VIEW FROM THE TOP

John Keay’s latest book urges us to listen to the Himalaya better

- Siddiq Wahid

Though the Hindu Kush-Himalaya mountain complex has been explored, documented and appropriated for 200 years now, it remains a puzzle for most. One must understand Himalaya for itself, not merely in the light of the interests of its periphery. To do so, one needs confidence and humility. We should look at the known with fresh eyes each time. John Keay's first books-When Men and Mountains Meet (1977) and The Gilgit Game (1979)-focused on the vignettes and romance of the pioneering explorers of the Himalaya. His latest book, Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World, focuses on the explorer within its author.

This one-person encyclopaedic survey begins with a bold but accurate accusation: "History has not been kind to Himalaya", and then provides a narrative that analyses the range of contemporary studies on the Himalaya. Keay guides us through topics such as orogeny (mountain-making), autochthonous cosmologies, botanical secrets, glacial melt rates, even philology and zoology, without abandoning the world of ideas, societies and personalities. The author's criticism is that the world doesn't listen to Himalayans. He then shines a light on how this may be done.

Keay's passion and confidence for all things Himalaya were evident in an interview with INDIA TODAY: Zangskar interested him because it was "geology in action"; the need for the scientific study of glaciation is fine, but local communities are "creating their own glaciers successfully in Hunza and Baltistan". He also endorsed the suggestion that there must be a dialogic, not merely instrumentalist, relationship with the Dard, Mon, Lepcha, Limbo, Naga and other indigenes, a task he could not address in an already hefty book.