Nanda Devi Affair

by Bill Aitken

There is a kind of brotherhood between man and mountains.... The inescapable logic of desire leaves the mountain traveller no choice but to plan his next expedition to the very peak that may have just rejected vociferously the most singleminded of advances.' In his thirty-year sojourn in India, Bill Aitken has had two serious affairs"one, essentially spiritual in nature, with the country's rivers, the other more earthy and passionate, with her mountains. In this sequel to his first book for Penguin, Seven Sacred Rivers, he talks of his second great obsession"Nanda Devi, patron Goddess of Kumaon and Garhwal. Spanning more than a decade, from the Seventies to the Eighties, Aitken's attempts to explore the sanctuary of this most beautiful of Himalayan peaks were not, he admits, those of a professional mountaineer, but of a romantic. Accordingly, what he gives us is, in his own words, -neither a book about Himalayan climbing nor a treatise on hill theology but a diary of mountain relish.' Aitken's deep-seated study of the cult of the Goddess and the folklore and customs of the Kumaon Himalayas is chequered with deliciously acerbic asides on bumptious bureaucrats, the bane of Indian mountaineering, while the true nature lover's concern for the environment is manifest in his anger over the destruction wrought by political motivations and the ambitions of so-called professional mountaineers.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Travelogue, India, Adventure

216 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

William McKay Aitken was a British-born Indian travel writer and mountain lover from Scotland. He was the author of a number of books about India, its mountains, rivers and its steam trains.

Reviews

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and captivating - had the pleasure of reading part of the book while gazing at the grand mountain right in front

[Yogesh Pandey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bliss reading this travelogue during my Roopkund trek. It captures author's trails in the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. Author shares vivid description if the Mountains of Kumaon and Garhwal. Especially Chapters 11 and 13. However, the language is a bit rusty and incomprehensible.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took almost 3 months to read, speaks for itself

[Anjali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a poetic, romantic read.

For any mountain lover, this is a book whose excitement would only be second to actually standing within the Nanda Devi Sanctuary and personally experiencing what Bill Aitken writes about in his pages. It is also a fascinating time capsule of the sanctuary in the 80s. As a millennial lover of the mountain, it left with me with that feeling of timeless, everlasting love. The mountain was revered before us all, and will continue to be long after we are gone. Only it remains.

[Sudipto Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Aitken (pronounced without the it) was a Scottish young man who came to India as part of his field work for academic pursuit of comparative religion. He subsequently became an Indian citizen and lived here until breathing his last a few months ago near Dehradoon.
This book is a result of his lifelong love for Nanda Devi - both a mountain and a revered guardian deity of the Himalayas. He visited the mountain several times and knew its cultural and climbing history like the back of his palm. He also spoke fluent Hindi and knew several villagers who lived within the sight of the mother mountain.
The book has accounts of both folk mythology as well as climbing history in general.
I deducted two stars, albeit reluctantly, because first of all it's written in a very archaic language with long rambling and convoluted sentences sans any humour.
In real life, if you see his interviews, he was a jolly nice fellow with a strong sense of humour and a very sensitive heart. I'd have loved to spend hours chatting with him about our shared passion for the mountains and hatred for Babu-dom.
Another flaw in his writing is the profusion of adjectives everywhere and a very complicated way of stating things that could be stated more simply. I had to read some of his sentences several times to flesh out their meaning. This made progress harder and time consuming.
One noticeable thing in the book - it does not mention anything about almost violent vegeterianism that is prevalent in this region now. Instead it talks about the average villager's love for meat and animal sacrifice for the Devi in places like Joshimath or Lata etc.

[Prayash Giria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves the mountains and especially Nanda Devi, I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It’s full of exciting detail about routes, treks, villages, faiths, and customs, and will make for a perfect read if you’re headed anywhere with a view of Nanda Devi. What’s more is that Aitken, being a naturalised Indian citizen with ample study of Indian culture behind him, was able to balance local detail (the likes I’ve not even seen among Indian travelogues or for that matter, locals of Kumaon and Garhwal), with the constructive criticism of an outsider. That said, I’m fairly sure that anyone who does not share that affinity with the mountain - or mountains in general - will find the read to be a little dense and laborious.

