Deolsari Dreams

As the Eicher clan keeps growing - one thing young and old love to do is go camping! The crowning glory of the Mussoorie trip for young and old is to be outdoors for at least a night.  This year it was time to explore Deolsari.

The next ridge of the mighty Himalaya after the one Mussoorie is on is crowned by Nag Tibba (3,022 m).  For those who want to climb the highest point in the lower Himalaya in the state of Uttarkhand there are two main routes going up - one is the direct way via Mangalori village - and the other is to go out via the forest rest house at Deolsari.   We were not going to climb Nag Tibba (in a few years perhaps?).  Our intention was to get to Deolsari - and enjoy the forest around it.

And was that intention ever met!


 Step 1:  Young (2 years) and old (76 years) got into a jeep up at Sisters bazaar for the drive out to the closest village to Deolsari.  All 10 of us (we missed Neeru this time - and keep missing Premi every year) clambered in.

Most did not enjoy the ride.  Our jeep took us to Suakholi, then down to Tathur and then over the Aglar 'river' (just a trickle in early June) and back up to the village of ? (oops forgot the name).  We should have gone to Bangsil - but our driver decided to go up the other side of the brook.   Why did most of us not enjoy the ride - it wasn't the scenery which was gorgeous.  It was the feeling of travel sickness that almost all of the younger generation had - which was not helped by eating momos while waiting for the middle-agers to get some medication from the Landour Community Hospital on the way.   Much vomitting and many stops along the way... and then finally we got to the village where the road ended and we could unload.

Ahead of us was the open sky and the hills leading up!

After unloading what seemed an expedition worth of luggage we engaged two young men to help us carry and set off with a crowd of spectators around us - feeling very much like a group of folks heading off to Everest!
 

We soon had left villages and fields behind and came to the edge of the Deodar forest. 

As our path took us into the trees, we felt as if we were walking through a green cathedral.

Silent stems surrounded us on every side.



Greens of oh so many hues and shades - with the straight lines of the Deodars directing your gaze up and up and up again... 

Are Eichers born hikers?

Judging by Anita's performance on this walk - there may be some truth there!  Our two-year old was bubbling with enthusiasm.


 Our youngest member had us all enthralled as she welcomed us into her world.

"Ita's" own language of special words ('kok' is chocolate, 'dudu cok' is milk with bournvita in it, 'Ekok' is "Ita's" name for Enoch charmed us all.

And her joy at seeing things new - like the butterfly she is gazing at here helped us to look at things in a wonderful way.

Hooray for young eyes to help all of us see more beauty - especially at the smaller scales of creation!
 
Being Eichers, there were also books in our packs.

One member of the younger generation decided to whip out one of them on a short break while walking up the hill.

Another member looked over his shoulder. 

After a quick breather it was onwards and upwards again.

The 10 of us spread out as our two intrepid young men carrying the tents moved ahead with Opa Eicher and Asha keeping up with them - and all the rest moving through the green beauty in little clusters.

 The only people we met in the forest were two boys who tried to sell us a small bag of Kaphal fruits.

Since we had already bought from other kids along the way (on one of our vomit stops) we left these young lads with a conversation - and their bag of Kaphal still in their hands.

Both boys were school goers - and they walk all the way to Tathur each day to attend.  But these days were holidays - and what better place to be than in the forest!

That's what we felt too!

Especially when at the end of the trek we came to this beautiful Forest Department bungalow!

 
After showing our letter to the local staff, we plonked ourselves onto the grassy lawn next to the bungalow and tore into Vicky's prathas and alu sabji.

Nothing like having a good lunch at 3 PM and being bathed in to golden sun filtered through the deodars!

A quick nap for most of us - and then the fun of putting up tents began!

Thanks to Edwin Singh and the Blank family we had some wonderful 'tambus' to put up.

 What can be more magical than building your own house?



And once the tents are up - you need to play in them properly too!

There was much merriment in the camp!


Camping is more than just sleeping of course.

Food is huge.  And since we are in the forest we need fuel for the fire.

We had some wonderful helpers who combed the forest floor for twigs...  As the German children's song goes: wer will fleissige Handwerker sehen?

