Mechuka – The Old Man and the Bowl

Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh of North-East India. Beautiful, peaceful, alluring…
Remember Hemingway’s novel “The Old man and the Sea”?

Well this is “The Old Man and the Bowl” in a small monastery there. For me, he was the highlight of my trip to Mechuka. Here’s the story of the trip…

The Trip to Mechuka

A couple of years back, some very dear friends of mine made a plan to head to the little-known valley of Mechuka. This is in Arunachal Pradesh of North-Eastern India. I had never heard of the place but jumped at the idea when they called. I love doing trips with this bunch, because, for once, I am not required to plan for all. All I had to do was land in Calcutta (Kolkata) airport and the rest was taken care of… 😊

We headed to Dibrugarh, a small town in Assam. I wasn’t very impressed with the place on landing there. It was like any other small, industrial town – bustling with commerce and the humdrum wheels of life… However, the evening was magical…

The sunset on the Brahmaputra River near the hotel was pure magic! I, as usual, forgot about the camera and stared open-mouthed at the beauty of the scene. My friend Dr. Arutirtha Chowdhury, a fab photographer, took a few pictures – here’s one of them.

 

The next morning, we headed to the Army office, took an Inner Line Permit to visit Arunachal Pradesh, crossed the mighty river by boat (my friend Manas da claims to have spotted a dolphin here – we took it with a pinch of salt) and undertook a bone-rattling ride to the town of Along before heading to Mechuka. Difficult ride there, but the place was worth every bit of discomfort.

Mechuka

The name Menchuka means “Medicinal water of snow” – “men” is medicine, “chu” is water and “kha’ is snow. So, Men-chu-kha. This has been corrupted to the more popular name of Mechuka.

Mechuka lives up to its name – it is a forested valley in the middle of the lofty snow-clad mountains. And a river, the Yargyapchu (another name for the Siyom River), flows through. Very few people, fewer homes, and even fewer number of home-stays. Solitude, mountains, nice weather, a gently-flowing river. What else can a person sick of the city-bustle want? Well, plenty more, but we were happy with this much… 😉

There are a lot of treks that one can do nearby in the jungles and the mountains. There’s a 2-day one to the Mechuka Lake which is best done in winter – I’m keeping it in the bucket-list for later. We did a short day-trek (more a walk than a trek) to a small monastery on a nearby hill. Its still fresh in my memory…

The Old Man and his Bowl

The monastery was small and lonely – nothing to write home about. But it was situated on a hill-top. And what a view from there! There was no one around except for one man – Pasang. A lovely old man with twinkling eyes, a smile that could light up a city and pure peace reflecting in his face.

He was very busy whittling away at a block of wood that he was hollowing out to make a bowl. With a piece of sand-paper! It was a small soup bowl, meant both for serving and eating, I guess. I think he must have used a chisel initially, to hollow it out. Reminded me of Hemingway’s novel “The Old Man and the Sea”… Have you read it?

I sat with him and asked about the purpose. He said it was meant to be given away to whoever came by when it was finished. All that care and effort in creating a beautiful bowl to be given to a stranger! And then what? He just smiled at my question… And said he would then start work on something else! Maybe another bowl…

I guess for him, that labor-intensive, mind-numbing, whittling away was meditative. And the joy was hence in the creation. Not the end-product. Create with love, then Abandon without a care… Deep, what? Here are some travel musings on this topic from various similar experiences that I have had on my travels.

Mechuka and Guru Nanak

There was also a Gurudwara there, run by the Army (Mechuka is only about 30 kms from the India-China border). It’s a simple one and is accessed after crossing a bridge.

An interesting story there – apparently, in one of his journeys across the world, Guru Nanak (the great Guru of Sikhism) brought in a set of people from Tibet and settled them there. This was a lost settlement for a few centuries. A few decades back, one of the children there fell ill and the Doctor from the Army regiment nearby was called. They went there to treat the child and saw the puja room (prayer room) in the house. It had a likeness of Guru Nanak. The locals called him Nanak Lama!

The legend then came out of how Guru Nanak stayed here for a while. There are stories of the place that he meditated in, battled a bear, etc. The Army regiment was a Sikh regiment. They built a Gurudwara here. Make sure you visit it. Apart from the peaceful environment, piety and the river flowing behind, the langar (free food) is fabulous. We had a simple, yet sumptuous, lunch there. Take a look at the river behind the Gurudwara – it is beautiful. Be careful on the access steps though – they aren’t exactly marble… 😉

Divine rocks and Faith

Oh, and by the way, we also saw a rock formation that is said to resemble the head of Lord Hanuman. The locals pray to it from a distance – actually, from a roadside across an intervening valley. A really, really large temple in a sense…

The valley is beautiful, the people are warm, the temperature is cold and the views are to die for (or live for). This is a must-do for anyone seeking peace in an idyllic setting amidst the mountains.

How to get there

The nearest airport is Lilabari in Assam. Or you could take the route that we took – fly into Dibrugarh and then a long road trip via Along. Alternatively, you could fly into Along and then drive about 180 kms to get to Mechuka. The rail options are too inconvenient.

In case you are keen on traveling to north east of India, you could take a look at some of our travel packages to the Northeast India. Its quite easy to add a few days of Mechuka to any of these or maybe just Mechuka – we will be happy to do it for you. Please write to us.

For more such nature based experiences in India, you could take a look at the article on India – In the lap of nature. Or maybe the places of spiritual significance in India?