KALA

I got an unexpected opportunity to visit Barot valley. As I was busy with academic commitments  I had no much time to do a major research on the landscape, culture and the features of the landscape before embarking. Indeed, it was my first visit to Himachal Pradesh. We took a night bus from Kashmere Gate ISBT from New Delhi and got down at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. As there is no direct bus to Barot from Delhi, we had to get down at Mandi which is about 12 hours long journey through Sonepat, Panipat, Chandigarh, Bilaspur, and Sunder Nagar. Plenty of Dhabas are seen on the sides of the national highway. We had a dinner from one of the dhabas. The reality is that food is very expensive in such dhabas along the roadsides. My friends were complaining about the exorbitant amount charged by the dhaba. One of my friends told that many people had started small dhabas in the past, and eventually they flourished and they were able to put up massive luxury restaurants along the roadside.

We travelled in a bus by Himachal Road Transport Corporation, HRTC bus. The journey to Mandi was rather comfortable. Though the bus was rather small in size, it was really flying along the road at night. The bus crew stopped the bus at different locations for tea and toilet facilities. I was able to get a nice view of the green and planned city of Chandigarh at night. We reached Sunder Nagar in the morning and we met an independent activist at Sunder nagar bus station. He  started narrating his experience of the struggle for justice and the troubles he is going through. Since I did not know much Hindi, I was not able to contribute much other than just nodding head in between to encourage him to speak more. Eventually he came to know about my incompetence in Hindi. While departing, he asked me to follow him online to get more updates about his struggle for justice.

I had some prejudices against the State of Himachal. It was not underdeveloped and dirty as I expected. The streets are very clean and the roads are well-maintained. Public toilets are founds in many places and they are kept clean by the local administration. I am extremely worried about the cleanliness of public toilets after encountering an extremely dirty toilet in Ellora caves in Maharashtra. I was not able to eat anything for a few days. People showered bad words on me in Hindi and Marathi as I tried to flush the urinal in a crowded urinal in Mumbai some years ago. All these experiences made me to be worried about toilets facilities while travelling. But Himachal Pradesh gave me a different experience and example. It is rather clean Himachal. After having breakfast from a small restaurant opposite to Digital ISBT with free Wi-Fi at Mandi, we took a bus to Ghatasani. The local people are extremely hospitable to the visitors and they go out of their way to help the tourists who find it difficult to navigate comfortably. Fortunately I got the hot seat of a bus plying to Pathankot. The conductor and driver were communicating something in a strange language in the cabin. I assumed that it was Punjabi. The highway is narrow in many places and the driver was very skilled. It needs extraordinary skill and experience to drive bus along narrow hilly terrain as two-way traffic is very difficult at some points. As soon as we got down at Ghatasani, we got a bus to Barot. One of the local men directed us to the bus even though we did not ask him. Perhaps he must have understood that we wanted to go to Barot. It needs another two hours bus journey from Ghatasani to reach Barot valley.  The bus goes through extremely narrow roads and the geography of the hills is not much hurt for transportation. There are possibilities of landslides during rains. As the bus was climbing up the hill, I found that I was for the first time in a high altitude. I appreciated the expertise of the drivers rendering service along the hilly terrain. Necessary seats are reserved for women, children and elderly people in the bus. The bus stopped on the way for a few minutes so that the believers could offer prayers and offerings at a roadside temple of a deity. I found people throwing coins to the temple premises. One man was collecting the coin and putting them in the offering box kept near the temple. The driver stopped the bus many times on the way and drove in reverse gear for giving side to the vehicle coming from the opposite side.

Barot is a beautiful valley located in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. It belongs to Mandi district of Himachal. Its average elevation from the sea level is  1, 829 m  or 6, 001 ft. the nearest major town is Joginder Nagar. Barot is located in a beautiful valley formed by Uhl River. It is surrounded by the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas. Barot valley is less populated and the people are settled along the river bank.  Uhl River and the Shanan hydroelectric power project are the major attractions of Barot. Barot has a thick forest cover of deodar trees, Himalayan oak, and pine trees. The average annual temperature of Barot is nearly 13 °C (55 °F), average summer temperature is about  17 °C (63 °F), and the average winter temperature is approximately 5 °C (41 °F). Barot was originally developed in 1920s for Shanan Hydel Project. It was difficult to reach Barot valley till 1975 by road.  It is situated 40 km from Jogindernagar and 66 km from Mandi, the district headquarters. The buses to Barot go through the village of Tikken.

