It is a big day for me today and I am super excited — almost as excited as I am on my happy birthday! It is my conviction that for any artistic endeavour to succeed and actually come to the point when it is ready to be shared with the world, takes an almost gargantuan amount of emotional, aesthetic, intellectual and logistic energy.

And there is no relationship more personal or more obsessive than a writer, artist or artiste’s with his or her creation. In the last few months I have been consumed by passion with my book Garhwal Himalayas — Chorus of Solitude. And today, the book is being launched by the governor of Uttarakhand Dr Aziz Qureshi, Dr Karan Singh and Harish Rawat.
Books, for most of us writers, are truly a matter of faith and the pangs of creation as trying as childbirth. In many ways, this book has been a journey of faith — of faith in the unknown and its myriad mysteries. It has taken almost six years from the beginning of the voyage to see this book in print. While the initial travel was done years ago, the idea to put it together in a book form remained with me, as the trigger point was the non-availability of books on the subject. Considering the sheer numbers who aspire to or make the trip to the region starting from Haridwar right up to Gaumukh and more, it is a pity that there is not a single book that gives them the opportunity to know more about the region and its mysteries except what can be seen or else recounted by others.
This book attempts to share the inexplicable memories of the place and its people — real or mythical — with those who were not fortunate enough to experience it in better times. For those who have made the enchanting journey physically and metaphorically, I hope this will keep the spirit alive and memories of another day revitalised. While I questioned many of the myths and stories intellectually, the emotional impact on me has been colossal. The biggest difference was my response, which instead of exhilaration at the end, was an even greater acceptance of the Supreme Power with deep humility and gratitude that He chose me for this covenant of faith — in a way it is as if I have received the blessings of doing the chaar dham yatra by being the medium of writing this book. As an artist, the processes of writing, seeing and selecting the photographs by the wonderful photographer Sanjay Sharma, all gave me a more sensitive insight into the genre of landscape painting. My respect for artistes who opt to express themselves in this idiom has grown manifold. Artiste Manisha Gawade’s short film on the book added another dimension to it.
At the philosophical and physical heights where all the dhams, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri or Hem Kund Sahib stand, divinity imparts to the devout the profoundest of lessons: That the object of a spiritual journey or a pilgrimage exists within oneself. It has eternally existed within the limitless boundaries of spiritual wisdom that the eternal soul was born with. Yet in the realm of the physical, for all who walk this path, it becomes a journey of expressing devotion, an affirmation of the conviction of belief.
All those who stand by and watch us writers go through the entire creative process, empathetic yet waiting for the golden moment are just as intrinsic to the creation by their conviction and sustenance. This book took its time to come together and I am glad I was able to share the initial text and design prototype with my parents before they went away on their last journey.
Yet I wonder what is the spiritual destiny or connection of this book: It took six years from the moment I put my pen to paper to write it and it was even accepted by two publishers, but for some reason, it kept getting delayed. When literally a couple of days before it was finally ready to see light of day, the place was hit by the Himalayan Tsunami and is reeling under total destruction. In fact, I went through a lot of angst whether I should even release the book.
Kidar Nath Bansal an industrialist who is deeply committed to infrastructure development in difficult terrain, and his son Mahesh Bansal who both believed in the project, were unshakeable in their conviction that the book must be published. Their take was that now, even more inaccessible areas needed to be reconnected to bring them under the marquee of growth and expansion by nurturing individuals.
But, I am glad I did, for it is the last documentation of the area. And the region will never be the same again, yet the myths, legacy and tradition of the region will live on. However, on the metaphysical plane, who can say if it was part of nature reclaiming what was hers or perhaps her expedition to obliterate to create anew. Who knows this well might be a journey in time of another kind, on a different plane in the much, much larger scheme of things? After all, this is a mere infinitesimal fleck of a moment in time and space.
For the moment, there is only serene exhilaration to finally see my work in print. From the time I started writing it, I was under a strange and even mysterious spell. As if a higher power was impelling me to write it. And I am not even very religious. In the sense that I believe if God exists, then He exists everywhere. It is not as if he is imbued in a particular vigrah or idol. The reason why people go on a pilgrimage lies within. Yet in the realm of the physical, for all who walk the path, it becomes a journey of expressing devotion, an affirmation of the conviction of belief. And I have no doubt that it was predestined that I would be the medium of its revelation.

Dr Alka Raghuvanshi is an art writer, curator and artist and can be contacted on alkaraghuvanshi@yahoo.com