People in the Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 493

and summer heat in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region of British India. Colonial and state
administrative services and personnel were moved annually to the hill stations in the
April to September period. The annual migrations involved not only the British coloni-
al officers and their families but office workers, servants, and entertainers, mostly of
Indian origin, and their families. Significant numbers purchased property and settled
in the adjacent areas upon retirement from the colonial service. Following Indian inde-
pendence and the creation of Pakistan, many of the properties in the hill stations were
purchased by wealthy and influential Indians and Pakistanis for use as second homes
during holidays and the summer heat. Today, they also serve as retirement communities
and tourist destinations, primarily for Indians and Pakistanis.
As discussed in Chapter 9, mountains hold significant spiritual value for mountain
people (Fig. 10.7), as well as for many from outside the mountains. In addition to pil-
grimage, this has given rise to a particular form of amenity migration and semiperman-
ent residency. Most pilgrims travel only occasionally to sacred sites in the mountains in
a manner akin to tourists, and thus are considered transients. Some make pilgrimages
to mountain sacred sites on an annual basis and spend significant amounts of time in
the mountains as de facto semipermanent residents. Many return annually to ashrams
or teaching centers in places like Rishikesh on the Ganges River and Kullu on the Beas
River, where they rent or build second homes.
Semipermanent residency in the mountains may lead to permanent residency. In fact,
it is not uncommon for economic migrants working in tourism to stay on permanently
because of a combination of economic opportunity and the amenities offered by the
mountain environment. Increasingly, with the advent of home-based businesses and the
use of the Internet, amenity migrants are choosing to establish permanency in their
mountain homes. Others choose to retire to their mountain homes and establish a form
of permanency in this way. This is particularly the case for scenic lake locations or for
spas and health resorts, the latter offering a wide range of medicinal services.
Transient People
Transients are not considered people of the mountains in the strictest sense, but some
spend large amounts of time in the mountains through frequent visits. However, they
do not live there, nor do most gain their livelihoods directly from the mountain regions.
Tourists, recreationists, businesspeople, and pilgrims are some of the important transi-
ent groups. They are discussed further in Chapters 9 and 12.
Environmental Relationships
The presence of people in, and their relationships with, the mountain environment are
mediated by geoecological conditions that both support and constrain life (Stadel 1992).
The geoecological conditions form the subject matter of most preceding chapters and
therefore the focus here is on relationships with people. As both people and environ-
ment are spatially and temporally variable, so are these relationships. Three general
characteristics of mountain geoecology are of particular importance in understanding
people in the mountains: altitudinal variability; variability of microenvironments; and