{"id":1349,"date":"2010-11-04T13:07:03","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T07:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/archives\/1349"},"modified":"2010-11-04T15:23:59","modified_gmt":"2010-11-04T09:53:59","slug":"the-gerhwal-diaries-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/the-gerhwal-diaries-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Garhwal Diaries – 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

26 October 2010, Delhi, Dehradun<\/strong><\/p>\n

We got rooms in the Doon club! Thanks to Dominic. The \u2018Jehar\u2019 (fresh lime juice) from the Doon club kitchen is supposed to be world renowned but I think it\u2019s overrated. The boys made fun of my humungous suitcase. It can carry a whole town inside it. <\/p>\n

Sandeep, seems to love animals. We were drinking in the balcony and Sandeep was all concentration, watching a bunch of dogs down in the lawns.  He even had his eureka moment and he screamed, interjecting an intense conversation, with \u2018Hey they are having sex! They are having sex!!\u2019<\/p>\n

Sandeep says he sees our faces covered in undies. Because we kept saying \u2018cocky\u2019. <\/p>\n

Raghuram Kalletla reiterates what a big fan he is of T. Rajender, by crackling every now and then with \u201cAction cum direction. Added with perfection\u201d <\/p>\n

We concluded that we had to reach the Forest department office by 8:00 a.m. \u201cBull shit!\u201d I told myself. But I believe in miracles. <\/p>\n

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27th October 2010. Morning. Dehradun.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note to self: Stop looking like a waiter if you want people to stop ordering stuff from you. Or buy a shot gun. <\/p>\n

Feigned self-righteousness is worse than whoring around. <\/p>\n

We reached the forest office. Prateek Panwar, the brains behind the Himalayan Bird Count, is a PR genius. He makes Kiruba look like a weeping amateur. Prateek\u2019s only problem is that he never finishes articulating a thought. Even in public speeches. <\/p>\n

\u201cHello Suman ji! How are you? How is your daugh\u2026. (turns to someone) Sir, Suman is coming here for the second time he is- Ah HELLO! Dolly ji! sir, this is Dolly ji she is an avid bird- ARREY HI!!! How are you\u2026\u201d And so on. I have to admit that organizing such a huge event so well speaks a lot about his team\u2019s capabilities. Awesome shit. <\/p>\n

Sandeep is really happy. Isn\u2019t it amazing what a cute looking woman can do to your day? <\/p>\n

The briefing session started. Suman\u2019s law: in the beginning they all praise. When the shit hits fan, you\u2019ll need Vaseline. Hope the bird count concludes without a hitch. <\/p>\n

Met Dr. Athreya. He discovered a new species of birds in Eaglenest Arunachal Pradesh. Someone asked \u201cSo?\u201d I was dumbstruck. <\/p>\n

Around 1430 hours we loaded all our suitcases and bags on the top of our jeep and left Dun. Seven of us and the driver plus cameras, bazooka sized lens, tripods, and our massive egos: I pity the jeep. <\/p>\n

We just crossed Lakshman jhula. The mountains baby. And there\u2019s Alakananda. Bustling and gurgling as she hurtles down. Raghu is already taking pictures from the jeep that\u2019s doing 40kmph. I hate these point-and-shoot fuckers. <\/p>\n

Note to self: stop saying \u2018I am an amateur photographer.\u2019 You think they don\u2019t know?<\/p>\n

Note to self 2: If one more time someone utters the phrase shutter-speed, kick them in the balls. <\/p>\n

Note to self 3: Fart. But mute it. You can always blame Raghu. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*****************************************************************************************<\/p>\n

27th October 2010. Evening. Enroute to Khirsu. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the remote mountains of Garhwal Himalayas, driving during the day itself is extremely dangerous. We have another four hours to go before we reach Khirsu, our destination. <\/p>\n

I spoke to the DFO to find directions and also to thank him for allowing us to stay in the forest rest-house in Khirsu. Mr. Singh, the DFO, sounded like a nice person.  He added \u2018If the road through Pauri is still there you can come through it or better still, I suggest you come via Srinagar.\u2019 I didn\u2019t quite get the road being there part. *shudder* <\/p>\n

Wait, there\u2019s no road here! It\u2019s submerged in a landslide! Pandey ji, our driver says \u201cthe road from Srinagar to Khirsu is even worse\u201d  We are two inches from a 3000 ft fall. Worse? I wanna go home. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s getting colder. The macho men retorted \u201cWhat cold?\u201d They are even ready to take off their shirts I think. <\/p>\n

We stopped to take a leak. I look up and the sky is ethereal. I have never seen so many stars in my life. It\u2019s like someone took a giant spray-gun and sprayed the stars all over. Zillions of them. <\/p>\n

