Kalamuni Pass

Kalamuni Top On  Way To Munsiyari 

I wrote about Munsiyari few weeks back in this column. Munsiyari is the last Tehsil in Pithoragarh on Tibet border. 

 But in this piece I missed to mention an interesting spot on way to this place. The place is Kalamuni Top. It is 15 km before Munsiyari . It is a narrow tableland or a pass at the height of 9,500 ft. probably the tallest in the nearby vicinity. Being on such a height it is the coolest place, when it rains in nearby places it snows here. So the drive from Birthi to this place is straight steep . One has no choice but to halt for a while over here in fact every vehicle stop . The mighty Panchchuli peak has awesome view from this place  . While we reached here around  one o’clock in the September afternoon, it was shivering and biting cold. We were wearing a long coat in addition to three piece suit and a thermal undergarment still shivering. To our surprise a Nags Sadhu was sitting in front of a small fire place wearing only a g-string or langot. He did not show any sign of feeling cold at all. He kept a degchi on bonfire , filled with tea. He poured tea in steel glasses and offered to us with Parle G biscuits.

I had curiosity to understand what is the secret behind his power to stay comfortable in a g string - meditation, prayers or any special kind of sadhna ? He smiled and indicated towards the bonfire, and said that nothing that sort but he rubs ashes on his entire body , this seals the invisible billion trillion pores on the skin surface , thereby body stops breathing and thus no  feeling cold or heat . That was an amazing lesson of life. 

The place is amazing , we were lucky that suddenly the sky become clear and we were able to see enchanting view of snow clad peaks.