The valley doesn’t need anymore of your boomboxes

The valley doesn’t need anymore of your boomboxes

Listen to the fine sounds of nature, it talks to you

Sattal Lake, Uttarakhand

We were 2km deep inside the jungles around the lake Sattal. Away from all the hustle and bustle of the city life, it was a quiet and peaceful setting where we were hosted by Manav. He has perched a few make shift tents along with a permanent kitchen in the backside. In order to reach this place, you need to cross the sattal lake first (we used a boat) and then walk through the dense forest for about 1–2 km and then the way opens up to a beautiful valley. Such places, if touristy enough, would instantly get named as ‘Switzerland of India’.

The valley in the vicinity of the camping area

It was a beautiful day. We walked around the valley, spent time with the tree leaves whispering their stories in some secret language, watched cows as they grazed through the green meadows. We were surely a happy family there. We couldn’t have asked for anything better in the seasonal peak time of May, when all the kids were holidaying with their parent in the mountains.

We didn’t have to wait for long to see all this being killed. A youthful group of some 10 people was also going to stay at the same setting this night. Suddenly we had honey singhs of the world barging through the peaceful environment crying their loud music out to the forest. It didn’t stop until the nightfall. The things that we were trying to escape, running away from the city life, were there with us again.

Crossing the dense forest around Sattal lake to reach our campsite

The idea of carrying all these fancy boomboxes to disturb the peaceful harmony of our nature in the forests has never made sense to me. Is it really so difficult to hear the songs that our nature sings to us? Have we not corrupted our cities enough that we want to do the same to our jungles as well? The valley doesn’t need anymore of your boomboxes. Listen to the fine sounds of nature, it talks to you!

Read:  100 Grams of Souvenir

Read my earlier post:

A photographic journey to Kedarkantha Peak

Write to jaipandya@gmail.com to license any of the photos above or get their prints.

Traveler, Photographer, Biker, Startuper, Husband. Highly Unstable.

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