long distance rides. The long-distance private
buses did not stop for meals at the right time.
The Roads
A variety of warning signboards dotted the partly
damaged roads including national highways. For
instance, on April 22, 2019, I observed almost
sixty warnings on the Rudrprayag-Guptkashi road,
about a three hour drive covering approximately
fifty kilometers. On an average one warning per
kilometer raised vital questions.
How safe are these roads? Are roads enhancing
our lives or adding extra stress to our lives? Are
uncertainties and fears of the ancient pilgrimage
trails bequeathed on the modern “all weather”
roads that succumb to the monsoon annually
instead of eliminating them?
Elimination is the principal purpose of the roads.
Bringing pilgrimage within the reach of everyone is
the second important motive of the road building.
Another equally significant purpose is expanding
source of employment and trade. The next vital role
of the roadbuilding is laying efficient connections
to the international borders, facilitating quick
transportation of defense paraphernalia and
personnel.
The roads added a little speed, but lengthened
the queues of the visitors at the temples during
the season, and consequently increased revenues.
However, for example, the seven types of warning
signboards on the Rudrprayag-Guptkashi road
contained the speed, led to traffic problems, and
increased anxiety frequently:- Accident Zone (7)
2. Damaged Wall (1)
3. Dumping Zone (11)
4. Men at Work (25)
5. Narrow Road Ahead (4)
6. Rockfall Zone (10)
7. Sinking Place (1)
The roads, the proposed modern stress beaters, are
turning into more serious stress creators. Is it not?
Missing Information. (Unhealthy) Google
Obsession. Religious vs Adventure Tourism
I enquired about an unfrequented local hiking
destination at one of the dhabas in Nandprayag.
One of the staff advised me to check Google. The
search engine did not have any information on
the destination, I said. The man laughed and
confidently replied everything was on it. He
searched the destination on his mobile in vain.
He mocked if it was not on the search engine,
the destination did not exist or you got the name
wrong.
I had a similar experience when I tried to
understand whether Auli Laga and Auli Laga
Salude were the same place or two different
places from a high-end hotel at Auli during room
booking attempts. The manager angrily ordered to
google and hung the phone (Google par sab hai.
Everything is on Google.).
In Rudraprayag, my taxi driver stopped at a
mechanic shop to confirm directions for the Kakar’s
Leap. The shopkeeper demanded two thousand
rupees for confirming the information my driver
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