#sure i did french first but i learnt french so early that i have semi forgiven it for its sins

[viridesco]

not to be a weeb on main but learning japanese at school at the formative age of 12 gave me such unrealistic expectations for learning other foreign languages, like wydm you have more than 3 irregular verbs in ur whole language

[madechoreturns]

The Two Minute Road To Happyness : My Discovery & Rediscovery of the Humble Maggi.

It happened just yesterday - I stood at a counter in a grocery shop well distant from the rest [ for all future purposes, this is being written at the time of the Corona Lockdown in India, and currently at Bhubaneswar. ], with a cart full of random food stuff, amongst which were all the TopRamen Curry (the best flat-noodles, everrr!!!) the shop had in stock. I looked across the partition, and there was this lady on the other side with her son, who didn't seem older than 10 years, constantly staring at her with puppy-eyes as if earnestly requesting for some treat while pulling down on her dupatta - forcefully enough to warrant attention, yet careful enough of the barrage that could ensue. And inevitably so, she finally gave into those tugging and calmly reaffirmed her predicament, "There is no Yippee left; You'll have to eat maggi". With all that's going around these days - the cooking and studying - that moment had just skipped the register of memories, until today's lunch when I Swiggied. "Veg n Cheese Corn Maggi with extra Cheese" is what I ordered and was delivered to me in under an hour. The moment I opened the packet though, I was hit with a smell of nostalgia. It has been ages since ordered food had "that maggi smell" in it. Of course, the menu did say maggi - but, with an emphasis on the but, it never was that maggi which I knew. It was either some other brand, mix, or ingredients which didn't make it the maggi that it should have been. If Shakespeare would have asked me then, What's in a name? - I would have surely replied, "Something different".

My tryst with Maggi was like any other kid of the early 90s. Easy to cook food, loved by the child and ate without a fuss. However, being an overweight child, in a very conscious family and yet giving into those wishes and cravings of mine - as my Mom at times was - I used to have maggi, once every fortnight. It could have been every week too, but I didn't want to bid adieu to french toast and thus reached an amicable truce. To be honest, maggi was the first thing I learned to cook (everyone's is), but rather learnt to experiment (which till date is how I cook anything). To adding spices and eggs to bournvita and ghee - I have had conjured all sorts of maggi - and never was a bowl wasted. I learnt how Soy sauce works, when once I had accidentally put half a bottle in a 2 cake maggi, and covered it up with sugar, for Taste!

However what fascinated me the most, and still does, is the taste maker. I can wager you anything for the statement that follows : Go to any hostel, get hold of the guy who wastes the most, and I am more than sure, even he/she would have patted the Tastemaker packet enough till every ounce fell into the mix and made sure any stary bits were properly licked. Thus, was the magic of that pandemonium of a multitude of spices and aroma that created such a distinct timid yet tempered flavour, one that suits, fits and satiates every palate.

In those times, when Chowmein was luxury, Ramen wasn't available, fastfood was looked upon and a Sunday breakfast meant the entire family at the table - Maggi was the perfect garnish. And not just family, friendships have been forged under the evaporation of the maggi mix. In school the maggi cake (cold maggi in shape of a cuboid tiffin) was the first to be eaten, notwithstanding who got it. The first time the entire boys' hostel of AIIMS Bhubaneswar congregated in a room was when someone took out his induction and cooked maggi. The first time me and the two roomies of mine got into a fight of who would do those dishes, was after a maggi meal. So much was maggi attached to me, and us, that in our batch magazine, the caption under my pic reads, "No one is alone while eating maggi" (thanks, Akshat!). And yes, all those were the stories of maggi - no Yippee, or WaiWai, or Pasta, or TopRamen or anything; plain and humble maggi. Yes, it never took two minutes to make, yet it was a wonder wrapped around a piece of yellow plastic.

It is said, Imitation is the truest form of flattery - and it's true when you see the variants available as options once you go to a store to get stuff. From brands to flavours, from taste to time taken to prepare - there is a plethora of option to choose from. Children these days know more about how which Instant Noodle (towards the end of the article, I mention the actual technical name for the first time!) goes with what sauce and what dip and so on; whereas, for me it was a bit soupy maggi, with tomato sauce, and a bit of chilli sauce - four gulps - and an empty bowl. Those were easier times it seems, and yet every child under 15 now will differ.

