THE HMI EXPERIENCE: A Shaky One !

Here are the diary entries from my trip to Darjeeling to attend the Basic Mountaineering Course- 285 at The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute:

11^th Sept’ 11, 1955 hrs

Burdwan Junction. The announcements at the station do not seem to stop! It goes on, and on, and on. I am in the 2^nd class waiting-hall, waiting for my train to New Jalpaiguri- the Uttarbanga Express which is scheduled to arrive here at 2121 hrs and all I got to do here till then is to tolerate the loud irritating announcements.  I tried to read Jon Krakauer’s Eiger Dreams, but failed to concentrate. Hence, a boring 90 minutes wait for the train to arrive.

12^th Sept’ 11, 1900 hrs

I am put up at the Broadway Hotel, a franchisee of Youth Hostels Association of India, in Darjeeling.

Except a mild headache that had been putting my mood off since morning, the day went well. Uttarbanga Express reached NJP on time and the weather at NJP was very inviting- fresh warm sunshine after two days of rain, clear blue sky and a mild soothing wind which is typical of the month of September, just before the Durga Pujas.

After a long session of bargaining over the cab hire prices, we had set off on our three hours journey to Darjeeling. I think, the best part of the journey was the first 15 minutes when we got a superbly clear view of Mt. Kanchenjunga from Hill Cart Road. I wasn’t really expecting such an early view of the mighty mountain.

The road journey to Darjeeling was fun- simply because of the terribly bad roads. I enjoy bad roads- I really do, as long as the vehicle is suited for bad roads and more importantly- as long as the vehicle belongs to somebody else! 

We reached Darjeeling in three hours and finding my hotel was not much of a problem; it was a good hike though, from the Darjeeling Railway Station up to the Youth Hostel Annexe of Hotel Broadway on Dr. Zakir Hussain Road at Jalapahar. With my rucksack weighing 15 kgs, I was left breathless for a short while after the trek.

                                 View of the Darjeeling town from my hotel (Youth Hostel Annexe)

Xavier Gurung, the boy in-charge (of seems like everything) at the Hotel is a lad of 21 or 22 and he is amazing! I had never seen any other hotel attendant in any other hotel or restaurant in any other city in India, who is more polite, more customer-centric and friendlier than Xavier. He has not been trained in any reputed hotel-management institutes, doesn’t speak fluent English and doesn’t wear ironed suits with his name plate on the chest pocket. He is rather a regular Darjeeling boy, with denims hanging from below the hip-bone, an ‘almost original’ North Face black hollofil jacket, converse shoes, tapered cap and a beautiful smile that rarely fades away. He embarrasses me all the time- I thank him for his services and he in return bends down all the way with folded hands to thank me back- I don’t like that gesture, its really embarrassing, he doesn’t need to bend down so much!

14^th Sept’ 11, 0955 hrs

Yesterday, I was too tired to write the diary, as I did a lot of walking around the city of Darjeeling. My first visit was to the Padmaja Nehru Zoological Park and the HMI Museum. The beauty of the Blue Gold Macaw, the snow leopard, Tibetan wolves and the Red Panda amazes any animal lover and grieves one too, as some of these species are already extinct in the wild and many on the verge of extinction.

 Mall Road

 Darjeeling Chawraasta/ Mall 

Darjeeling Mall

  Blue Sheep

Black Leopard 

Asiatic Black Bear

 Red Panda

 Asiatic Palm Civet or Toddy Cat

Tibetan Wolves

Once done with these places, I took a walk down to the Tenzing Rock and Gombu Rock. This is where we will be trained for preliminary rock climbing, rappelling etc. once the course starts. Not knowing the exact distance back to the Mall, I took a taxi back to Chowk Bazaar and walked back to the Mall or Chowraasta.

Tenzing Rock

Gombu Rock

‘A Step Aside’ is the villa where Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das passed away. This beautiful white villa, with wooden flooring and stair cases, big glass windows facing the Kanchenjunga, is a just a few steps down the Mall. I was surprised to find the house, now a museum, locked, devoid of any visitors. On checking with a localite, I was told to take the keys from the care-taker and visit the museum! I was a bit confused as to why a museum would be kept locked during the peak visiting hours and why would this beautiful place be devoid of any visitors! Not able to find the care-taker around, I left the place for a later visit and started hiking down the hill along the C. R. Das Road in search of the Tibetan Refugee Camp. This place was set up for the Tibetan refugees to help themselves to earn a living through different activities like traditional Tibetan painting, woodwork, weaving, etc. It was a long walk down the steep hillside and it was taking longer to reach the place than I had expected, as I was taking a short cut! I failed to get any assistance from any local people as the route was devoid of any soul. The weather was turning a little gloomy and it had started drizzling. I was not carrying any protection from the rain, hence, decided to hike up back to the Mall. Fortunately, the weather had cleared up by the time I reached the Mall.