[Deepali]

Author's impression and his passion braided into words about a place under which I have spent nearly half of my life so far. A description of the place intermixed with the journey of the author, a refreshing and unfamiliar perspective about a familiar place.

It took me through a 50 year younger Garhwal. How the reminiscent of the thought processes observed by the author are still visible in the lives that we live here now. A lot of things forgotten, or rather I never took notice of, were seen in the pages of this book. The author's journey through these landscapes was intriguing. As any other Himalayan book, this made me venture into these higher lands.

It is a treasure trove of references and places for someone who wishes (that would be me) to learn more about the place. The language is not very easy to get used to. Also, the mountain vocabulary makes it a little out of reach for the very beginner.

[Karthik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic prose. A spiritual journey into the world of mystic mountains. This book is all about the love for Himalayas and what these mountains can invoke. Its folklores, its customs and it's people. The book also wonderfully explores how the colonial gaze and ideation changed our equation with these mountains and how it all came down to the idea of conquering and submitting the mountain more than engaging with it.
It is also an interesting study of the mythology associated around these mountains and how the British failed to understand the essence of these stories and names. What fascinated me most were the observations on caste and how upper caste appropriation of these stories, traditions and their association with the British changed so much about the way we hear and learn about these mountains.

The atmospheric narration and the detailed narrations can be very engaging for mountain lovers.

[Mohit Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes you to the places you have planned but never been. Elaborate detailed account of Garhwal with amazing intricate details of village life, culture, poverty, bureaucracy, hardships, and the beauty of it all with Nanda Devi as the constant backdrop. It takes a few chapters and Latin patience to get used to writing style, but it's worth it.
Shows how Bill chose a lifestyle and relished every bit against all odds.
Definitely going to Chopta and Tugnath if not Bedni and Roopkund...

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better to live trying to wake than live in sleep!

An excellent journey of Bill's in understanding the nature of Nanda Devi and absorbing the unbeaten and unreal harsh truth of various traditions going around in the remote villages and the spirituality behind it.

It was a pleasure reading the journey from the different perspective then that of a Trekker.

[Debashree Tagore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book not of the expedition but of appreciation! The author has described the Nanda Devi and the landscape (primarily Uttarakhand) in a spiritual, sensual, romantic and natural way. At the same time, he has portrayed human interactions and behavior unbiasedly, not over-praising or demeaning. The book slowly grows on you

[Arathi Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A refreshing read. The author transports the reader to the lush environs of the Nanda Devi sanctuary in the Garhwal Himalayas of the 80s with his visually evocative style of writing. The book describes the physical ardour and spiritual awakening of the author in the proximity of the timeless mountain through narratives of multiple expeditions over the years. A good read for the adventure-minded.

[Anindya Biswas · Rating 5 out of 5]

At a time when the mountains are documented in poorly designed reels, the Nanda Devi Affair comes as a breath of fresh air.

it's an important read to understand Uttarakhand and what unites Kumaon and Garhwal - Nanda Devi.

It delves into its notion and relation with religion, animism, caste and sexism and is a beautiful read along with the author's descriptions of his adventures.

[Vinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the 90s, it gives description of rustic mystical Uttranchali people and their mores. Read this when you visit Nanda Devi sanctuary or even Uttrakhand, Aitken is one of the best pens in mountaineering literature. Just the lack of coloured pictures gives it a treatise hue!

[Sandeep Madadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truely a classic diary of mountain relish by Bill Aitkin which turned me into a Nanda Bhakt (devotee).

[Sudipt Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not find it interesting.

[Munish Handa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed to a T … captivating for the most parts … enjoyed … but was a slow read for me

[Ankit Jindal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant book that takes you inside Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and a book couldn’t have done a better job at taking you right near Nanda Devi through a book.

[Abhiram · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Harshit · Rating 3 out of 5]

My book review can be found here
http://booklibraryreviews.blogspot.co...

[Kedarpatil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I found the language to be too heavy.

[SIDDHARTH SHIRUR · Rating 5 out of 5]

bill knows the art of trekking and no one, I repeat no one knows the art of writing about the mountains as good as Bill. and yes to appreciate the prose, it helps if you love the mountains yourself

[Bhaskar Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most beautiful book I've read on himalayas, I am compelled to follow the foot steps of author...soon