I wrote this essay five years ago based on my memories of a very significant period of my military life. In 1987 the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in Sri Lanka to underwrite the Sri Lanka Accord signed in July that year. But the situation quickly spiralled out of control, and by October the Indian Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was locked in what would be a three-year armed conflict. Up to 80,000 Indian troops served on the island, but despite relatively large numbers of casualties and the importance of the conflict in the region, the episode remained an undeclared war and has been treated as a postscript to Indian military history. Killed or wounded soldiers were seldom given their due, but those who fought there will not forget. A serviceman remembers the trenches of that war. Coming in over Mullaitivu Town in a helicopter. The approach was usually over water to avoid ground fire. It was a beautiful beach, with the seabed dropping deep v...
The Journey begins at Govindghat which is a 9-10 hour bus ride from Rishikesh. There are many ways to do it, by taxi (expensive), shared taxi, small bus; and one can break the journey or do it at one go. I spent the night at Srinagar and so had a shorter journey to Govindghat the next day., here I spent the night so that I could start my walk early next morning. I have been to this region before and both times have combined a pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib with hikes to the Valley of Flowers. My blog to the Valley of Flowers this year is placed here . For a blog of my previous hikes please see Valley of Flowers and Hemkund -a Trek to Paradise ; the photographs I took are at Valley of Flowers , and at The Flora Around Hemkund . From Govindghat to Ghangariya is a journey that is now made easier by riding in a shared taxi for 4.8 km until Pulna and walking 10 km from there to Ghangariya, whi...
I have welcomed the New Year in many a different place, 5 star hotels in Colombo, a cold pub in Bromley, fireworks on the home street and on the streets of Vegas. 2010 however had most of those other times beat, as I returned to a place that has always had a hold on my heart, Yala National Park in the deep south of Sri Lanka. Yala has played a large role in my life, from the lore of family tales to my first memories of wildlife and nature. The dry plains and twisted palu and weera trees formed the back drop to most of my childhood photographs. The half glimpses of the elusive leopard and the lumbering bear and the old men of the jungle trackers formed some of the best parts of my childhood. Despite all this prior to August 2009, I hadn�t been into the park for well over a decade, the vagaries of college and working in the first world having prevented me from any trips on the mostly breathless visits back home. What I found when I went back in 2009, having moved back to Sri Lanka for an...
Comments
Post a Comment