Kasar Devi in Almora – The Worst Volunteering Experience

Kasar Devi in Almora gave me both positive and negative experiences. Volunteering at The Hammock led to one of my worst volunteering experiences. But then Charu made things okay.

En Route to Kasar Devi – The Three-tiered Hitchhiking Journey

Would you be able to guess how often I used to dream of Almora (and Pithoragarh) even before the bus from Delhi brought me to Uttarakhand? I think It’s the pictures on the internet that procured such a high place in my heart. I hardly knew anything about Kasar Devi in Almora though.

The hitchhiking stretch from Nainital to Almora (a bike ride from Nainital to Bhowali, a truck ride from Bhowali to 15 km prior to Almora, then another bike ride to Kasar) was a grey line for me. Ironic enough, the place I had longed for the most did not level up to my intended reality. I was in inner turbulence for sure, but also not able to synchronise with the place. Even before, Nainital couldn’t hypnotize me. Kumaon was still an unsolved enigma to me (until Pithoragarh happened).

A local man, who apparently thought I was a communist (really don’t know why, but I think it’s my vagabond-like attire), dropped me off in the main market of Almora. I had Chitai in my mind, as I knew of a volunteering opportunity there. Shared jeeps are frequent from Almora to both Chitai and Kasar Devi. In exchange for Rs. 40, the shared jeep took me to Chitai Temple.

On the opposite of the temple, an organic farm, SOS Organics, provides local education to the villagers. Candle making, farming, and various workshops on art – the rural men, women, and children learn the unlearnt. The rich greenery around the farm would salvage your eyes.

Manoj gave me quite an insight into this farm close to Kasar Devi. The children were stealing a glance or two from the outside. But there was some renovation going on in the volunteers’ building, so I could not volunteer there. Totally clueless as to where to go next, I thought of taking a room for the night and searching for volunteering opportunities from the next morning onwards. Again, the generosity of a stranger set the course of my pathway. Manoj asked another guy from the farm to give me a bike ride to Kasar Devi from Almora. Only if I knew I would end up living there for a month!

Also read – Is Almora Worth Visiting? Let’s Find Out!

Kasar Devi in Almora – The Abode of Peace

Once the spiritual abode of Swami Vivekananda, Kasar Devi Temple is now a much-revered pilgrimage site. Swami Vivekananda meditated at this place in the 1890s, along with the counter-culture figureheads, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Cat Stevens, and D. H. Lawrence, who illuminated the place with their presence in support of the Hippie Movement.

The village Kasar Devi is named after the Goddess Kasar whose shrine shines in its own light in the temple. Known for its psychedelic essence, the region gives home to a strong geo-magnetic field, the reason partly why it is believed that positive energy tends to tug you towards yourself in Kasar Devi in Almora. Yet the locals strongly believe that both positive and negative energies can be stubbornly felt all around you.

Ultimately, it’s all about the balance.

From Tibetan Buddhists, mystic-saints to bohemian artists, seekers have felt intertwined with the soil of this village at diverse levels. NASA has proclaimed this place to be one of the three places in the world where the Van Allen Belt has been discovered, the other two being Machu Pichu in Peru and Stone Henge in Great Britain.

The ancient pillar of this place dates back to the 2nd century CE. The mythological stature indulges in the tale of how the Goddess killed two sinister forces ‘Simbha’ and ‘Nisimbha’. The temple premise has two different temples – one of Kasar Devi and another of Shiva. There’s a havan kund that ignites wood logs 24 hours a day.

Also read – Volunteer Tourism And How It Can Shift Your Travel Experiences

The Worst Volunteering Experience at The Hammock Cafe

The temples are engulfed by ancient cave formations. Not just the temple, the village itself has the lucidity and poise of peace. Even though homestays and cafes are sparkling up at every corner, they still preserve their peaceful (and non-commercial) sentiment. The entire village can be covered on foot, as I did the next morning, asking around at every cafe if they were in need of volunteers. From ‘Stars and Pines’ to ‘Baba Cake’, I strolled down the undeviating road until ‘The Hammock’ signboard barricaded my path.

