescribable. Trekkers may opt to continue further to Phalut, another 23 km from Sandakphu, and camp at Singalila Pass or stay at the trekker’s hut there. Phalut Summit, the tri-junction of Sikkim, Nepal and West Bengal, provides an aweinspiring view of the snow-clad Kanchenjunga peak, which is just 48 km from this point. The scenery in the company of the silent yaks is a moment to treasure and is etched in the mind forever.
Coming back to Sandakphu, for those who opt for the four-wheeled ride to the hamlet, there is still much to savour on the way back. Drive through the Singalila National Park, which is one km from Tumling, a small hamlet two km from Tonglu. Tumling is more popular with the trekkers than Tonglu as it offers better lodging facilities. Situated at 9,600 ft, this village of Nepal is inhabited by just about 10-15 Nepali families. There is no border restriction and the village offers a beautiful view of both the Kanchenjunga and the Sandakphu peaks.
Indian democracy failed in several ways this year, and the most affected were the bills they passed which should have reached the implementation stage but instead have reached a standstill. Probably FDI is the one thing that seems to be working, but if you look at the other bills like the Foreign University Bill, nothing has happened to it. There is no atmosphere of accountability. The number of people who were implicated in the various scams, nothing happened to them. They got caught and in a few days you saw that they were back to their work. This arrogance of certain people is going beyond any accountability. There is a certain amount of bankruptcy in the political scenario today. Is there anyone there who is sitting back thinking about what it is doing to the country? Such is the situation, that when I think about a sector that seems to be growing, I can't think of anything. As we look forward to taking a new turn in 2014, there seems to be a general feeling that the chaos will continue. And I wish there was one person in who I could see the future, one person who had the guts, the honesty, the vision and the ethics required to take this country forward. The names that have emerged in the current times are no good. I have got serious doubts about them. Nevertheless, I am still a die hard optimist, I still see hope. What we are doing at the moment is trying to rewrite the blueprint of medical healthcare in India. What we dream of is to end the fragmentation that exists in the society. In terms of healthcare, at least, each individual rich or poor, should get the same treatment. That is not happening at the moment, but we are working towards it. However, I must say what did encourage me this year was that Government tripled the healthcare budget. This is has given me tremendous hope.
The past year has been a mixed bag of highs and lows. The education sector has shown a lot of promise, more so in rural and semi-rural areas. Government and civil organisations have worked together seamlessly especially to educate the girls. Unfortunately, one cannot say the same about the health sector. We are seeing it deteriorate over the years. Growing up we visited local civil hospitals, which had good doctors and equipment to handle emergencies. Today the same health centres are in a far worse condition and people are forced to visit private practitioners. If our healthcare sector had kept up, today those civil hospitals should have been good enough for the rural population. What really alarms me is the rise of crime and abuse against women, the pressure to dilute section 498A. And instead of being on a decline, the past few years has seen a rise in female infanticide. And you have seen the problems of a skewed gender ratio. When it comes to a name that stands out for me for the future, I do not really believe that icons take a country forward. In a democratic world, it is the will largely shared by the majority of the population that takes a nation forward. If we fall into the trap of chasing an icon, then we become retrograde and pile all our hopes and desires on one person and expect him or her to fulfill it. Having said that, an idea that has worked well for the country is the Right to Information Act. Coupled with the Panchayati Raj, if the two can be matched together, it will pressurise the total representatives to work everywhere. To me democracy is about transparency and answerability.
I am an artist and I know nothing about politics. As far as my understanding of things goes, democracy by definition is of the people; it is about the voices of the masses. Truth be told, these voices are not being heard by the government of this country. Most people running our country are corrupt and have their own ulterior motives in joining politics. It won’t be incorrect to say, after seeing the number of scams that have happened in the past few years, that the common man has lost respect for politicians and has become confused about the future of the country. Everything is money-driven; ethics and values are mere words. When I think about the one particular sector that has shown progress in the past year, I can only think of ‘Money’ (to sum it up in one word). Commerce hasn’t suffered too much from the vagaries of fortune. On a completely different note, I thought Anna Hazare—before he went haywire—did show some spark and promise. We are a nation of billions, and we need to focus on all sectors equally, be they healthcare, education, law or the arts. But most important of them all is education, which is rooted to our country and its ethos. The second important area of focus should be conservation of nature and water. All this is achievable only if we have leaders who are honest, clean, committed and concerned about the people. When I think about the millions of scams this country has been witnessing I feel let down as a citizen. There was another personal tragedy where the artist in me felt let down. On the 1st of March, 2012, my steel sculpture was broken down in Bhilai, Chattisgarh, without my consent. Such an act is unacceptable. But if there were dark days, there were also celebratory moments. I felt really proud and happy when our sportspeople won medals in the London Olympics. Those were perhaps the best moments of the year.
