Adventures of Raghu - Camping with Uncle Seher

It was that time of year again! The days were getting longer and warmer with summer vacations fast approaching. Therefore, the only thing on Raghu’s mind was the camping expedition

planned with his Uncle Seher in the coming month.

Raghu was 11 now and since the age of 8, he had spent at least 2 weeks of every summer vacation bag packing in the outdoors with his uncle. They had visited Kodaikanal, Coorg and had even gone to Madhya Pradesh once. This time however, uncle had planned a trip to the Himalayas.

Raghu was thrilled! It was the first time ever he would be visiting the great Himalayas.He had read about them in his text books, heard stories about them from his uncle, seen documentaries on TV, but he had never actually been there. To top it all, travelling with Uncle Seher was really an adventure of its own.

They would just carry basic food items and camping equipment with Uncle always looking to take remote alternate routes. He told umpteen stories on the way and would talk about the flora and history of the place as you walked with him. There was always something to learn when he was around.

Raghu was looking out his window when the phone rang. “Hi Boy!” said Uncle Seher. “Hope you’re ready for the hills!” Raghu laughed back in excitement as Uncle Seher continued - “We’ll be heading to Jalori pass and Sarolsar Lake in the Himalayas the second week of May.

We’ll also do some rock climbing this time so I want you to begin learning some basic knots before we go. We will also be trekking long distances so I want you to start building your stamina. Start running and biking a few hours a day Raghu. We’ll take our own tents and food supplies and will camp each night. The routes I’ve planned are a little out of the way! Pack some swimming gear too. There are plenty of waterfalls on the way! You’ll be happy to know I’m getting Leela along this time Raghu.” Leela was Uncle Seher’s beloved Labrodar that he brought along on trips sometimes. Raghu screeched – “Leela!!!! This is like the icing on the cake. “

Raghu put down the phone and thought to himself - “I’ll start with the Figure of 8, Clove Hitch and bowline knots. I remember uncle once mentioning that they are the most commonly used knots in rock climbing.

Figure of eight knot

I’ll also take my telescope this year and learn to find the different constellations. I remember how we saw a million stars in the night sky when we went camping last year." Hiking shoes, bag pack, mosquito repellant, sleeping bag and woolen clothes lay all around Raghu’s room as he sat day dreaming of the adventure that awaited him. 

Adventures of Raghu - Everest, a dream

Raghu stopped midway, eyes glued to the TV and sat down on the living room sofa. His elder brother, Raj was watching an interesting documentary about Mount Everest on the National Geographic channel. Raghu had read all the facts about Mount Everest in his Geography class at school, but to actually see it in it’s full glory on TV with the dangers people faced to reach the summit was truly a different ball game.

Crossing glaciers, crevasses, ice holes, climbing steep ice hills using ropes – it was one of the most intense physical risks one could take.

“The snow sometimes freezes into ice and breaks apart like a very large crack in the street. When this happens you have to use a ladder to go across the crack. One of these cracks is called crevasse.

You have to be very careful when stepping across a crevasse on a ladder. You do not want to fall. Sometimes a crevasse can be as deep as a tall building. Sometimes you cannot even see the bottom because it is so deep” spoke the TV anchor as they showed people climbing towards the peak. “Wow!” gasped Raghu as he watched breathlessly.

 “I really want to climb Mount Everest one day Raj” said Raghu quietly yet earnestly to his brother once the show had ended. Raj laughed. “Raghu really! Sometimes you have such childish fantasies. You have to build your body, your mind and stamina for it. More than anything it takes tremendous will power and determination. You have to work hard for it, really really hard. That’s why the expression – It’s like climbing mount everest.” Raj smiled and walked away. But Raghu wasn’t joking, he really wanted to climb the summit. But what was he to do? How was he to at least take a step towards his dream?

Raghu went straight to his computer to read more about Everest. ‘After years of dreaming about it and seven weeks of climbing, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, at 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953.

They were the first people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest’, ‘The Nepalese who live to the south of Mount Everest have always known that it was special. They called it Sagarmatha, which is translated variously as "goddess of the sky" and "forehead of the sky." The Tibetans living north of the mountain called it Chomolungma, or “mother goddess of the world” ’ read Raghu aloud.

“But how do I start?” thought Raghu as he read - ‘It doesn’t require 10 years of climbing to attempt Mount Everest. 2-3 years could be enough if you climb very often, including some high climbs. But you should still take your time to learn the skills and practice climbing various mountains around the world. Take a course in rock climbing, practice, climb more difficult walls and tricky sections. Take a class in ice climbing,

join guided expeditions to high mountains, go on an expedition on your own. You’re now ready for Everest.’
“This is going to take time, but I will start with taking up a rock climbing course and practice till I grow older and mother allows me to take up more serious expeditions" promised Raghu to himself.

