tehri part 1

Right after the Mainstreaming Organic weekend, I ventured out to the Garwhal Himalayas with a small crew from Navdanya.  Up the winding and twisting roads, I was perpetually nauseous and ghostly pale, and so coveted the opportunities we had to stop and take photos, catch our breath, drink some chai.

Here are Abhyudai and Negi talking to one another about the vista: the Tehri dam, the site of Asia's second largest dam, which has submerged the city of Tehri and is causing land all around it to slide right into the water, ruining century-old terraced rice paddies and contributing to a build up of silt and pollution.

 
This is the place we stopped for lunch (above).

This is the river burbling forth past the bridge by the lunch spot.

I have a new appreciation for rose now, seeing its many uses in Indian cooking and healing.

Nature in all its glory, bursting forth from the cement.

We stopped at an old abandoned school, where this mural adorned the crumbling walls.

Here is a typical village... nestled into the hillside.

Schoolkids on their way to school.

The breathtaking view...

Terraced rice paddies!