In hindsight, years have passed since those days when Maggi was a delicacy. Gradually as food style changed it just transformed for something looked upto to something looked down upon as being unhealthy and harmful. Everyone remembers the year maggi was banned, and maybe it was that watershed moment that made us look elsewhere. New flavors and taste became the norm while the OG of Instant Noodle was pushed into retirement. Also, I have nobody else to blame rather than me - in the meantime I became a connoisseur spaghetti, a lover of lasagna and a preacher of the perfect bechamel sauce pasta; and buried within all this was that guy who didn't even use a spatula but a fork and a spoon, checking the salt and pepper and "masala" in the water (just as Sanjeev Kapoor would have) while I was making something basic. But, the truth was, it was fun, it was love for the food. I wasn't trying to make something worthy of an Insta post or just a quick belly fill - but was putting in hardened effort to make something which I would sit in front of the TV and gobble it upto Mahabharata or Shri Krishna. Surely those days are gone, but not the characters involved (and also Mahabharata is re-running now).

So, when I opened my lunch I realised, how far have we come since those days. It was necessary and inevitable, but yes there always will be a longing, to go back to those "easy" days. As I always had a high BMI, I was always kept in check of the amount and quality of food that my mom cooked, and I always thought, once I go out of this cocoon I will eat whatever I wish for - sans restrictions. And so I did that, and a decade latter ask me, I will always wish to go back to that Santula and Badhi Chura (Odia dishes - Google It).

Here I am at a crossroad of time when I can make the finest Amuse-bouche or any hors d'oeuver right upto the dessert (and everything in between) - but will eagerly and happily and unflinchingly go back to the time when I could have some ghee on rice and posto-bara to call it a feast. The depth of this wish is, as a very good friend of mine would say, Unfathomable.

And as I finished my lunch, and was back on track to this semi mundane life of mine, I stopped for a while, and asked myself - Won't it be nice, to have a Sunday breakfast, with both Maggi and French Toast. Mama wouldn't say yes, maybe now she would.. But think, the dilemma aside, wouldn't it be aweosme?

As always, Bon Appetit 🍽️

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A Happy Ascent of Satopanth in 2016- A report

A Happy Ascent of Satopanth 7075m

Summary: In September 2016, a small group of climbers from India and Germany climbed Satopanth (7075m) and an unnamed 6008m peak by the traditional routes in semi alpine style and without using any fixed rope on its famous north-east ridge-north face route. 

Text and Photos: Anindya Mukherjee

Satopanth from Sundar Bamak, photo: Anindya Mukherjee

~~~~~~~~

The happy climber, like the aged Ulysses, is one who has “drunk delight of battle with his peers”, and this delight is only attainable by assaulting cliffs which tax to their utmost limits of the powers of the mountaineers engaged. This struggle involves the same risk, whether early climbers attacked what we now call easy rock, or whether we moderns attack formidable rock, or whether the ideal climber of the future assaults cliffs which we now regard as hopelessly inaccessible. -A.F.Mummery[1]

~~~~~~~~

Snow coated the mountain range and one mountain in particular.

All of the other mountains stood nearby.

Calling it fortunate, calling it lucky.

The mountain was proud; its peers have noticed him for the very first time.

-Peter Mariutto, Observation & Perception

The Mountain and its Peers

It was end of July, 1947. The Swiss Garwal expedition, after the miraculous survival of their Sherpa Sirdar Wangdi Norbu[2]and after successfully climbing Kedarnath; moved up east towards Chaturangi glacier with the intention to climb Bhagirathi I. But as they got closer to their objective they were not so sure anymore. Andre Roch writes,  

We established a camp at about 16,000 feet at Chaturangi and on 29th July we started off up the Sundar glacier. It turned to the right and we could not quite see to the head, but such as was visible was hardly encouraging. The valley was closed by a granite wall topped with blue ice which broke off continually, starting avalanches that swept right over the glacier. I hesitated, for if the entire approach was threatened by falling seracs Bhagirathi would be out of the question.

My friends thought the approach to Satopanth seemed better, so we changed our plans, and, not wishing to waste the rest of the day, we decided to establish a camp at its foot. It was pouring with rain, but we climbed to about 18,000 feet and pitched our tents on the moraine of the side glacier which flows from Satopanth itself.[3]

In the summit party of Satopanth, theirs was a team of 3 Swiss alpinists (Rene Dittert, Alexander Graven, Andre Roch) and 5 sherpas. Andre Roch writes about the summit day, 

