Saturday Feeling: How climate change is transforming trekking in the Himalayas

Karnataka has closed most of its trails, just about a month after it issued guidelines and safety protocols for trekking, including regulation of single-use plastic and waste disposal. The guidelines were introduced to prevent trekkers from going missing, but then a child’s death about 10 days ago led to the government closing the trails down. In the outdoors, any number of factors come into play, and as headlines often indicate, trekking needs some sensible regulation in India.

An adventure sport that’s easy enough for anyone with the stamina to walk on trails, trekking is a great way to connect with nature and a quick getaway for many people from cities, and for local communities running homestays and tours, it’s a source of income. Yet, trekking’s growth has a cost—pollution, waste disposal and degradation of meadows and water bodies are just some of the downsides of large numbers of people walking through fragile habitats. There is an environmental impact to trekking, as Shail Desai reports. On the flip side, in the Himalayas, climate change is taking a toll on trekking. Rising temperatures, melting glaciers, shrinking lakes and withering grasslands are dramatically changing the experience of trekking, writes Bibek Bhattacharya. Experienced climbers who thought they knew the seasons have found themselves—and their tour groups—caught in unpredictable rain and snowfall. This year, many have advanced or postponed their usual treks to accommodate the changing weather conditions.

‘Karuppu’ review: A mangled mess

In Karuppu, director RJ Balaji and his co-writers (Ashwin Ravichandran, Rahul Raj, TS Gopi Krishnan and Karan Aravind Kumar) build an artificial structure where the judiciary is run like the mafia. Hard as it is to believe, a viewer could just buy into this preposterous setting, if only the execution was not so painfully mediocre. If this was a straight spoof, it would have been more fitting, but this is a film that also wants us to feel for the characters awaiting justice, writes Aditya Shrikrishna in his review. Starring Suriya and Trisha Krishnan, this film is a chaotic failure of storytelling and technique.

Hydrate for peak summer workouts

The biggest challenge while working out in hot and humid conditions is to keep your hydration levels in-sync with your exercise routine. That doesn’t mean planning your water intake just during the workout, but preparing your body for it from the point you wake up. It also means tracking the kind of fluids one is consuming, and if you want to go the extra step, figuring out how much the body will lose during the workout. Pulasta Dhar tells you how to monitor your fluid levels to avoid exhaustion, boost muscle function and get the most out of your exercise routine.

Make ego an ally, not an adversary

In India, we treat leadership the way we treat wedding guests: the more people hanging around to feed your ego, the more important you must be, writes management professor and IIM Kozhikode director Debashis Chatterjee. That’s the practice, but in theory, leadership is about service. He writes that most leaders in India are driven by ego rather than ambition, which makes all the difference between actual achievement and making power moves. Having an ego in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing as a leader—the key is to use it in proportion with openness and a sense of lightness, he observes.

Is there just one way to make ‘aamras’?

Every summer, there are arguments about which region’s mangoes are the best. It’s a debate that is unlikely to ever be settled. Just like the one around aamras, the seasonal dessert-drink beloved in countless homes. The origin of aamras is contested, the subject of a culinary tug-of-war between Maharashtra and Gujarat. Yet this summer staple is becoming a hot favourite as a packaged food as people demand the taste of mango through the year. The appeal is clear: consistent quality, longer shelf life, and the chance to enjoy aamras after summer ends, writes Teja Lele. But can it ever taste as good as the real thing?

7 standout beers for the summer

Summers are typically associated with lighter ales, but this year the rulebook has been retired and a number of breweries have launched innovative pints. From a beer made with wine grapes to lagers with ingredients such as idli and poha, there’s probably never been a better time to try experimental brews from India’s craft brewing scene. Priyanko Sarcar brings you a list of the most interesting beers to try this summer.