Nihal’s Himachal Hike: People, Politics, Puppies and Peaks in the Great Himalayan Mountains

My week backpacking and bouncing through the remote mountains, rivers, villages and caves(!) of the Himalayan mountains in north India. Sociological, spiritual and political observations + fun ones.

Programming note: This is a special personal piece I’ve written during the holiday season that has some elements of tech and politics but isn’t part of my usual news reporting. I hope you’ll give me and this unique story a chance as told from a very remote corner of the world. If you make it to the end you’ll get a little puppy prize!

My paternal ancestors are all ‘pahadi’ folk i.e. they’re mountain men and maidens and so by blood and by choice I’m naturally drawn to spending extended periods in the clouds and rivers and valleys and ice glaciers of the mountains – particularly the great Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas where my forefathers and mothers lived for centuries.

We spent a week here trekking going from approximately 2000ft to over 12,000ft from Dharamshala and Kareri Lake to the great Baleni Pass – we stayed in tents and caves and carried all our clothes, food and supplies on our backs (with the help of porters and guides). 

Along the way we came across many breathtaking sights, warm friendly local villagers and herders, a very loyal canine companion Malti, delicious cave cooked food, and spiritual encounters at temples in the highest reaches of the world. I went backpacking with my father, Shrikant; one of my good friends, Ribhav, a Fulbright scholar and doctor at AIIMS, Delhi; and my uncle Babu (Srinivas Yellayi), a tennis coach and athlete from the U.S.

So, here are my abridged observations and experiences in the remotest valleys and peaks of the Himalayas along with some eye-catching photographs we took:

Faith of mountain dwellers

There is a sense of quiet contentment and inner peace that most people in the mountains have with their simple and slow, but mostly free lives.

The true essence of Hinduism and Shaivism (a form of Hinduism that worships Lord Shiva as the Supreme Being) is to be learnt from the people of the mountains. There is much more to Hinduism that goes beyond the caste system, some of the well known rituals and religious extremism that it’s sometimes associated with in the West. Through the day-to-day sense of purpose, motivation and drive that Shiva worship brings to many people of the Himalayas, I was reminded of the many positive and meaningful aspects of their strong faith.

Religion plays a key role of providing structure, comfort and belief through chanting and goal setting — getting to temples in remote, beautiful destinations is part of a month long annual pilgrimage many in Himachal take that creates a sense of drive and accomplishment that spills into other facets of their life like their family or career. For most religious Hindus we met on this journey their faith didn’t come close to religious supremacy or extremism but rather a personal yearning and relationship they have with Shiva or whichever god they believe in to help them overcome life’s many challenges.   

There are temples everywhere in the mountains, and people start and end their treks with these small but critical spiritual structures. No matter how high you go, you come across a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, and Durga Mata, a constant pervasive in every town, peak or pass.

Though this doesn’t come as a surprise, but I was still amazed at how incredibly fit and strong these people are, and how far and long distances they can easily walk, in stark contrast to those living in cities. They could easily do 20 kilometers uphill in 3-4 hours. There is a humongous difference in the daily physical activity and movement between the people here and in the cities. What was more surprising was how many pahadi men smoked multiple bidis (a hand-rolled cigarette) everyday for years and still have the lung capacity to walk and run long distances. Perhaps their genetics or faith comes to the rescue!

Digital revolution in the abode of gods

Certain rocks and trees are the portals to our modern digital civilization! It is amusing and surprising that there are random rocks and trees one is told to stand on to get phone service, and how immensely accurate those points were. People in the villages seem to just know what that point is and direct you towards it. Rocks with ‘Airtel’ or ‘Jio’ (the biggest telecom companies in India) painted on them are a common sight, and if you sit on one of them, you just might get data and phone service.

With limited electricity, phone services or other modern devices, the need for distraction or escape from the daily routine often comes from bidis, cigarettes, homemade liquor and of course family and live stock or sometimes pets. This makes me wonder how dramatically the life and behaviour in these beautiful rural and remote parts of the mountains will change with the advent of powerful satellite internet. Within the next few years, high-speed internet will likely reach the remote corners of the world, including the peaks and valleys of Himachal Pradesh. This digital penetration will bring into picture things like weather forecast, AI-driven prediction tools and entertainment, livestock geotagging, emails, text messaging and other modes of instant communication. 