As Raghu was closing the computer, he eyes caught the last line on the page - ‘Everest shows you the grace of great dreams, fears overcome and triumph following some of the most desperate and trying times. This lesson is perhaps Everest’s most powerful gift to us all, whether actually climbing to the summit or simply reading testimonies of others sitting at home. If you are hoping to experience Everest one day, it’s time to begin. ’ 

Adventures of Raghu - the challenge (Part 3)

Please scroll below for Part 1 and 2....

Two tests passed, just one more left before I can finally meet the chief of the Arsea tribe! I haven’t received any note with the next test though, what could it be?  Were the thoughts passing through Raghu’s  mind as he cycled through the forest on his way back from school. It had been a few days since his night in the forest and he hadn’t heard anything on his next challenge.  Lost in thought, Raghu didn’t realize when suddenly his bike hit a big boulder blocking the path. The path was narrow and he wouldn’t be able to get past it with his bike. “I wonder how this came here! Anyways I guess I’ll have to take the other way home!” thought Raghu as he made a U turn with his bike.

He hadn’t used that route in a long time. He used to love cycling that way a few years back as there was a small beautiful lake that lied in the middle of the forest.  With a variety of birds and trees around the lake, Raghu used to love spending time there. However, some years back a small village had come up in that region, due to which there were now a lot of people around there. Raghu had therefore, slowly changed his route back from school. Remembering his beloved lake in the village, Raghu decided to make a quick stop there. As he started cycling closer to it, he started noticing all kinds of plastic and glass bottles thrown around on the ground.  He stopped his bike and picked up whatever he could see.

As he reached the lake, he felt sad and disturbed at what he saw. On the banks of the lake lay plastic bags, wrappers, fruit and vegetable skins, bottles and other trash. It felt as though the lake were crying for help and the earth suffocating under it all.

Raghu couldn’t just walk away like this, he had to do something. He quickly parked his bike on the side and starting making a few piles of trash. One was of recyclables like plastic bottles and bags, another of glass bottles and one more of all the other trash items he found.

An hour passed, when he noticed a group of young village boys standing and watching him at work. “Hey, come join me!” cried out Raghu to them with a smile. Eager to help, the boys immediately got to work as they automatically started sorting out their own trash into the piles Raghu had made. Soon they were singing, running around to find what they could and even competing with eachother to pick up as many trash pieces as they could! “I found this bottle!”, “I found a banana skin!”, “I found a plastic bag filled with vegetable skins”, “look how I’ve cleaned up this side”. Everyone was laughing and talking and it had turned into a game they all were immensely enjoying!

Little did they realize a few hours had passed and the lake and the forest around it had been completely transformed.

They all jumped into the clean lake for a dip and later sat next to the lake admiring the new found beauty. “This was how I once knew it” said Raghu to them a bit nostalgically. “This is how it will always be from today on.” Said one of the older boys of the group. “We will together ensure that we make people in the village aware of not littering and will have regular clean up drives.” With a high five, Raghu left them and started cycling back home.

He reached home and went straight to his room where Rasiya was waiting for him with an unmistakable glimmer in his eyes. He held a note in his mouth. “WOW! They’ve finally replied back!” cried Raghu as quickly grabbed it and began to read –

“You have passed all three tests. We tested your mind in the first test. We tested your body and physical ability in the second. The last test was that of your heart. You have passed that too.  We wanted to know if you really love the outdoors, if you love it enough to do something about it. And you passed with flying colours for all you did at the lake today! We welcome you to the Arsea tribe.”

Raghu stood there speechless. He felt he wanted to scream with joy!

Adventures of Raghu - the challenge (part 2)

Continued from last time (scroll below for Part 1)

Raghu looked into a hole in his room wall. “All I see in the hole is darkness Rasiya, nothing else.” Rasiya pondered – “The riddle also says people are scared of it and it makes children cry. ” Raghu thought for a moment then cried out “Rasiya, the answer is DARKNESS! It can neither be seen nor heard and can also be found in a mountain cave!” Raghu quickly looked at his watch and started to run towards the door. “So according to the clue I have to meet the chiefs minister at Tiger Hill as soon as it gets dark! Rasiya, I'm leaving. It's 4pm already, it’ll be dark soon." As Raghu started cycling away he shouted back out - "Rasiya, don't come behind me. This is my challenge and i'll face it on my own!"

Tiger Hill was at the southern end of the forest. It was a denser part of the forest with several varieties of trees and birds in the area. A river flowed at the base of the hill where animals came to drink water regularly. 

Raghu parked his bike close to a rock near the river and stood there waiting for the minister. However, minutes turned into hours, dusk turned into the darkness of night time, but no one turned up.