'Next morning Tenzing[4]started the primus at 2.30 and an hour and a half later we left the camp on two ropes, Sutter and Graven, followed by Dittert and me. It was still dark, but the sun rose as we climbed the first slope.... On the last rocks, 500 feet below the summit ridge, we paused. Here the slope became much steeper, the top was overhung with cornices, and the avalanche danger seemed greater than ever. We hesitated, wondering what to do. My friends tied themselves to a rock and I climbed 70 yards, the length of the two ropes knotted end to end. Then I dug a hole in the snow from where I could make a decision. A slightly crusted layer of snow about 2 feet thick rested on the ice without sticking to it, and a small granulous layer separated the snow from the ice. This was perfect for avalanches, but I thought that, had the situation really been as dangerous as it appeared, an avalanche would already have swept down, or at least there would be signs of cracks on the north face. There were neither, and I estimated that the weight of four men on the layer of snow should not be enough to start an avalanche. Besides, it would have been a shame to have given up so near the summit. Unroped I climbed the slope alone to see if it would go. The snow held, and I reached the ridge in about twenty minutes, crossed it and sat down on my sack to rest and look at the incomparable view. My friends soon joined me.

                                              Andre Roch                         Rene Dittert                               Alexander Graven 

Thus, Satopanth became an ‘unexpected conquest’ for the team and the mountain was climbed for the very first time. Apart from this expedition climbing Satopanth (and few more mountains in the same trip), it was special as this was the first post war foreign expedition to climb in India[5].  But this was not the first time the mountain had seen its seekers. Satopanth was first attempted by an Austrian team (R. Schwarzgruber) in 1938, from both the northeast and northwest ridges, but without success. The second ascent of Satopanth came only in 1981, again from the northeast ridge, (M. Gardzielewski and L. Lehrer). Then in the following year (1982), a Japanese team (K. Toya) made the third ascent of the mountain. The west summit of Satopanth was climbed first by a Japanese team (M. Omiya) from the northwest ridge in 1984. The south face (from the Swachand Bamak) was first attempted by Polish climbers in 1983, by Hungarians and the Japanese in 1984. This face was first climbed by a Polish team (R. Kolakowski and T. Kopys) in 1986[6].

The first Indian attempts on the mountain were done by a Kolkata based club ‘Gangotri Glacier Exploration Committee’ (G.G.E.C) in 1968 and 1974 consecutively. Biren Sarkar the leader of the 1974 expedition wrote: “After its failure to climb Satopanth (23123’) in 1968, Gangotri Glacier Exploration Committee took it as a prime objective to make another attempt on the same peak...without employing any sherpas or instructors from any mountaineering institute. With this end in view, team consisting of 14 members pushed onto Sundar Bamak and set up a main base at 17400’...Members reconnoitred the upper region of Sundar Bamak, fixed up rope on the dangerous and difficult north ridge at 19000’. Unfortunately, series of avalanches roared down from the crest of the north ridge at 19000’ and this has in fact prevented us from setting up a camp...from where the summit attempt was anticipated to be made. ...Sujal Mukherjee, one of our climbing members, had also developed lung trouble with fever and breathing difficulty. Considering the seriousness of the situation we had to abandon the expedition and rush to the lower region for safety. It was therefore our second defeat.”[7]

Sujal Mukherjee, the climber who developed pneumonia in the 1974 Satopanth climb, happens to be my uncle. Much later, I learnt from my interactions with Sujal, how deeply he felt about ‘almost’ climbing Satopanth back in 1974. Over the years, after going through similar experiences myself, I can relate with Sujal’s feelings totally. But what I admire more than anything else is the fact they were climbing Satopanth without any Sherpa or high altitude porter support.  Back in those days such bold and purist style of mountaineering was unthinkable in the Indian climbing scene and neither has the scene changed much today.  

Although in 1974, the G.G.E.C gang were lucky enough to escape any fatalities, another Indian team in May 1986 was not so lucky. They met with a sad and disastrous end as an avalanche took away four lives and among them was Dr Minoo Mehta[8]. While writing an obituary of Dr. Mehta, Brigadier Gyan Singh wrote,

...he was not too enamoured of the imported mountaineering culture. They are too competitive and commercial, he felt. He thought Indians could evolve their own mountaineering ethos in keeping with their culture and heritage. [9]

We did see perhaps a hint of the ‘mountaineering ethos’ Dr. Minoo Mehta was talked about in his post Everest (1984) ventures.  In 1985, he led a two-man expedition to Matri and then in 1986 another very lightweight expedition to Satopanth, which in an unforgiving manner took away the entire team of climbers.

