Pangong Lake

There it shone around the bend: The glistening blue of Pangong Lake, changing hues synchronizing with changing lights of elusive dawn.

As I drew nearer & stood on its bank, I knew I had to come back again.

The lake was truly mesmerizing, surrounded by mountains of different shades of brown speckling with white frost which melted and turned golden surrendering to the advent of sun.

The sun unaware of its bewitching lights slowly enveloped everything around it; the golden rays caressing everything that came its way, leaving nothing untouched – not the guardians of the valley mighty mountains, neither the placid lake nor the stones on the banks & the clouds which were trying hard to shadow but failed to suppress the glowing rays; and amidst all this wonder I stood mesmerized, to the combined beauty of nature.

As I stood there surrendered to this unbelievable beauty, I bowed to the lake and prayed that nothing spoiled this beauty. You might think why this worry, who can dare to spoil such a beauty. But the future possibility stood there in form of rubbish strewn on banks – the plastics & the leftovers of tourists.

What’s with us? Why do we feel this urge to mark the place with our litter? Uneasy questions with not so easy answers…I was distraught & my mind was churning ideas about creating awareness & remedies, at the same time countering aren’t such movements already afloat but still this apathy.

Then I saw what brought hope & smile, two Indian army officers armed with a gunny sack were coming down the track & started to clear the litter. I was awed & my heart swelled with respect for them, but it was also a bit saddening. They are here to protect us from foreign intrusions mainly china, whose intrusions have been on rise since Sino Indian war.

As I joined hands with them we started talking about possible solutions, to nip this budding menace. Already government has kept the number of tourist camps to a minimum & no construction is allowed other then what is required by military. Bollywood is responsible for this surge in tourists, they said woefully. Before the movie 3idiots happened this place was still relatively unknown & harsh terrains aided to its survival.

Local groups & guides have become active on this front & even we do our bit, but yes if people became more sensitive...their words trailed off as we watched a flock of brown headed gulls over the lake. Soon it was time to go.

 I took a long deep look of the lake and headed back.