SIXTY EIGTH DAY REPORT
GANDHI SWARAJ PADYATRA
by Jeff Knaebel, sojourner stateless freedom
25 October 2009

“I have not the slightest doubt that, but for the pair, truth and non-violence, mankind will be doomed.  We can have the vision of that truth and non-violence only in the simplicity of the villages”

LETTER TO H.S.L.POLAK, [LONDON], October 14, 1909
•    They saw that kings and their swords were inferior to the sword of ethics, and they, therefore, held the sovereigns of the earth to be inferior to the Rishis and the Fakirs.  A nation with a constitution like this is fitter to teach others than to learn from others.  This nation had courts, lawyers and doctors, but they were all within bounds.  Everybody knew that these professions were not particularly superior; moreover, these vakils and vaids did not rob people; they were considered people’s dependants, not their masters.  Justice was tolerably fair.

The ordinary rule was to avoid courts.  There were no touts to lure people into them.  This evil, too, was noticeable only in and around capitals.  The common people lived independently and followed their agricultural occupation.  They enjoyed true Home Rule.”

•    “And where this cursed modern civilization has not reached, India remains as it was before.  The inhabitants of that part of India will very properly laugh at your new-fangled notions.  The English do no rule over them, nor will you ever rule over them.  Those in whose name we speak we do not know, nor do they know us.   I would certainly advise you and those like you who love the motherland to go into the interior that has yet been not polluted by the railways and to live there for six month; you might then be patriotic and speak of Home Rule.”

•    “Now you see what I consider to be real civilization.  Those who want to change conditions such as I have described are enemies of the country and are sinners.” (Taken from HIND SWARAJ Chapter: WHAT IS TRUE CIVILIZATION?).
*****

In a hard cold wind at Muraldanda, we break camp at 0645 hrs.  It is blue-hand cold and difficult to make the fingers work.  The inner sides of tent walls are covered with frost from our breathing moisture, and the water bucket is frozen solid.

At 0810 without breakfast or water we begin our descent.  Our porters’ feet are clad in crude rubber half-shoes that would cut my tender feet to ribbons in a few minutes.  About 1,000 feet lower we find water at an abandoned shepherd’s stone shelter, and cook a big meal in the warm sun.  Nearby are rhododendron and a “blue oak” and birch forest.

From this place, far below and across the river can be seen huge scars on the mountainside – broken rock faces and cascades of rock rubble resulting from road construction.

Underway again at 1045, Devendrabhai plucks berries from a Jammi tree and points to wild boar sign next to the path.  At 1115 we see Badi village far below to the west and pass through abundant “blue oak.”  The trail becomes vanishingly subtle, not navigable without the sharp eyes of Devendrabhai and our sturdy porters.

We enter a deep mossy forest with much Ringal Bamboo.  Bear and leopard country, probably long since wiped out.  Devendrabhai points out medicinal herbs that are smuggled to USA for cancer treatment, especially the rare Thuneer tree, which is used locally for winter tea.

Lower – fir.
Lower – bumble bees.

On a steep pitch of loose broken rock mixed with leaves and wood chips and covered with dust, Jeff takes a nasty fall, stopping just short of what would be a long and terminal drop-off.   Devendrabhai takes my pack for the balance of this steep and slippery section.

We meet a big herd of goats ascending.  The herder says there is no trail to Sarahan.  From across the big river comes the sound of trucks and loaders tearing at the earth.

On a very steep grass-covered slope Devendrabhai removes his shoes for better traction and ends up with a bad cut before reaching the bottom.  Jeff takes a second fall and wrenches his bad knee.

Where Jeff is taking every step with caution and pain, suddenly a young farmer-shepherd, Ashok Kumar shows up, bouncing down the slope in plastic sandals as if a deer.  He invites us to his home in Village Daludi, and Devendrabhai walks on, refusing first aid for his injured foot.  Below Ashok’s house is a fine garden of cabbages and huge pumpkins.  The river Dogru is about 1 km to the north, flowing west to where it will join the Sutlej.

I see that Ashok’s cheek is swollen, and inquiry reveals an infected tooth.  We give him pain medicine and strongly urge going to Rampur to see dentist.  In pain and with fever, yet he serves us like an angel of mercy.  In ragged, torn clothes and with dirty bare feet, here is a real human being.

This is the remnant of village India beyond the roads, described by Gandhiji in Hind Swaraj as the India “that has not yet been polluted by the railways.”
The women are still working in near darkness at 1800hrs, lifting and placing cut fodder for storage in the trees near their garden.
Devendrabhai reports that our porters complained about camping at the crest of Muraldanda, saying that we were disturbing the devas who live there.
Today we walked 13 km – tally 1,047.
— END OF DAY 68 REPORT —

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