Hymns of the Mountains - Darjeeling (Part 3)

The cup of Darjeeling tea still lingers in my senses a nostalgia. It's like a dream I would love to wake up every morning to.  

A Hero's tale

Time in the mountains seem to pass by fast. It was already late afternoon, when we were done with our lunch. During the period when we were cherishing momos and vegetable stew, was accompanied by breath taking tales of the Kargil war. Mr. Siddhart's narration had teleported us to the snow clad dry mountains which played host to one of the gruesome battles in modern Indian history. Echos of ceaseless gunshots reverberated in our ears. He told us how Indian armed forces had to struggle to recapture those posts.

He explained while sipping on his hot chicken soup, " We were a part of the reinforcement troops. We were told that we would be relieved once the backup force arrived. But it did not happen as such..."

His eyes drifting to a distant vision of past time and again, staring blankly through the window into the vast expanse of tea gardens down the hill he continued, "It was almost midday when we reached our assigned point in the hills. Soon after bullets came showering at us from the posts above. We took cover behind rocks. Some of our soldiers were hit but none fatally injured. Time passed by and we couldn't advance even a step that day, the Pakistanis were well prepared. Every single move of ours was answered by volley of bullets. And I lost a few good friends that day." .

Tears pooled up amongst his eyelids. An uncomfortable pause followed...

Gathering his composure he resumed, "One of my dear friend from my regiment, sitting a few feet away tried to climb ahead. He had just stepped out of his cover when a bullet snapped straight through his head. He fell back and rolled down a few feet... dead. There was nothing I could have done. The next 24 hours I sat crouched holding tight onto my gun, staring at the corpse of my friend a few feet away."

Silence prevailed among the four of us for a brief moment.
A few minutes later, our conversation went on uninterrupted... He told us how they fought the war and captured the peak. He also narrated how he had to stay put behind rocks in bone chilling conditions with just one cigarette for three days. And how on recapturing the posts they had to cautiously feed the food they found in the camp to dogs first in order to ensure they were not poisoned. And a lot more stories during the day we spent with him.

Indian Soldiers after recapturing point 5140, Dras sector- 1999 ( Kargil war)

A day with Mr. Siddhart and our respect for the men that defend our motherland grew multi-fold. It's an honor to share the identity of being an Indian with these brave people we call soldiers, our brothers.

 Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park

Every new place I visit, I always have a carving for wildlife of that area or sometimes the zoo of the locality. While planning for this trip I had short listed the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park or commonly known as "Darjeeling Zoo" to the locals. A visit to Darjeeling without a visit to the zoo would have been incomplete. So, after lunch we made some time for the wonderful animals that inhabit here. As a naturalist, I had always worried if our next generation would ever get a chance to see the amazing animals that call this country home as their number is dwindling and some are on the verge of extinction.  Among them were two special creatures that I had always desired to see in the wild... I could find them here now. 

The park was established on 14th August, 1958 in an effort to conserve Himalayan fauna through breeding and conservation programmes. It housed numerous animals that are endemic to the Himalayan terrain. The Sun-bear, Himalayan tahr, Yak, Mountain cat, Peasants, Himalayan wolf, Himalayan Salamander, Tragopan etc to name a few. But the ones that I carved for were the most illusive ghost of the mountains, "Snow Leopard" and the legendary "Red Panda". 

The Red Panda

We took our tickets and went in. The ticket's cost was very minimal. We made our way in eagerly stopping by every enclosure to have a look. I also took the chance to click some picture. A little ahead, uphill towards the left was the Red Panda enclosure. I had to scan across the fencing to find one, because they are kind of lazy and dormant animals who spent a lot of time either munching on foliage or sleeping. I found one on a branch overhead, dozing in and out of it's deep slumber. It's pointed ears, the reddish brown and black furry coat gave it a very cuddly appearance. My heart sank at the thought that there are very few of these beautiful creature left in the wild and might disappear completely from the face of the earth, even before we know of it.

Ahead in the carnivore enclosure area I found the other one... Snow Leopard. The day was overcasted and animals seemed to be lazing around that day. At the corner of the caged paddock on a wooden platform sleeping calmly flickering it's tail was this magnificent creature. My eyes went a little moist as I knew I might not ever be able to see this in the wild. It's body was snow white with speckles of grey all over, a perfect camouflage for the snow covered mountain terrain it inhabits. As if it knew I was staring at him, it opened it's eyes slightly and stared straight back at me... " I know you are eyeing me, even I have an eye on you."  . This moment would have been different if it were in the wild. But that was a wild dream, chasing it would take a lot. But deep in my heart I knew I would without a second thought take that chase anyday...