We made it a point to pick up twigs whenever we went for walks - and so a small pile of wood was always ready.

And over the next two days our fire was the centre of the camp.  Many a cup of tea and coffee was brewed.  Many a fire-maker huffed and puffed and saw the miracle of flames dancing and coals glowing.  And sweet aromas of Deodar being burned, the pungent smoke drifting through and the small cloud of ash that periodically covered us with fine grey all added to the special flavour of being outdoors.
 

As dusk fell, the large pot of noodles was simmering.

And in the darkness under the star speckled sky, we slurped the hot noodles and listened to the hilarious (mis)adventures of William by Richmal Crompton.

Songs and marshmallows roasted on sticks and a psalm rounded off the night.  And happy campers fell asleep in their tents (and in the bungalow too!).

 

And then there is the next day!

The denizens are up bright and early...  Some unfolding like a flower.
 

 Others with more comedy...

It's a new day!

Time to brew up a cuppa and start the adventures!  A chorus of 'when are we going to the stream' punctuated the morning hours.

And finally it is time!  Stefan has his team all ready.

The stream beckons!

The explorers and would be bathers are ready!

Now all that needs to be done is bring kids and water together!

And that is done quite simply, because just a few minutes walk through the forest and we come to this wonderland of water and rocks and more water and more rocks!

A place to explore... and over the two days that we were there much exploring was done.

 Plenty of ice-cold water to swim in!

And for various games to be played in the unending stream of goodness.

For boys who live in concrete jungles, this is straight out of Tom Sawyer.

 Needless to say, it was hard to get the kids back up to camp.  And easy to get them back down to the water at a moment's notice!

 

And along with the younger ones, we 'big kids' also enjoyed.

Though we did not all plunge in at every available opportunity (something our little ones did with gusto) - the joy of being in beauty - to see and hear the water gurgle over rock and pass through pools.

And to watch our loved ones enter a different world.

Something that we read about in story-books - and now are actually living out ourselves!

To see the little tadpoles swimming in the crystal clear water.  Something Bombay-boys and Delhi-lads don't see much in their day to day experience.

And finally to warm ourselves on a hot rock after the various levels of plunges taken... all added to the delight!



Most of all - our time at Deolsari was the joy of being together.   And to be together in so much beauty.

We are so grateful to God for these magical days.  And for the opportunity to be together.  Alone and cut off from the huffing and puffing of what makes up so much of 'normal life'

And being in a place of re-creation.

A place of quiet and joy and discovery.

A place where the stunning beauty around us was mirrored in the delight of experiencing it with each other.

We are so grateful for 'Oma' for her insight in getting us up the mountain to this place of bliss.

We are so grateful to God for His generous provision of allowing us to live out these beautiful days which will remain etched in our memories.

It was so ideal to have a place where we could camp and congregate - and also wander off for stream exploring and prayer walks and time reading.

Our mind's eye is already thinking about the next time we can make our way up the hills to this wonderful place.

And as the walking capacity of our family increases, who is to say that we cannot go further?  Maybe one day we will summit on Nag Tibba itself! 

 But in the mean-time the sweet memories of our time at Deolsari will linger on.

Will we sleep with the rest of angels like we did with the sound of the brook in the back-ground and the whisper of wind through the deodars?

Maybe not, given the un-angelic sounds that surround most of us.

But just as Anita sleeps in her father's arms.

So we too can rest in the arms of our loving Heavenly Father.

One who gave us a glimpse of heaven through these beautiful days in Deolsari.

I am personally so grateful that my back did not give out like it did 2 years ago when we were camping on Flag Hill.  The prayers of the sinners-turned-saints on my behalf are so appreciated!

At the end of our time there we had to shoulder straps again and walk down to the village where the jeep was to pick us up.

Stefan took the kids on a final river ramble, we bundled all the bags together, cleaned up the camp place and left the location in pristine condition - so that the next group of campers will be just as delighted as we were!

And so the trek back began.  Till next time!  And may next time come soon!






--------------------
Most of the pictures in this post were taken by Stefan Eicher - including the one just above!  Thanks Stefan for documenting our time together!

Hooray for cousins!

