Sonamarg
One of the ways to conquer fear is to travel the Himalayan roads. We did it a few years ago when we traveled the dust bowl route to Langza from Chandigarh. The Himalayas are mostly sedimentary and metamorphic rock. The Marine limestone at many places simply crumble. There are shooting stones, landslides and falling rocks all the way. People die. The BRO-Border Roads Organization does a great job in keeping the roads clear. We traveled through roads that had thousand feet vertical drops and with space for only one vehicle. These roads are a cure to vertigo.
The route to Sonamarg or Sonmarg from Srinagar is well made but perilous in sections. Just like the route we took to Langza. Every bit of your being will be soaked in fine abrasive dust when you traverse the route. The primary National Highway #1 is India's most important road that connects Uri to Leh. Without the NH#1 India would be overrun by our spiteful and malevolent neighbours. At places the highway can remain closed in winter and yet our Indian Army and the BRO keep the supply lines to the warriors in the frontier intact. The Highway from Srinagar turns right and runs parallel to the Line of control via Zogi-La and Kargil before turning south to Leh. Five hours north of Leh is Siachen. As you can see, the roads are vital and need to be open and running always. I had regrets coming to this place in October. The valley was bereft
of flowers and looked uninteresting. Sonamag is great for folks who do camping, trekking or rafting. It is 80 kilometers or about 2 hours drive from Srinagar and I have read it is great between April to June when the valley explodes with flowers. "Sonamarg or ‘golden meadow' derives its name from the yellow crocus flowers that cover its slopes during its cool summer months." We had a choice of taking a weak and famished pony to the Thajiwas glacier which is about 2 kilometers from Sonamarg or go to Zoji-La on NH#1. We spared the pony and took an SUV (the unions in Sonamarg are terrible- we were not allowed to take our vehicle) to Zoji-La. Vast columns of the Army were moving and it took an hour to arrive.
Zoji La means the "mountain pass of blizzards''. In May of 1948 Pakistan had captured the Zoji La pass and this cut off Leh from Srinagar. "The pass was recaptured by Indian forces on 1 November in an assault codenamed "Operation Bison", which achieved its objective primarily due to the surprising use of tanks by Indian forces. At the time, this was the highest altitude at which tanks (11553 feet) had operated in a combat situation in the world".
The group song of the Madras Sappers (who made the roads possible) in Tamil goes, “Vetri Vetri Ethilum Vetri Thambi" (victory, victory in everything, victory, younger brother'). "வெற்றி வெற்றி எதிலும் வெற்றி தம்பி'
When I saw a tamil name in the memorial I was ecstatic. It read Thangavelu Memorial. "Jemadar R Thangavelu and four of his men had been given the task of blasting the rocks in the last kilometre of the Baltal Gumri Road. While at work his party came under heavy enemy small arms and mortar fire. He asked his men to take cover and carried on doing the work alone. With determination and courage and in utter disregard for his personal safety, he carried on blasting the rocks obstructing the passage of tanks till his task was finally completed" Thangavelu and company ensured that we successfully recaptured our territory. Just beyond the mountains you see in the picture is the enemy. Our army jawans stay in the summit bunkers at temperatures that can reach below Minus 40 degrees C. To appreciate the comfort zone we are in and to be grateful to those who provide it to us we must make time to travel to places like ZojiLa.
The current government has put speed into two important infrastructures - The 6.5 kilometer long Z-Morh Tunnel and the 14.2 Kms long Zoji-La tunnel. When these are completed before 2024 this will reduce the travel time across the pass from nearly 3.5 hours to - hold your breath - only 15 minutes. The tunnels will ensure that the Indian Army can travel from Srinagar to Leh all year round. When we returned to Sonamarg we took some hot Noodles from a shack. As I sipped on a warm Kahwa I saw another convoy of gun wielding army folks and wondered at their love for the flag and when would they be seeing their families. We should all have limitless gratitude to our Jawans who put nation before their lives.
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