Mountains of our Destiny

J.RAMANAN VRINDA RAMANAN

J.RAMANANJ. Ramanan, an architect by profession, is a trained mountaineer, a passionate photographer and an exhibitor. He has been trekking and climbing in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats for the past 40 years and has been exhibiting his pictures from the age of sixteen. His photographs have been acclaimed for their clarity, composition, the artistic quality and creativity. They have found a place of pride in many exhibitions around the world. His Guru in pictorial photography was the late Shri Shankarlal Davey.

His commitment to photography and the mountains, inspired him to undergo the Basic and Advanced Courses in mountaineering at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi in the year 1976. In 1978 he was a climbing member of the Kedar Dome (22,740ft.) Expedition. He was a member of the Pre-Everest team that climbed Kabru Dome (22,000ft.) in the KanchenDzonga Massif and reached an altitude of 20,000ft., in the year 1982; member of the team that attempted Jogin III (20,020ft.) in 2001, a photographer-member in the All Women’s team that climbed Mt. Srikanta (20,600ft.) in the Garhwal Himalaya in 2009. Special mention must be made of the Mt. Koteshwar expedition where he was caught in an avalanche at 19,000ft. and came rolling down 800ft. and yet survived. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering conferred on him the title ‘Messenger of the Himalaya to the people of the South.’

He has held several one –man shows of photographs of the mountains and the forests of the Himalaya at Tiruchirapalli, Chennai, Bengaluru, and New Delhi. In 1981, his exhibition was inaugurated by Chief Justice M.Mohammed Ismail, in 1982 it was inaugurated by the Dr. Smt. Vijayanthimala Bali.

In 1983 his exhibition, in New Delhi was inaugurated by Shri Tenzing Norgay- the first man to have climbed Everest and Junko Tabei- the first lady Everester. In 2003, in New Delhi, at the 50th year celebration of climbing Everest, his show was inaugurated by Sir Edmund Hillary. In Chennai, in 2002 in the ‘Year of Mountains’ his show was inaugurated by Shri N. Ram of ‘The Hindu’ and in 2005, his exhibition was inaugurated by Krishnamachari Srikanth, the cricketer. At Bengaluru, his show was inaugurated by Air Marshal Rautela, Vice President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and renowned wildlife photographer, Shri T.N.A. Perumal. He has authored a book ‘The Joy of the Himalaya’ which was released by Shri N. Ram of ‘The Hindu’ in the year 2005.

He is the founder of the non-commercial organization ‘The Science and Adventure Club’, the only mountaineering club in Tamilnadu, that is affiliated to The Indian Mountaineering Foundation at New Delhi. Since 1997, Vrinda and Ramanan have introduced over 300 children to the Himalaya by taking them on treks to the high altitudes of the Himalaya and the Western Ghats. In 2005, the group that Ramanan and Vrinda led to Panwali Kantha in Garhwal Himalaya, was invited to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan for a felicitation by the President of India, Shri Abdul Kalam.He is an associate member of The Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhi. He has been a member of The Photographic Society of Madras since 1967.

He is a practicing architect, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and a Master’s in Town Planning from the University of Madras and has designed hotels, hospitals, holiday homes, resorts, schools and a theme Park in many parts of South India, in Sri Lanka, Australia and Singapore. He was adjudged as the ‘Honourable Architect of the year 2011’ by The Tamilnadu Chapter of Indian Institute of Architects.

J. Ramanan-mob. O9443359747Vrinda Ramanan-mob. 9443259747Website: www.sact.co.inEmail: vrindaramanan@hotmail.comThe Ramanans reside at: ‘Himalaya’, 21/17, Devaraya Nagar, Tiruchirapalli 620 021 Tamilnadu , India

VRINDA RAMANANA graduate in English literature from the University of Madras, Vrinda Ramanan is primarily a Bharatha Natyam exponent, who is committed to sharing her knowledge of Indian art and culture with young aspirants. She is a mountaineer who has completed her Basic and Advanced Courses in Mountaineering from the ‘Nehru Institute of Mountaineering’ and has participated in many expeditions in the Himalaya. She shares her husband’s interest in trekking and strongly believes that each one of us should responsibly contribute to conserving our natural resources. She spreads her ideas through articles that have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines. Her tryst with the Himalaya and the Western Ghats started when she was a teenager studying at Tiruchirapalli and continues even today. She believes that her destiny has been drawn out by the Himalaya as she met Ramanan on her first trip to the Himalayan ranges. Thereafter, they have both been working on all projects together introducing their children also to this sport of trekking and climbing. At present, Vrinda is authoring their forthcoming book ‘The Mountians of our Destiny’ which will have Ramanan’s photographs.