Satopanth today is one of the most well-known and popular mountains (after Nun possibly) of the Indian Himalaya. It is difficult to get a booking with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in a desirable period as agents tend to pre-book the mountain for their ‘clients’. Western climbers, especially Germans, seem to have developed a fascination for Satopanth (while the French have for Nun). This is possibly due to its impressive altitude and the variety of technical permutations and combinations of varying difficulty, which the massif has to offer. Many large Indian expeditions regularly climb Satopanth as part of their Pre-Everest exercise and leave the mountain scathed and littered in the process[10].  

But, to me and my comrades however, it is its peers such as Dr Mehta and Sujal, make the mountain more interesting and worthy of a climb and that too in a style and ethos that these climbers stood for.  Satopanth killed Dr. Mehta in 1986 and cancer took away Sujal Mukherjee in 1994. But their legacy lives on to keep inspiring us.  

Approach

Our team united in Delhi on August 28, 2016. After the routine briefing session at the Indian Mountaineering Foundation we took an overnight train to Dehradun.  Early morning hours saw us driving past the Dehradun roads and soon we were on a relatively quiet road to Uttarkashi. We spent an additional day at Uttarkashi. On that day, part of our team got busy in running around with copies of permits that we had already obtained from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and The Chief Wildlife Warden’s office of Uttarakhand, to deliver at the offices of the Forest department, Police department, District administration and the list goes on. Rest of the team however could engage in more productive work of shopping of food and grocery and packing. On the first day of September, we drove to Gangotri. The air was finally clean and the heat almost lovable. Our spirits rose to the thought of the weeks ahead of us. 

Our team having lunch together in Gangotri

On September 2, 2016, after more paperwork at the entrance of the Gangotri National Park we were finally away to the mountains. In three days, with camps at Bhujbas and Nandanvan we reached Vasuki Tal (4680m) and established our Base Camp. From the very next morning, i.e. September 5, we started carrying loads to a suitable Advance Bace Camp site. After 3 days, the ABC was all supplied and we acclimatised a bit more. The ABC was at an altitude of 5200m on the lateral moraine of Sundar Bamak. While approaching the ABC I was reminded of the incident of the missing trekkers of Kalindi (2010) and showed my friends exactly where and how I found (July 2011) the dead bodies of the 8 missing (3 trekkers from West Bengal and 5 from Uttarkashi). It was a silent reminder of how insignificant we are against the fury of nature and death among other affairs is one of the easiest things to happen.

The view of Satopanth massif from Sundar glacier is one of the most breathtaking views I have ever had in the Indian Himalaya. The scale and grandeur of Satopanth simply dominates the canvas here. Once one takes the turn from Chaturangi glacier and drops down to Sundar Bamak, one enters the royal court of the mighty Satopanth. No human being then will have the power to take his eye off his majesty or even bat an eyelid when the day is clear and the mountain is in full view.  The description of the massif however has been given in a more matter of fact manner by Brig. Ashok Abbey (then Major),

When viewed from the head of the Sundar valley, Satopanth has a trapezium shaped near horizontal summit, with a prominent rock band on its north face. The east summit of the massif is 7075 m while the west summit is 7045 m. The ridge joining both the summits is almost 500 to 700 m long and runs from west to east, before finally taking a southeast direction, from a slight kink on the summit ridge. The north face of the mountain has two prominent ridges, the northeast ridge and the northwest ridge. The northeast ridge of the mountain, starting from Pt 7075 m is about 6 km long and peters out at pt 5801 m, which is the northern most point of the ridge. The ridge separates Suralaya Bamak from the Sundar Bamak. The northwest ridge is about 2 km long. Emanating from the west summit, the ridge drops to a col and then rises to a rocky pinnacle (Pt 6010 m), before joining the Sundar Bamak. The south face of the mountain has the southeast and the southwest ridges. The south face is bounded by the Swachand Bamak. The Suralaya Bamak lies to the east of the massif.[11]

Satopanth and its NE ridge, Photo: Anindya Mukherjee

The Climb

We had finally shifted to ABC from Vasuki Tal on the 9thof September and in the next 2 days we now established another camp, bringing us a bit closer to the beginning of the actual climb of the north-east Ridge. This camp was approximately 5350m and was located on the true right lateral moraines of the East Sundar glacier. We found remnants of old camps here. On 12thSeptember, myself and Mahinder started working on gaining the north–east ridge.  Keeping the East Sundar glacier’s icefall to our west, and after negotiating the yawning ‘randkluft’ we started climbing the loose rock step.

