Why I wrote This book
During my service life in military organization, I encountered many incidents that had elements of love and emotion, sensitivity and human relation; a lot of adventures and real life dramas too. At no point of time had it occurred to me that such incidents would be compiled sometime in later part of life and made available to the readers in a book form to share my feelings.
It was a casual narration of my experience, rather adventure of first-ever long-distance travel by train, to one Dr. D K Bora, a retired Chief Archaeologist, Government of India and it seemed, he liked the recounting and the experience and had insisted on recording the account and other such true incidents that I was personally involved during service life. His insistence prevailed and I converted all such true incidents in black and white and finally the present Title had taken shape. The Title, KALIABOR TO KARAKORAM is purely non-fiction, true incidents and memoirs which are very close to my heart. The write-ups involve places and areas right from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand (Garhwal & Kumaun), Arunachal Pradesh of Union of India, along the Indo-Tibet Border and some areas of my Home Land, Assam. KALIABOR of district Naugoan, Assam, India is a very large area comprising an equally large number of villages and had once enjoyed the honour of being the granary of Assam and I believe, still so
THE KARAKORAM PASS - While in 7th or 8th standard, I remembered to have read the name Karakoram in geography book and then had forgotten about it. I did not take any interest then. Geography and History had never appealed to me even now. And decades later, while in ITB Police service, the name Karakoram Pass was more frequently heard. Because of various factors the Karakoram area is considered an important and a difficult one. Before the Chinese took over Tibet, traders from many countries, particularly from Tibet used to frequent to India via this pass for trade and business. This was one of the most frequented trade routes. During that time all kinds of business was transacted through barter system. Very high quality wool and pasmina, which is a very fine and superior quality wool, woollen carpets with attractive colourful design and colourful woollen blankets, all handmade, white yak tail, gold, silver etc. from Tibet were bartered for salt, condiments, to***co, o***m, brass utensils, yarns, fabric and many other useful commodities including medicines from the Indian counterpart. It is probably the only pass in the world that connects five countries: India, Tibet, China, Russia and Afghanistan. The other unique feature with this pass is that the name does not have the suffix ‘La’, like in other passes. The word ‘La’ in Tibetan/ Buddhist language means ‘pass’, like, Nathu La, Khardung La, Parang La, Chang La etc. INDO-TIBETAN BORDER POLICE FORCE (ITB POLICE, MHA, GOI)
This Para Military Force was raised on 24th October 1962 during the Chinese aggression with a specific purpose. Only physically strong and mentally alert, tough and rugged young persons were taken in ITB Police, and justifiably, the personnel of ITB Police are known for their vitality, stamina and quick reaction. They have proved their mettle wherever deployed all over the world. Being one of the six direct officers of the first batch to this magnificent Force and having joined in March/1967, it became our home and hearth; we had grown up with this Organisation for more than three decades of our prime youth and had tried to contribute to its progress and development overcoming the enumerable initial teething problems. The contribution we made to this magnificent organisation may be meagre, may be a few drops in the ocean, but then, without it, the organisation would have been poorer by that few missing drops. The road to Karakoram, the destination of my dream was rough, undulating and dangerous and full of adventurous too; it was not a cakewalk. Had encountered many daring acts and facing many more real life dramas, which forced me to make several detours before I could finally reach the Karakoram. It took close to two decades to actually reach the ‘KARAKORAM’― hitherto almost unknown to me! There are some photographs in black & white, I had myself processed at my Head Quarter, all in black and white in contact print. A small part of a room of my quarter located above fifteen thousand feet was converted into an improvised studio, in a climate much below the freezing point. I did not realise the importance of such photographs then; it was just for learning the technique of photography and the chemistry of processing and printing with a contact printer. The small contact printer and other accessories and ingredients necessary for the final print were taken to my Headquarter located at the foothills of the Karakoram where I spent one year on Border duty. The power required was from the PRC-10 batteries (a portable radio communication) , battery-operated like walkie-talkie set. I did not know, rather had not heard about GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD or Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” then, otherwise I would have certainly contested for a coveted place in the Record Book for processing photos above 15,000 feet, sometimes at -30o Centigrade during peak winter in such crude setting, way back in 1977. Why You Should Read This Book
The book connects the readers with the human side of a man trained for combat. It thrills you with the wild enchanting mother nature. It brings forth to the readers the unexpected, unexplored flora and fauna of the desolate terrains which the soldiers call their home. All that has been included in this Title is based on true incidents; the language is homespun, coarse and totally original, hence crude and ethnic too. I have some more writes ups in store relating to human relation, adventures and drama in real life; depending on the acceptance of the valued reader, I shall try to show such write ups the light of the day. It is not an autobiography, a biography or a travelogue. Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1. Ordeal In The Sky: Our Aircraft Had Caught Fire in Flight
CHAPTER 2. Baby Elephant And The Security Officers, Oil India Limited
CHAPTER 3. I am The Third Luckiest Man Alive
CHAPTER 4. My Experience of First Breakfast, 15000 Feet above Sea Level
CHAPTER 5. The ‘IGLOO’ Is a Comfortable Shelter In Snow
CHAPTER 6. The Chinar Sapling Thief And The Couple From Kashmir
About The Author
