Badrinath

Badrinath Kedarnath Yatra

During the year 2012 a group of three, Vijayan Punnathur Mr. T K Bhavadasan Namboodiripad and E M Adithyan left for Badrinath-Kedarnath Yatra. Transport and accommodation arrangements were made by Vijayan. Since Vijayan is working as a senior officer in Central Government, it was convenient for him to arrange accommodation at various Government departments’ Guest Houses enroute. He also took the trouble to study the entire route and despite the fact that driver was not very experienced, we did not divert the route and was not forced to travel extra miles. We got excellent accommodation at various places and at Kedarnath we got an independent bungalow with a spacious courtyard. Even if somebody is prepared to pay through the nose, it was not possible to get a similar accommodation outside.  Apart from the fact that we could save substantial amount on accommodation, we could save our health also as the food available at the Guest Houses were much more hygienic than what was available outside. During the entire journey, none of them had an iota of physical problem.

Any team requires a team leader. Here also we needed a team leader to interact with guest house staff, horsemen etc. In view of the efforts put by Vijayan, he was the natural choice for the team leader. However, perhaps being the junior member of the team, he was not prepared to assume the role of team leader. We were prepared to accept anybody as the leader unlike Laloo Prasad-Nitish Kumar dispute. However, all of us were strong believers in democratic principles and traditions in contrast to present day politicians. Therefore, we decided to make leaders for different shifts. Accordingly Mr. TKB was leader from 6 AM to 2 PM, Mr. Vijayan from 2 PM to 10 PM and myself from 10 PM to 6 AM. This arrangement worked well. Politicians can take a clue as to how matters are settled without any dispute or even without a hitch.  

We had decided to cover Gangotri and Yamunotri during next year. Somehow the programme was not materialized. During June 2013 Uttarakhand was rocked by devastating floods and landslides making it one of the worst natural calamities the country has ever faced. Destruction of roads and bridges left thousands of pilgrims stranded at various places of the valleys. Thousands of people died and lacs of people became homeless. Government especially the Defence and Para Military forces did a commendable job in rescuing thousands of pilgrims and locals trapped at various places risking their life and limbs. A big salute to all of them for their extraordinary meritorious service. What would have happened, if we had proceeded with our pre planned programme is unthinkable.