People and Flowers

 As my friend and colleague B was busy with her school, I could go out only one day of my four days' stay- the day Esther took me to the Kullu fair at Dhalpur. All the pictures except the Fair pictures and the ones in which I am there at Kullu church, were taken from a moving bus on the way there.

Kullu is lower than Manali and warmer. Manali flanks the East and West banks of River Beas and is the main city of the state of Himachal Pradesh. The highest parts of the state are at Lahaul and Spiti,  height there is 24000 feet OSL.

There are five schools and a medical facility where Doctor Laji's team  carry out surgery - all kinds,  as and when necessary(!),  at Spiti,  but no college.  No industry - government investment is only for irrigation - water is very very scarce (people use newspaper to clean themsleves and they do not flush) and roads. Dr Laji thinks one could start sundrying fruits or training centres there or perhapshigh altitude surgical training camps and high altitude sports training facility to energise local enterprise, but the rest of the country like me are not even aware of what it is like in the mountains! The pictures of Lahaul and Spiti in Dr's computer looked like dream territory to me - the kind you see in your dreams when you are troubled but never want to be in. Cold desert.

I was eager to go see the school where they said they would like to start dcumentation of the Primary years program, but could not go this time as roads are still blocked and a detour through Rampur and Rekong Peo would have taken 10 hours with a night halt at Rampur. Maybe someday,  if I can find a travel mate I will go back.

It is difficut to do these places alone as there are no ATMs, no organized night shelters or transport and people are just like the surroundings : remote,different.

Manali is full of displaced Kashmiris and roadside wild bushes weighing down with the weight of roses - hundreds and thousands of them and to think down in the plains to grow one piddly little one we have to labour for months!

Anyway, since Dr Laji is very keen that I go back,  teach, train staff  sometime at the Hospital School, I might  next year. Dr Laji and wife are the people that  ran the hospital (Lady Wellingdon) (popularly thay call it the Mission hsopital) at Manali in their prime and now run medical camps at all high altitude locations in the Himalayas and some schools.

If you go to Manali, do visit the hot spring at Vashisht, 20 rupee auto drive up town. Rohtang pass higher up is visitable too in good weather. Jeeps to Spiti are like 8000 rupees per trip. Very expensive, but bus service is there, once a day.

People buy Kashmiri zardosi worked shalwar suit pieces, Kashmiri chinon sarees and Kullu shawls. Walnuts, hazelnuts, sun dried apricots, apples, strawberries etc are popular with Indian tourists  as these are rare in the plains.

Roads are good. Night buses run from Delhi starting from the backyard of Chandralok Building (opposite Imperial Hotel off Janpath road) that houses the HTDC.  The first Volvo service starts at 1830 p.m. If you start at 1830 hours in the evening you reach Manali in the morning around 9 or 10 a.m. Private vehicles are also organized by the Himachal Ttourism office (011 2332 4764). Season is now.