ABC in Sundar Bamak, Photo: Anindya Mukherjee

The end of the rock step and beginning of the crevassed fields to the col, Photo: Anindya Mukherjee

From the base of the rock step we fixed 4 coils of static rope and returned to our intermediate camp at 5350m with the news of route to the col (5920m) was now open. Next morning, Chandra and I, volunteered to bring further food and fuel from BC; while Lakpa and Christian did a ferry to the col. On 15th September, Christian and Lakpa moved up to the col on the north-east ridge and set up camp. The very morning of 16thSeptember, saw Christian and Lakpa tackle the north-east ridge.

Col Camp, photo: Christian Ranke

The famous ridge walk, photo: Christian Ranke

They went pitch by pitch, belaying each other in places. They moved fast and light and by mid day of 16th September they reached the summit of Satopanth (7075m). The heavily corniced summit ridge of Satopanth (7075m) and Satopanth West was long and the undulations gave false sense of height to the climbers. So they ended up traversing a few humps until they were satisfied of reaching the highest of them all. It took them 7 hours from the col camp to get to the top and another 5 hours to get back to the safety of their tent on the col.

Lakpa reaching the summit, Photo: Christian Ranke

The summit of Satopanth with its undualted ridge, photo: Christian Ranke

Lakpa being lowered from the summit ridge through the broken cornice, photo Christian Ranke

Lakpa down climbing from the summit ridge. The cornice above was broken by Christian and Lakpa on their way to the top, Photo: Christian Ranke

On 17thSeptember, Aloke, Mahinder and Anindya moved up to the col and camped a little below to avoid high wind. The next morning, 18th September, the three climbed to the col (5920m) and climbed the unnamed ice pinnacle (6008m) due north of the col and came back to the intermediate camp the same day.

convenient camp for the second summit team. Satopanth on the right and 6008m on left, photo: Anindya Mukherjee

The whole team was now united and merry. We had managed to climb a mighty mountain extremely lightweight and by using minimal support. We fixed rope only on the rock step. In total 800mts of static rope was fixed. The formidable north-east ridge was climbed alpine style. In addition to Satopanth, unnamed peak 6008m was also climbed. Within a span of 10 days (Base to Base) two summits were climbed. What more can an alpinist want in order to be happy? Mummery’s comments were now making more sense than ever before.

video clip from the top of 6008m peak

Team

Christian Ranke (Germany), Reinhard Friesinger (Germany), Rajeev Ranjan, Aloke Kumar Das, Lakpa Sherpa, Sayantan Datta (Liaison Officer), Anindya Mukherjee , Ratna Bhadaur, Mahinder Adhikari

 References: 

[1] My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus-A.F.Mummery

[2]‘Wangdi had cut his throat with his knife which, covered with blood, was stuck in the snow at his side. He told us later that he had seen three men coming to fetch him, but that, seeing them turn back, he had thought himself abandoned. He also heard his wife's voice and thought he was dying of thirst. He decided to end his life as quickly as possible so tried to pierce his heart. Being unsuccessful he tried to cut his throat. His neck and chest were covered with dried blood when we found him, but fortunately he had missed the artery and had only succeeded in making a large gash like a second gaping mouth in the middle of his throat.’- The Swiss Garwal Expedition, Andre Roch, HJ, Vol-15

[3]The Swiss Garwal Expedition, Andre Roch, HJ, Vol-15

[4]Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. The other four sherpas were namely, Ajeeba, Ang Dawa, Ang Norbu, and Penooree

[5]The first post-war foreign expedition to the Himalaya in 1947 was Swiss, led by Andre Roch. I was invited to join the party of five, and it was a revelation to see the abundance and quality of their equipment and food after the austerity of the long war years. During the two months I spent with them, our first base was on the Gangotri glacier when the main summit of Kedarnath peak was climbed, after which the base was moved to Nandanban on the Chaturangi glacier for the ascent of Satopanth. We had the entire region to ourselves. –The Early Years, Trevor Braham, HJ, Vol-64

[6]Satopanth-the Mountain of Good Faith, Major Ashok Abbey, HJ, Vol-54

[7]Satopanth Expedition-1974, Biren Sarkar, Himalayan Mountaineering Journal, Vol-IX, P-128

[8]Dr. Minoo Mehta, Bharat Manghre, Nandu Page and Nar Bahadur died while attempting the mountain by its northwest ridge route

[9]Indian Mountaineer, Spring’87, Number-19,p-174

[10]The author has direct experience and photographic evidence to prove this point

[11]Satopanth-The Mountain of Good Faith- Major Ashok Abbey, HJ, vol-54