Mountain Stories: When the Beatles Came to Town

My wife and I recently returned from a lovely Himalayan vacation. The base I use for all my Himalayan sojourns is the town of Almora, tucked away at 5,500 feet in the Kumaon Himalayas. Apart from the spectacular natural beauty on offer in this part of the world, I have a deep emotional connection to this place. My grandfather was so taken in by the beauty and splendour of the Indian Himalayas, he decided to retire there in 1969. As a child, I made annual pilgrimages to Almora every October to meet my grandfather and soak up the atmosphere of the Himalayas. Most of my most vivid, important childhood memories are from the mountains, where as a child, I spent hours tinkering in my grandfather’s beautiful garden and watching the play of light and shade, cloud and sunshine on the deep, dark forests and snow-covered mountains.

Over the years, the town of Almora has grown exponentially. Like most Indian towns, the growth has been largely unplanned and haphazard. As a result, most of the town has become dirty and crowded. However, my grandfather’s neighbourhood has remained largely unchanged.

But this blog is not about Almora or even the Himalayas. It is about the legend of the Beatles coming to a little village above Almora back in 1968. That the Beatles visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh in 1968 is a documented fact. That they stayed in Rishikesh for three months is also well-documented. However, reliable sources tell me that three of the four Beatles (John, Paul and George) visited a little village above Almora now called “Crank’s Ridge” back in 1968.

Before I get into details, I need to tell you where Crank’s Ridge is. It is located about six kilometres above the town of Almora, at about 6,500 feet. The forested ridge is on the sunny side of the mountain, which means that it does not get too cold, even in the depths of winter. It has a truly spectacular view of the Himalayas, with the 25,600 foot high Nanda Devi peak dominating the horizon. It also has a reputation for being a place with a spiritual aura around it. Famous Indian mystic Swami Vivekananda lived and meditated here in the 1890s. Ever since then, it has seen a steady stream of famous artists, musicians, mystics and cranks (hence the name “Crank’s Ridge” – check it out on wikipedia).

American beat generation poet Allan Ginsberg visited here in 1962, and felt it was a “little like the Catskills in upstate New York, only more spiritual”. Sixties guru and University of California Berkeley professor Timothy Leary lived here for extended periods of time in the 1950s and 1960s. Singers Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens also visited here, as did noted Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, father of the delectable Uma Thurman. In fact, the young Uma Thurman also probably lived here for a little while. Indian dance maestro Uday Shankar (brother of sitar player Ravi Shankar) set up a school for Indian classical dance here in the 1930s. Indian film-maker Guru Dutt also lived here for sometime in the 1950s. These are all documented facts.

Wikipedia also says that Crank’s Ridge is “a cult destination, it now has a small community of backpackers and ex-hippies settled there ever since the place gained the reputation of being a Power Centre during the hippie hey-days. This reputation is due to the alleged gap in the Van Allen Belt above the ridge, a perception arguably strengthened by the free and easy availability of hemp on the slopes. There is also a Buddhist meditation center on the ridge”.

All in all, Crank’s Ridge is a place worth visiting, and I go there every time I am in the mountains. And now, patient reader, I will come back to the question I raised a few paragraphs ago. Did three of the four Beatles visit here in 1968, or is this just another shaggy-dog story? An individual I know and respect has irrefutable proof that Timothy Leary was indeed a frequent visitor to Crank’s Ridge and the town of Almora. Leary was a very close friend of the Beatles. The Beatles were in Rishikesh in 1968. Rishikesh is also a town in the Himalayan foothills, about 250 kilometers away from Almora and Crank’s Ridge. I also have it from reliable sources that George Harrison made several trips to Almora and Crank’s Ridge in the 1970s. This is not surprising, since of all the Beatles, Harrison was the one most attached to India and was also a keen student of Indian music and Hinduism.

If indeed the Beatles made the long and winding journey to Almora and Crank’s Ridge from Rishikesh back in 1968, they would have followed much the same route we did this year. They would have traveled via Deoprayag, Rudgraprayag, Gwaldam and Kausani. Like us, they would probably have had a night-halt at the town of Rudraprayag, the confluence (“sangam”) of the Alakananda and Mandakini rivers, which together form the mighty Ganges. Here one road leads up to that holiest of Hindu pilgrimage towns – Badrinath. Another road leads towards Gwaldam and Almora.

Of course, Almora was a much smaller, more picturesque town back in 1968. Crank’s Ridge today boasts of several high-class resorts, an excellent multi-cuisine Continental restaurant and lovely cottages where old ex-hippies from all over the world live. The place has a real multi-cultural, laid-back feel to it. But back in 1968, it would have been just a collection of stone and slate mountain houses where villagers lived and eked out a living in the terraced fields below.