After a quick lunch of veg-momos at the Mall, I hiked back to my hotel. I was still hungry, so decided to try some local dishes in the evening. That afternoon was quite boring. I was sitting at the hotel veranda, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Kanchenjunga during sunset, but it was all clouded and I had lost all hopes. Suddenly, the Kabru North peak was visible as the heavy curtain of clouds drifted a bit to the south. The rays of the evening sun had lit up the Kabru North peak. It was a beautiful sight. I was hoping the clouds drifted further to make Kanchenjunga visible- and just then, the Kanchenjunga appeared, above all the other peaks around, glowing like gold in the evening sun, towering above and fading out the entire visible landscape of Darjeeling. Those five minutes, the mighty peak appeared, to fill my heart with the kind of joy, fulfilment and tranquillity, that I’d never felt before. Those five minutes, my first view of the Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling will stay with me forever. Now, that my soul was filled with delight, it was time to fill my stomach with some local culinary delight.

Mt. Kanchenjunga sunset from Darjeeling

Xavier had guided me to a small eatery close to the hotel, advertising Korean dishes. I went in to find a cosy little room with two small tables and benches, a small kitchen and a Nepalese song playing in a Delhi made stereo deck. It was more of a small homely affair in there. Having tried all kinds of momos earlier, I ordered a bowl of Veg-Thukpa, not knowing what it actually was. I didn’t have to wait long before a big bowl of hot steaming soup with boiled noodles and some fried chopped onions and cabbage was placed on my table. Hailing from a land of spicy curries, I failed to find this dish tasty. But then, it was a harmless dish for a cold Darjeeling evening, very filling and somehow satisfying, although, almost tasteless! Now, this was around 6 o clock in the evening, and I came back to my room and couldn’t resist myself from getting into the warmth of the double-fleece blankets. Ten minutes, and I was deep asleep, only to wake up at around 0230 hrs today! Quite an odd and annoying time to wake up in a Darjeeling hotel room! A strange fluttering noise and absolute darkness! I realised it was a power cut. I somehow managed to get my headlamp from the rucksack in hurry- to find the source of the fluttering sound. Lit the headlamp, to find a moth, trying to fly around in the dark. This one looked quite different from the ones we usually get to see in the plains. It was beautiful, with a white fluffy head and maroon polka dots on its wings.

I spent the next couple of hours somehow in the darkness and at 0430 hrs went out to the veranda to see if I am lucky enough to get a glimpse of the Kanchenjunga during sunrise. Nah, it was a complete whiteout- could not see the building next to my hotel due to heavy fog, leave aside the Kanchenjunga.

0800 hrs, had my morning tea at the hotel reception-cum-dining area, with Anand, who will be joining the HMI Basic Mountaineering Course with me today. Anand is from Bangalore and we had met at the hotel yesterday. Good to have a company. We will be reporting at the HMI office at 1400 hrs today, along with Debasis Mukhopadhyay from Kolkata and Rency Thomas from Bangalore. The plan is to meet Debasis da and Rency at the Mall at about 1230 hrs and then head out to HMI together.

14^th Sept’ 11, 2025 hrs

I have never had dinner so early before. 1930 hrs sharp, the kitchen attendant at HMI banged a steel plate continuously for a few seconds, announcing that dinner is ready to be served. 58 students of the Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) and around 35 students of the Advanced Mountaineering Course (AMC) rushed down to the dining hall with the steel glasses and spoons provided by the HMI Quarter Master’s office during check-in at the institute’s hostel. Steaming hot rice, chapattis, a vegetable sabji and dal- that was a dinner for the first day at HMI.

