“Many were the
Ways of Life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and
see what the end of those... ” (Surah Al-Imran, 137)
It was a travel planned with brother Riyas and brother Jaseem
to participate Kedarkantha trek conducted by Youth Hostels Association of India
(YHAI) around Dehradun area in Dec 2016. Jaseem couldn’t join us at last. Though
the trip started for a trek, Alhamdulillah it ended up in much more unexpected explorations
in North India in short time.
We reported at Mussorie Youth hostel and stayed there for
the day. It is a small beautiful hill station in Utharaghand state.
Next day we
started to Sankri which is the base camp of our trek. The journey to Sankri
takes 12 hrs. in bus through different kinds of terrains. Road is full of
turnings, sharp bends and good portion of the route is with huge gorges formed
by Himalayan rivers on one side and steep Himalayan hills on the other side.
Tributary of Ganges River is flowing down the gorge. It is a beautiful scenery
around with the scary curves and deeps. Between Mussorie and Sanki there are
only selected small villages like hamlet those survive on tourism and farming.
The large number of farm lands and small huts and houses in the river bank and
that too watching from a distance gives us the full view of the hamlet. It is a
stunning experience. In many turnings, we get 180 degree view of this.
Sankri was too cold and windy night in the base camp, we
stayed there for a night and returned to Dehradun next day morning (one of us
had high blood pressure so opted not to climb up). We had to plan for the
remaining days and started looking at travel guides and we came up with the
plan. Our plan was to cover Haridwar, Krishikesh, Nainital, Jim Corbett
National Park and Moradabad in order. The climate was awesome throughout and
the schedule was packed, but pleasing.
Uttarpradesh (UP) has a population of 19.9Cr which is 6
times bigger in size and population wrt Kerala. 16.5% of Indians and 22% of
Indian Muslims (3Cr) live in this state. SP is doing great things at grass root
level. Lots of social and welfare activities (various pensions and aids) in the
state. Presence of Muslims in Moradabad city is 47%. Utharaghand (UK) is slightly
bigger and 1/3rd population that of Kerala. It's a modern state with relatively
good living standards. Very scenic with lots of hills, valleys, glaciers, rivers
etc (86% of this state is mountains and 65% covered by forest). UK is called Devbhoomi
and most of the Hindu pilgrimage destinations of our country is here. Ganga and
Yamuna originates from here. It's a land of 'land slides'. Good climate because
of Himalayas. Temperature was between 3 degrees and 10 degrees.
Haridwar and Krishikesh – cities with various temples,
ashrams, yoga centers etc in and around Ganges River. It is a surprise to watch
how a community is tied with so many rituals and customs. Nainital is a
beautifully maintained lake at the hill top and is a hill station and the area
has a European touch. We noted lots of examples for communal harmony during
these days. In Nainital, Juma masjid, temple and Gurudwara are near. Jwalapur,
which is 3km away from Haridwar city, is a Muslim dominated area. Jim
Corbett National Park is the first national park and tiger reserve of
Independent India. We went for a safari in search of tiger and though we
couldn’t find one, it was a thrilling experience to wait for a specific animal
in the jungle. There are 5 different safari routes to explore and a well
maintained area. Moradabad is called Brass city and muslim dominated. The brass
items and food are very cheap here. We also visited a village that was adopted
by Vision 2016 project. All kinds of good quality biriyanis are available for
40 – 50 rupees.
A large city doesn't mean everything is good. Many grade
2 yet big Indian cities has many good things like - very safe, cheap food& transportation
and many innovative ideas in public life (electric vehicles, share autos for
mass public transportation etc). Three things helped us for a cheap travel - Trains
(Low cost travel, Dormitories, waiting rooms etc), Youth hostels (Rs 120 for
Dormitory, Rs 40 for breakfast, Rs 60 for dinner) and Masjids. Note that all
these places are safe for all. Islam has good presence in above two states
and socially muslims have good presence and acceptance in the society. We could
find enough masjids across these states. But living standard of the people are
very low. We were really surprised with the number of guides and other
arrangements at Nainital and Rampur (Jim Corbett tiger reserve).These people
care their land and show good hospitality over all.
Inspired to look out and explore things around, travelling or roaming around with these goals in mind is an awesome experience.
In a sense travel is a good way of training mind, as it teaches while taking us
through live experiences. Each travel opens up our mind a lot. India is rich in
traditions, culture and more. There are many things to learn from various
Indian communities. It's not costly, so whoever interested can travel more
to learn things. Thank GOD it was another great experience with lots of insights and learning...
