Blog # 30 Dated: 24 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. I posted my last blog on Friday - 20 May. I was to resume posting a new blog on Sunday, May 22. However due to a three day outing to Niagara Falls on Saturday evening, my schedule got upset and caused me to miss posting a blog on Sunday and Monday. Now having returned to home and gone back to my groove, I am here with the blog.

The trip to Niagara Falls was very enjoyable. Thanks to my children, we stayed at Embassy Suites on the 21st Floor from where we were able to have a fantastic view of the falls. I am attaching a photograph of the view of the Falls in this blog, as they were seen from our room window.

Last time, I had narrated how my Station Engineer forced me to have hard drinks - first time in my life. But after this incident, my Station Engineer appeared to be very sad over the incident. It appears that he narrated the incident to his wife after he returned home. We had a landline telephone at our house. The Station Engineer, called the number late in the evening and his wife talked to me. (She had never met me nor ever talked to me before this occasion.) She profusely apologized to me for the incident. From next day, I noticed that my Station Engineer was more soft and favourable with me. He gave me more challenging jobs. One such occasion happened soon after. There was going to be a three day National Integration Council meeting in Srinagar. We were required to record all the deliberations and send the tapes to Delhi. The meeting would start at 9 AM and continue till 8 PM with one break of about 90 minutes for lunch every day. First day, I set up the equipment and recorded without any issues. Next day, the first session was held at the conference hall at Tourist Reception Centre. The lunch was served in the lawns. The post lunch session was to be held in Dal Lake area in a hotel. The recording machine which weighed about twenty kilograms had to be shifted to the new place. There was no help available. I carried the recorder on my shoulders from the first floor to the parking lot about ten minutes walk away. Then I took all the equipment to the new place and set it up for recording. When the session started after lunch, I was in position to record in full. My Station Engineer saw me running with the machine on my shoulders. I missed the lunch. He got me a cup of tea. The three days recording was done without missing even one word. The Radio Station got a appreciation letter from the authorities in Delhi for our efforts. I was recommended for a commendation by the Station Engineer. That year, my annual report was rated as extra ordinary. 

I was nominated for going on an assignment to record the Yatra to Amarnath Cave. There were two more staff members from the programme side. I carried two portable recorders and enough batteries and tapes and other tools and necessary items to ensure that the recording would be done properly. That was the time when the cassette recording had not come to AIR. The recorders had to work on batteries only because there was no electricity on the yatra route. I was provided one horse for riding from Pahalgam to the cave and back to pahalgam. In addition I was provided one horse to carry equipment and my personal clothing, utensils and supplies for the trip.  I decided to walk and did not avail the horse for my personal use. 

The Amarnath Yatra used to be an annual pilgrimage for at least two hundred years since the Ice Lingam representing Bhagwan Shiva was discovered. The Yatra would be undertaken under the supervision of the local Dharmarth trust. My grandfather was also in Dharmarth Trust. He told me once that he had gone with the yatra for eighteen years as part of his duty to take care of the Yatris. The Yatra would fall in the month of August. On Raksha Bandhan day, the Yatra would reach the cave where the Ice Lingam would be seen and worshipped. Sadhu's from all over the country would reach Srinagar by late July or beginning of August every year. Then about two weeks ahead of the Raksha Bandhan day, a large group of sadhus would carry a sacred silver mace to all the major temples in Srinagar. They would walk in a procession. Lot of public would line the streets to welcome and watch the carrying of the sacred mace. Then about ten days prior to the main event, the sadhus would start their journey on foot towards the sacred cave. All of them would be walking. We at the AIR Transmitter site about seven kilometers outside the Srinagar city on way to Pampore town, would make arrangements for the convenience of the yatris because they would pass on the road by our Transmitter. The effort would be totally private with contribution from the staff - both Hindus and Muslims. 

More of the yatra tomorrow. Bye then