Darjeeling Zoo spans across 70 acres of land on the hilly slope and houses a diversity of wild animals and we cherished the time spent with them. Once it also housed two Siberian Tigers gifted to Government of India by Soviet statesman Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev in 1960, but now they are no more.

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

At the rear end of the Darjeeling zoo is the Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering. This was founded by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (the then Prime minister of independent India) in 1954 in order to promote and encourage mountaineering among the youth. The center of attraction is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Museum. It has three wings i.e. the Mountaineering History section, Mount Everest Expedition section and the Panorama of Himalayan Life section. The large hallway leads upstairs to ornately arranged rooms displaying different sculptures, equipments, landscape models and a wide variety of Himalayan and mountaineering artifacts.  Thrills and challenges that the early mount climbers faced reflects in the displays. Their achievements are proudly exhibited through photographs and newspaper headlines.

The hills remained unaware of  clouds floating across the lake of crystal blue sky. And this place among the hills was no exception. The sun playing hide and seek amongst the clouds casted interludes of lights and darkness over the peaks. The air felt cold on our skins when the light faded. Standing in the courtyard of the Mountaineering Institute when I glanced around , I could feel the world go black and white. Time took a pause. My thoughts lost in those stolen moments of the distant past. The moment felt surreal .... and it never ever crossed my path again.

Walking around we came across this engraving on a wall, which had depicted a mountaineer helping his fellow mate to climb a peak. It had a writing to it's left, "May you climb from peak to peak". A slogan that had encouraged many young hearts to conquer these summits and explore these mystic mountains.

After spending some time in it's courtyard, we decided to move on as it was getting dark.

Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda 

Peace is what accompanies you all along while in these mountains. The people here seemed to have evolved in a manner that reflects the serenity of the place on their calm and jovial countenance. Among all the religions that have flourished in these lands, the one that has left an undying mark is Buddhism. Next that we decided to visit was the Japanese temple and Peace Pagoda located on the outskirts of the township of Darjeeling.

The Jalapahar hill area is just a few minutes drive from the town. It is here on the slopes amongst the tall alpine trees that the Temple and Pagoda are nestled. It's crested locale provides a panoramic view of Darjeeling and the Kanchenjunga mountains. Vehicles were not permitted in it's premises, thus we had leave behind our car down the slope and climb up the narrow road uphill that led to the temple. The two storied white tainted temple was built in 1972, by Fujii Guruji, the founder of Nipponzan Myohoji ( a Buddhist order for world peace). The temple was designed and built as per traditional Japanese style and is also known among the locals as Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist temple.

Peace Pagoda

100 yards to the left of the temple towers the Peace pagoda 30 meters above the alpine tree line. It was opened in November, 1992 though it's foundation stone was laid back in 1972 by Nichidatsu Fujii. As per Lotus Sutra of Buddhist belief, Peace pagodas are embodiment of Lord Buddha that radiates peace and non-violence. True to their belief a mist of peace and serenity enveloped the eternal lands. Two flight of stairs lead to the Parikrama circle of the Pagoda, which are guarded by two majestic golden concrete lion statues. Ornately carved on the four faces of the pagoda are the four avatars of Buddha. The tranquil expression on golden effigies facing the four direction imparted a feeling of quietude into the hearts of every soul that laid eyes on them. We made the parikrama around the pinnacle of the dome, all the while studying the intricately sculpted artwork on sand stone depicting the events in Buddha's life like "the gift of mango groove by Amrapali to Vaishali" and "the great departure of Siddhart".   By the time our parikrama came to an end, a settle humm from the temple permeated the premises. Drawn by it we walked into the temple.

A monk playing the Ho ko

Following the reverberations, we walked up the stairs of the temple. The central hall on the second floor had two entrance. The rhythmic sounds resonating in the room came from the a large drum, which was played by a monk who complemented the beats with synchronized words that composed the prayers he was offering. We were transfixed for a moment. As if he noticed us standing at the doorway, without breaking his state of trances he gestured to take our place in the prayer hall. Red velvet carpet was spread across the entire wooden floor. On the mat across the prayer retable were spaciously placed small hand held drums along with drum sticks. A dozen of them were arranged neatly. The monk looked at us and smiled as if asking us to join him. We obliged. Taking our respective seats we followed his lead. None of us had ever played a drum but to our surprise within just a few minutes our hands had synchronized with the rhythm of the large prayer drum he was playing called "Ho-ko". Serenity tinkled from every little sound that suffused the space. We molded in. Time passed by and our unaware minds kept flowing with those words into the distant mountains. Charmed, captivated... enlightened.

Finally after a while the prayers came to a tapering halt as words lost voice and strength. But the thrum persisted. As we stood up to leave, the monk called us up to him handed us a few granules of sugar balls and whispered...
"May the peace be always with you. Let Buddha guide your path."