            Main entrance of HMI and Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling

Earlier today, Debasis, Rency and I, had met up at the Mall and had hiked our way up to HMI together- this was a 2 kms hike and it had worked as an ice-breaker; by the time we reached HMI, we were friends already. We checked-in to the institute and roamed free in the campus till at about 1600 hrs we were told to wear our shoes and rush down to the dinning hall with the steel glasses. Confused, as to what the shoes had to do with the glasses, we reached the dinning hall to find that it was tea-time! Later, at about 1710 hrs we were told to assemble at the institute’s courtyard, called the Quadrangle, to be briefed by the instructor- Tenzing Sir. Tenzing Sir briefed us about the rules that we strictly needed to follow during our stay at the HMI campus:s

- No smoking and drinking. If anyone is caught breaking this rule, will be thrown out of the course immediately.

- Morning wake-up tea will be served at 0500 hrs and we need to assemble at the Quadrangle for morning P. T. at 0545 hrs sharp, dressed in track-suits.

- No slippers outside the hostel, not even in the dinning area (that’s one mystery solved)

- One is not supposed to leave the HMI campus without permission.

                                                    Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling

Ajit Sharma (a legal counsel from Delhi), Debasis Mukhopadhyay (from Kolkata), Rency Thomas (an entrepreneur from Bengaluru), Hans Ekvall (from Sweden), Prashant (from Mumbai), Virender and Banti (from Jamalpur) and myself were sharing a room. All the guys were very easy going, friendly and we gelled quite easily on the first day itself.

                                   The HMI Students Hostel

    Room mates at the Hostel. From left- Bunty, Me, Devender, Ajit Sharma, Debasis Mukhopadhyay,  Hans Ekval, Rency Thomas and Dhanya Magdum

The room lights were to be put off at 2100 hrs sharp. The training starts tomorrow- and I worried if whether I will be able to pull off the training successfully. But then, as my favourite saying goes- ‘Today is the tomorrow, you were so worried about yesterday’, it served as a healer.

21^st Sept’ 11, 2200 hrs

Seven days have passed and I failed to find even a few spare minutes to write my diary. Right now, I am a boarder at the Pineridge Hotel at the Darjeeling Mall. Yes, I am not at the HMI campus. Let me go back to where I stopped writing earlier and unfold the story from there.

The training for the Basic Mountaineering Course started with great enthusiasm on the 15^th of September. The kitchen staff banged the steel plate hard at 0500 hrs sharp, announcing the wake-up tea. We rushed down to the dinning hall to get the hot morning tea. It was a delight in the cold Darjeeling morning. A glass of tea had never tasted better before. Probably the early morning fog, the ghostly looking coniferous trees around the campus and the cold morning chill had something to do with the taste of the tea. Gulped down the tea in a few quick sips and rushed back to the common washroom to get over with the morning rituals as fast as possible as we had to fall in for P. T. at 0545 hrs sharp.

                             HMI Dining Hall

The morning P. T. started sharp at 0600 hrs. We were promised a light workout on the first day, but were made to run for over 4.5 kms, starting from the HMI campus, via the Chowraasta and back to the campus, with intermediate breaks for exercises, mostly calisthenics. Although the running distance was just over 4 kms, which I was quite used to running in my hometown, the distance got quite tough on the steep stretches of Darjeeling. Here I must mention that jogging along the Mall Road, covered with tall and amazingly beautiful coniferous trees on one side and a stupendous view of the Kanchenjunga range on the other at the early hours of the morning, was an experience never to be forgotten. That first day’s jog at Darjeeling is one of the best experiences in my life so far.

Back at the campus after the P. T., we were briefed about the hostel rules by the Quarter Master Mr. Mahaveer Singh. This was followed by a short speech by the Chief Instructor Mr. Sangay Dorje, who divided the entire batch into 9 ropes (or teams). Rope leaders were selected based on age and experience. I was in Rope-9 and Campbell MacDiarmid, a journalist from New Zealand was made my Rope Leader. Campbell sported an intricately trimmed Rajasthani style moustache, which had made him quite famous among his peers already. Campbell didn’t take long to break the ice with his team members and gelled well quite fast. Yuvraj Sir was made our Rope Instructor.

Campbell MacDiarmid (My Rope Leader)

Rope-1 was extremely fortunate to get Mr. Kushang Sherpa as their rope instructor. Mr. Kushang Sherpa is a legend. He has not only climbed Mt. Everest, he has climbed the peak five times from five different routes. He has even successfully climbed Mt. Makalu as a member of the 2009 HMI expedition lead by Col. Neeraj Rana, the present Principal of HMI.

After this session, we were taken for a campus visit, followed by successive sessions on ‘Introduction to Mountaineering Equipments’, ‘Mountain Manners, Customs and Environmental Protection’ and a couple of mountaineering films- ‘ Makalu- A Climb Into The Future’ and ‘First Ascent’.