To be with cousins is to be in heaven.  Especially when you are at your grand-parents place in Shanti Kunj for the summer hols.

Not having grown up with cousins myself - with both our parents being single kids - it is wonderful to see Asha and Enoch with Ashish, Anjali and Anita.

We arrived yesterday morning.  They arrived in the afternoon.  And we have now completed a day of festivities.

Anita is the new star of the family.  With her huge smile and winsome vocabulary she has won our hearts.  Of course her happy grannie is very glad to have her - and to have the services of Asha to help out as well.

The 'doll house' at the back of Shanti Kunj is being used to the max with many games of kitchen and cooking and dollies and wabbits and other happy members of the extended Eicher family inhabiting the place.  It seems just yesterday that Asha was a small girl playing in the house - now she lovingly shepherds the two younger ones in their games.

Speaking of games - there are some wonderful sets of badminton and softball and football taking place in the front court of Shanti Kunj.   Enoch and Ashish have worked up much sweat in the enthusiasm of the games - with the older generation also being expertly recruited to add more men to the teams.

Here we see a Lionel Messi taking on.... Socrates?

Last night Enoch was thrilled to get a colourful T-shirt from Stefan and Neeru - and with Ashish getting a matching one - this is what the male cousins wore today as their uniform

 There are of course cuddles to be had.  That's what cousins are for as well!

And books to be read.  Sometimes read aloud - with Asha taking on the joy of reading for the little ones....

And comics to be devoured as well.  Enoch and Ashish wanted a 'cousin lunch' today - so they were served downstairs.  We found out that beside eating their food together, they were also consuming Asterix and Tintin comics too....

And finally, we have the Eicher band!  All our cousins are quite musical - so we do not have much quiet around here!  But it's good to have a joyful noise!




Hooray for cousins!

The dawn of a home-coming

A jerk woke me up, or was it silence?

We were stationary. 

Sleeping forms in racks as I clamber down,

Search for shoes carefully stowed away a few hours earlier.

Hariwalla station.  A tiny shack with a jack-in-the-box switchman.

The track towards Dehra Dun runs ahead of us - a single line from the web of parallel tracks.

Red light before dawn - the signal stopping our great lumbering beast of a train.

I alight.  The sky is high above me.

A muscley jogger runs by - Ibranovich shirt wearing - a quick 'hi' from him

In the distance rich people walking their dogs,

Others returning from the side of the track, each clutching an empty plastic bottle, their deed done

As I sit on a small bench in the cool of a 5 AM morning

I can see the water colour sillouettes of the hills framing the brightening sky

Soon we will be speeding through the still sleeping city

Passing smudgy flex hoardings praising our new prime-minister

And forest of billboards promising the sky - schools and hotels and academies and jobs

Thankfully most are left behind in the valley - our taxi wants to fly

And just as the sun sends its gold through that impossibly blue sky,

Our vehicle will trundle through the empty gullies of Landour,

Crunching verticality up the fretted concrete ribbon

That leads to the quietness at the top,

And the embrace of parents and goodness of silence

But for now, I await the coming train.

A rumble in the distance, a twinkling of two white lights in the growing dawn

The Jan-Shatabadi heads towards our beast, along the single rail, moving head on

Till miraculously it follows the steel stream to a side tributary, grumbling past us

And leaving our train alone again.

The signal goes yellow.  I clamber up the steep steps.

And join my sleeping family in the cold thrum of the 3rd AC compartment

The threshhold of our home, one of our homes at least,

Is just a few minutes away

The train slowly lurches to life.

A happy dream that I do not wish awakening from.

Violence at what was once a home

He beat her.  She left him. 

With the kids.  Took all 4 of them to her mother's house.

She, he and their oldest son have stopped their ART medications.

Our staff have tried and tried to mediate.

But he will not stop accusing her.  And when he drinks he hits.  Our staff have warned him that he will be taken to the police if he continues.  The warnings are on deaf ears it seems.

A small man.  A smaller woman.  4 small kids.

A family torn apart.

Our hearts are heavy tonight.  And have been heavy for months as we have tried again and again to work with this family.

We were just about to send two children to a shelter home in another city when we hear that they are 'too young' for the home. Heart-break.

