The “Shortcut to Heaven” had finally lived up to its name — it was currently a stairway to nowhere.
A massive landslide, triggered by three days of relentless Himalayan rain, had brought down half the hillside, burying a hundred-meter stretch of the new tar road under a tomb of mud and boulders.
Santa and Banta stood at the edge of the debris. A long line of jeeps and trucks was backed up, their drivers honking uselessly at the mountain.
“Where is the JCB?” Santa yelled over the roar of a nearby waterfall.
“I have a delivery of flour for the shrine’s bhandara!”
“If it doesn’t get there, the pilgrims will go hungry!”
“The JCB is stuck ten kilometers away behind another slide, Santa,” Banta said, his eyes scanning the chaos.
“The mountain has hit the ‘pause’ button on our progress.”
The crowd was becoming a mob of frustrated strangers. People were arguing about who should have cleared the drains, while others sat in their cars, scrolling through phones with no signal, waiting for a government saviour that wasn’t coming.
The “bond” of the road was just a common delay.
Banta suddenly turned his back on the debris and looked into the thick oak grove below.
“Santa, remember our talk?”
“About the old path?”
“The one we thought was dead?”
Santa looked down. The old stone trail was barely visible, choked with weeds and fallen branches.
“Banta, that path hasn’t been used in years!”
“It’s probably a river by now.”
“It’s not a river, Santa.”
“It’s a drainage masterpiece,” Banta said, leaping over the crash barrier.
“The old ones knew how to move water.”
“Follow me!”
Driven by the emergency, Santa and a few younger drivers followed. As they hacked through the weeds, they found that the old stone paving, laid by their grandfathers, was still firm.
More importantly, the traditional “weep holes” and side-drains, though clogged, were still holding.
“Oye, Chotu!”
“Grab that shovel!” Santa commanded a young driver.
“Don’t just stand there like a statue!”
“If we clear this stretch, we can bypass the slide on foot and ferry the supplies!”
A transformation began. The frustration of the traffic jam turned into the rhythm of a work gang. Someone found an old iron crowbar. Two others began clearing the sacred Dhara that had been buried under leaves.
As the water began to flow clearly again, the “strangers” from the traffic jam started sharing tools, then water, and finally, a plan.
They worked for three hours. By the time the sun dipped below the ridge, they had cleared a safe, walkable passage through the old grove. They formed a human chain—Santa at the top, Banta in the middle, and the young drivers below—passing sacks of flour and crates of vegetables up the ancient stone steps.
That night, as they sat by the restored Dhara, drinking the sweet water and sharing parathas, the silence was different. It wasn’t the silence of an abandoned path; it was the satisfied silence of a community that had just remembered its own strength.
Santa looked at his blistered hands.
“Banta,” he whispered.
“The new road is fast, but it’s fragile.”
“When it breaks, we wait.”
“But this old path… it’s like an old friend.”
“Even when we ignore it for years, it’s still there, waiting to show us how to help each other.”
Banta nodded, watching the moonlight dance on the wet oak leaves.
“The JCB will clear the tar tomorrow, Santa.”
“But today, the stones taught us that resilience isn’t a machine you wait for.”
“It’s the hand you reach out to your neighbour when the machines fail.”
संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-
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अतिरिक्तता प्रतिरोध्यता हैं / Redundancy is Resilience: इकलौती जीवनरेखा जैसे कि सड़क पर पूर्ण निर्भरता एक जोखिम हैं। परम्परागत मार्गो का रखरखाव होने की स्तिथि में मुख्य मार्ग के बाधित होने पर इनका उपयोग सहज ही किया जा सकता है / Relying on a single “modern” lifeline (the new road) is a risk. Maintaining traditional paths provides a vital “Plan B” or redundant infrastructure that can save lives when primary routes are severed.
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संगठित प्रयास की शक्ति / The Power of Collective Action: आपदा की स्थिति में ढेर सारे अनजान व्यक्ति प्रायः किसी तीसरे की प्रतीक्षा करते रहते है। पूर्व की तरह समाज के द्वारा श्रमदान किये जाने की स्थिति में प्रतिरोध्य समुदाय की परिकल्पना को साकार किया जा सकता है / A disaster often turns a group of strangers into a “waiting room.” Rediscovering communal labor (Shramdaan) shifts the community from a state of passive vulnerability to active resilience.
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परम्परागत अपवाहतंत्र ज्ञान / Traditional Drainage Wisdom: हमारे पूर्वजो द्वारा मार्गो का विन्यास तय करते समय क्षेत्र के जल प्रवाह तंत्र के विन्यास को संज्ञान में लिया जाता था। इन मार्गो का रखरखाव किये जाने से जल प्रवाह को संतुलित कर भू – स्खलन को नियंत्रित किया जा सकता है / Ancient paths weren’t just for walking; they were designed with the landscape’s hydrology in mind. Restoring these paths often means restoring the natural drainage of the slope, preventing further slides.
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सामाजिक पूँजी एक प्रतिवादन उपकरण / Social Capital as a Response Tool: मानवीय रिश्ते सामाजिक पूँजी का प्रतीक हैं। कठिन समय में मिल – जुल कर काम करने से विकसित हुवे रिश्ते समुदाय को आपातकालीन स्थिति में बाहरी सहायता आने तक बचे रहने में सहायक होते हैं / The “human chain” is the ultimate symbol of social capital. The bonds formed through shared hardship and work are what allow a community to survive the “golden hour” before outside help arrives.
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विकेन्द्रीकृत रखरखाव / Decentralized Maintenance: परम्परागत रास्तो व जल स्त्रोतों का रखरखाव करने से समुदाय आत्मनिर्भर बनता हैं। हर छोटी- बड़ी चीज के लिये बाहरी स्त्रोत पर निर्भरता घातकता की निशानी हैं / By keeping traditional paths and water sources active, a community maintains its self-reliance. Dependence on heavy machinery (JCBs) for every minor blockage is a recipe for disaster in remote areas.
संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये
व
इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।
हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होते हैं।
सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।
#HimalayanResilience #PlanB #CommunityAction #TraditionalKnowledge #RoadSafety #DisasterResponse#MountainLife #SantaBanta #SelfReliance #Infrastructure
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