Post No 7 - The Final Phase About to Begin!!

                    2018 has been an year of erratic weather conditions. Firstly, the much anticipated snow never came after initial onslaughts. Then rains followed no pattern and HP was adversely hit with many roads getting washed away and slopes tumbling down due to flash floods and cloud bursts. Barring peak summer months, work could not progress too well due to unforeseen interruptions every fortnight or so. Slowly and steadily, we kept at it and despite whatever nature threw at us, we remained pro-active most of the times. Some pictorial references.....

As the work on the first block was going on and its third level was raised, we could squeeze in enough time to start the work on the second block. We froze the plan to have three floors (each with two rooms) in the first block and two floors (each with two rooms) in the second block. The third structure, kitchen and cafe, would have one single storey with another floor only on one side. The whole layout was visualised as three steps kind of an elevation with one storey of the third block, two storeys of second block and three storeys of the first block- all echeloned in a sequential progression.

An idea to use local mud plaster (earth+pine needles+ cow dung) on the outside was tried and it looked pretty good. Such a plaster, in addition to adding rustic touch to the settings, shall also act as a good insulator of temperature.

Chamba Slates (with distinct bluish grey hue) arrived and were stacked up as we went around hunting for a suitable generator set since the available power supply didn't have sufficient voltage required to run the welding set smoothly.

With slab on the ground floor of the second block laid and compulsory wait of three weeks enforced, we started bringing up the third block that would have a covered verandah, a dining area and a kitchen. Staff quarters shall come up on top of kitchen area. The facade of this block towards approach path has been constructed using local stones.

The third block is now set to take on roof work. Far left is kitchen on the ground floor and staff room on top; middle is an internally raised roof to accommodate 1.5 levels of seating and to the right is the covered verandah (single storey height).

Concurrently, work on the roof of the first block was happening (we were proactive, after all!) This is how the roof looks like from inside. Each slate gets anchored to the steel frame (or wood as the case may be) through a nail that is welded to the frame and driven through a hole in the slate. Each slate has an overlap of 4 inches and nail gets hidden under the overlap. It is a thing of beauty but is demanding and a labour intensive job.

This frame gives out the whole picture. The first wall (facade) towards approach path/future parking is made of stone and a few bricks (as replacement for wood in a typical Kath-kuni construction methodology). It shields staff quarter on top and kitchen below. Joined to this structure (as part of third block itself) are dining area on 1.5 levels and an open verandah. After the gap, is the second block with slab on the ground floor (scaffolding /shuttering seen). Another gap and we have three floors of the first block!

With roof work on first and third blocks now complete, things have started to look more orderly. While the blocks are coming up well, what can't be overlooked or ignored is the natural beauty of the place. It is green on all sides and once clouds clear off, we get an amazing view of the mountains across Barot/Uhl valley below.

Small niches here and there are being used for future storage and so on.

       We are already into October (3rd week) of 2018. As I key in these words, first floor walls of the second block are being raised. Once that has been done, roof shall be set on top. However, concurrently, work on interiors has commenced. Six washrooms are ready sans fittings and panelling work in six rooms is on. More about that in the next post!

Post 6 : Slow and Steady but race is far from over

             The slog continued through the rains and the mist and the fog. Some showers were not only untimely (so common these days) but pretty heavy too. Being where it is, sandwiched between two valleys from where strong winds rise every now and then, every second spell of rain had a look and a feel of a small thunderstorm. And when it pours, one feels as if a small cloud burst has occurred. All such acts of nature would be fascinating once we are safely indoors and are watching the fun from the safer side of a 10 mm thick glass screen. But the package becomes horrifying when you have construction work on.

                    I was once again absent when the slab of the ground floor roof was being laid. The team, however, carried on. Weather was kind and the phase went through without a hitch...

               
        Issue, however, became a bit debatable as we reached the slab stage of the first floor roof. We were already into winters and while snow was holding on and was yet to come tumbling down from the skies, the night temperature was already into negatives. In the areas like Kasol where the sun changes its track and doesn't cover many areas, no slab work is undertaken during such a season since water freezes before the cement has been set and the result is invariably a disaster. Here, at FRD, however, sun shines bright throughout the year (akin to what happens in Ladkah....sharp, bright sun that needs 50 plus SPF protection (unless you are like me!) and as per the locals, such an issue doesn't come into play here. The local knowledge is based on the fact that if a slab gets about a few hours of strong sunshine, water won't freeze well into the night and cement gets set in time. With some apprehensions and some doubts and with prayers on lips, we went for it. The second slab was laid and there was no sign of snow yet!