We know this family because 3 of the 6 members have HIV.  They have had some amazing things take place.  We have successfully treated the oldest boy - only 11 years old - for multi-drug resistant TB.  A 2 year course of daily medications - including 6 months of daily injections.  But everything is falling apart at this time.

The darkness in the heart of the father has not been cured by the medications we have given.

He will stand and give account one day before the Maker and Judge of this universe.

But in the meantime, the utter destruction that this man has caused in his own home is a gut punch.  

It's not a home any more.

Lord have mercy.  Lord have mercy.  Lord have mercy.

Asha's Orissa Days: A guest blog by Asha

Hi, I am Asha.  My best friend Nikita and I have just had a wonderful adventure and we would like to take you along with us.

It all started with one of my Mummy's great ideas.  A few months ago my mother wanted me to experience something new and so after a lot of discussion and prayer Nikita and I said goodbye to Mumbai city life and started our two weeks in Orissa.  

We flew to Bhubaneshwar with Nalini Aunty as our escort and were greeted by Cat Auntie.   She is a  paediatrician who along with Mary Aunty has been working in Orissa for 8 years.   Mary Auntie was a way in Vellore because her adopted son Soma was being operated for a club foot.   Stepping out of the airplane, we found that we had reached a very hot Orissa which was 39 degrees Celsius.

Thankfully we escaped to an air-conditioned meal at Pizza Hut which was scrumptious.   Then we travelled the 3 long hours by jeep to Behrampur.   On the way Cat Auntie told us all about "Love the One" - the organisation we had come to volunteer with.  Love the One helps and cares for children - especially those which special health needs.

When we arrived at Cat Aunty and Mary Aunty's house, we were welcomed by excited barking.  Asha, Molly and Daisy - the three family labradors - were super happy to be with Cat Auntie again! 

Love the One runs a small but colourful preschool during the week.  There is a tiny one-car garage which houses the preschool of about 15 children.  The staff bring the children from their slum homes in the jeep or local autorickshaws.  We helped the kids brush their teeth.  After this  Steph Auntie read a story and showed pictures with the help of Aarti Didi who translated into Odiya.

To use up their abundant energy we sing a few lively action songs.  Then the kids have a snack break where they get a nutritious mini-meal.


Arts and Crafts is next.  The children were given attractive drawings to colour in which they did with much enthusiasm.     

And of course there are the games.   The paddling pool is by far the children's favourite.  With the average temperature of 40 degrees celsius the tiny tots jump in and splash around with glee.  They love it so much that is is hard for the teachers to take them out.  They enjoyed it so much (and so loudly) that I was tempted to jump in as well! 

At the end of the 2 fun-filled hours of play and learning the happy children were taken back to their homes. When Nikita and I went along with them home we got to see the sad condition of their lives in the slums.

One day we heard that one of the cousins of a boy in the locality had a brain tumour and was in a very critical situation.  The family requested us to go and pray for him.  After a scenic 30 kms drive by jeep through the open countryside, we reached the small village where they were living.



The boy was lying the only cot in the room.  His eyes were half-closed and he was breathing loudly and unsteadily.  Nothing could be done for him.  He was at the last stage.  After talking with the sad parents we prayed with our hands outstretched and some of us even cried.   It was a very distressing time and the journey back was very quiet and subdued.   A few days later, though, we heard that he had passed away.  It was sad to see a boy as young as 14 years old die.

Love the One runs a clinic for children every Tuesday in two alternating slums.  

The first Tuesday we went to a part of Behrampur called Khaza street.

The clinic was held in the first floor (an empty hall) of a local Muslim association.  

We got to see many interesting cases like a child who was only 6 months old and was detected with a mild case of Down's syndrome.  We compared her with another 6 month old and could see the difference.   About 11 patients came of which most were Muslims.   The clinic had two stations where the patients were seen.  At each a doctor sat with her interpreter and a colourful bedsheet, a nice knitted teddy bear and toys like rattles helped to distract the kids.   Nikita and I took turns sitting with them and helping with the registration.  Since many of the Muslim ladies spoke Hindi we were able to talk with them too.

The next day we returned to the same place for a special health awareness for the mothers.  While the children were played with ....

