Arpita
Chakrabarty, a Silver Award aspirant from Sri Sarada Math completed her
Adventurous Journey from 17th to 21st of February 2016 at Matha
Hill under the Gender Diversity & Empowerment Project. She shares
her learning experiences with us in this report.
With a
rucksack on our back, we started our journey on 17th of February 2016 at 8:00
PM from Howrah Station. Filled with curiosity and excitement, we all boarded
the Howrah-Adra-Bokaro passenger train at 11:35 PM, and deboarded the train
the next morning at Barbhum station and reached Matha Forest Area for our
camping destination.
We
were 54 in our group including 39 members from Sri Sarada Math and 15 from
All Bengal Women's Home. We were shown to our beautiful tents immediately,
and soon after enjoying our much awaited breakfast, the instructor divided us
into 8 groups for our first climbing session.
In
this new learning zone we all were inquisitive and thrilled to absorb the new
knowledge on the unknown subject -- the Art of climbing. The session began with
dissemination of information on different types of boulders like slab, wall,
over-hanging and roof; details about normal, pinch, side and jug hold; aim of
rock climbing, which is to overcome obstruction; how to judge the easiest way
of climbing; where and how to take a proper foot grip, right body posture for
climbing down, that too without any equipment. All of this was new to us and
we were asked to practice what we had learnt by climbing boulders of
approximately 7-8 feet high within the allocated time limit.
In
the post lunch session we had a class on ropes, knots and hitches. In this
class we learnt about Karnamental Rope (made of lead and poly fibre with
breaking strength of 9 mm diameter - 1452 kg), history of Karnamental rope,
aim of knot making, the standing and running end of a rope, the basic and
most important knots, which thumb or safety knot and guide man-middle
man-end-man knot. We also learnt that in order to join two ropes with even
diameter we should use fisherman knot or reef knot, sheet-bend knot to tie up
two ropes of uneven diameter; key knot, bow-line or rescue knot, clove hitch
(to anchor), timber hitch (to pull up something) were also few more knots and
hitches which we were taught during our session. After this, we were introduced
to various instruments used in climbing like: rope, scaling tape, harness
(sheet, chest and combined), P A (Peary Alen) Shoe (used for rock climbing),
plane and screw carabiner made of high carbon steel, figure of eight
(descender) which is used to move down quickly, Ascender (used to ascending
up faster), tape, artificial stair, pulley, horizontal, vertical and
universal piton, friend, skyhook, stitch plate, chest ascender and runner to
name a few. We all felt completely drenched in the rain of knowledge, at the
end of the session, extremely exhausted, yet eager to learn more in the days
to come.
A
refreshing tea break was given then, and we all enjoyed the beautiful view of
the sunset through the trees, which was just an unforgettable moment. In the
evening we learnt some basic rules of camping like: how to have a fresh and
encouraging start up, mental preparation, skills to adjust with people
around, walking manners, camping manners, communication with local customs,
passing information and technical planning etc. After enjoying dinner with
our friends, we shared our experiences of the whole day, in which we also got
answers to some of our queries. With a wish to have a wonderful and exciting
next day, we all went to our tents to sleep and rest.
Friday
morning, 19th of February 2016, we went for a morning exercise session.
Jogging, free hand exercise, and a small laughing class filled us with energy
and “gur-chola” boosted our confidence. Next, we went for our rock climbing
class with the instructors of ICNL, in which they taught us about belay
method (security method to protect a co-climber with the help of a rope from
a sudden fall), static belay (man to man), dynamic belay (with the help of
instrument). The instructors explained that there should be two platforms,
Karnamental rope, anchor (A), belayer (B) and climber(C) should be in the
same line to avoid accident, climbing sequence i.e. climbing command between
B and C at the time of climbing should be as follows:
C:
Take the slag
C: Its me
B: OK/ climb on
C: I am climbing
B: Climb up
After
reaching to B, C should say "Thanks” to Belayer. In case of a sudden
fall, C should inform B by saying "Falling/ Belay tight" etc., we
were instructed that we should bend our body at an angle of 30 degree, being a
Belay man, we should remember that our right hand (left for lefties) is the
feeling or guiding hand and left hand (right for lefties) is the breaking
hand and most importantly we should follow the right positioning of rope to
avoid any accident. After listening to these instructions, it was our turn to
experience these exercises. We climbed up various types of boulders and
played the role of a Belay man also. Exhausted though we were at the end of
the session, just one glass of lemonade acted as true energizer.