             We were lucky enough to have more than a fortnight of uninterrupted fair weather with sun coming down heavily on the structure and helping it get firmed up!  And at a time and moment as decided by HIM, the fun began. Winters of 2017-18, have not brought in too much of snow and yet the height and location of FRD meant a good white cover.

              

             There were a few such spells of snow and work on interiors carried on while it remained more or less white outside. The snow that came later, didn't stay for long. During the break between laying of the slab and snow, we were able to erect pillars of the second block.

        As per the revised plan, we were to have two similar blocks of three floors each with each floor having two rooms (12 in all). Now, it was revised again and the second block was now earmarked to have two floors (10 rooms in all). The third building, our cafe, was to be a single storeyed structure. Such an arrangement is likely to give a look of stepped up construction and is likely to look nice.

Two specialists were brought in after the snow to check on the slab and they passed it as OK!

continues....

Post 5- The Slog Phase

           Rains proved to be only one of the major issues for the next quarter of a year or so. The last two Kms of road is not metalled nor does it have any drainage. As a result, it caved in at places and had to be repaired and maintained regularly. Then there were issues with electricity supply and voltage (there is a low voltage, single-phase connection running through the village). Very strong winds during rains also add to the degree of difficulty since their force jolts the supports and fixtures. It was a tough slog but we kept going!!

One of the fascinations, besides killing views of Hiamlayas and weather, is a dreamy mist that rises up daily from the valley below during monsoons as well as winters. It is mystic and it is beautiful

Hardy mountain mules did what machines of various horse-powers could not do. They kept our supply lines opened and never let us down.

Slowly and steadily, tangibles began to appear on what was just a green field a few weeks ago

As part of the agreement with Roshan, locals were employed for the construction work. With the project likely to take more than an year, such an arrangement provided them with an assured income for most part of the year

Even though I kept making trips to the site regularly, I had not been present when the brick work started. They, however, kept a door frame installation pending for me to come and do it. Finally, having hung the Uniform in September 2017, I did the ritual. Seen here is our daughter, Czia.

October month was pretty sunny and though chill had set in, we were making some noticeable progress. 

           As expected, the cost was turning out to be pretty high. Almost every thing that reached the site, had to undergo at least two and , at times, three shipments. Mountain markets are not too competitive and prices are pretty steep too. Money was flowing out of our accounts at an amazing speed though the progress on the ground looked just about crawling. But these are the harsh realities of working in such areas. I, however, have a different take on this- Paradise doesn't come cheap!

                                                                     Continues!

Post 4 - Belling the Cat

            Having made up our minds about the general build plan, we set out to look for someone who could execute the project. Designs were kept simple and easy to execute since a local mason/contractor only would have suited us and a complicated design might have proved a bit too much for a native. Getting an outsider to a place, with its last-mile connectivity remaining prone to weather condition, would have been a herculean task and obviously, more expensive. Local knowledge, in any case, is irreplaceable in such a scenario.  We made a very basic cardboard model, put it into a carry bag and rushed to Jhatingri immediately on hearing the news from Anil that a good and reliable mason-cum-contractor had finally been found!

             I am a no artist or model maker but my basic approach to things in life aligns along simplicity. With the aim of making the other guy- a stranger till then- understand what we wanted, we made something like this....

A simple two or three floors design with each floor having two rooms with washrooms; roof of slates but design could be any

Yes, no doors in the model but that is how a room and a washroom set (two such sets on a floor) would broadly look like

           Roshan ji came across as a mature, thinking mason who didn't hesitate asking questions and clarifications. The good part was that his questioning gave me the confidence that he would be able to execute the project without my presence in physical terms. The icing on the cake was the fact that he stated,"Everything is ok but this project would be very cumbersome (siyapa) to complete!" Yes, with no local resources, a badly constructed road, heavy rains expected shortly and the fact that there would be delays and interruptions, that was how the project would be. I was glad he understood the issue in its totality as we sat chatting on roof of Green Himalaya cafe at Jhatingiri. Finally, I nailed him by offering a rate (per sq ft) that was too good to be ignored and he shook my hand as rain drops began to fall. Our joint site visit didn't take too long. 

            Now, it was between him and Anil bhai that things needed to be hauled up, dumped and then put to use. My role was to be of a remote mentor and, of course, a financier. 

          Rains were early (2017) and road gave up much before expected. But with some quick action, the team had been able to push the material up before wheeled traffic stopped. And then came in four legged souls...