... their mothers had a discussion meeting.

The next Tuesday we went to the other clinic.  This was also in a Muslim locality, though much poorer.

The shack in which the clinic was held was really tiny.  It was the hottest time that I have ever experienced in my life.  We had brought two standing fans only to find that there was no electricity there.  The weather forecast read: "41 degrees Celsius - feels like 48" but under the tin roof we felt like it was 60!  I was literally melting.

Despite the heat both the Doctors Cat and Catherine (another volunteer doctor who was there for 3 months) poured themselves into the work. They patiently explained and cared for all the children and mothers who came.

Even though they did not fully know the language, they were able to communicate in a very nice way - by lovingly touching the kids and respecting their mothers.

I think that paediatrics is really intersting because all of the patients are so cute and adorable.

Halfway through our visit Mary Auntie arrived from Vellore along with her son Soma and another boy called Deepu.

Both boys had club feet from when they were small.  The medical situation in Orissa is very poor.  These boys were born with club feet, but did not get the proper medical assistance when they were young.  Both boys are 9 years old.  This was the second major surgery for Soma.  They were taken to CMC Vellore for the operations and were driven back by the jeep.  They were very happy to be home - and everyone was glad that they were back - even the dogs!

Four days after they returned we went to Deepu's village.  It was 10 kms away.  Everybody was very excited to see him and we gathered quite a large crowd.

As the beach was not far we carried on to the beach to cool off after another hot Orissa day!

That same evening after freshening up we were all invited to a nearby hotel for a fare-well dinner as Dr. Catherine was leaving. 


We could see that  Auntie Mary loves being with children!  Here she is with Soma and two other staff children.

Soon it was time to return back to Thane.  Daddy came early on the 19th of May to pick us up - but there was still time for a final mini-project - to paint Deepu and Soma's casts.  Deepu wanted a Spiderman on his cast - which we did...

... and Soma wanted a Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.  So we got a picture on a mobile and drew it on Soma's cast.  This is a picture of it just before we put on the finishing touches.

 

And soon it was time for good-byes.  None of us wanted to say good bye to Auntie Cat and Auntie Mary and Soma and Deepu and the dogs and the Love the One staff - but we had to.  We prayed and went to the station and were off!

But not before a final picture with Soma! 

Soma doesn't like saying 'good-bye' - neither do we!  We are so thankful to Auntie Cat and Auntie Mary (and our mothers!) for making this amazing time possible!  Next year?

A new face in power

We have a new government which has won the elections by a massive electoral victory.  

The votes that largest number of voters have ever cast (some 500 million) Votes were counted today - the Bharatiya Janata Party has won a majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha.  It can form a government even without its pre-poll allies - let alone fish for friends afterwards like most have done for the past 3 decades.

Huge hopes are pinned on one man - Narendra Modi - till now called the Chief Minister of  Gujarat.  Shri Modi is now set to take on the mantle of Prime Minister of 1.3 billion citizens of this planet.

"Ab bar - Modi sarkar" ('this time - a Modi government') has been the rallying cry - one which has tapped into deep seems of aspirational dreams.   The hope of the nation is that the country will see the kind of development which Gujarat has been touted for.  24 hour electricity.  Roads.  Industry.  People flocking to the state for work.  The credit for this has gone to Modi.  And now the country's voters believe that he will scale it up nationally and usher in a golden age.

We will see.  There is a lot to celebrate about our nation.  We have seen some remarkable flowers bloom despite situations that seem impossible.   Our young people yearn for more than the stale old tales that have been handed down to them.  A new government with a fresh face and a kind of rags-to-riches story has a tremendous amount of good-will and can inspire a generation of folks to change. 

But we will have to see whether the aspirations are met.  The ubiquitous 'Modi-masks' cover many different faces.  Will their dreams really be met in him?  A massive electoral wave has swept away the last remnants of a once-arrogantly-dominant political party.  The hard work of building true change lie ahead. 

The Bible instructs us to pray for all those in power and authorities.  Tonight our prayers had a new twist - for our Prime Minister Modi.   And our prayers continue for our dear country tonight - that we will live in freedom to speak and worship and share and care and grow and celebrate.