Dr. Shekhar Pathak is a historian from Uttarakhand, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007 and was Professor of History at Kumaun University in Nainital for the two decades. Once every decade, in 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004, he has undertaken a padayatra, better known as Askot-Aarakot Abhiyan (AAA). Now he is a Nehru Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Studies at the Nehru Memorial, Teen Murti, New Delhi. He has worked on many aspects of Himalayan history, which includes his work on the “coolie begar” system, freedom struggle and local movements, culture and personalities. He is the co-author of the book Asia ki Peeth Per, devoted to the life, explorations and writings of Pundit Nain Singh Rawat. Currently he is working on the idea of opening of the Himalaya. Shekhar Pathak is a Himalayan traveller and has been to different parts of the Himalaya. Shekhar Pathak was also a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, where he worked on the Chipko movement and the tradition of peasant protest in Uttarakhand.
In 2007, he took upon a three-year project to study the Himalayan people along with Magsaysay Award winner, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, traversing the Himalayas, from Leh to Arunachal Pradesh. He has remained, the editor of the Annual published by People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR), from Nainital, for many years now. At the first Asia level meeting of the WMPA (World Mountain People Association), held at Yuksom, Sikkim, from 9-11 April 2002, he was chosen as the National Coordinator of the Indian chapter of WMPA.
Ram Chandra Guha has written an article in the year 2004 where he says “Shekhar Pathak has aptly been named `Encyclopaedia of the Himalaya’, so staggering is his knowledge of his region.” Some excerpts from the same article which would help to know Dr. Shekhar Pathak well.
He is in his early fifties, his name is Shekhar Pathak, and he lives somewhere in the Himalaya — somewhere, but we do not know exactly where. For he is a gumakkad, a traveller and seeker who lives for and loves our beautiful hills — its people, its cultures, its rivers, its threatened landscape. Sometimes Shekhar Pathak is in the upper reaches of the Alakananda valley, tracing the ancient routes of the Bhotiya herders who once traded across the Himalaya with Tibet. At other times he is down in villages by the river-bed, recording the stories of women who participated in the Chipko Andolan
He further adds.
As for Pathak himself, he took a Ph.D. in History, writing a pioneering thesis on the system of forced labour in Uttarakhand. For the past two decades he has taught at the Kumaun University in Nainital, where he is now Professor of History. Among the few perks that come with being an Indian academic are long holidays spread out over the year. Where his fellow teachers put their feet up, Pathak takes his back-pack and hits the road — or should we say, the narrow mountain trail. Every year, he must do at least a dozen field-trips small or large; and once every decade, in 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004, he has undertaken the massive Askot-Arakot padayatra.
For Shekhar Pathak, passion and profession come together in his journal Pahar. "Journal" is probably not the right word, for what we have here is a handsome-sized book in excess of 300 pages, finely designed and with many photographs. Twelve volumes have been printed since the first one appeared in 1983. There have been special issues on the Himalaya in the 18th and 19th Centuries, on the freedom struggle in Uttarakhand, and on travel writing. Other issues have been more eclectic, ranging widely over the literature, geography, and ecology of the Himalaya. In addition to these book-sized volumes, Pahar has produced some 20 topical pamphlets, among which is a masterly analysis of large dams by the Chipko leader Chandi Prasad Bhatt.
Shekhar Pathak is a true "organic intellectual", a man steeped in the history, ecology, legends, and myths of his native Uttarakhand. He has a profound regard for the great men and women the region has given birth to, from the poet Sumitranandan Pant to the campaigning journalist Bishambar Dutt Chandola, from the mountaineer Bachendri Pal to the Gandhian Radha Bhatt. He is himself an authentic hero of the Himalaya, and, beyond that, of modern India, a man who in his person and work helps safeguard, honour and deepen our hard-won, but sometimes carelessly regarded, political Independence.
Other Articles
I believe name of Prof. Ajay S. Rawat should be included in above list. As he is noted environmentalist and he is still fighting to protect the Himalayas as well as the environment of towns of central Himalayan region. For Head of the department of History is a noted environmentalist and activist.
He is conserving environment through PIL and RTI. He is conferred upon with Order of the Golden Ark (The Netherlands) , Glory of India, First Uttarakhand Ratna, Red & White Social bravery award, best RTI Citizen of India, etc. He was first Asian Chairman of International Union of Forestry research Organisation, Vienna, Austria.
Sir. Shekhar i have read about you,,,,Sir i want to become a historian and an archaeologist i just want your guidance…Sir please tell me how to contact you.