The Grand Old Man of Nyerak

The Grand Old Man of Nyerak

Old Man of Nyerak

 

Outdoor Guides are a strange lot! We are always yearning to visit new places, explore new horizons, meet and interact with new people, have new experiences…and always running away from what is ordinary or familiar. But, ironically, when we end up visiting a place we have already visited we are always looking around for something familiar in the whole setting….something that reminds us of the previous time we visited the place….a tea shop, a particular house, a dog, a tree or just a familiar face! One such familiar face with a radiant smile we always look out for when we reach Nyerak is our Meme. ’Meme’ in Ladakhi would mean ‘a very old man’ or ‘The Grand Old Man’ as we would like to call him.

Lower Nyerak in the winters with the partly frozen Zanskar below

 

Nyerak is an extremely remote village in Zanskar Valley and is uniquely situated almost midway through the magnificent Zanskar Gorge on river right. Nearest road head is almost 2 days walk away via Lingshed. The actual village itself is hidden from the riverside and is almost an hour’s steep walk higher up. What we are interested here is lower Nyerak which is used by camping teams to stay for a night or two while passing by. This village can only be reached by rafting expedition parties who raft down the famed class 4+ section in the summers or by a long and spellbinding Chadar trek on the frozen river in the winters.  The Zanskar Gorge starts a little below the village of Zangla deep in the Zanskar Valley and extends all the way to Chilling which lies about 65Kms southwest of Leh, the capital of Ladakh. For Rafters, the Zanskar gorge is a 2 day section, and the only place where they can camp for the night in between is Nyerak with its multiple campsites and dear ‘Meme’ for company. Those few hours spent with Meme once a year was always special and looked forward to.

Nyerak Campsite in the Summers - Photo by Anvesh Singh Thapa

 

Lower Nyerak today (2014) has multiple shelters which have been built with Bokhari facility and eco-friendly Ladhakhi toilets. But, it didn’t look like this just a few years ago. Lower Nyerak then, used to be just farm fields of the villagers who stayed high above in the main village with the only caretaker of the fields being our Meme. Meme tended to the fields and hardly bothered going up to the main village. Stout and sun-burnt with crooked, hardened fingers this Hobbit like man lived in a small cozy shelter. He seemed to have everything he needed and more in his cramped shack at an arm’s length. He was king of lower Nyerak with nobody but himself for company. The villagers came off and on to visit him and check on their fields. The only other company he could boast of was the few Rafting Expedition Campers like us who camped for a day or two at this campsite in the summers and the Zanskari locals who walked the Chadar to get to Leh or Zanskar in the winters.  Anyone who passed by this place, always sought Meme and his ‘intoxicating brews’. Amazingly, this very endearing man always stocked enough liquor and brought it out at special occasions when he had company. Chang and Chinar were the only ones in his local Bar. Chang is the local brew made of fermented Barley and Chinar is the common military rum. Butter Tea would be offered to his most special guests.

Rafting Expedition Teams in the Summers

 

Mid- July and August is generally the time of River expeditions on the Zanskar River famously billed as the “Grand Canyon of Asia” by renowned Kayakers. As a guy belonging to the river community in India for some time, the Zanskar River Expedition is like an yearly pilgrimage. When we camped at Nyerak, the first thing we’d do would be to go and look for our old friend. We’d let the clients rest and recount their tales of the day’s experiences to one another while the guides scurried away to meet and greet the Meme. And then there would be Julleys and Namastes exchanged over Butter Tea first, continuing on to some Chang and then onto a lot of Chinar! After a hard day of paddling on the freezing waters of Zanskar, the Meme’s hospitality was heaven. As the sun set and darkness took over, a small bonfire would be made with all of us tightly gathered around along with Meme trying to warm ourselves in the chilly air. Talks of rivers, rapids and women would abound as we coaxed Meme to relate stories from his own life of which he had a bagful, being well travelled in his heydays very much unlike Zanskaris, some of whom even today have never reached Leh! By now, most of us would be slightly tipsy including Meme when we’d request him to play the ‘Surna’ for us. Surna is the Ladakhi name for Shehnai and is played during functions and get-togethers. Our Meme is a famous Surna player in the village and played in most village gatherings.  Meme would then fish out his Surna and start off and in a matter of minutes all of us would be found dancing and singing around the bonfire. He would sing to us in Ladakhi and mostly it used to be this song which talked about. “Doodh jaise Nadi …jiske upaar sone ka Pul” which translates to “There flows a Milk like river……And a golden bridge crosses over it”   The song mostly alludes to winter time when the surface of Zanskar River freezes over and looks all white and the ‘golden’ bridge across the Zanskar a little below Nyerak that connects it to Lingshed Village.

Nyerak Meme playing the Surna with River Folk

 

Many times when we’d camp there; we would request the village headman in Nyerak for a cultural show display for our clients in the evening. At these times our Meme would always be involved in playing the Surna while beautiful Ladakhi damsels danced and sang in circles. The night at Nyerak would eventually end up being the highlight of the trip with all the song, dance and revelry of the evening. The star would of course be Meme and his Surna. We would be off the next morning bidding goodbye to the old man whom we’d meet again only next year. But, the brief time we spent with him would be recounted in many places, on different river trips with different river folk and a new set of clients over and over again. The river community from the subcontinent mainly consists of guides from Rishikesh, Manali, Ladakh, Nepal and Northeast. And any river guide worth his salt would have surely rafted or kayaked down this classic section. Apart from these, every year there are many foreign Kayakers who visit this part of the world during summers. There’s not one who will not remember the Meme of Nyerak or talk about him lovingly. The Old man would have no idea how far and wide tales about him have reached and how river folk all over adore him and look forward for a tete-a-tete every time they reach Nyerak. For the unfortunate ones from the community who have never had a chance to pass by this quaint village, he is Legend!

Magnificent Zanskar Gorge in the winters

 

This winter was the first time I walked the ice on the Chadar trek and ended up camping for 2 nights at Nyerak. Since I’d also missed my yearly summer pilgrimage from a few years, I was all upbeat about the trip. The view is completely different from what we get to see while rafting down in the summers. The slow pace of the Chadar helps us appreciate the gorge and soak in the sheer sense of isolation much better.  But, the rising popularity of the chadar trek all across has completely altered the face of lower Nyerak. Now, in the short Chadar season which lasts for about a month between mid-Jan to mid-Feb, Nyerak has become a bustling place of activity with tourists and porters making a bee-line to camp for a night. There are multiple shelters erected with many enterprising youths from the village cashing in on the tourist influx during the chadar season. It is difficult to find the man who used to be the heart of the place amongst the crowd that engulfs now. Among the hundreds of tourists who pass by Nyerak, there are very few who know about the Meme who still lives in his small cozy shack with a Bokhari. But whoever stumbles into his cramped shack consisting of all essentials to live a contented life, will surely leave charmed, by the man and his ways.  He is 82 now with impaired vision and softened gait. He limits his eating to his own cooked food and keeps away from all kinds of liquor. But for us, he still continues to stock Arrack and Chinar. There are almost 6 old-timers cramped into his home when I pay him a visit. He does not recall who I am. I remind him that I’m his rafting friend from the summers. His eyes twinkle and the skin creases through the thick glasses as he gives me that familiar radiant smile. I hug him overwhelmed.

Nyerak Meme in his shack with guests. Photo picked from Drift Man Blog

 

It’s people like the Meme who become icons symbolizing a place for travelers like us. Nyerak can never be imagined without our old friend. Long live the Meme of Nyerak.

SHARE THIS STORY