Barot valley has a range of outdoor activities like trout fishing and trekking. Uhl River offers a lot of space for angling and this region is famous for Himalayan trout fish which is rich in nutritious value. Some of my friends told me that we could catch fish from the sea and give it to the caretaker of the Home Stay so that they cook it for us. One of my friends rented equipment with hook and earthworms for 3oo rupees and the man directed us to an isolated area of Uhl River on the way to Lohardi. Since I had some experience of fishing in the rivers in hometown, I volunteered to initiate fishing. I was not able to catch any fish even after a long time. Some of my friends too tried their level best and finally we unanimously said that it requires lot of experience and effort to catch fish from Himalayan Rivers. We clicked some photos to give an impression that we really enjoyed angling in Uhl River. The river was extremely beautiful with a particular shade as there was a clear sky during that evening. We met Mr. Vijay, the owner of Mountain View Restaurant who had rented us the hook. As we told him that we were not able to catch any fish, he told us that the caught one that weights nearly 400 grams, a few days back. We had a long chat with Vijay and he gave some insights about the landscape, culture, food, and the other essential information regarding Barot valley. Mr. Vijay was helpful for us in many ways and he was rather free and available as there was no much crowd in Barot and his restaurant. He expressed his wish to renovate his restaurant to attract more crowds during the seasons. His Mountain View Restaurant is rather simple yet beautiful with many wall decorations and works of art.

Barot is an inlet point of Shanan hydroelectric project in Joginder Nagar. Uhl river water is diverted from Barot to Jogindar Nagar Power House with a reservoir. There is a beautiful dam site in the heart of Barot and the entire shops, restaurants, home stays and homes in Barot are located around the dam site. I spent a lot of time on the banks of Uhl River with my friends. It is a beautiful experience to remain at the river bank late at night. There will be soothing breeze and perfect silence. Since Barot is not much crowded like many of the Hill Stations in Himachal, the area around Barot is clean and quiet. Fortunately we found a room in a home stay that gives a perfect view of the waters of the dam. We stayed in River View Resort and the uncle and aunt was extremely hospitable and we were perfectly at home with all the facilities they have offered for just rupees 500 per night. It is true that Barot offers rather cheaper home stay facilities of better quality.

Some of my friends made a suggestion for trekking on the next day. But I was rather skeptical about the project due to the lack of physical training and unfamiliar nature of landscape of the hills. Finally we came to the conclusion to visit a lush green and calm village of Swad near Lohardi. Lohardi is just five kilometers away from Barot. There is an iron bridge over Uhl River in Lohardi which gives beautiful view of the river and is an ideal location for photography. Lohardi has pleasant atmosphere and the people are very friendly. One of the villagers gave us the information regarding the way to Swad village which is walkable distance from Lohardi. Swad is a remote and lesser known village in Himachal Pradesh.

We walked along a forest path for nearly one hour. The walk is really interesting as we see tall pine trees on the way. The hill range is dense with tall pine trees. At one point, we had pleasant fragrance coming out of freshly cut pine tree on the way. I collected some wooden pieces to continue to enjoy the fragrance. The air around the area has that beautiful fragrance. The path is just sufficient for walking and is not meant for vehicles. Even though the path is very steep, we do not feel tired as it gives some breathtaking views everywhere. We halted at different locations to capture the beauty of landscape in mobile cameras. The path was really isolated a there was no one on the way. A dog appeared on the way and it quietly went ahead. I thought that the dog would be navigating to its master dwelling on the hill top. Some of my friends got terrified by the strange noises and the sights of animals like bisons. At one point of time, I thought of going back to Lohardi rather than climbing a hill that appeared to be scary. Finally we reached a place where we found some concrete buildings and public toilets. We thought of meeting some villagers to get more information about how to go ahead and explore the village. One old man staying in a wooden hut welcomed us and gave us some information to navigate. Still we lost the way and we were helped by a village lady who appeared with a long stick. The village appeared to be very simple and clean. There was smell of cow and cow dung. It gave me the impression of visiting some typical villages in South India. But Swad was unusually clean than many of the south Indian villages. Swad village is breathtakingly beautiful with fresh vegetables and flowers. There are a number of wooden huts where people stay. Some of them appeared to be for home stay. We saw only a few people on the way. Some of them curiously looked at us. As I wanted to have some tea from the village with the pure milk of Swad one of my friends asked someone whether there are any tea shops around. One girl who was washing her clothes told us that they do not have tea shops as they prepare tea at home. Indeed, Swad is self-sufficient in all ways. It has fresh vegetables, fruits and other crops for living. More than that there is fresh water and clean air that would help the villagers to stay healthy. I was so delighted to breathe the fresh air of Swad after a long period of stay in Delhi whose air is highly polluted. Almost all the old people we found there are very healthy and many of them were going ahead for gathering grass for cows. I thought of Martin Heidegger who settled in a village hut towards the end of his life to engage into deeper philosophical reflection. I thought of staying for some time in Swad after working for some time in Delhi. I think that villagers of Swad may not need much interaction with the external world. The children are unaffected by technology and video games. They were engaged in some indigenous sport item with wooded trucks. They were driving wooden trucks along the narrow footpath in higher speed. I spend a few minutes to watch and appreciate the performance of the children. Perhaps they might be happy to find someone who is genuinely interested in their indigenous sports item and courage. On the way back one old man from his hut talked to us for some time and offered us an apple from his own apple tree. He appeared to be very happy to meet us. Almost all the people we met in Swad village were hospitable and cheerful.