The internet revolution that has taken the world by storm in the past 3 decades and is known for changing the way humanity functions will impact the mostly slow, simple and soulful living style of the people in these mountains. Will this bridge the gap between the urban and rural areas in terms of internet-related behaviour and interactions? Will rural parts start to experience issues like social media addiction, high screen time, fake news, misinformation, disinformation while relishing the benefits of instant communication and online entertainment like videos, jokes, and memes? Or will these remote rural parts be able to hold on to their unique non-digital identity and culture, which has been there for hundreds or thousands of years now?

The political connect

As a journalist who closely followed the 2024 Indian general elections, I was curious about the political opinions of the people in the mountains and was quite fascinated by them. The political split was quite evident between those in power at the state level — the Indian National Congress (INC) — and the national level, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which won the four Lok Sabha national districts.

Multiple Himachalis, particularly Pahadi folks, told me that on the state level, they change who they vote for in every five years or every election cycle to give a new party or Cheif Minister a chance and see if change in leadership can change their lives or circumstances. Currently, many have liked and supported the Congress locally. However, at the same time, when it came to voting for the Prime Minister/Parliament, many of the same Himachalis supported Modi and the BJP out of a sense of national pride, Modi’s personality and brand, as well as because of incumbency.

The economic circumstances and situation of people in the Himalayas clearly informs their approach to politics. You may also end up knowing some famous Indian sayings like we found one on a mountain that caught our eye – “Hindustan mein toh kuchh bhi ho sakta hai” (anything can happen in India). And this is because things change in the mountains quickly. The weather you are enjoying one minute may change drastically in an hour, or sometimes even within a few minutes. Likewise, people’s food, shelter and their livestock are also affected drastically by changing weather patterns. 

Any politician or political party that can offer local Himachal people stability through infrastructure like roads, bridges, internet access or by providing free, cheap essential resources like agricultural grains or fuel for heat and machines will have an upper-hand, we were told.

A majority or a substantial share of the small wealth the people in the mountains have is held within the animals they own, such as cows, buffaloes, goats, and sheep. They don’t have much else of particular wealth or economic value.

City slickers stay in caves and villages

An absolute highlight and truly unique part of our journey was staying a couple of nights in naturally-created historic caves. From cooking and hanging out to sleeping in caves, which our ancestors did for centuries, we experienced a small glimpse of the cave life.

I was quite amazed by the different kinds of food one could cook from scratch in the mountains. We could carry utensils and raw ingredients into the mountains ourselves and with the help of porters. Upon reaching a suitable spot, we cooked and ate some incredibly delicious and simple meals. We had pulao (a rice-based dish), a few types of hot and sour soups with vegetable broth, multiple dals (legumes), lumbdu/lumdu vegetable, which we found growing in the wild, Maggi, bananas foster, pancakes with honey and fruit, porridge, hot aloo parathas (potato-stuffed flatbreads), chapatis (Indian bread) and rice. 

Oftentimes, we had way better meals in the middle of nowhere on the higher mountains than one finds in the poshest parts of Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities of the world.

Only in India could you have meals like these in the most beautiful and remotest parts of the mountains, some 12,000 to 15,000 feet above sea level. This is primarily because only in India can you have the kind of labor and trained animals at such high altitudes that allow for such exquisite meals to be cooked other than in Nepal and China (if it happens there).

People in the mountains have stoves and ovens built into their homes in a natural way for cooking things. Additionally, they make their own liquor from gud (jaggery) and locally found substances.

Throughout our trekking journey, we received incredible warmth and hospitality from every small village, shepherd or farmer. Though we were strangers and they didn’t have to offer us anything or provide generosity, we received it from almost every person we came across. There was hardly any rude or mean behaviour (sadly, we often see it coming most from people in the cities) we had to deal with; on the contrary, we easily made friends everywhere.

