YHAI Trek

A village inhabited by the successors of King Alexander on the Himalayan slopes which has a parallel government of its own.......seems like a story that is a fabrication of a dreamer’s imagination, doesn’t it?

Well this is exactly how I felt when I heard it while on a summer trek with the Youth Hostel in the Paravati Valley. Not even in my wildest dreams had I anticipated that in course of my journey in this remote river valley in eastern Himachal Pradesh, I would stumble upon white-skinned, red haired residents with distinctly Caucasian features. But this is precisely what I discovered on the 3^rd day of our week long trek.

The legend goes this way – During Alexander’s invasion of India in the 4^th Century BC, when the continuous battles started taking a toll on his soldiers, the Greek king sent a batch of his warriors to judge whether the land beyond was worth waging a war. When these men returned to describe to their master the beauty and virtues of the Himalayan Mountains, they found to their horror that their comrades had deserted them and gone back. Left without much of an option, they decided to make this land their home. It is this group of people that are now known as the “Malana tribe” and their hamlet, the Malana village.

In course of our travel, we had heard some very strange accounts of the lifestyle and customs of this tribe. One prominent aspect of all the narrations was their affinity for a reclusive life and hatred against any intrusion. While traversing through the town we weren’t supposed to touch any of the men or their belongings. There was also a warning that unnecessary inspection of the details of the surroundings could call for hostile response from the locals. In light of all this, we approached the village with lots of anxiety and also some fear.

On reaching the town, we were greeted by some startling revelations. Having seen pictures of clean and majestic historic Greek cities in encyclopedias, I expected this village to be a miniature version of those. But what I encountered was arguably the filthiest Himalayan town I had visited. With a population of over a thousand this was easily the largest settlement in the Parvati valley. And although the residents clearly looked alien in comparison to the local Himachalis, they came across as quite a friendly lot. All throughout our walk through the Malana village we were encircled by kids pestering us to give them chocolates and sweets. There were signs on places of worship saying “Anyone touching these monuments will be fined 1000 rupees” but frankly those structures were so dirty one would not feel like touching them even if offered that much money. Also the thrash of tetra packs and Lays packets strewn all around seemed to contradict the notion of the Malana tribe leading a secluded life.

All this while I wondered what these people did for a living. The answer to this question was quite shocking. A majority of them, according to our camp leader, grew and traded opium. They were rumored to have political links which most illegal businesses in our country have. This also explained how they were allowed to have their parallel government in a sovereign country like India

A quite bizarre clan with quite a bizarre profession!!