As I see my friends from the plains droll over the sights of mountains and splendid beauty; just like I did when I first came here; made me realize life here is not about the topological difference. There is a lot more to mountain life than beautiful scene.
Life in mountains is a love story. The intimacy of valley, peaks, rivers, flora and you is remarkable at the least; the kind you can’t feel in urban plains. But if you are not a tourist, and are bothered about a living here, these omnipresent scenes are not the only thing coming at you. Life here demands endurance, just like a good love story.
Here are six philosophies of mountain life
1. Landscape: The Philosophy Of Giants
Sky touching peaks all around you. A common sight, no matter if you are in your room, market, in bus or chilling in valley. When you are in mountains, they surround you as if they own you. You can’t see all of the sky at once as they are more of behind mountain, than above. They wear clouds like mesmerizing neck-less around their peaks.
Even when you gain height you can glance over what you are allowed to in the beautiful valley. But you can’t see the tallest of them yet. The tallest giants are always hiding behind the taller one. The privilege of their sight is allowed only after conquering the height of their minions. Man has tamed lot of their slopes, bridged many valleys, trimmed through roads over their chest. But not the toughest one, which can capture our soul just with their presence.
Every time we are awestruck by them, there is a call of challenge within us to try and test ourselves on their slopes. You live in mountains with this constant feeling in your heart ‘to tame what restrain you’.
2. Heaven: Reserved For The Determined
No tourist has experienced the true beauty of mountains. You have to be willing to go where even locals don’t dwell on easiest days. A trek on no defined trail may bring you to a little place from heaven. Many flowers, sweet waterfall vanishing into gorge with view of the valley with river racing in it; few words to describe you shall never experience unless you decide to challenge a death-defying trek to just up. Reaching these places is so tough that they remain untouched for generations and sometimes even sight of their trail rings the word impossible in our heart.
Also read: Celebrating Small Wins (And Why we Must?)
They are generally hazardous trek and should never be attempted without training.
A handful of people with strong will as strong as the mountain itself sometimes take the call of challenge and bring pictures for our eyes to treasure, but that experience of heaven is exclusive to them only.
3. Strength Of Blood
Air is thin, it is always cold, everything is far away and at height. Description of tough life does not do the justice to describe the hardship of the mountains. Altitude sickness is very common and you must properly acclimate to the heights. Your blood oxygen can dip dangerously low to 65% just by standing. Educate yourself properly about appropriate remedies. But mountain life does not allow you to stand still. You have to climb over the slopes regularly to go by your day. Winters can be very unforgiving and you have to obey the discipline of the day. In rain, major highways are frequently cut off by landslides and can take weeks to restore.
Countless drains bring down fresh cold glacier water and they are channeled for usage. They get blocked sometimes, so you might have to climb couple to kilometer up the slope, with your tools, then put labor to clean them on short notice, then climb back down safely. Just one common chore to have fresh water. People take generations to cut the slopes for cultivation. No modern machinery can climb these terrains. Your lungs will give up in no time without building the endurance for this low oxygen air. Ear popping is common. Strength of no muscle will bring you ease. It is the strength from the blood itself which let you sustain in this climate.
4. Culture Of Mountains
Population density is much less compared to plains. People living here are the one choosing to stay in modern days. Most of them lived here for generations or are native tribe. Community here is tightly knit together and there are many festivals and celebrations which connect them. In mountains, everyone knows each other and take care of their community. They are indeed very hospitable to their guest. They will be interested in your journey and will invite you to their community. In today’s time, there are many tourist visiting mountains and it has become a very profitable industry for locals. Tourist outnumbering locals is common in peak seasons.
But sometimes it really feels like urban culture of negative politeness has got the better of them. All tourists are not always kind and bring their ignorance to mountains. People here have learnt their behavior and to be skeptical of them.
5. No Space For Waste
Living in mountains will make you realize soon that open land is very precious. There is no open plain land. You have to learn to live with the slopes. Navigating place means thinking in three dimensions. Landslides, avalanche, adverse weather, steep slopes, deformed land and many other topological factors render most of the land unusable.
People even build their houses along the slopes. There is no sky touching building, only slope hugging. No space goes in waste, and there is a problem. There is no space for waste either. In mountain there is no well-defined waste management system. They have to be burnt to reduce their signature. They are mostly allowed to accumulate along waste land slopes. But at the bottom is the river which will be feeding plains and are at risk of pollution. It was not a problem for with thin population, but now is with incoming hordes of tourists. Proper innovation is required to reduce our carbon footprints and conserve the mountains from pollution
6. Mountain Life: A Life On Diesel
A lot of development has connected the mountains and brought them closer. Opening of Atal tunnel was a huge impact for Himachal and Ladakh with many more in line. Bringing any things to heights need energy. Everything here from living essentials to building material, from transporting people to emergency services, maintenance of road from landslide to building new infrastructure will burn diesel. Everything is far away in mountains and you have to travel which is allowed because of new infrastructure. It must be realized that every little convenience does come at a cost to mountains. We need the vision and innovation to keep our air clean and not over use our nature.
Beyond The Love Story
You will fall in love with mountain in first sights as you can’t get enough of them. Everyone can be tourist in these valleys but a life here is one with stays with you. A lot of hardship tag along with you and you will learn to live with them. The tenacity shall invade your soul. Every day can be a new adventure. Sense of accomplishment will bring pleasure to your soul every time you glance over the valley from another peak.
We should also take responsibility to keep the beauty of life sacrosanct and eternal just like mountain themselves.
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