The owner of this cafe in Kasar Devi later recounted it as ‘destiny’, but I hardly think so. Anyways, the cafe is slightly off-route, a narrow mud-caked path unfurnished in yellow. A whip of hope crossed my way, as the man at the door called out, ‘Shanti! Shanti!’ He had black curly hair touching the nib of his shoulders fashioned with a long thin streak of hair dangling up to his waist. Although the signboard ‘Tattoo Artist’ escaped my observation, he introduced himself in a calm and shaky voice. His clothes were pseudo-bohemian and the lit joint balanced itself at the tips of the ashtray.

A long conversation ahead I was given a room above the cafe and vouched for a two-month-long volunteering engagement. A hostel-making project was in progress in Gadholi village on his leased land. He showed me around and chattered about himself and himself only throughout the day, with absolutely no interest in my life. Listening to people from every walk of life is part and parcel of my job. I am always open to others’ experiences. Yet listening to a guy for the whole day (and the consecutive week) babbling on about how ‘amazing’, ‘extraordinary’ and ‘chosen’ (oops!) he is, was taking a huge toll on me, particularly when my own experiences were being demeaned by his proud monologue.

This is the guy who has no tie-in to the roots of Kumaon. Even after living in Kasar Devi for seven years, he doesn’t know what Burans is (I mean seriously!), he has never seen pahadi Holi, and he doesn’t know what plants are there in his garden. But ‘I am so sensitive towards nature that I can feel the cows and birds’. Maybe he does, who knows!

I did not mind the first day. But on the second day, I knew something wasn’t right.

With the advent of Holi, there wasn’t much work around the cafe. He himself told me to relax till Holi gets over. A Holi party was to be arranged in a property 5 km away from Kasar Devi. I involved myself in writing the menu, providing the wifi, and removing leaves from the jungle paths to make clear indications of the trail near the tents.

Expensive elite Holi parties are something I have always kept my distance from (the entry fee was Rs. 1500!). Loud psychedelic music (devoid of the cultural stance of Kumaon), rich people with booze, and show-off colours – never meddled with my interest, or my very being (Excuse me!). But I spent a beautiful Holi with a local Kumaoni family in the morning itself, so I was content to my core. I didn’t mind waitressing for the pseudo-Holi event in Kasar.

I was handed over the responsibility of the food section and the monetary side of it. Despite having cold clashes with the guy, I dutifully accepted as much responsibility was given to me. For some reason unknown to me (later on, I figured out it was misogyny), he was always showing visible ignorance to my words, to my presence eventually. With the overbearing shadow of ignorance, I wasn’t at home with the surroundings. I kept to my work only.

After the Holi event, he told me his project downtown had been postponed for a month, due to a delay in arrangements. He won’t be needing my help anymore, but I can hang out there for a few days. I took to his words and buried myself in my own work. Also, I had already ordered my camera online (as I thought I would be there for two months), so I decided to stay until the camera gets delivered to Kasar Devi.

Two, three days passed. One fine morning, I was sitting on the couch outside the cafe room. He came down the stairs, silently sat on the handle of the couch next to me, and started accusing me of practicing black magic in his cafe. As it turned out, in his mind, I was summoning dark spirits and dark energy and contaminating the vibrance of the cafe. As I was only bringing negativity, and no positivity whatsoever, I was working as the outlet of dark energies. Calm on the outside, and also inside, I made a weeny effort to offer my side of amazement (or amusement). Not so much to my surprise, he got up, shouting at the top of his voice, abusing me for not being grateful for the food and accommodation he had ‘provided’, and asked me to pack my bag and leave at that very moment!

Of course, I left then and there. But the practical manifestation (or, in blunt words, reality check) of the human ego and illiteracy of the mind pulled up a curtain from another side. And the process that was rolling down throughout the seven days was a reminder of how some people can truly be ungrateful and audacious. And how too much ganja can fuck with your brain!

Locals say both positive and negative energies move past the air of Kasar Devi. It came back to me in its most literal sense. This negative experience led me to a much more positive experience in Kasar itself, my next home was to be in Maat Village. Even in between these ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ absolutes, I could feel both extremes simultaneously. That’s Kasar Devi for you.

Have you ever had any bad volunteering experience?

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