CHAPTER-1: INITIATION
Growing up as a city child, the raw ambience of the places from where our lavish lifestyle began remains obscure. There’s a point in everyone’s life, where they want to get out of their conventional customs and explore something new.
Yes, that’s my observation for two and half decades. These observations started when I used to come back home from the places that we had been for a holiday. 2014 was the year when Algebra, Calculus, Vectors, Linear programming, Probability, Induction, Quantum Mechanics began to blend with the city hustle. My father was busy with his job and mother was busy managing the house. Coincidentally in that period there was a reality show on TV, and there was an episode related to some mountaineering activities, seeing which my Mom decided to do those activities and convinced my dad for the same. Papa talked with some of his friends who pursue mountaineering. One of his colleagues, Santanu Banerjee, then introduced us in mountaineering.
2015, Basic Rock Climbing Course conducted by an apex bodied affiliated organization in Kolkata was our inception at Gojaburu Hills. Many spell it as Gajaburu. That doesn’t have to deal with Goja(a traditional Bengali sweet) or Gaja(Marijuana). Goja in bengali is referred to as thumb. Gojaburu depicts a thumb shaped hill. Despite the brawl between Goja and Gaja, honestly speaking, I didn’t really enjoyed those course days, as I was unable to find interest in rock climbing. Mom was very enthusiastic and indulged me to participate in the rock climbing activities later on. In those immediate later halves also I didn’t at all enjoyed rock climbing but the interesting part is that I got time to explore the place.
In those initial days, I earnestly felt that this crude culture of the lowest step of the continental plateau of Chotanagpur is the one which has to be experienced solely.
CHAPTER-2: ABOMINATION TURNED OBSESSION
Engineering under MAKAUT provides ample amount of time to reconnoiter one’s inner-self. It’s the year 2016 when automata theory just started to feel virtuous; I got selection in a mountaineering expedition in Malana region, Himachal Pradesh. One of our fellow team members was Abhishek Chakraborty, who carried a book with him naming Annapurna, written by Maurice Herzog. In the due course of expedition, when we stayed at Base Camp, I started reading the book. It felt alluring. But I was unable to finish reading the book, for which I had to buy it just when I returned home. Those 246 pages was the initial obsession towards mountains.
Later that year rock climbing practice started at regular intervals. Tapash Kangsabanik thoroughly mentored us through those practice sessions, introduced us to the locals and groomed us through numerous hindrances. These mentoring sessions remain incomplete without mentioning the name of Asit Paul. Virtual contact is the prime medium of contact with him as he stays nearly 600 kilometers away from Kolkata. Though he has hectic schedules, he never fails to motivate us. The repeated travel to Dungridihi, a village towards the north-east side of Gojaburu hills, made us feel one of them. Keeping aside the village politics, the villagers actually made us one of them. Whenever we go there for practice, Gurucharan Hembram’s son Sukhen Hembram let us stay in one of their living rooms. The schedule of 7hrs train journey from Howrah to Tamna, a bus or pickup van from Tamna to Hesla, the 5km walk from Hesla to Dungridihi village, then rock climbing practice sessions felt mesmerizing.
I didn’t even realize when these fragments of life which I was not really fond of started turning into obsession. This obsession is hypnotic.
CHAPTER-3: SURVIVAL
For the obsession for mountains, mountaineering courses ensued. The fantasy of exploring the crude state of the mountains and its cultures which initiated from Dungridihi village, started gradually. Hoarding Gojaburu as the home ground, rock climbing practices prevailed at different locations. During a practice session at Gojaburu, we were notified that a route was bolted recently on the East-Southeast face of Gojaburu Hill. It was November 2019. Back then we decided that someday we’ll come and climb the first few meters. Planning and practice went on accordingly for an onsight attempt.
February 2020. I and Sourav Roy, the brother who turned into a friend, went below the 591m hill, Gojaburu. From a ground near Mohultar village, we hiked up through some bothering bushes and reached the base of the rock wall which is nearly 400 meters where we were accompanied by a dog we met on the trail. We began our climb at 0745hrs and climbed some 100 meters, dividing the length by 4 pitches and rested over a hanging tree. It took long as usual as it was our first big wall climbing. 1300hrs and we began on our 5th pitch. Climbing up 25 meters from our 5th belay station, I was unable to find a suitable hold to grab on. I could see a tree, half a dozen meters towards my right ripping out of the non-featured rock wall, to which I traversed and made an intermediate belay station allowing Sourav da to lead the part of the wall which I was unable to climb. He came up to the point from where I traversed to the tree and climbed a few meters up when he got out of my sight. The only way to feel him was the tension on the rope. Time was passing by and solidity started burying under uncertainty. Suddenly the tension in the rope vanished. Hearing a “hussssh” sound, I turned right and experienced something which I pray should not happen again. Sourav da, along with mud and dust was sliding down and a few milliseconds later I felt a huge tug on the rope.
A brother who is holding on one end of the same rope on the other end of which I am tied to, cannot be lost. For a few seconds, grabbing the rope and arresting him with everything I have was the main thing running in my head. He got hindered on the rope. Yelling at each other we got assurance that we were all right, regardless of the bruises, blood clots and skin burn. We two, alone on the wall had to decide whether we’ll continue or retreat. It was 1400hrs when we decided that we’ll retreat. Hanging on the wall, I called Sukhen da for help. By the time we rappelled down to the base of the wall, Sukhen da, accompanied by his brother Biswanath Hembram and another inhabitant of Dungridihi ran to the base of the wall. Finally at 1900hrs we were at the base of the wall. They helped us getting down to the base of Gojaburu through the dense bushes. They three accompanied us to Sukhen da’s house where we reached at 2200hrs.
The news of our accident spread at a lightning speed in the nearby villages. The next morning people from Parkidih, a village adjacent to Dungridihi, came to visit us. One of them was Mihir Da who drove us to Deben Mahato Sadar Hospital, a government hospital in Purulia. There Sourav da had his check-up. The same night we travelled back safely to Kolkata. The care and assistance we got from the villagers is incomparable and ineffable.
Hearing survival incidents from someone who faced the scenario seems thrilling. Sometimes after hearing survival stories, I often placed myself in the same situation I heard of and tried to negotiate it. But facing a survival situation becomes a nightmare. This incident made us realize that how much the inhabitants of the villages near Gojaburu are affectionate.
Chapter 4: Development or Destruction
Fetching water from the well was an impulsion. The adulation of walking and cycling on the dirt road; gossiping while sitting outside Sukhen da’s house in the evening when everywhere is dark except a yellow light shining far away on a lamp-post, is unutterable.
For the ease of fetching water, a hand pump was established in Dungridihi later. The major portions of the dirt roads are now succeeded with cement. Resorts are established on the playgrounds in Parkidih and Dungridihi for tourists. The usage of plastic has increased. Many boulders are being bombed and destroyed. The crude ambience of these villages which were experienced a few years ago is gradually fading away.
In a region where water level is far below the average level and the unemployment rate is high, setting up resorts where the water usage will double up and unemployment rate will remain nearly the same; will it be considered as development or destruction?
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