| My father's name is Kishan Singh Pal. He was born in '. ' 1901 in Bampa, a small mountain village which was .. ' . part of the border district of Chamoli, in the Garhwal Himalaya. The village spread over both sides of the river, the gurgling, playful Dhauli Ganga.
My father is short and stocky. Like his father before him and most others of the area, my father was a small border tradesman. There were no roads in the region so he used mules, horses and even goats to cany his goods. He took atta. rice, barley, mishri (candy-sugar) from India to TIbet. In Tibet he would either sell or exchange Indian goods for wool, mineral salts, specially rock-salt, goats and sheep.
My father, however, was not very successful in business and at the age of 35 decided to move to new pastures. He left Bampa and made his new home in Nakuri, a small village of about 15 houses, perched on the right bank ofthe BhagirathiGanga. some 12 kilometres south of Uttarkashi. |