My friend Tapan Chakravorty has just sent me some photographs from his Tawang trip. Along with some other colleagues from Guwahati office he and our heavyweight champ Avasthi made the trip. I am sure they must have brought a lot of memories back with them. Seeing those photos gave me a sense of 'deja vu'. I have served in that area when I was on deputation with Assam Rifles in 1987. I am posting some of the photos which Tapan had sent and some from my album which are 20 years old. Tawang used to be the company HQ for 'D' company of 5 Assam Rifles and the company commander's residence used to overlook the helipad. I have spent many happy nights over there. The troops were positioned all along the way right upto "Sulu La" which was at around 16000 feet altitude bang on the "Mac Mohan Line" overlooking the "Sumdorong Chu" valley. This was in the aftermath of the famous "Wangdung Intrusion" by the Chinese army. Well, enough of history, here goes ....
Avasthi trying to provoke the "Yak" which thankfully deigned to ignore him !!
An acclimatisation camp which was non-existent during my tenure at Tawang. Note the 'Rhododendron' bush in bloom behind Avasthi in the picture. I had never seen a rhododendron "bush" before my posting to Arunachal Pradesh. In Mussoorie and other hill stations it is common to see red rhododendrons growing wild in the forest on huge trees. Another curious fact is that in Arunachal one can get to see many hues of this flower viz : pink, mauve, white.
A scenic view of Tawang. A chopper can also be seen in the background.
Chilling out ! Another favourite spot to take photographs.
The group with some locals. Note how Tapan is 'cosying' up to the young lady !!
Circa 1987 - One of the NCOs being promoted at 15000 feet - area ahead of Tawang.
Seetu and the kids - circa 1987. Note the frozen lake. This is near "Se La" (pass)
No comments:
Post a Comment