Raghu wasn't sure whether to wait or go back home, but finally decided that he would wait for the minister even if it meant spending the whole night here.

The sky was twinkling with a million stars and the moon was standing in the sky as bright as it could be. However, it was starting to get chillier by the minute. Raghu decided it was time to make himself comfortable out here in the forest. He used his torch, that was always in his bag for emergencies and started looking on the ground for twigs and dried leaves that he could use to create a tinder nest to set up a fire. He then started gathering bigger pieces of wood, which he lay together on the ground, a little distance from a tree. An hour later, he was ready to start a fire. He made a hole in a branch, in which he inserted a stem and started vigorously rubbing to create a spark. After a few minutes of continuous rubbing, smoke started coming out of the hole and the tinder nest next to it caught fire.

He dropped the tinder nest into the pile of logs, and within a few minutes had a beautiful fire blazing in front of him. Raghu had learnt to make a fire at school and was happy that he could use this skill today!

Raghu sat near the fire and rubbed his hands together, enjoying the warmth.

His stomach rumbled. It was dinner time and he was really hungry. As he sat thinking of food, he looked up to see a rugged looking man walking towards him. With his muddy face and ragged clothes, yet strong built body, he seemed like he lived in the forest. The man didn't speak at all, but quickly opened a small sack he was carrying and took out two raw fishes from it. Raghu smiled. It was just what he needed right now! The man put a stick through each of the fishes and began to fry it on the fire. Thirty minutes later he took it off the fire, minced one of the fishes into pieces and handed it to Raghu on a leaf. Raghu hungrily fed on the fish. They were a bit bland but were soft and delicious. He really couldn't ask for more.

After eating, the man quickly got up and began to search for twigs, dried leaves and branches. Raghu joined him and they worked together to put up a small shelter for the night.

It was nearing 10pm. Raghu was tired after the whole day and quickly fell asleep in the small shelter the man and him had created. The man sat near the fire, watching Raghu fall off to sleep.

In the morning, Raghu found a note laying near him. It read -

"You have passed the second test of survival in the outdoors."

Raghu started laughing with joy. "Oh my god, that rugged looking man was the minister!!!" he shouted looking up to the sky. He picked up his bike and began cycling back home as he hummed a tune!

Adventures of Raghu - the challenge

Raghu had always been an avid lover of the outdoors. Life for Raghu was an adventure. Having been brought up in a little town adjoining a forest, Raghu was always out on the prowl. His mother could hardly keep up with him and his notorious ways. 12 years old now, while other kids were busy playing video games, reading books or playing in the playground, Raghu would pick up his bike and be on his way into the forest to explore the wilderness, climb trees, make wild friends and dwell deeper into the secrets of the outdoors.

Today morning, Rasiya, a spectacled cobra and Raghu’s dearest companion came rushing in through the hole in Raghu’s room wall. Raghu had made this secret hole in his room wall an year ago. It connected to the garden outside, through which Rasiya could easily slither in. It was a well- kept secret which only Raghu and Rasiya knew. “They’ve given out the first clue Raghu! Here is the leaf they have written it on!” squealed Rasiya as he gasped for breath. “Really! “ cried out an excited Raghu as he jumped to grab the leaf from Rasiya’s mouth.

It had been a month since Raghu was biking home one evening and had suddenly noticed a man with long hair and a big beard, streaks across his face, swinging across tree branches. “Was it really possible? Was there really a Tarzan?” was the first thought that had crossed Raghu’s mind! He had quickly parked his bike and run towards the voices he heard. They were wild calls, hooting sounds and noises of clapping. There he had seen a large group of human looking people with strange marks on their faces. He had later discovered that they were the Arsea tribe members. He had kept a close watch on them ever since and been absolutely fascinated by their physical abilities.

They could swing from tree to tree, jump in ways no humans could, climb trees like large lizards, make strange yet wondrous sounds and roam freely in the forest like any other animal. Their major food was also only honey!

Raghu had so badly wanted to be a part of the tribe and learn their ways since then. He had tried to meet the chief of the tribe to become a part, but the chiefs men would not let him get past them. They detested people from town and spoke rather harshly with Raghu. It was Rasiya who had then intervened and spoken to them of how Raghu had helped many animals and beings in the forest. This had opened them up to giving Raghu a fair chance. They had challenged Raghu to three tests. If he passed, they promised they would let him meet the chief.

Today they had sent a message on a leaf to Raghu through Rasiya. It carried in it a riddle -

“They’re scared of me but I don’t know why

I’ve made so many children cry!

I cannot be seen, I cannot be heard

But you can find me in a hole or mountain cave. Now isn’t that absurd?”

Below it was another line in bigger letters -

Come meet me, the chief's minister, at the answer near Tiger hill.