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Where beauty stands still
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Another name for perfection, says INDU PRASAD
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SIMPLY BREATHTAKING A view of Chandertal
What do you say about a place that can take away six hours of fatigue and dust in an instant? About a patch of the deepest blue and green in the middle of hundreds of miles of brown and grey? A place that makes you want to stay put and not see or do anything else?
Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, beautiful, fabulous, overwhelming... these words sound too short of the apt description. Maybe `chandertal-ed' should be an expression that describes what one feels at the first sight of those blue waters of Chandertal lake, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
We reached the lake in late July. We had left from Batal, the road-head early in the morning. We knew the path was 18 km long, most of it on a jeep track leading to the lake. Batal had been dusty, barren and incredibly windy. We didn't think the rest of the way could be any better. It wasn't. One dusty nondescript bend led to another, and the track seemed endless. The Chandra river was flowing in the valley on the left and we could see many of the 6,000 m high peaks that make up the Chandra-Bhaga range. Thankfully, there were no jeeps plying that day and the only other people we saw were a couple of British trekkers on their way back from the lake. I had heard a lot about the lake, had seen posters and postcards. I knew that most trekkers who go past Chandertal give themselves a day's rest at the lake. That should have warned me that once there even I would be reluctant to leave.
Medicinal powers
After nearly five hours of plodding on a dusty jeep track, you start seeing signs of the lake being near. A board next to a stream declares that the water is from Chandertal and is said to have medicinal powers. There are Gaddi shepherds with their flock and more than a bit of green. Just when you have gotten used to mindlessly putting one foot after another, you go round a curve in the road and there is a little patch of blue which can be spotted a little way down. Maybe what they say about the Chandertal waters is true. It must have some `jadi-booti', some magical, healing powers that give you an energiser to go rushing those last couple of hundred meters.
A short descent and there it is... the fine white sand leading to the blue water that gently laps at your feet. There is a small cairn to mark the head of the lake.
Mesmerising
Nothing prepares you for the sight. Not the posters, not the postcards, not the descriptions that others gave you. For, it is simply not possible to capture the magic in a 7"x18" or words or expressions. When the mesmerising effect that the water had on me initially had worn off a little, I dragged my eyes away to take in the almost 360-degree view of the Chandra-Bhaga range around the lake. CB 13 was to the left and a little further away, an awesome glacier I didn't know the name of. Behind me, more of the CB range stretched into the distance, giving a feel of being in a Roman amphitheatre with your personal troupe of snow, ice and heights ready for a classical performance. And this performance is eternal, 365x24x7, while we were there for a mere day.
Our camp was on the far side of the lake, so we would be away from the few tourists who trudged up to this far corner of the Himalayas in their jeeps to take a couple of snaps, throw Kurkure or Lays wrappers, make a lot of noise and rush back to Batal or Kaza. I took my time walking the nearly-a-km stretch to the camp. The path was right next to the water all the way and when the urge struck, it was great to take off my shoes and wade in. I sat on rocks, with my feet in the water and just let the sun, the water, the amphitheatre-effect, all just glide over me.
After the exhilaration came a poignant feeling. Like a sanctum sanctorum, Chandertal seemed perfect and the only intruders were a few people — trekkers and a gaddiwala who had opened a small dhaba in one corner. It seemed like we were guilty of trespassing on a beautiful scene. The next morning, we were to set out at 6. It was already light when we woke up and the sun was just greeting CB 13 by the time we were ready to leave. I was ready earlier than the rest, took 10 minutes off to walk a little distance and say my farewell to the blue waters. I promised myself and the lake that I would be back soon and the next time round, stay for more than a day or two... till the lake itself asked me to leave.
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