Where there is Wool there is Way? Or maybe Yak Cheese ...

Read this wonderful story about an ethnic Tibetian community making Yak cheese in China with the help of US dairy experts so that they don't have to migrate to cities to look for work.

Everyone involved in the project is confident that there is a market for local cheese that can be blended into Chinese and Tibetan dishes.

Despite the factory's modest setting, there is a strong emphasis on hygiene and keeping the milk clean.

"If you've got a good product, you will have a market. But you've got to ensure good sanitation," said Marie So, CEO of Ventures in Development.

The cheese makers plan to install electric stoves, when the power is finally on. This would double their capacity, currently 20 kilos a day.

They are also investigating yak fibre as a secondary cash product, hoping that where there's a wool, there's a way.

So now you know where the caption for this post came from.

Hitler's Cross Anyone?

Update: Not Hitler's Cross Anymore (Washington Post Article)

The owner of a restaurant named after Adolf Hitler said Thursday he will change its name because it angered so many people.

Puneet Sablok said he would remove Hitler's name and the Nazi swastika from billboards and the menu. He had said the restaurant's name _ "Hitler's Cross" _ and symbols were only meant to attract attention.

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It is rare that I write twice in a day but when I hopped over to Max's blog and read about Hitler's Cross, a new restaurant in Mumbai, I knew I had to write about it here too. You can read the Reuters report here.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A new restaurant in India's financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country's small Jewish community.

'Hitler's Cross', which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.

"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.

What all we will do in the name of being 'different.' I wonder what type of clientele are they attracting! The only thing I feel about the whole affair is disgust.

Cycling from Jammu to Amritsar

Well, not me. I can't even dream of doing it. But Rich is cycling through some parts of India and writing his adevntures on his blog. Many of you travel buffs would certainly enjoy reading it. He also has an interesting account of his interaction with J&K police in his hotel.

Tempo Race Anyone?

Care for a 1000 Km (590 mile) drive in an auto-rickshaw ot what is more familiar to us by the name of the Tempo? The race is from Chennai to Kanyakumari and the entry fee is 1,500 Euro (well, I am sure they are not looking for people like me and you) and the proceeds (some parts?) go to the charity. I saw this at the BBC and as usual they have some good pictures along with the story.

The Indian Auto-rickshaw Challenge is strictly fun, without any prize at the end of the race, the organisers say. ... A total of 16 teams comprising 50 people are in the race. Two of the teams are Indian.

Sair Kar Duniya Ki Galib ...

Sunset at Kedar Kanta, Har-Ki-Doon Trek

Changla Pass, On the Way to the Pangong Lake, Ladakh

Sair kar duniya ki galib, yeh zindagani phir kahan
zingagani gar rahi tou , naujawani phir kaha.....

Rough translation of the Galib's Couplet

Lets explore this world while we can, Who knows how long we may live
And even if we are alive, how long are we going to remain young ...

I know it gets lost in translation.

Anyone else willing to try a hand at the translation?

My Kuari Pass Article on Gonomad

I Do Not Tire Sharing My Kuari Pass Trek Photos!

But this is to share with you that my Kuari Pass Trek article got published at Gonomad under the title 'Hiking India's Kuari Pass.' This is my third story with them (the other two were on Ladakh and Goa) and it still gives me a thrill to see my story published.

You can have a look at their writer's guidelines here.

I sent the link to entire gallery of Kuari Pass Trek and let Steve pick up the photos he liked best. Well, in the first photo (of the article) I am sulking so badly because it has been taken shortly after I had woken up and I have never been a morning girl.

Longing for Some 10 KMPH Days Again!

This time when I came back from the Kuari Pass trek, I felt totally disconnected from my day to day life. Now, two and a half months later, I can barely remember the trek. Life is flashing past me in a whirl of activities and I feel overwhelmed at times. Then, I know it is the time to sit back and look through my 200 plus photographs of the trek and muse about it.

One day while walking on the trek route, Sesha and I were marveling at the beauty all around and wondering why the life never seems the same in the city. Sonu (our guide for the trek) responded (we were chatting in Hindi) “We bring your 80 KMPH life to 10 KMPH here in the hills and that is why you feel so peaceful here”. How true his words ring now.

As I said before, life seems to be whirling all around me. For instance, it is almost midnight while I am writing this. I have a net connection running on my system, my elder nephew is blasting VH1 on TV and I am trying to write alongside. During the day I took a class (three hours) then edited two papers for our institute journal. And yet, I feel I am unable to keep pace. Hectic, is the word that comes to the mind. And then when it takes time to load my picture to blogger I play Spider Solitaire, as if I had not crammed enough unnecessary activities in a day!

How I long for some 10 KMPH days again! But December is the only time now that I will be able to take some time off. Of course I will have to break the monotony by taking some weekend trips in the meanwhile.

I cannot Imagine Leh Getting Rains!

I cannot imagine floods in Ladakh. But it is official now.

Updates on the road conditions can be found at Indiamike from the travellers.

I got these pictures of the flood courtesy Rigzin via email. He got it from a goup of Lamdon Model School, Leh graduates and he assures me that I can use them on my blog.

Floods in the Ladakh Region?

Looks like it rained hard in Leh.

During the intervening night of July 31 and August 1, torrential rains and cloud burst in Leh, Saboo, Phyang, Igoo and Shara in Leh district and different pockets of block Sankoo in Kargil district caused floods.

Massive damage was caused to standing crops, plantations, roads, bridges and some houses in the flood-hit areas, Sharma said adding government has taken all necessary steps to combat the damages caused due to the floods.

Surprisingly the entire article does not mention anything about the tourists in Leh.

Manali-Leh Highway and the Border Roads Organization

The new academic semester has started and it will take me sometime to get back to my regular blogging. At the start of the semester, life seems so hectic, but two weeks later, I invariably find time. In the meanwhile, I thought I will share this moving piece written by Vikrum at How the Other Half Lives.

I also noticed that their clothes were pathetically inadequate for the climate. One man had a torn green windbreaker and another wore two long-sleeved t-shirts. It was painful for me to see these grown men shivering as they observed us.

These men, like the Nepalis, seemed eager to talk to anyone who would listen. I introduced myself to the group, and one man answered for all of them. The first thing he said caught me off-guard. He said, in Hindi with a strong country accent, “We are proud to keep this highway open for you all.”

I realized that he worked for the Border Roads Organization. He and his friends were the reason why the road was open and in such excellent condition.