When I look at the state that our country is in today, I feel that despite all the slogans against poverty and corruption, nothing really is happening. Much more needs to be done to alleviate the sufferings of the poor in villages and in cities. The money that is stashed in Swiss Banks needs to be brought back to the country. Though I must admit I don't know much about politics, I am still disappointed by the committees and associations of various institutes. The political scenario does not look good but the when it comes to the field of arts, I think we are doing well. There are certain Gurus and Ustads who have been doing good work, specially in classical field. I believe that we need to lay emphasis on our tradition, art and culture. Our inheritance is our strength and we should preserve it and take it forward. If we try to promote things that are not positive or traditional, it leaves a bad impression on our youth. Therefore, traditional institutions should be highlighted for a better and brighter future. The lack of dance departments in major universities of the country is very disheartening. Students come from all over the world on scholarships to learn about Indian tradition through our classical dance forms, but later they do not get enough career opportunities because of lack of good universities to employ them. This is not a pleasant scenario. However, we are putting all our efforts towards changing the situation. I want to encourage more and more people towards learning the classical dances. Recently, I have been extremely busy taking workshops all over the world. I have been frequenting countries like USA, Singapore, Bangladesh and South Africa to teach the children Indian traditions through dance.
Seeing the Indian middle-class rise despite all the economic and democratic battles was one uplifting point of 2012. I see the Indian middle-class as a strange anomaly. They want democracy without practising their democratic right; most of them are not that eager to exercise their universal franchise. Despite all the naysayers, a lot of young politicians have their hearts in the right place. What they choose to do depends on opportunities that they receive. Akhilesh Yadav seems to be going great—he would be an interesting politician to watch out for in 2013. With the government and civil organizations, India has done better and better as far as the literacy rate is concerned. If you put it under a scanner, no particular sector has done really “well”, but then IT and education has shown promise. When I think about the future, and in my own areas of interest, I can barely think of anyone exciting to collaborate with. As a filmmaker, I am always looking for interesting people to work with. But they do not make people like Satyajit Ray anymore. My association with the stalwarts such as him has spoilt me. But the rise of vernacular is uplifting, and the regions of India have produced quite a few interesting writers. With the year coming to an end, I find myself looking back upon it with mixed emotions. In 2012, though India bypassed calamities, I was deeply disturbed by Sandy, the storm which struck America. In this flat world of ours, we have friends and family scattered all over. A tragedy that strikes anywhere impacts people everywhere. On a personal level, I would say that I am eagerly awaiting a retrospective of my work which would be shown in an international film festival. That would be the high point of the year for me. Revisiting my older film projects would be nostalgic.
What a year this was—scams galore. Somewhere in this dismal “scamscape” a sector within the Indian democratic system showed great promise—the judiciary. The way in which it handled matters with clarity, transparency and fairness was heartening for me as I have been a participant of the Indian legal fraternity. My vote for that sector which shows promise goes for the social justice system. A democratic system cannot stress enough on making the legal framework stronger and I believe that India will continue to shine in this regard. On a social angle, I saw the government working tirelessly towards the abolition of child malnutrition and that was an encouraging sign. However, the best moment of the year for me happened far away from Indian shores and was Barack Obama's re-election as the President of the USA for his second term. On the flipside, the political class of the country managed to disappoint in the past year. Not just the voters, but the country watching them. It would, however, be erroneous to believe that the political class is corrupted. Such a sweeping statement not only demoralises people, it also serves no purpose. There are participants such as Arun Jaitley who show promise. As long as we allow our democratic system to function I believe we could get a lot done. Alas, stalling Parliament for an entire monsoon session does not allow a lot to get done. Perhaps in 2013, we will see a change. On a personal front, I am looking forward to completing Voices of Dissent in the following year. The book will highlight dissenting judgments of the Supreme Court which have subsequently been accepted as “correct” by the court, which is conducive to progressive jurisprudence.
