For Aitken, Travel In The Himalaya Is As Much About The Spirit As About Landscapes, Leeches, And Aching Knees. His Intimate Knowledge Of The Himalaya, Absorbed Through A Lifetime Makes This Volume More A Native`S Account Than A Traveller`S.

Author's travel impressions of Uttar Khand Region and Hindu shrines in the region.

Author's travel through the Himalaya Mountains Region in India.

Every traveler once in his life dreams of traveling to the mountains. In fact, the real adventure of a traveler begins with his first encounter with the mountains itself, and no less.Often though, you do not come to know what hides in the inner layers of a place in just one small encounter. Life has mysterious ways to reveal itself, and the same goes for the experiences in the mountains, Uttarakhand Diaries is about halting here and experiencing the vivid moments in these mystical mountains. It is a vivid collection of myriad experiences the author gathered in these spectacular mountains during his stay here for over two years. These are accounts that are enough to gear you up to set on your own course, in search of your own experiences, for what appears here are only a few of the many secrets that the mountains await to reveal - to its true seeker.

Shivya Nath quit her corporate job at age twenty-three to travel the world. She gave up her home and the need for a permanent address, sold most of her possessions and embarked on a nomadic journey that has taken her everywhere from remote Himalayan villages to the Amazon rainforests of Ecuador. Along the way, she lived with an indigenous Mayan community in Guatemala, hiked alone in the Ecuadorian Andes, got mugged in Costa Rica, swam across the border from Costa Rica to Panama, slept under a meteor shower in the cracked salt desert of Gujarat and learnt to conquer her deepest fears. With its vivid descriptions, cinematic landscapes, moving encounters and uplifting adventures, The Shooting Star is a travel memoir that maps not just the world but the human spirit.

The Call of the Mountains is a collection of the author’s adventures and encounters with people, fauna, culture and ideas as they persist amongst the rough and at times hostile mountainous terrains of the Indian Himalayas. “…Amongst the rolling forested hills – plying the terrain over the many ridges and ravines – one could run into sambhar, kakar, wild pigs, and even now, sometimes a stray leopard or two. I had plenty of time at hand, no schedule to keep in the world, and my mind had spiralled down to a quiet, to a stillness, to a sort of singularity with being; when all of a sudden, inexplicable and without any perceptible sensory input that I can recall being aware of, I got a very strong feeling that something was watching me, and that I was not alone...” – ‘Snake’ “…Amongst the clump of trees that lay at the base of the hill, crouching low, almost on its belly, and with its right paw extended but airborne in line with its whiskered cheeks, was a spotted leopard. It stood in that bent-down position, its shoulder bones sticking out, neck extended, and its head inches above the ground; its left hind leg was extended behind it, and its right paw was frozen in mid-air. Absolutely still in that position, it was staring intently at a spot I could not see...” – ‘A Leopard on the Prowl’ The Call of the Mountains Close your eyes and in your mind If you can feel the cold chill of morning dew If you can hear the rush of water and smell the pines Then it is calling out to you too “Charming, entertaining & intelligent - A full bodied Mountain Wine!” - The Himalayan Commission

Throughout the world, the threat of climate change is pressing governments to accelerate the deployment of technologies to generate low carbon electricity or heat. But this is frequently leading to controversy, as energy and planning policies are revised to support new energy sources or technologies (e.g. offshore wind, tidal, bioenergy or hydrogen energy) and communities face the prospect of unfamiliar, often large-scale energy technologies being sited near to their homes. Policy makers in many countries face tensions between 'streamlining' planning procedures, engaging with diverse publics to address what is commonly conceived as 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) opposition, and the need to maintain democratic, participatory values in planning systems. This volume provides a timely, international review of research on public engagement, in contexts of diverse, innovative energy technologies. Public engagement is conceived broadly - as the interaction between how developers and other key actors engage with publics about energy technologies (including assumptions held about the methods used, such as the provision of financial benefits or the holding of deliberative events), and how individuals and groups engage with energy policies and projects (including indirectly through the media and directly through emotional and behavioural responses). The book's contributors are leading experts in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia drawn from a variety of relevant social science disciplinary perspectives. The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge, as well as providing interested professionals, policymakers and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in public engagement with low carbon energy technologies.