HIMACHAL PRADESH East Bank Settlers Their young have colonised Manali. Now Israel tries to wean them off the drug trail.
SAIKAT DATTA 'Do you want some Full Power?" Through the haze of smoke rising out of hashish-laden chillums, Uri, a young Israeli backpacker dressed in a bright shirt and pyjamas, looks up. A toke? Of course, he would like one. His friends, sprawled casually elsewhere around the room, are glued to a Hollywood film with Hebrew subtitles. They are already in the throes of 'Full Power' (a deep drag from a chillum) and 'Boom Shiva', the new-age mantras that are bringing peace and nirvana to the army of Israeli backpackers trooping into Kasol and Old Manali looking for some quiet and some hashish. Also heroin, ecstasy, coke, or lsd, should you feel the urge for harder drugs. Everything in Manali is geared toward Israelis: the food, the clothes, the techno music... Outside, as the light of day fades into the dull hue of dusk, bright hoardings in Hebrew light up, offering a variety of Israeli eats. It's party time in Kasol, tucked away in the Himalayas, 25 km ahead of Kullu. It's a headache, however, for the local police. Also for the Israeli government which has had to send several delegations to India to find out why their young countrymen are going astray and how to rescue them. Says Omri Frish, member of one such delegation: "They (the drugs) are available everywhere. They grow under your guesthouse and come incredibly cheap." Frish was asked to set up a commune (see box) at Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Called Kfar Izum (Balance Village), it detoxifies and rehabilitates those who go abroad and return with drug-related problems. And most of those who have been through the commune have partied and over-indulged in India. It's natural, given that accommodation, food, drugs and a good time come cheap in our country. The Israeli government estimates that of the 40,000 young Israelis who travel abroad every year, nearly 25,000 head towards India, wander the hills of Kullu-Manali in the summer and head towards the beaches of Goa in winter. In Kullu, district officials anxiously monitor the influx of Israeli tourists each summer. Their number has been growing steadily by nearly 60 per cent annually in the last three years. Whether the state or central governments respond or not, the Israeli government itself has been most cooperative in helping the local police and administration. Two years ago, Haim Messing, director-general of the Israeli Authority Against Drugs, took up the matter with the Israeli ambassador in India and decided to set up a Bayit Cham (Israeli home) in Old Manali run by a middle-aged Israeli couple who would advise and counsel those coming to Kullu-Manali. Talking to Outlook, Messing said, "Many kids like to visit special places, and India, which is beautiful and very cheap, is a great favourite. In Goa, Kasol, Manali and Mcleodganj (Dharamsala), they find themselves in an environment where drugs are cheap and readily available. We felt an Israeli couple stationed here would be of great help". Read the entire article @ http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050627&fname=Israel+%28F% 29&sid=1&pn=1