We had lunch from Lohardi. There are different small restaurants run by the villagers. They mostly provide rice, daal and kadhi. We came to know that there is at least two hours for the next bus to Barot. We thought of just roaming around to pass time. We reached the river bank eventually. The river bank was not much polluted as many other river banks. Still there were poop of human beings and animals on the way. The river bank was breathtakingly beautiful. We spend nearly one and half hours on the river bank. Some children appeared and jumped into the river naked. They effortlessly swam across the river. I thought of experiencing the touch of the waters. I removed my shoes and inserted my feet into water. It was so chill that I suddenly withdrew my feet. I thought of the way the children are adapted to the climate as they were so easily swimming in the same river. I put my feet again in water and became rather tuned this time. Still I felt freezing touch of water on my legs. I was not able to remain like that for a long time. The river water has a special shade and I found it difficult to narrate the shade as I do mot have the vocabulary to narrate it.

Barot is also a gateway to Nargu Wildlife Sanctuary. It lies across river Uhl.  monal, black bear and ghoral can be found in the sanctuary. I was not able to make a visit to the sanctuary due to time constraints.

We spend the whole evening searching for some interesting place to eat. My friends wanted to have trout fish which is something special there. Trout fish is very nutritious according to some description I found in a government run trout fish farm in the heart of the valley. But it is very expensive. Some of my friends tried to visit a temple nearby but I decided to stay back due to my atheism and restriction to leather products in the temple premises. I normally visit places of worship just for aesthetic contemplation and not for prayer or offerings.

One of my friends offered dinner as it was her birthday. She found some interesting place to eat from her Google search. Google map was really confusing and we took a long time to locate the restaurant. But the restaurant appeared to be rather simple and old-fashioned. My friends told me to not worry about the appearance as there is a good review of the hotel online. We went to that restaurant by 7.30 p.m. It started to drizzle. Still we did not take umbrella. By the time we reached the restaurant, it started to rain heavily. We became worried about the way back as the home stay is about two kilometers away from the restaurant.  The restaurant was not crowed and we were the only customers that evening. We ordered some fried rice and chilly chicken. Unfortunately electricity was cut of due to rain. The restaurant owner lighted a candle and placed it before us. The restaurant was nicely decorated with coir. The owner, the only guy there appeared to be working alone in the dark. We thought that he would be guessing the location of chicken and other ingredients. He appeared to be working in the dark. Occasionally some sounds came out from the kitchen. He served the items after a long time of forty five minutes. The food was very tasty in spite of the limitations regarding infrastructure and personnel. Unfortunately the rain stopped by the time we finished dinner. We started to walk towards the home stay in mobile torch light. The road was empty and appeared to be a bit scary. We walked along the water-lodged path as quick as possible.

The nights in the home stay on the river bank was simply amazing. There was the music of the current in the river. My friends were rather disturbed by the sound from the river, but I was rather comfortable with the sound as my home is in a river bank of Western Ghats. The nights were rather cold enough for comfortable sleep.

There was heavy rain in the last night of my stay in Barot. It continued on the following day. The southwest monsoon caused heavy rains and landslides in many areas of Himachcal. Water level in Beas river rose abnormally and that affected Chandigarh-Manali National Highway. Some vehicles were washed away in Manali due to the heavy rain and floods. One of my friends told me that Himachal rivers are less ferocious than Uttarakhand rivers and Himachal tourism is more safe than Uttarakhand tourism during monsoon season. By 

The dogs in Barot valley are really friendly. They are not ferocious as the street dogs in the rest of India. They seem to be rather busy with eating and sleeping. I was able to better connect with many dogs over there and clicked some photos with many of them. They are very beautiful with thick fur. Some of them look like German shepherd.

Josephs Kala