Mountaineering Training in Shimshaal: Some Reflections

Recently, I challenged myself to be a part of a mountaineering course in Shimshaal. Being a part of this training afforded me a chance to observe closely the way market dynamics influence and change the people of the north in particular and ourselves in general. From what I observed, I concluded that commercialization has a dehumanizing effect on the culture of the people living in the northern areas. The way they deal with the tourists and even their own culture changes a lot in consequence of the extent to which these areas have been commercialized.

I heard many tales about how the increased levels of commercialized touring has led to the shrinking of the indigenous cultures of people living in Hunza and Chitral. The natives avoid putting their culture on display because of the offensive gaze of the cameras of the tourists that have no respect for privacy. Ironically, for the same tourists, the houses are demolished to make hotels and culture is sacrificed for profit. The place is seen as something that can be visited and photographed, not something that is to be conserved for the times and generations to come. With rampant tourism comes a lack of ability to meaningfully engage with the culture. As a result, culture, which contains within it dynamic histories of the past generations, is eradicated in the name of getting profit from tourists. This has an influence on the psyche of the indigenous people who become more directed towards earning profit than being true to their culture and land. Everyone complains about how people of Naran Kaghan and Murree have become mean spirited over the years. The over commodification of these areas is largely to be blamed.

However, this is not to say that such dehumanizing effect is limited to the people living in northern areas. We see this dehumanizing effect everyday in our lives in the cities, where most of our interactions are meant to increase either profit or social prestige in our lives. It's no wonder that we escape our urban lives so readily to visit areas least affected by Capitalism. However, Capitalism is making roads there through us to these lands and eradicating culture or at least shrinking it by virtue of our reckless tourism.

Our trainers told us about the intense pressure that is put on the mountaineers by their sponsors to summit a mountain at any cost. This pressure influences their decision even at the height of more than 8000m. When taking a decision about climbing to the summit despite exceedingly difficult circumstances, it is unfortunate that the reaction of the sponsors is an element that influences the decisions of the mountaineers even at such altitude. Such decisions often result in the death of the mountaineers. This is an indication of how our current economic system places profit above the lives of individuals. This has become normal. However, if something has been normalized, it does not mean that it is justified.

Picture Credits: Ghalib Hussein

This led me to a personal affirmation of the fact that Capitalism, the drive to maximize profit, is a system that dehumanizes our actions and our inner selves. It alienates us from our true selves in the name. It evaluates an action, not by how fulfilling or meaningful it is, but by how much profit it can generate. Searching for meaning in what you do and trying to know yourself is what makes you uniquely human. However, the system that we live in tries to take us away from that task in the name of making more profitable decision. In our current economic system, being human is an act of resistance against the maddening drive for profit. So the best things in life are likely to be not profitable, and the profitable things are not likely the best things in life. As the poet puts is so beautifully:

شہر کے دوکانداروں، کاروبارٍ الفت میں، سود کیا زیاں کیا ہے، تم نہ جان پاوؐ گے
دل کے دام کتنے ہیں ؟ خواب کتنے مہنگے ہیں ؟ اور نقدِ جاں کیا ہے ؟ تم نہ جان پاؤ گے