Not Nag Tiba!
Tales of Petrushka, II
Tales - [Dhalsari - Gil] [Nag Tiba - Jack ] [Tehri - Jack]
Not Nag Tiba!
Petrushka, IIRe Phil's idea of posting on internet page -- I'm not sure how to add or amend stuff on a home page. What I see as fun with these tales is the chance to be interactive -- one person starts and other can add in where their own memories intersect. In this vein, here's a repeat of Gil's reminiscence, plus one of my own. Memories seem dim enough, I'm trying to add years to help sort it out; those of you who skipped a year will have to adjust. Does the following work?
| Indian Standard equals |
U. S. Grade | School year |
| Standard 10 = | Grade 12 | June 1958-59 |
| Standard 9 = | Grade 11 | June 1957-8 |
| Standard 8 = | Grade10 | June 1956-7 |
| Standard 7 = | Grade 9 | June 1955-6 |
| Standard 6B = | Grade 8 | June 1954-5 |
| Standard 6A = | Grade 7 | Mar 1954-June 1954 |
| Standard 5 = | Grade 6 | Calendar 1953 |
| Standard 4 = | Grade 5 | Calendar 1952 |
In thinking about Dhalsari (my contribution to the spelling competition), I seem to remember at least 5 and possibly 6 trips. I know I made three attempts on Nag Tiba in high school. [See Gil's minor points] The second of these was actually turned back at the Uglar so it technically doesn't qualify as a trip to Dhalsari but I include it because we intended to get there. There were also two trips in elementary school. The first was in 5th standard [1953], the only year we had a scout troop, and was let by the very tall teacher who was the scoutmaster. I can't remember his name but he simply walked at his own pace and let all of us kids just string out for miles behind. I particularly remember Bob Fashnacht carrying both my pack and his for a while on the way back as I struggled exhausted up from the Uglar. Then there was a trip Dave and Tom Chance, Dan Sanford (class of 57) and I made with our fathers, I think in 6th standard [1954-5].
Then there is a mystery trip that I can't seem to connect with any of the ones mentioned above. It was one for which we hired a coolie to carry much of our food (talk about traveling in style) and I remember sitting in the pine forest below Mugru with the coolie sitting a bit apart from the rest of us. I have a vague idea that Norm may have been on that trip but I'm not sure. I think it must have been early in high school or possibly late in elementary. Does anyone else remember this? (From Gil)
I remember Nag Tiba as the important hiking destination
[Hiking song]
all through
high school. I think I made it once. There was a boys group and a girls
group that all set out on parallel treks. I remember we all got to the top
at the same time and posed for a picture which I still have.
Carolyn
Stevens and
Elaine Miller and
Joie Garlow were in the girls group. Funny I
remember that better than who was in the
boys' group!
It was after dark when we werer returning to our camp, and there was a full moon. I remember vividly coming down off the mountain and walking a path between rice paddies and a sleeping village in the bright moonlight. I don't think this was my senior year, and I was gone on furlough my junior, so it had to be in the Standard 6-8 time frame, 1954-1957. [From Jack]
For me, this is the story of "When I was a beggar in India" It took
place during the 10 day vacation, I think it must have been 1956 between
standards 8 and 9. A group of us signed out food for the full 10 days
and were going somewhere beyond Tehri, one of the big mountains with a
monastery, I think.
Gil, I think you and
Hugh were on this trip, I'm
trying to remember who else.
For such an important trip, I ordered new hiking boots. Mistake #1. I didn't allow enough time to break them in. Mistake #2. We made good time hiking Tehri road all the way to Tehri, and in the cool mountain air it was only mildly painful to have rubbed all the skin off my heels, especially on the descent into Tehri, which was several thousand feet lower. Tehri had a more tropical climate, in
On the bus to Dehra Dun a conversation with a passenger who spoke English led to the conclusion that I was 1 or 2 rupees short of the fare from Dehra Dun to Mussoorie. I guess compassion at the thought of this American teenager having to walk up to Mussoorie led to the passenger donating the missing funds to the cause, and I was able to take the bus. Being the recipient of this donation from someone who, in the cosmic scheme of things was much less well off than I, has always made me think twice when I get too far away from humility!
At Mussoorie I got off the bus, and walked in stocking feet from
Kincraig back to Woodstock. They wouldn't give me anything to eat at the
Hostel since I had already checked out my share of food, but after a bit
one of the matrons took pity and gave me a meal. Then the infection spread
from heal to toenail and I got shipped up to the hospital to have both big
toenails removed--with a walk back to the Hostel as quickly as possible to
get back off my feet before the anesthetic wore off. Then a couple more
days of hanging out, sore and hungry, before the 10 days were over and
others came back. [From
Jack]
Comment: Well, not a humorous story maybe, but the first thing to come to mind around this campfire.. Not sure it will sell, but what the heck. Can anyone else fill in the rest of the story of this trip and what happened to those who took better care of their feet? [From Jack]