The following couple of days, theoretical classes were held on Ropes, Rope Knots, Rope Coiling, Avalanche, Himalaya and Himalayan Regions, Rock Climbing, Mountain Terminologies, Mountain Hazards, First Aids, Ice Axe and Crampons and Map Reading. Mornings were fun- with wall climbing trainings on the indoor and outdoor artificial walls. The rock climbing sessions at the Tenzing Rock (natural rock face, a short walk from the HMI campus) were postponed as it had been raining continuously for three days.

                                                 Rope Members and friends at the Tenzing Rock

 Indoor Wall Climbing at HMI

 Class on Tent Pitching at the Jayal Hall, HMI

 Trek to Lebong

 Ravi, during the trek to Lebong

 Happy Valley- On the way back from Lebong

 Happy Valley- On the way back from Lebong

 At the Tenzing Rock

 Lakpa Sir

 Phuchung Sir briefing us on Rock Climbing Techniques at the Tenzing Rock

 Lakpa Sir fixing ropes at the Tenzing Rock

 Chimney Climbing at Tenzing Rock

 Anand Sir demonstrating Rappelling

 Rappelling Demonstration

 Rappelling Demonstration

                                                                             Rock Climbing

The training at the HMI campus were great. Mountaineering equipments had been issued to us on the 16^th itself and we all were waiting in great anticipation for the 21^st of September, when we were supposed to move to Yuksom (Sikkim) by bus, and from Yuksom we were to trek to our basecamp in Chaurikhang (14,400 ft, West Sikkim), via Bakhim, Tsokha and Dzongri- a total of 4 days trek, including 1 rest day at Bakhim. For most, this would be the first high altitude trek. We were to stay in the basecamp for 18 days and trained on ice and snow crafts at the Rathong Glacier. We all were thrilled and in high spirits.

19^th September, we were back in the hostel a little earlier than usual after the day’s training. Most of us were in the hostel, some were in the HMI cafeteria- a short walk up from the hostel. It was about 1810 hrs, Hans, Rency, Virender and Banti were having a hearty laugh on some joke cracked by someone. I was arranging my rucksack and other stuff in the locker, just next to the room’s entrance. Some students were moving up and down the wooden floor of the veranda of the top floor and that was creating a slight vibration in the other floors, which was quite usual in such buildings made of wooden floors and walls. Then, all of a sudden, the vibrations took the form of rapid shakes, the building and everything started shaking randomly. In a fraction of a second I knew it was an earthquake. “Run out”, I said to my roommates and I ran out of the room, out to the veranda, intending to make my way out to the open courtyard outside the hostel. But as soon as I turned out to the veranda, a sudden darkness engulfed everything, power lines had snapped. I realised I had left my headlamp in the room. There was no time to go back to the room. I kept running steadily along the long hostel corridor to the 3 flights of stairs that leads to the open courtyard, shouting, ‘Guys, slowly, slowly’, fearing a stampede in the darkness. I could hear other students on the top floor shouting and rushing down the stairs. Luckily I was one of the very few to take to the stairs first, somehow managed to stumble down the 3 flights of staircases, down to the narrow steep road leading up to the campus courtyard. Halfway up the narrow road, outside the hostel building, it was a safe open area. I stopped and turned back to the hostel. The ground was still shaking. A tree, just outside the hostel was swinging violently. Students were rushing out of the three storey hostel campus frantically. It was dark all around, even the lights on the surrounding hills were out, it was a complete blackout. Some students managed to carry the flashlights and headlamps, which helped visibility a bit. The shakes ceased after some time.

Campbell, his friend Sam, Debasis and a few more students ran down from the cafeteria. They had an even worse experience. The cafeteria is a small room with 4-5 tables and 20 odd chairs. Since the students had some extra time to themselves that day, the cafeteria was full. The sudden shakes and to top it up, the power-cut, had taken everybody by a sudden surprise. Everybody tried to move out of the cafeteria in a haste resulting in chaos, falls and damages to the cafeteria as well. Big cracks appeared on the walls and on the floor. A pretty big crack ran from the cafeteria, across the courtyard, damaging Tenzing Norgay’s Samadhi slightly, up to the HMI museum stairs.

