By Sunita Vijay
O My Beloved Uttarakhand!
A Very Happy Birthday to You!
You have turned 25 today! You’re entering adulthood, might ‘feel’ a mix of pride, reflection and aspiration. I have witnessed your journey from birth to a vibrant and youthful state. From being known as a quiet town of retired officers to a bustling cosmopolitan city, I have seen your growth, progress, and transformation.
You can rival Bengaluru with your charming cafés and you leave other states envious of the number of tourists who visit you daily. From India’s finest boarding schools to the numerous world-class institutions that now call you home, you have become an educational hub. Your proximity to the national capital makes you a favourite for many, letting them experience dense forests and breathtaking views of the Himalayas.
You are in your prime: young, robust, and full of promise. You stand strong and radiant. Natural calamities and setbacks have never weakened your spirit. The lessons nature has given you have only made you stronger and wiser, each fall teaching you to rise with greater force. You remain resilient, energetic, and forward-looking.
Your timeless beauty has been captured by filmmakers from the black-and-white era of Hindi cinema to the present day. You proudly balance heritage architecture with modern infrastructure, chic cafés, resorts, and holistic centres; embracing tradition and modernity alike.
Rightly called Devbhoomi, the Abode of Gods, you exude both spirituality and serenity. While much of North India lies under a blanket of winter smog, your skies remain clear and blue, your is sun warm and generous; truly, as Charles A. Sherring wrote, “In those lovely valleys there is still the romance and poetry of life; each tree has its God, each bush its spirit.”
Come winter, your misty valleys inspire poets and filmmakers alike. Fog, dew, and silence weave the perfect setting for stories of mystery and wonder. When snow falls, you clothe yourself in white; the calm and quiet tales of sages who once found heaven in your embrace. The breathtaking beauty of your winter attire rivals the world’s best snow-clad locales. When it rains, your rivers roar with the fury of Shiva; their fierce, muddy waters reflecting divine power. When spring kisses you, the sky spreads expansively in its purest blue, the fair-weather clouds in their milky beauty float merrily, providing an unimaginably beautiful backdrop to the scenic meadows, filled with colour and fragrance of wild flowers. As the summer season graces your crown – the Himalayas – the chants of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri fill the air with divinity. Temple bells and pious mantras echo through the valleys, blessing every pilgrim who visits this sacred land.
You enrich lives with your natural wealth: majestic landscapes, heritage institutions, and warm hospitality. You are a perfect blend of spirituality and adventure.
Tourists from across the world arrive for adventure, worship, or simply peace. Corporate travellers find in you the perfect blend of work and leisure.
Your pristine beauty, playful winds, clear skies, youthful rivers, and majestic mountains make you the perfect retreat for body and soul.
You are music personified – forests whispering, waterfalls cascading, winds humming, and birds singing in divine harmony. With vast forests and life-giving rivers like the sacred Ganga and Yamuna, you nourish millions downstream. You cradle countless rivers born from your mighty glaciers. You are home to the revered Char Dham, a sacred path to salvation, and to India’s second-highest peak, Nanda Devi, along with Kamet, Trisul, Chaukhamba, and Dunagiri.
You hold the world’s highest Shiva temple. You are home to the world-renowned heritage site- Valley of Flowers, and to some of India’s most famous treks. Kedarkantha, Nag Tibba, Har Ki Dun, Kalindi Khal, Dayara Bugyal, Chopta-Chandrashila, and Gaumukh Tapovan are dreams for adventurers.
Revered as a sacred haven, you sheltered the Pandavas in exile and witnessed their final ascent to heaven from Mana village near Badrinath, where Sage Vyasa is said to have composed the Mahabharata in the Vyas Gufa cave.
Your pride, the Jim Corbett National Park, shelters one of the highest tiger populations in India. Your dense forests are inhabited by interesting wildlife and endangered species. Filmmakers, photographers, and birdwatchers are forever captivated by your flora, fauna, and ethereal landscapes.
My dear Uttarakhand, you are a special and revered place, an unbeatably different and charming one. But don’t grow too modern and crowded, or you may lose your identity that makes you so precious. You have already suffered through devastating forest fires, furious floods, and powerful tremors that tested your strength. Yet, your courage has never faltered. You have always risen stronger, and today you stand tall among India’s most promising states: resilient, radiant, and full of potential.
May your mountains stay stronger, your river pure, and your spirit forever young!