Double handling was inevitable...trucks reach till Jhatingiri and then loads have to be transhipped

Running against the time....literally!

                       The team had done well but I could not get leave and manage to be there for the bhoomi-poojan or a similar ceremony. Having tried and having failed to wriggle out of my job (and I had just put in my papers too), I gave up. In Mahadev's land, the first Monday of Sawan was selected and go ahead was given to Anil. With local deity, Dev Pashkot's blessings and under watchful vigil of Lord Shiva, they started the work....

Anil Bhai presides as a priest.....HE doesn't really need ritualistic people; remembering Him should be enough

Har Har Mahadev!!

Roshan & Anil.....first step taken

Race now begins since dark clouds were already on top

And they did it!

                  Sawaan, after all, has its own moods. While it threatened but never seriously disturbed the proceedings on the Day 1, it was in a different mood thereafter. Some emergent solutions had to be found and that was what was done by people on ground while I sat at a distance, getting updated by hour.

It doesn't rain at Fula Ri Dhar; it pours!

Out of all the material assets on top, cement was the most vulnerable and had to be protected. The work could not have progressed without cement and this tarp did its job!

...continues....

Post No 3 - Twist in the tale

               The plateau, very long and not too wide, has three kinds of land ownership. First is the biggest of the three, the Forest Department which owns all the forested areas on the slopes on either side of the plateau and such areas being DAF (dedicated forest area), are simply no construction and no encroachment zone. The second is local populace that resides in the villages in the valleys and re-entrants below. They come up during rains and cultivate potatoes (pahari aloo) and green peas. The cultivation lasts for about quarter of the year and then they return back to their permanent homes. Only a few, basically poor and generally landless, stay back in their stone and slate huts (not luxurious kath-kuni kinds though). With younger generation drifting away from hard toil, quite a bit of land has been sold off to Horticulture and such like government departments (third agency) that have experimental and research farms there.

Government owned (sold by locals long ago) farms on either side of the track

Working huts made of stones and slates...minimal and basic: no frills!

        With whatever land that remains, the major issue is the number of stakeholders of each piece of land. This being an asset that is used once a year and that requires toils and effort, the present ownership is a result of a few generations multiplying over the past century or so. Thus, plots as small as 50 square yards may be owned by six brothers or a family of ten adults. Such pieces of land, even if bigger in size, are simply not worth vying for. So many of them shall never agree on a point and like elsewhere, negotiating with them is simply impossible.

        The next hurdle in land acquisition here is the fact that people simply don't sell their holdings or whatever is remaining as of date. Their main landed assets in the villages down below do get bought and sold regularly but this area being a bit remote and with minimal commercial value, doesn't offer lucrative deals to sellers. And then there are prestige issues attached to the ancestral property too!

       Over many meetings with locals, I tried to drive home a logical point, ie, we would not buy but take land on lease. Further, whatever annual returns they get from any chunk of land at present, we shall offer an additional 25% and then increase the rental amount by 10% every year. In addition, whatever fixed assets would get created on the land, shall be left behind after the expiry of the lease. It took me a number of interactions and meetings and trips to that place to convince a few folks who had land free from the above issues (too many partners, size of land etc). But decision-making in mountains, like life in general, is slow and lacks the urgency that may exist everywhere else. Finally, I was able to cut the ice and this was the piece of land that I zeroed on and pushed in the most....

Who will not fall in love with this view!

     By the time my man Friday, Anil Thakur was able to get a nod from the sole owner of the land, it was March 2017. I was, thus, called over to seal the deal immediately but I could not manage leave and by the time I finally reached the place, someone else had simply walked in and grabbed the land on lease and on same conditions that I had been proposing! Phew....the twist hit me hard and I was at loss for thought and words for a while.

     The soldier, inside me, however, never gave up and I motivated Anil yet again to remain at it. Finally, by mid May 2017, this land, next to the earlier chunk, was offered to me....

Finally!

           The hard work had paid off finally but I was faced with a problem of different kind! My initial plan was to construct stone and slate huts as per the local system but the land that I got finally - though it offered better views- was small, narrow and a bit elongated. Many brain storming sessions with friends in the field could not create a layout that was financially viable on such a piece of land. Investment was going to be high because of remoteness of the area and unless one had six to eight units, returns would not be able to sustain the business since working season is restricted to less than five months an year!

