Mule is the better known beast of burden. The Yak is another
in the same genre but more versatile in its multifaceted service offering to
mankind than the mule. Domesticated
yaks have been kept for thousands of years, primarily for their milk, fibre and meat, and of course as beasts of
burden. Also their dried dung is an important fuel, used all over Ladakh and is
often the only fuel available on the higher reaches of the Himalayas beyond the
tree line. Unlike a buffalo the Yak will not eat grain. It eats only grass. My
first close encounter with the Yak was at heights beyond 15000 ft in the Ladakh
ranges.
In the winter of 1976 I, was part of a Long Range Patrol (LRP) across
the Marsimek La pass and rendezvous with a Patrol from Northwest somewhere
ahead along the Shyok river. I have not enjoyed a trek or a walk more than during
that outing in the divine higher reaches of the Karakorum ranges.
The mainstay of the patrolling party was the load carrying
Yaks and tattus. Tattu is a variety of pony generally found in the High Altitudes
in India. They are domesticated for riding and load carriage. Tattus are credited with a bit more
intelligent than mules but are places below the lowest class of horses. The
local guides completed the retinue of the patrol party along with the soldiers.
Marsimek-La
is on the northern-most tip of the Changthang Plateau. From Darbuk we take the track (as it
was then, it is probably a road now) to Lukung on the NW tip of Pangong-Tso
from where another dirt track breaks to the left. The pass is still 32 kms away
from this turn. The track is so
small that if you are not alert, you will miss it. This track takes you to Marsimek-La via Phobrang. We set camp at the foot hills of the pass
proper at dusk on a wintry day. That night and for three nights thereafter it
snowed continually. We were cooped up
inside the snow tents, that served as bed cum living rooms and kitchen, to the
last man while the guides stayed in Nomadic tents made
of yak wool with the yaks and tattus
tethered just outside. There we were holed up, at an altitude
touching 18000ft, crowded inside a tent with many feet of snow all around and
still snowing heavily, trying to keep ourselves warm and at times wondering
whether we will get out of it at all. I thought “what the heck if it is this
way let it be this way” and ventured out into the snow on the third
morning…morning it must have been I guessed from my biological clock, as we had
not seen the Sun for a couple of days by then ( I have never ever worn a
watch). I usually tell the time of the day judging from the position of the Sun
or the Moon; much easier; Otherwise it is always “time kya hai baisaab?” – this always works. Notwithstanding this
uncertainty of time of the day, I looked out for snow leopards and mountain
goats. Of course in that type of snow
even the snow leopard wouldn’t have ventured out of its lair. Yet, hope or wait
(what do they say? “jo majah intezar mein
hain, who mulakkat mein kahan?) is what we ride on and there was nothing
wrong in being imaginative or romantic. Of one thing I was sure; that I will
never ever be in that position again (Siachen is different and in any case was
yet to happen). I just stood out there in the snow and soaked in the atmosphere
– I knew I will not get wet in that temperature!!!!! And what an atmosphere…it
was white all around the air was thick with that peculiar odour when there is
lesser oxygen content, the ranger near and very near were silhouettes, so much
so that even if a snow leopard was sitting next ti me I may not have known. Was
there one lurking nearby then? That is Army…could life have been more
adventurous. You bet…..some events of the following day were more death defying
(or so I felt)…
The Sun
shone brightly on the fourth morning. We struck camp and prepared to move. The
young blood and the feeling of an aura of invincibility on seeing the Sun
prompted me to volunteer to lead the way. A wrong move by real standard of our
training!!! Ten I was a nonconformist like most people from my state are
supposed to be. Soon I was leading an
advanced guard perched on a yes, you guessed it, a tattu. I was told that a tattu
followed by a yak was the best way to cut through snow. The ‘guide’ was on
the yak following. We were soon on the Marsimek La pass proper. I have often wondered in later years why in
hell was I leading and not the guide and as you will see, with good reasons
too. The means of communication with the guide was in my chaste Hindi and his
broken Hindi. In knee deep snow (the tattu’s
and NOT mine) when he wanted me to turn left, I suppose, I turned right, or was
it my inability to control the tattu
I will never know. I soon found myself in knee deep snow (this time my knee
astride the tattu) and sinking
further. I looked back to find my guide a good six feet behind standing on the
yak and shouting at me. I too stood up as well, on my tattu(ha!ha!) which by then was in neck (tattu’s neck)deep snow. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath
prepared myself to do a standing broad jump on to the yak which was also neck
deep (yak’s neck) in snow…I reckoned that yak’s neck being lower than a tattu’s the overall depth of snow there
would be shallower. But before I could take the leap the tattu seemed to have found firm ground and did a 180 degree turn as
I found myself facing China, with the yak behind me. We returned to camp and
reported that the pass was un-passable. That night it snowed again.
After an aerial
reconnaissance next day, it was decided to call off the patrol in view of the
inhospitable weather conditions. I learned later that the patrol did go the
following month and complete the mission.
I was not on that one.
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