But could John, Paul and George have come here in 1968? It is not only possible, it is likely. John and George would definitely have been interested. I am not so sure about Paul. George was already sold on India, Indian mythology and music. At the time, John was sold on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is very, very possible that they came to Crank’s Ridge in 1968. If that is indeed the case, it is also possible that some of the songs on the landmark 1968 Beatles “White Album” were written here. The Beatles themselves have said that most of the “White Album” was written in India.

I find this whole hypothesis fascinating. Could “Across the Universe” or “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” have been written above Almora, Uttarakhand? It is possible.
Did the three Beatles visit Almora and Crank’s Ridge in 1968? What do you think?

Indian Heroes: The Mangal Deep School for the Mentally Handicapped

The last few weeks, and indeed months, have brought us nothing but bad news in India. The economic slowdown was the first bit of bad news we heard about. Then the spate of terror bombings across the country, culminating in the mowing down of innocents in Mumbai two weeks ago. Our politicians seem too weak-kneed, incompetent and corrupt to deal with the situation.

Heroes seem hard to find in this day and age. But they still exist, as I found to my pleasant surprise. It is just that they are hidden and not easy to find. They quietly go about their business, saving lives one by one, against all odds.

This is the story of the Mangal Deep School for Mentally Handicapped Children in the mountain town of Almora, deep in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. On our recent trip to the Himalayas, my wife and I were taken to meet the founder, students and staff of this school. I was wary. Many Indian NGOs (non-governmental agencies) that are ostensibly set up to provide social welfare and justice are just as corrupt and inefficient as their governmental counterparts. Many of them use monies received from well-meaning donors to feather their own nests, instead of using the funds to benefit their intended audience. I am personally aware of two or three such NGOs that have duped me in the past.

So the Mangal Deep School for Mentally Handicapped Children came as a very pleasant surprise. Set on a picturesque ridge in a village below the town of Almora, the school premises commands a very impressive view of the Central Himalayan Ranges.

The school was started ten years ago, with a student population of only five children. Today, it has grown to cater to fifty children with special needs. The founder and staff of the school are extraordinarily dedicated. Over the years, they have learnt to cater to students with many different needs (the latest student to enrol is autistic). They have learnt this on their own, with little or no support from state and central governmental agencies (more on this later). The school was set up by a retired college teacher who used her entire pension and retirement funds to start the school. She must be nearly seventy years old, but she is indefatigable and always cheerful. I have not seen such positive energy in people half her age. She is also self-effacing to a fault. Over the years, this extraordinary lady and her staff have learnt to deal with students with varying kinds of special needs, indifferent, occasionally hostile parents, a sceptical and conservative society, and apathetic and often corrupt governmental agencies. And they do all this with a smile on their face.

But the real stars of the school are the students themselves. Each student is taught a vocation based on their talents, so that they become financially independent and help support their families, who are often poor. We were astonished to find the high levels of artistic ability that these children possessed. They make high-quality dinner and place mats, greetings cards, hand-woven carpets and gift bags, among other things. You and I would pay big bucks for these items in any big-city mall. The school has succeeded in making the students financially independent and gone a long way in helping many of them enhance their worth in the eyes of their families. The students are also taught to read and write And all of this is done with smiles and good cheer.

The less said about assistance the government is supposed to provide, the better. The number of approvals required to receive allocated financial assistance from the government are many, and frankly, quite ridiculous. Every governmental agency in the chain wants its own cut or bribe. It is truly shocking. I knew corruption in Indian government agencies was endemic, but the extent and the brazenness of it left me speechless, when I found out details. I know who these corrupt governmental agencies are, but I will not name them in this blog, because it may get the school into trouble. Suffice to say, the school authorities have squarely refused to pay bribes to obtain the financial assistance promised to them. Like in most other facets of Indian life, the government is an obstacle to overcome, and not a facilitator.

But let me come back to the school and its founder and staff. They work hard, against all odds, to cater to a forgotten and neglected section of our society. They ask for very little in return. They do this only because this is the right thing to do. They soldier on and prevail in the face of daunting adversity that would deter most other people (it would certainly deter me). In my book, this makes them true heroes. Forget our self-obsessed celluloid stars in Bollywood and our overpaid, over-hyped cricketers. What this school is doing is noble, it is real, it is right.

For many years, I have felt guilty of not even attempting to return a little bit to the country that made me – India. Now I have the opportunity to do so, in a small way. My wife and I intend contributing what we can to help the Mangal Deep School grow and flourish. At this point in time, modest financial assistance is all we can offer. If we choose to settle down and live in that part of the country some years from now (this is very much part of the grand plan), we will find other ways we can contribute.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Mangal Deep School, please contact me. Do something good, feel something real. Thanks.