EXACTLY a year ago, Democratic World (or DW) was launched in its English language avatar and in the 12 months since, has grown and expanded in directions that perhaps even we had not expected. When I look back at the year gone by, what comes to mind are the faces of all the people who have appeared in our pages and the inspiring stories and thoughts that they have shared with the readers of DW. In a way, this editorial is also a thank-you note to all those who gave of their time, allowed us to take endless photographs and opened their doors to our writers—especially in the first few issues, when we were still in the process of carving out our niche in the world of publications. So far, we have tried to keep our selection of stories as ‘democratic’ as possible, widening the meaning of the word to include people from all walks and spheres of life. In the pages of DW, you will find political and business leaders, writers and painters, social workers and sportspeople, lawyers and doctors. We have faithfully taken opposing views on burning issues and stayed true to the vision that voices from every corner of society have a right to be heard. This last year has also been a time of introspection and we are aware that we still have a lot to learn. In forthcoming issues, we are committed to making our content cover a wider range of subjects and delve deeper into their nuances. To do that, we would also need your help and participation; so write in to us, comment on our work and send your suggestions our way. The year has ended with a few dramatic happenings, both here in India and in the larger world. Barrack Obama has been elected for a historic second term and Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attack, has finally been dealt the death penalty. At the Olympics, India came home with more medals than ever before and Sachin Tendulkar hit his 100th century. Here at DW we always tend to keep our focus on the positive stories which hold out hope for the future. It’s an approach we have consciously adopted because while we know that there is a lot that is wrong with the world around us, we also believe that there are many people who are fighting to bring about a positive change. In 2013, we hope to bring you more stories and interviews with such people. Before I close, I also want to express my abiding gratitude to my father, the late Mr Ashok Kumar Malhotra; Democratic World is a direct outcome of his vision and efforts and I hope that he is looking down at us with a sense of accomplishment and pride in our efforts. I wish you all a Happy New Year.
ELECTION \\ US President Barack Obama returned for a second term at the White House after an initially close-run battle against Republican Mitt Romney. Heads of state broadly welcomed Obama’s election to a second term in the White House but urged him to play a leading role in issues such as boosting the economy, solving climate change and improving relations with the Arab world. Speaking at the end of the campaign, Obama looked briefly emotional as he thanked “all those who have lived and breathed the hard work of change”. Barack Obama’s master stroke was to repeat the demographic strategy of 2008: win over the Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, youth and educated women. Another Obama ace was the ‘get out and vote’ exercise, which disproved the assumption that Democratic voters would be reluctant to turn up. The outreach programme consisting of phone calls, Twitter updates, messages and door-knocking brought out the so-called unenthusiastic Democrats in the swing State of Ohio, for example, which usually decides who becomes the President of the United States.
OBITUARY \\ In 2012, Bollywood became that much poorer as several veterans of the Hindi film industry breathed their last. Some of the bigger names included veteran character artist AK Hangal, actor and wrestler Dara Singh, veteran actress Achla Sachdev, satirist and actor Jaspal Bhatti, and superstar Rajesh Khanna. Khanna was a Bollywood actor, film producer and politician, who was referred to as the “original superstar” of Indian cinema. He earned these titles following 15 consecutive solo hit films in the 1970s, a record that remains unbroken. One of the most famous and popular Indian directors, Yash Chopra, also breathed his last in the September of 2012. He was known as the king of romance, a title he earned for his epic romances which he brought to the screen either as producer or director. The action thriller Deewar was one of his well-known projects and is credited with setting Amitabh Bacchan on the path to life-long fame. The Bollywood music industry was hit as well with the death of Pakistani singer Mehdi Hasan. Hasan was one of the best known ghazal singers of our times. Veteran cinematographer Ashok Mehta, too, breathed his last in Mumbai in August. Some luminaries in the world of business and art who breathed their last include SK Khaitan, the chairman of the Khaitan Group; T Samuel, the pioneer of Pocket Cartoons in India; eminent writer and president of the Sahitya Akademi, Sunil Gangopadhyay; Urdu poet Muzaffar Razmi; and the White Revolutionary and Milkman of India, Verghese Kurien. India also mourned the loss of a strong woman, freedom fighter and social activist, Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who breathed her last in July. India’s first woman photo-journalist, Homai Vyarawalla, also died at the age of 98. She started her career in the 1930s and thereafter received notice at the national level when she photographed many political and national leaders, including Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah and Indira Gandhi. At the onset of World War II, she started working on assignments of the The Illustrated Weekly of India magazine, which published many of her iconic black and white images. At the end of November, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray breathed his last, stalling all life in Mumbai, signalling the end of an era of an in Maharashtra politics. On an international level, the world mourned the death of Neil Alden Armstrong, the US astronaut and first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong died at the age of 82. Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel into space, also passed away in July 2012.