A Journey Through Pages of History Remembering Pioneers in Quest For a Passage into the Inner Basin of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary
An illustrated talk by Anindya Mukherjee
Platform: Cisco WebEx
Hello! My name is Anindya Mukherjee. I am a mountaineer, adventurer and freelance writer based in Kolkata, India. Since all my mountain assignments for this year is either cancelled or postponed, I have been trying to put bread on the table by creating online lectures in the format of webinars. Your support will help me survive as an independent adventurist.
There are mountains, particularly in some ranges of the Indian Himalaya; that have grown taller in our minds. Many of them are made taller, tougher and almost legendary by an intricate veil of mythology and mystery around them. Add a rich history of heroic explorations, epic ascents, tragic accidents and liberal dash of romanticism to that and you have Nanda Devi. And for reasons known, yet unexplained, plutonium or pollution, political or practical; since 1983, Nanda Devi and its sanctum sanctorum remain out of bounds for less fortunate alpinists like us who have arrived in the arena a bit later.
In this talk, I have tried to discuss the process of discovery of the intricate and apparently insurmountable terrain around Nanda Devi, the historical progression of its exploration and touched delicately upon the veil of mythology that exists around the mountain. In this lecture, I have limited my discussion within the timeline of 1883 to 1936, i.e. starting from W.W. Graham’s first expedition in the Rishi gorge area to the ascent of Nanda Devi, and in the process, I have analyzed the topography and described in brief, how after a series of attempts, that spread over late 19th century to early 20th century, explorers were finally able to decode the secrets of the blessed Goddess and reach its inner basin. I hope you will enjoy it.
I, or perhaps, we all want you to write that in a book form. I am sure it would be the greatest book on Nandadevi, writen by a bengali explorer.
Great initiatives, keep it up.
- Mrinmoy
Due to weak internet the speech dropped many places. However the lecture was qyite impressive and informative.
Moreover as a suggestion. Please give information regarding some interesting untouched mountains and its itenarary.
- Sagar Sarkar
What you have done for this time i.e. make a record of the session & keep it available for 10days ( with security strategy of-course) so that no subscriber miss it due to Net-problem or any personal time-problems.
- Pinaki Ranjan Kanrar
A bit of an overview at the beginning of the talk as in a Table of Contents in a book. And towards the end a quick follow up of how the entire talk unraveled.
- Hassan Kumar Gundu
1. Ensure good participation
2. Picture in picture of the speaker interferes in viewing the slides on a cell phone; is there any better alternative
3. Interactive session at the end could also have a video of the viewer as well as the speaker
4. Possibility of foreign speakers may be explored
- Dr. Rupak Bhattacharya
A significant amount of your monetary contribution, received in exchange of attending this Academic Lecture, has been utilised as a relief fund for the recent cyclonic disaster in southern Bengal - Amphan, struck in May.
The remaining has been remunerated to the presenter as a token of appreciation.