 Damage caused by the earthquake at the HMI Cafeteria

                                              Damage caused by the earthquake at the HMI Cafeteria

 Damage caused by the earthquake at the HMI Cafeteria

As time passed, the instructors joined the crowd outside the hostel. They instructed everyone to slowly move back to the hostel. Campbell and Sam, both from New Zealand appeared quite concerned about moving back to the hostel building, rightly so, as the first quake is usually followed by aftershocks. Buildings usually suffer internal damages in the first quake and stand high possibilities of collapsing during the aftershocks. The HMI instructors and other staff appeared quite confident that the hostel building was strong enough to tolerate any aftershocks. Some students seemed to take the situation quite lightly and appeared to be ignorant of the impending danger. There was a lack of situational procedures.

Everybody got busy on their phones. Luckily I had my cell phone in my jacket pocket. I got to know from a friend in my hometown that the shakes have been felt in other parts of West Bengal as well and it’s already in the news. I called home immediately to inform my folks that I was safe. Bad network didn’t pass the complete message and all they could hear was, ’There has been an earthquake’. The call was disconnected and all networks were jammed thereon.

Campbell, Sam and a few others, including myself decided to sleep outside that night. Some laughed at us. But I felt that not to take prevention is not bravery in any way. It was drizzling continuously and it was a foggy, cold night. We took out our sleeping mattresses, some took out their sleeping bags and we spent the whole night in the Quadrangle. We could hardly sleep.

Next morning training started a little late. We got to know that the quake’s epicentre was very close to our base camp at Chaurikhang. The quake’s magnitude was 6.8 in the Richter Scale and has caused immense damage in Sikkim. Many people have died in landslides and major roads and highways have been blocked. There were no traces of about 7-8 villages in Sikkim. Many companies of Indian Army’s rescue parties have been deployed in the areas affected by the earthquake.

We were supposed to move to Yuksom (Sikkim) the next day, but the disaster has jeopardised our training altogether. There was news floating around that our journey might be postponed by a couple of days. A small team has been sent out to take stock of the situation.

21^st morning, we went for a short trek to Lebong with our fully loaded rucksacks. This is usually done as a practice trek before the actual 3 days trek. We were thus hopeful that we might go to Chaurikhang in a day or two. Later that day, we were out at the Tenzing Rock learning bouldering and rappelling techniques when it was being discussed that our course might have been cancelled pertaining to the severely bad conditions in Sikkim. The training session at the Tenzing Rock was stopped mid-way and we were marched back to the campus where it was formally announced by the course coordinator and the Quarter Master that the BMC-285 course has been cancelled, due to the continuous landslides, mild tremors and blocked routes in Sikkim.

Immense disappointment and grief was evident on everybody’s face. Everybody had come with month’s of planning, training, hope and passion for this course. It was not easy to fathom the fact that we have to leave the training midway. But we were helpless. We were advised to re-apply for the batches to follow.

Quarter Master briefing the students

Quarter Master answering queries after the course was announced 'cancelled'

Students waiting for the refund of the course fees

We were unlucky that we could not complete the course. But we were very lucky that we were not victims of this massive disaster. So far, bound within the HMI campus, we had been only hearing about the magnitude of the disaster. Its only after we left the campus, that we could see the extent of damage caused by this earthquake. Images of landslides, crying faces of closed ones of dead victims and huge boulders on top of smashed cars and houses filled the front pages of the newspapers and the TV screens. We were definitely lucky. We could come back for this course again. But the dead ones aren’t coming back.

We spent the next couple of days in a Darjeeling hotel. Half asleep at nights, waking up at every slight vibration or sound- somebody closing a door or the wind slapping the window panes, fearing that it’s a earthquake again. There was news of minor tremors of magnitudes around 3-4 in the Richter Scale in Lachung (Sikkim) and even in Siliguri.

  Chowk Bazaar, Darjeeling

 Mt. Kanchenjunga from HMI Campus

 Mt. Kanchenjunga from HMI Campus

 HMI Campus

 Mall Road, Darjeeling

 Mall Road, Darjeeling

 Mall Road, Darjeeling

 Darjeeling Chawraasta/ Mall

 Darjeeling Chawraasta/ Mall

 My favorite momo corner in Darjeeling

 Fried Momos

 Chowk Bazaar, Darjeeling

Darjeeling Suburbs, on the way back to Siliguri

We are all safely back home now. Some of us are already preparing to apply for the next courses. Back in Sikkim, people are still spending sleepless nights, under broken roofs, with some close family member still missing or maybe dead.