After
lunch and a little refreshing chat, at 3:00 PM we went for a visit to the
Pakhi Pahar. Going up and down almost 12 km with the view of Matha hill, Asim
sir, one of our instructors, showed us a narrow space between two mountains
where wind is really speedy and from where water flows down in the rainy
season, mountain ridge, basin (a hollow space containing water), spar, arite
(vertical ridge), pass (a space between two mountains through which we can
pass, which is also used as trade route) and most importantly the Pakhi
Pahar. He informed us how old these hills were, even older than the Himalayas
and why they were named Pakhi Pahar. With a lot of memories and new
information, we went back to our camping site again. In the evening, we
shared our experience and lessons of the day with Chandan sir. After that, we
were briefed about camping first aid, snake bite, and burns and we were
informed about the next day climbing schedule of Matha Buru (Hill). With a
heart full of questions and eagerness to know the unknown, we switched off
our torches in the tents to wake up in time the next morning.
Saturday
morning, 20th February -- we kick started our day with a really funny
morning exercise. At 6:00 AM we started our journey to climb the 1200 ft
Matha hill. Whenever we were feeling exhausted, we looked at the trail and
the bird’s eye view of the scene left behind. After reaching the halt, we
were given instructions and showed practically how to climb up and climb
down, then it was our turn to perform this feat. We climbed up 150 feet and
rappelled down and then we did Terrelian Traversing also. We stored some of
the most unforgettable moments in our hearts which we would cherish
throughout our lives.
After
lunch we were given a demonstration on how to pitch a tent, taught techniques
for self-cooking and explained three basic needs of camping (water, shelter
and fire). We learnt that there are two kinds of shelters -- permanent and
temporary, and temporary tents also have two types -- self standing and assembled.
We learnt about various parts of tents (outer, inner, ground sheet, central
and guard pole), and how and why a tent should be placed at a minimum
distance of 100 feet from water source and how pegs should be grounded at an
angle of 35 degree. Not only did we get to know about the different shapes of
the tents (dome shape, A shape and canopy), different shapes of fire (star,
pyramid and tower) but also how to store fire, how to cook food without any
utensil or even artificial help for that matter. Somnath sir gave us some
interesting information about mountain people and their food habits. We
enjoyed tandoori chicken prepared by Avrajit da, Somnath sir, Souvik sir and
then we went back to our camping site. At the camp we prepared for the
campfire and enjoyed ourselves the whole night. It was one of the most
cordial sessions where all the participants and instructors were sharing
their experiences and stories in the friendliest of manner. We danced, sang,
recited and performed a skit, but the highlight of the campfire was when all
of our instructors sang beautiful songs together and Dutta sir joined them
and Chandan sir sang the famous countryside song of Harry Belafonte
"Down the way" which was truly mesmerizing. Humming the lyric of
"Down the way" we slept in our tents.
Sunday
morning, 21st of February, we started walking towards the top of Matha hill
to visit the temple named Aranyapitha Tirthadhyam. That morning we had the
sun as our co-climber. We became a witness to the sunrise over the hill, a
scene always to remember. After reaching the top, we did chimney climbing and
after coming back to our camping area, we folded our tents and cleaned the
area. At lunch, we had a lot of fun. With all our friends, along with girls
from All Bengal Women’s home, we learnt some self-defense. At 2:45 PM we bade
adieu to the place with our hearts full of memories. At 6:00 PM we boarded a
local train from Barabhum station waving hands to Matha, with a wish to come
back here once again! We reached Adra at about 7:30 PM and from there we
finally boarded the Bokaro-Adra-Howrah Passenger at 10:15 PM. Monday morning,
22nd February, we reached Howrah at 4:30 AM and came back to our homes when
our heart was still saying:
Down
the way where the nights are grey, and the sun shines daily on the mountain
top,
I took a trip on a sailing ship, and when I reached Matha I
made a stop.
But I'm sad to say I'm
on my way, we won’t be back for many a day
My heart is down my head is turning around, I had to leave a little wish
at Matha hill....