Along with her husband, she has founded the Bala Kala Vidhanam at Tiruchirapalli. It is a centre for Indian Dance, Music and Yoga.

Their son, Vaishnav, who is a Post- Graduate in Electronic and Communication from Indianapolis, USA is also a trained mountaineer, interested in photography. Along with his wife Suchithra, he lives in the USA. Their daughter, Rema Ramanan who has completed her commercial pilot’s course in Toronto, Canada, has participated in more than 8 treks in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats.

The snowy realms of the mountain tops, Beckons me to their summit.I venture to make my way up

Setting up camps, fixing ropes, Jummaring up, rapelling down,

Sweating and shaking, shivering and sauntering, Braving the cold winds, the icy slopes and the indefatigable crevasses.

And the summit once reached,Satisfies my thirst only for a minute.

I am ready to climb another, For the journey is more interesting than the destination,

And every journey has a different experience in storeFor the body and the spirit.

- Vrinda

Stubborn sentinels of the Himalaya, Their slopes appear formidable,

With rocks and loose stones, packed carelessly onFinely pulvarized sand,

One sloppy step and there is the danger of falling Many dangerous feet below,

A body lost, never to be found.But, Man, more determined than ever,

Clambers his way up these mighty slopesUndeterred and undaunted by any frightening force.

- Vrinda

There they are, the sheep and their shepherd,The black, brown, wheatish coloured animals,

Graze on the rich bugi grass, spread out on the huge valley,

Feeding on the lustrous plants- leaves, flowers and all.Now they return to their shed on the other side of the hill-

Another green meadow,As the Sun too returns to its place behind the clouds.

- Vrinda

The clouds move slowly across the vast blue expanse,

Playing hide and seek with the rocky peaks

And the snow-capped mountains.

I am bewitched by these moving dark nimbos’

And am left wondering, whither do they begin

And thither do they float?

- Vrinda

The sparkling stars in the dark sky, the melting moon and the majestic mountains hold stoic truths that will be revealed only

to those who connect with the silence of the mighty Himal.

- Vrinda

When we walk close to naturewe understand life better.

For it is from the natural world that we first emergedAnd to which we still belong.

There is joy in my heart, Music in my senses,

When I am surrounded by the silent sentinels around, They carry me to great heights of quietness,

Making meditation an easy process.- Vrinda

The Photographic Exhibition- ‘The Mountains of Our Destiny’

(Glimpses of Southern Western Ghats and Indian Himalaya)

India is protected in the North by the impenetrable 3,500km. mighty Himalayan Range and in the South by the mesmerizing hills of the 1,600km long Western Ghats that run along the Western Coast, South of India. These two mountain ranges greatly influence India’s climate, vegetation, wild life, people and their life style, thereby defining the destiny of our country. They can boast of the greatest variety of bio-diverse life-forms and grand rivers that flow and feed the fields in the north and in the South.

This exhibition of photographs aims at introducing the public to this ancient, rich legacy of India. We have included photographs of the wild life, the rivers, the forests, the people and the snow-capped mountains of the places of the Gangothri Glacier watershed, Gomukh and beyond, Yamunothri watershed around the Bandar Poonch area, Kanchendzonga in Sikkim, Shingo-La in the Lahul Valley and Ladakh and Leh with their Chadar- a trek over the frozen River Zanskar and the holy Mt. Kailash of Tibet. The mesmerizing forests and hills, teaming with wild life, big and small of Kalakad Mundanthurai, Periyar, Eravikulam, Valparrai, Parambikulam, Silent Valley and the Nilgiri Biosphere of the Western Ghats also feature in this exhibition. Through this exposition we hope to introduce the younger generation to these two ranges and get them involved in the different aspects of conservation of these parts.

Ramanan and Vrinda believe, “It is imperative that we protect our fragile mountains and hills that hold the rich sholas in their pockets, which are home to an incredible variety of flora and fauna. The waterbodies born here are preserved in the sholas and the grasslands to feed the rivers meandering through the plains that enrich the fields that offer food for Man. They can help a civilization to grow or totally wipe it out from the face of earth. They decide our destiny.”