Sunday, 08 August 2021 | Jaskiran Chopra | Dehradun
These days visitors are coming to Uttarakhand in large numbers to calm their minds and soothe their spirits after suffering the strain and pains brought in by Covid- 19. The various destinations in Uttarakhand have been known to provide spiritual solace to people. The scenic beauty and the divine environment have made this region blessed and people can feel the healing touch of these mountains and dales.
Ashrams, guest houses and hotels have been full of people who came into the Himalayan state to free themselves from the feeling of being caged in by the pandemic. This attraction and pull has existed for ages. Saints, poets and philosophers have come here and found inspiration and peace.
Many years ago, the great poet and philosopher Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, whose death anniversary was on August 7, came to these very mountains to heal his heart, to calm his mind.
The summer of the year 1903 saw him as a grief-stricken 42-year old father with two of his children, trying to find solace in the serene Himalayas in Kumaon. He was both father and mother to his children in his lonely retreat in the pines. His wife Mrinalini had passed away in 1902 and his twelve year daughter Renuka had contracted tuberculosis. In early May of 1903, he left for Kumaon with Renuka and his younger son Samindranath. He stayed in Ramgarh near Nainital till August and wrote the series of poems “Shishu” (The Child) that became known as “The Crescent Moon” in order to entertain the motherless children. He took the two children back to Kolkata and in mid-September 1903, Renuka died. Later, even Sami died (1907). But Tagore could never forget the peaceful ambience of the Kumaon Himalayas and kept returning to their echoing silence to experience tranquility which inspired him greatly. He wrote some verses of Gitanjali while he was in Kumaon in 1903. And it was here that the idea of Visva Bharati first came to his mind. It is believed that he had even thought of setting up an ashram in the Himalayas. Tagore came to the mountains of Kumaon again in early May in the year 1914 and remained there till June. He was at Ramgarh, in a cottage amid apple orchards and pines from where one gets a breathtaking panoramic view of the Himalayas from Chaukhamba to the Himalayan ranges in Nepal. The place left him spellbound and became a great favourite with him. Tagore also visited Almora, the ridge-top town 70 kilometres from Nainital. In 1937, four years before he died, Tagore spent a very creative summer at Almora. In May and June 1937, Tagore stayed here and wrote his poems “Sejunti”, “Akaash Pradeep” and “Nobojaatok” besides his book on science “Bishwa Porichoy”. He also made some sketches with local colours. A bronze statue of his can be seen at the Tagore House.
Another great poet, Harivansh Rai Bachchan visited Dehradun and Mussoorie in 1937. He was 29 years old and his first wife, Shyama, had succumbed to tuberculosis in the winter before the summer of 1937. Bachchan was in grief and had come to Doon with his friend Brij Mohan who was a resident of Doon. He went up to Mussoorie with Brij Mohan to pay a visit to the well-known professor Amar Nath Jha who had bought Lynwood Cottage where he spent his summers. He had taught Bachchan when he was an undergraduate and was annoyed with him for leaving the university after the first year of MA (English).The summer of 1937 was indeed a turning point in Bachchan’s life. He found strength in Dehradun and Mussoorie to begin afresh in life.
If such great men could nurse their hearts back to health in these beautiful mountains, every one can. There is no denying the unique healing power of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. In Kim, Rudyard Kipling writes, “Who goes to the hills, goes to his mother”.