Dinner in Srinagar. The roti makers from all these food outlets should form a band. The way they slap the dough and clap it on the tawa\u2026 awesome. They can call themselves, um, Roti Riot? No? Okay! <\/p>\n

If you are wondering why no pictures were added to this post, well, we didn\u2019t click any. Except Raghu\u2019s acrobatic-hanging-upside-down-to-take-a-picture-of-the-starry-sky-at-40kmph\u2026 no we shot little else. So wait till I transcribe my notes and publish the next set of diary entries. Thank you. We love you too. <\/p>\n

*****************************************************************************************<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

26 October 2010, Delhi, Dehradun We got rooms in the Doon club! Thanks to Dominic. The \u2018Jehar\u2019 (fresh lime juice) from the Doon club kitchen is supposed to be world renowned but I think it\u2019s overrated. The boys made fun of my humungous suitcase. It can carry a whole town inside it. Sandeep, seems to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,57,55],"tags":[127,159,110,208],"class_list":["post-1349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds","category-stories","category-travel","tag-bird-watching","tag-himalayan-bird-count-2010","tag-photography","tag-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"jetpack-portfolio-admin-thumb":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Suman Kumar","author_link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/author\/suman-kumar\/"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"26 October 2010, Delhi, Dehradun We got rooms in the Doon club! Thanks to Dominic. The \u2018Jehar\u2019 (fresh lime juice) from the Doon club kitchen is supposed to be world renowned but I think it\u2019s overrated. The boys made fun of my humungous suitcase. It can carry a whole town inside it. Sandeep, seems to…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gbk8-lL","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":479,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2003\/06\/479\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":0},"title":"Firstandsecond.com: Sachin Features in Their\u2026","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"June 6, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Firstandsecond.com: Sachin Features in Their 'Horror' Books' Section! Guts and Glory:The Bombay Cricket Story by Bamzai, Sandeep AND Sensational Sachin by Thani, Lokesh ; Mishra, Rajshekhar feature in firstandsecond.com's horror books section. I wonder why? Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":885,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/technical-writers-of-india-twin-portal-launch\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":1},"title":"Technical Writers of India (TWIN) Portal Launch","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"June 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Yours truly will be talking at this event. I was responsible for implementing the CMS (Drupal). Be there if this piques your interest.Start: 2006-06-10 16:00End: 2006-06-10 18:30Timezone: IndianWhere: Nahar Heritage, St.Marks Road, BangaloreWhen: 10th June (TODAY!) between 4 and 6:30 P.M.Event sponsor: Interwoven Inc.Agenda of the event:a) Welcome - Sandeep\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/technical-writers-of-india-twin-portal-launch-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":2},"title":"Technical Writers of India (TWIN) Portal Launch Today!","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"June 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Yours truly will be talking at this event. I was responsible for implementing the CMS (Drupal). Be there if this piques your interest.Start: 2006-06-10 16:00End: 2006-06-10 18:30Timezone: IndianWhere: Nahar Heritage, St.Marks Road, BangaloreWhen: 10th June (TODAY!) between 4 and 6:30 P.M.Event sponsor: Interwoven Inc.Agenda of the event:a) Welcome - Sandeep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Uncategorized\"","block_context":{"text":"Uncategorized","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/uncategorized\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1055,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/the-great-himalayan-bird-count-2008\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":3},"title":"The Great Himalayan Bird Count 2008","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Prateek posted this on the BNG Birds Yahoo Mailing List. If you are a birder, you wouldn't want to miss this:The Great Himalayan Bird Count, Winter of 2008 is planned on the most popular trekking trails situated in the valleys of Yamuna; Bhagirithi; Bhilingna; Ganga; Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bird watching\"","block_context":{"text":"bird watching","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/bird-watching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1383,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/gharwal-diaries-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":4},"title":"Gharwal Diaries -2","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"February 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"27th October 2010. Night. Around 2200 hours. Khirsu. The jeep fell silent after a rancorous cough. My ears are still ringing. The forest rest house (FRH) was tucked away atop an incline. 1800 m above sea level. The crickets and the eight of us are the only ones making noise.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bird watching\"","block_context":{"text":"bird watching","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/bird-watching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1089,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/observations-of-an-amateur-bird-photographer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1349,"position":5},"title":"Observations of an Amateur Bird Photographer","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"April 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I had posted this on India Nature Watch long time back...It is the journey. Not the destination. I used to go to Hebbal lake to photograph birds. What's the big deal? Only, I was armed with my mighty Nikkor 18-70 MM and I used to wonder 'Why in the god's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bird watching\"","block_context":{"text":"bird watching","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/bird-watching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1350,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions\/1350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}