Aah Himalaya...

Paul Brunton, the seeker-saint who found his peace with Ramana Maharishi, once famously remarked about the Himalayas, "The Hindus carry this admiration for a mountain even farther than we Europeans and Americans do--they revere it. Gods live on or within it in non-physical bodies; yogis find it the proper place for their meditations; it is indeed holy territory."

Balad, at over 6500 feet, may not be perched at the height of some of the lofty places where Brunton felt his "Overself" speak to him, but it does offer a view of the Himalayas that hushes you into reverential silence.

If you take the time to walk slowly among the Kuamaon pine forests, growing tall and sure, at seemingly precarious angles on the sloping hills, you might hear, somewhere between lilting swallows and burbling brooks, the whisper of your own Overself.

I spent the last weekend with friends at a place aptly named "Aah Himalayas" (AH, see pic below and you'll know why :-)

If location is everything, Aah Himalaya is It.

(View from Verandah of AH on a clear day, pic courtesy Sai Krishna)

AH has everything one could ask for in the hills - from round-the-clock running hot water to staff who aim to please (within limits, of course). We had kerala appam and stew for breakfast one morning, watching the Himalayas, with MS's trademark Suprabhatam rounding off the awesome south-north-south, taste-sight-sound mix :-)

It's a private home, but Noida-based owners Aparna and Sai Krishna Rajagopal do rent it out to small groups for home stays. You can check out the basic info on AH here.

You can also get in touch with Aparna at rajagopalaparna@gmail.com

I'm not going to get into all the nitty-gritties of how to get there, what it will cost, etc. in this entry, but here's a link to a newspaper article that is quite comprehensive on all these counts. (before you rush to pack your bags, however, you may want to check latest train timings and current tariffs with the owners.) (Pic: AH after a fresh shower, photo courtesy Sai Krishna)

That out of the way, let me share some of my experiences and musings from my weekend in Balad:

Running in the hills is exhilirating; the first few hundred meters uphill leaves you winded, , but once you settle into your rhythm, its the views that take your breath away; mountainsides covered in amazing shades of green, tree tops at the same height as your feet pounding the road, rolling clouds creating fresh skyscapes every few minutes and other such delightful sights.

I've run in Balad before, training for a middle distance run in Leh, a couple of years back. What made this time special was my running partner, Ajay. (smacking his lips in the picture below :-) Again, the hills seem to have an penchant for apt nomenclature and Ajay, blissfully unaware of the uniqueness of canine name, lives up to it in full measure.

His face bear's witness to the gruesome run in he had with some langurs a couple of years back. Thought unlikely to survive the mauling, with much of the right side of his face hanging out, one eye nearly out of its socket, animal lover Aparna recalls the grim sight. "We got his wounds cleaned and dressed up, but never thought he'd make it," she says. But with grit befitting "Ajay", "He who cannot be conquered" returned the brink of death beating the maggot infestation odds. Now he accompanies guests at AH on their foot sojourns into the mountains, graciously accepting a pat and a snack upon return to base.

Himalayan birds, like much of the flora and fauna here, come in an astonishing variety. From many kinds of swallows to jet black drongos to sparrows and grouse, the Kumaon hills are home to a wide palette of feathered beauties.

Salim Ali's tome on Himalayan birds (available to browse in the well stocked AH library) offers a peek into the hidden lives of these ariel minstrels. The swift and graceful Barn Swallows, I learnt, build nests of mud and hay, in rafters of homes where available (see AH verandah picture below), eat flying insects (which we saw first hand) and both sexes share domestic duties.

If you're a keen bird watcher, I'm sure you'll spot a whole lot more in and around the estate than i did, with my novice-eye.

AH itself is a home built mostly out of wood and stone and unless you take your own noise with you (read kids :-), it offers the sort of natural, peaceful vibrations that can bring stillness to the most agitated city mind. The aromatic diffusers placed in each room are often loaded with camphor and a soothing balm imbues the whole house.

If however, you prefer to delve into the depths of your being while sitting under the vast open sky, you can pick a nice spot under a large pine tree in the reserve forest nearby, like I did. As my body stilled, followed by my breath and finally, my mind, I felt the great silence emerge from within, utterly complete in itself.

I've had a similar experiences on an earlier visit to Balad, when a friend and I took a half hour tough trek up to the temple of the loyal deity, called Bhoomiya. On that occasion, we sat quietly in front of the small shrine and being the only visitors at the time, proceeded to close our eyes and let the Himalayan atmosphere lull us deeply into ourselves.

Sunday afternoon and a great sense of loss enveloped me as we began the journey down, back to Delhi. The fact that I was returning to the hustle-bustle of mundane life had, no doubt, a role to play in this, but this time around, the feeling of taking leave of my true self was greater than ever before.

I found solace in Brunton's wisdom again. "Use solitude but do not abuse it," he said. "I believe in rhythm, in withdrawal only if followed by activity, in solitude only if followed by society, in self-centered development only if social service is its later complement, in spirituality only if nicely balanced by materiality.

Aah well... :-) cheers!