I Me Myself

Prologue Thanks to the allegations, promises and ditching on my “idea” trips, I resolved to make this one happen at any cost. The final companions met on December 28 at Delhi – Gult, re-christened Mota Gult, the walking encyclopedia about the people and events of RK Hall, the energetic bulla (yes, this is the true bulla) satvik and me (no adjectives attached, you know me). The mission of this trip was simple (yet so elusive) – to “chill” out. The only constraint we imposed (as always) – be on shoe string budget. The mistake we made was to make gult, the in charge, who had no idea about the string and the shoe became quiet loose. The asset we had – KODAK EASYSHARE DX 7590 – Digital SLR Cam.

Day1: Jim Corbett Park Ranikhet Exp (with pathetic sleeper class coaches) reached Ramnagar at around 6 in the morning. The expensive resort booked had exotic setting but was overpriced. As tariffs included meals, we were inspired to gobble up everything possible. By the end of the day, we ourselves were amazed on our capacity to consume. The 8 km drive to the Corbett Park was the coolest event of the day. The open Gypsy with the cool breeze was beating the merc scene of Goa trip in “Dil Chahta Hai”. I went a little far by imagining myself as a warlord who was visiting his territory. This park is known for tigers. But to spot one out of 140 counted dudes is real hard. The striking feature was the expanse and the undisturbed natural habitat. Spread across 1822 sq. km, it is a world away from bustling sounds of human settlement – it was quiet filled with sweet humming of n species of birds. Besides appreciating this serenity, we were trying to improve our “checking out” skills (please ref...

Day2: Reached Rishikesh Unfaz ed by the warnings, we started off to our next destination – Rishikesh. After 6 hours of bus journey (good govt bus), we were in the religious and yogic city. But for us, it was to serve as the base camp before we hit the mountains. The hotel rooms were surprisingly cheap and neat – so it was easy to pick one at the “quietest” area in town, Lakshman Jhula. The stroll at the hanging Lakshman Jhula (it really vibrated as we walked) in the evening culminated at the German Snacks Bar beside the Jhula. This small setup was filled w ith “only” foreigners mingling freely and discussing their classes of yoga. The deadly combination of interesting tea flavors (remembered “Finjaan”) with an impressive book (Ramayana by banker – there is something religious in the air here) held me there for over 2 hours. This gave good opportunity to bulla and gult to befriend our table neighbors from Holland. While gult got busy in getting his portrait made, satvik was engaged in a...

Day 3: White Water Rafting We all we re first timers to any water sports adventure and naturally were quite excited about what lay ahead of us that day. After a short trip in bare minimum clothes, we were at the starting beach. It was a sunny day and our spirits high. The adrenaline pumped in even higher as we saw some rafts leaving. As we embarked the raft, our guide, a local boy, briefed us on what were supposed to do. The closest analogy is a military commander giving instructions to his commandos on a secret mission. Another one, personally close to my heart, is the situation when Alexander surrendered himself to the knowledge of a local shepherd boy to guide him and his army through an unknown terrain. We were a few meters in the water when our “captain” said it was the time to go for a swim. I was the only one who knew ABC of swimming (though we were wearing live saving jackets and there was no need to know swimming). I touched the water and within a split second was in the water...

Day 4: In Rishikesh Even after heavy dose of intoxication, the New Year started with a clear head. The first task of the morning brought back memories of DTLs at NCC Camps. After breakfast, it was time for resolutions. Already crashed and burnt by the big last year resolution, I decided to have smaller 5 point resolutions (inspired by 5. someone). But hari stole this show by making a direct (quantified) yet hard to achieve vow. This was our day to relax around in Rishikesh. Mention on such a trip to laze, and first thing that would come to any mind is good food. We luckily foun d a Rajasthani place and as it was a Sunday, it was time for dal-bati (a different variety though). But it was desserts which were orgasmic – amazing gazar ka halwa and hot gulab jamuns. Unable to concentrate and walk after such a heavy lunch, we walked down to the nearest ghat and sat for a while trying to capture the vibes of the city – so different from the frenzied pace of our own lives. Photographs of the...

Day 5: Reach Joshimath Bulla went back to Delhi and we undertook the long and arduous 10 hour bus journey to Joshimath. With gult trying to cope up with the motion sickness, I sat enchanted with the heavenly sights and views. The observation – the size and apparent mightiness of the mountains increased progressively. The thought – Which business besides agriculture and tourism, could be setup here so that I can earn and live in one of the prayags (deo, rudra, nandi) on the way? After the grueling journey, the sight of Joshimath was a little disappointment. It was cold here but no sight of snow. The folks here told us that it snowed only once till now and that too 10 days back. With a heavy heart, we checked into a hotel. The news channel reported the snowfall in srinagar and how tourists were taking the full maza of it. With those scenes in our dreams, we hoped the best for tomorrow. Photographs of the Day

Day 6: Auli Early mor ning, we were chilled even after the 2 wraps of razaais. As eyes balls gazed around, we realized it was raining outside. Worrying about being stuck while still lying in bed, the whiteness on the mountains, visible as we put our spects on, made us sprang on our feet. The bare mountain tops were capped with snow. The manager of the hotel informed we were lucky as it had been snowing all night at Auli. After a quick breakfast of aloo pranthas , we headed tow ards the ropeway to Auli – the only transport now available as roads were blocked. This ropeway, 4.15 km long, is the highest and longest ropeway taking around 25 minutes to reach Auli – the skiing resort of India. The gradual transformation of rain water into snowfall, enthused each and every passenger on board. The road , the trees, the whole landscape beneath was covered by a white sheet. The last tower, No 10, took us to Gorson, a little higher up than Auli. The scene outside was mesmerizing. I had seen snow ...

Day 7: Back Home We knew we could not do anything more. The cold was increasing. Gult was incessantly cluttering his teeth. I was unable to walk any long distance due to the sprain in my ankles. All the roads higher up were closed. But more importantly, we had reached the zenith of our trip. We didn’t want even an hour where boredom could even be felt. So we took the right decision to cut short our trip and head back home. With an exception of lunch break, 11 hours of pain-in-the-butt bus journey left us at Haridwar. Frenzied inquiry with gult digging in the railway time table, we got the right tickets available. One day stay at delhi was spent fulfilling small desires like eating at Mc-D, coffee at Barista, watching “Bluffmaster” and yes catching up with good old JP Singh.

Epilogue The trip was fantastic and unplanned nature of it was the spice. But for those who always want to know what could still have been better, a bigger group might have been more fun. Also girlfriends would have been quite welcome, though some parts of the trip would then have to be censored and definitely the taxis would have replaced buses. People say “Kashmir is the heaven on earth”. I haven’t seen it but sounds like a place to appreciate the beauty of nature. But Uttaranchal is the lap of Mother Nature where one can both play and relax.

(Composed on the lonely trip in Rajdhani Express on 23/12/2005 and dedicated to the poet in me and my inspiration(s)) Neither push it too hard Nor push it too slow. Love is a game of hearts, Let the hearts themselves glow. Seasons don't matter Winds of change will someday blow. It takes a while to realize what You really want and already know.