         Finally, we had no option but to go vertical and that was how the plan was made. Goal posts do shift in life but focus has to remain at the right spot. While a multi-storeyed building may not have charm of a hut or cottage, the higher elevations threw up unmatched views from the better vantage points. So, that was it and we got down to work as the rains sounded their arrival.

                                           continues!!

Post No 2- How did Fula Ri Dhar (FRD) come into picture...

            Well, certain things are destined and if you are keen, even without being desperate, things do work out for you. Whether the ibid claim is true or otherwise, at least this is what happened to us in this particular case. It was October 2016 and having spent a couple of days at our Dacha at Kasol, we decided to cut short our stay in Parvati Valley and pay a visit to Barot instead. We just had one evening there at Barot - the quiet valley when the season was thankfully low- and it was all peaceful and calm there. On our way back, we decided to take a short breakfast halt at Jatingri/Jhatingri where we had seen a niche by the name, of Green Himalaya Restaurant on our way to Barot the previous day. And so we did.

            We sat down in the all-wood cafe, waiting for someone to ask us and take the order but a group of young lads (including cook and waiters, as we were to discover later), had been glued to the TV while a kabaddi match between India and Bangladesh was being telecast. There were players from HP and interest was justified though a bit too stretched from a pure business point of view. Finally, after 20 odd minutes, the match ended and we were spoken to for the first time. In a way, that is what is special about Pahari laid-back style of life (and I like it!). Over the next half an hour and as we consumed the breakfast, the manager (later, it turned out that he was only playing proxy for the actual guy!) patiently answered our queries and created a point of interest by mentioning the beauty of Fula Ri Dhar (FRD) that lay just above the place where we had been sitting and enjoying our breakfast. We had taken a hatchback during that trip and even though we wanted to drive up the un-metaled, gravel track leading to the FRD straightway, we were informed about the non-feasibility of such a drive due to damaged road condition; an SUV could have gone up though- we were told.

               Two months later, I was back there in our Pearly (Storme) and up we went- me, the ad-hoc manager and two strangers. The road beyond Jhatingri is steep, narrow, slippery when wet and prone to weather swings. Once we hit the first settlement, Dev Dhar, about 02 Km from Jhatingri, we came to the top of a long plateau that rose further up as if in huge steps. There were two settlements and then a higher plateau where govt potato farms stood sandwiching the road. We walked for two hours after hitting the road head about 4 Km from Jhatingri. Views were simply mesmerizing.

 It is actually a long plateau with steps (if not classical steppes) on top.

I have been there so many times now and mist rising from the valley below always creates a beautiful feeling

Aerial shot (not mine though)....Jhatingri is about 2 Km below the farthest edge (where two small white structures are visible) and the road head is on to the left of the red hut in the middle.

 And a decision was made then and there.....we shall have a niche up there soon!!

         The hunting began in all its earnest from that day onwards. Anil Thakur, the officiating manager of Green Himalayan that day, became my adjutant in the mission and he kept calling me back every now and then to come and see what he would have shortlisted. It was a long and a bit strenuous hunt that did eventually bear some fruits but not without seeing a twist at a point when no such twist could have been welcome.

The story continues!! 

Fula Ri Dhar (FRD)

           "Fula Ri Dhar", in colloquial Himachali dialect, translates into a Mountain of Flowers or to be more precise, Fula (Flowers) Ri (wali, as in Hindi) Dhar (Mountain). And it is a mountain range that separates Barot Valley from the Joginder Nagar belt in Himachal Pradesh (India). It lies HERE.

         Ghatasani is just a small pass on the Mandi-Joginder Nagar (or more broadly, on the Pathankot-Mandi) road. It lies about 40 Km from Mandi towards Pathankot/Palampur/Joginder Nagar. At Ghatasani, lies the junction from where we turn upwards to proceed towards Barot  Valley (25 km). Coming from Mandi/Chandigarh/Delhi side, we turn right, ie. About 5 Km ahead and 20 Km short of Barot town, we hit a small village, Jhatingri, that sits at the highest point between Ghatasani and Barot. One restaurant, one tea shop, half a dozen other shops that sell grocery and day-to-day needs and most importantly, two wine shops- all together, make Jhatingri. A couple of offices, a school and a huge ground (labelled as FREE PARKING) add to the asset portfolio of this small place. Here, in the middle of this settlement, an un-metalled track ascends to the higher reaches towards the north of the village. This four-odd km long track then culminates, at a flat plateau that is called Fula Ri Dhar or Phoola Ri Dhar!

         Why I am writing about this place and how significant it is for me, I shall touch upon in the posts that would follow soon.