Rock Climbing...

Having taken to rock climbing at the age of 17, at a time when it was yet to achieve the kind 'acceptability' that it sees now, at a time when it was considered akin to smoking pot and swigging cheap beer (which it was...I admit)...the domain of a few bearded weirdoes...I have continued climbing (with reducing frequency) but the passion has not abated one bit. I still enjoy the feel of granite or quartzite or shale or whatever rock I happen to be climbing on...even if there is nothing gneiss about the rock I am on or if the mountain was full of schist.

From the time I discovered this vertical world, where one could surprise a vulture in its nest (not pleasant for either party) or suddenly come face to face with a huge beehive (pleasant for the bees perhaps...) or inadvertantly climb into a cave that is home to bats...the idea that I belonged to a cult which practices these strange rituals, uses bizarre looking implements (read climbing gear...) and speaks a secret lingo understood only by the initiated made me feel great for the first time in my life. It gave me my identity and my raison d'etre. I was ecstatic the day I was accepted by my climbing peers as one of their own and experienced a phenomenal high...perhaps it was also the generous swigs of 'Thunderbolt' or the grass laced cigarettes rolled carefully by our group's 'joint' secretary...one will never know for sure...

Then came sport climbing. That took the romance out of climbing by removing the uncertainties and by advocating an extremely cautious approach which turned it into a kind of vertical gymnastics. That also brought in Competition which killed the camaraderie that was part and parcel of the activity. The competitions are held on Artificially designed simulated rockfaces with adjustable holds and gradient. Now the groups of boys and girls drive to the "wall" in a Climbing gym (abroad) or at the stadium (back home), sweat it out, work on their weaknesses under the supervision of coaches with all their attention focussed on the next climbing competition.

The purists were outraged at the idea of a competition in their sacred domain. No denying that competition of an implicit variety always existed between climbers. This was a very healthy variety where one shared information and readily gave advice where required to the competitor with absolutely no reservations and celebrated each other's successes. Competitions brought the activity to the masses and slowly started getting the social acceptability that it lacked earlier but diluted the exclusivity of the once closed cult.

Another fallout is that Climbing as we knew it is no more and when we reach the end of the line, there is no one to hand over the baton to. I can't help but feel that my daughter and her generation, despite having access to all the climbing gear in the world, will never really know the true essence of climbing, the togetherness, the absolute trust that you establish with your climbing partner etc...