Worries and concerns of the locals vs our gang

The gap between the dynamics or events that occurred in the mountains that caused us (me, my dad, and my friend) to get worried or anxious and what made the local people (porters, guides and farmers, villagers) to be anxious or uneasy was fascinating.

Our anxieties: my father was constantly worried about being too tired or getting injured and wanting to know how far and long we would be trekking. Ribhav’s main anxiety as a young hotshot startup founder was when he’d be able to realistically finish the trek and get back to civilization and his important VC business meetings although he was in the moment and enjoying the trek most of the time! I was occasionally stressed about how to keep the group together despite our differing agendas and was also worried about my dad’s health and how we would all keep a certain pace on the hike. All three of us had some worries and small annoyances around how and where to go to the bathroom (#2) in the wild and sometimes around our sleeping bags and tents at night.

Locals’ anxieties: Our porters and guides were almost always in good spirits or at peace. The only thing that bothered them was fluctuations in the weather that could cause instability, delays or danger. How to help my dad get through the trek in a timely fashion was also occasionally a worry. They had few creature comforts that they required everyday, but they ate well with large meals and seemed to fall asleep easily too.

One of the worrying concerns is the lack of access to quality healthcare and awareness about health. We came across women who have been suffering from bizarre long-term illnesses without having any idea about them. Sometimes, it may take years before these women get a real diagnosis for what disease or ailment they have and take action to fully resolve it. So, people’s sense of satisfaction and contentment with slow and healthy rural life can be overturned quickly by an injury or unexpected sickness or ailment.

There were multiple locations, including campsites and local places, in the rural mountains where there was a large amount of littering. There were plastic wrappers, flip-flop slippers, food scraps, trash from food or liquid or drinking in certain parts of the mountains, especially around campsites. Oftentimes, this littering can be seen contaminating the water we are drinking and the soil. What’s ironic and unexpected was that people would be very careful about not putting trash or littering right into the river or going to the bathroom in the river. However, oftentimes, you would see litter, pee or poop right next to the river, which seems a little hypocritical. Likewise, people wouldn’t litter in and around the temples, but a few feet from the temples, you find tons and tons of waste. There are low levels of trash and bathroom literacy in the area. 

The friendly furry companions

In the end, I'm going introduce our most special guests, Malti and Kalu, the dear mountain friends we made during our trek. Malti, a loyal whip-smart and highly athletic dog, shocked us all and very randomly joined us on the first day for the entirety of our week-long trek. She bumped into us at our first campsite as we were waking up and leaving in the morning and then, for reasons we didn’t understand, followed us on the trail for a few minutes, which then turned into a few hours, and then she spent the night with us and which then turned into many days. 

At the end of the first day together, we did feed her, but it was clear that she joined us out of some unknown sense of loyalty and love and affection and not just that we were feeding her, which first happened over 12 hours after we had met. She led us on the trek path like a guardian angel, showing us the fastest and sometimes, safest or although sometimes, most dangerous ways to get through the mountains. Malti almost never got tired and had relentless energy and spirit.

Although she had a humongous appetite, she was kind of a picky eater and was only interested in certain cooked dishes. Malti was fiercely loyal; she would never stray more than a few dozen feet from Ribhav and I, whether we were on the trail or we were at a campsite and would bark loudly at anybody or anything that she thought was threatening to keep us safe. She even tried on more than a few occasions to sleep with us in our tent at night for warmth and company. However, unfortunately, we couldn’t allow her to sleep with us because of concerns that she could unintentionally scratch us, pee or poop in the tent or generally wake us up in some way. Malti was the unsung and unexpected hero of our glorious trek, and we were truly lucky and blessed by her outpouring of love, loyalty and undying faith in us.

Towards the end of our trip, we were also joined by Kalu, another dog, who sometimes fought with Malti but was also incredibly sweet and affectionate with all the people in our group for the two short days he was with us. 

Malti, in particular, was an essential part of our trek; it just wouldn’t have been the same without her. Until next time we’re in Baleni Pass, our dear furry friend!