Trails from the Himalaya

As the plane took off from the runway, I started to have my palms wet as usual…yes, it always happens despite a decade of me taking flights. and me and my fear of heights always remain…but it is very strange that some things just don’t change in a flight journey… there is this husky voice coming out of nowhere just when you thought all is well at 30000 feet above…saying…this you your captain speaking and we are now entering into a area of turbulence…..Man!! who made this guy a captain..if he knows very well he is entering into the turbulence weather..why the fuck does he enter..can’t he take a slight detour to avoid those clouds…and just then, as soon as I would have convinced my heart to stop racing and would have slept to avoid anything that scares me,  the sexy airhostess will always wake you up..tell you to open the window shades, fold the tray table, sit upright and put your seat belts…as if I am going to miss out watching something spectacular in the sky when the plane starts shaking..Ufff…

Anyways, this was a good day…the plane took off as soon as the pilot saw my wet palms…and the air conditioner got switched off.. KT was next to me as I was seeing the plane leaving the homes of all Bangloreans in the window below…Dr. Prashant asks loudly ; “why the hell did the AC had to be switched off ?“…The high spirited and always fun Sunderesh says, “ Mama…its like Car kano…uppalli pick up sigbekallwa..aadke off madhidhare J.. that’s it…I knew I had a good gang to hang out with for the next 10 days of my life.. without gadgets..without office pressure..without routine..into the unknown..into the hardship of 100km trek in the mountain terrains of India’s best trail and the chance to touch the mighty Himalayas.

The day had started before the dawn wearing the brand new shoes..a new trek pant..new jacket and yes..no surprise, a new trek bag.. shows how many times I have trekked beforeJ  I had no idea how the next 10 days would turn out…I was going to spend the next 10 days with a bunch of people I had never seen. But it was also my time of redemption. I was increasingly becoming arrogant and irritating to all who were with me. Finally, I hit my low, when I found myself fighting with 2 boys on the streets of Bangalore for no fault of theirs..the wounds healed but the scars of being a mad man will remain forever..this was the only way I knew, I will be healed and I took off to a land, where I have read, great people in History always went in search of peace and life’s meaning. I was doing both but I wanted to find myself, the real person in me. And at the moment though, I was hating myself for more reason than one.

As the plane landed and in half an hour, we had seen the best and the worst of Delhi train traffic. By the time we were licking our fingers for that yummy Channa batura in Haldiram’s at Chandini Chowk, we had seen the worst of India’s capital already. It was an alien feeling to be there, among the hard working , sweaty and stinky fellow countrymen.. I felt like a blessed human to afford what I can, to work in air conditioned rooms, to drive a car..or to eat what I was..and in those moments of seeing an apparent separation of classes in humans, it felt like the learning of life had already began.

When the train to Uttarakhand got delayed by a couple of hours, we found ourselves catching all kinds of bugs in the old Delhi railway platform. Those three hours saw a lot of us changing from bad to worse and most specifically , Shantha caught the mysterious holy spirit virus, which made him literally unconscious for the next 24 hours…although I must say, he didn’t miss much..as the only thing I remember from the train journey was lot of mosquiots and even more dangerous – oil dripping- stale-but hot poori’s…by the time we reached the calm town of Kathgodam, in the last border of Uttarkhand, it was 2am..if not for the joy of eating some aloo paratas and curds, none of us would have got up for one more day of travel in a mini van to deeper borders of India.

As the minivan cruised along the turns and twirls of the mountain ranges, many of us found out why people prefer to travel in a trainJ the more you ate the yummy food on the way, the more you suffered. But the best thing about that drive to Bhageshwar Base Camp was the amazingly delicious fresh fruits we ate. And to ensure we don’t get too much hydrated, we bought some holy spirit as well. The magical spirit chased away the virus in Shantha and for the next 7 days, there was no way to stop our own Milka Singh from conquering the snow mountains.

Bhageshwar was a disappointment in terms of rooms and service and food, but we smiled when the Hindustan Times journalist took a picture of ours just when the trip to  a place called Saung started in a bumpy jeep..it would take us 4 hours for 40 kms to Saung from where there would be no more motorable roads. When the legs started to move up the hilly stone clad trail for the first time, it took us just 5 minutes to realize this was not going to be an easy week. Dan, an American who knew more about this trek and this side of the country more than any one of us ; Mr. Chawla, a fit and sixty something young gun from Delhi and 2 tall boy’s in Sameer and Sidharth from Mumbai joined the 9 of us from Bangalore. By the time we climbed up 2 hills to reach Loharkhet, it took us 3 more hours to get our feet back to strength. Dr. Prashanth’s innovative games and stretching exercises went a long way to make sure, none of us dropped out in the middle of the long trail.

By now, we were experts in predicting the dishes for lunch and dinner. It was always the same for the next 10 days.. breakfast prediction was tough as they would fool us by having 2 varieties in their armor. We got it wrong every time we guessed. The next day was to be a no- stop 7KM steep climb and then another 8 kms after lunch. The best part of all this was the tea shop in the middle of no where and the spectacular view of the mountains, re-emphazing the decision to leave everyone you love behind and to have come on your own so far. This was going to be my solitude.

As the base camps rolled by, as we ate the same food once every 5 hours, we started to become more fit. More healthy. Met people who are simple and living in their own world cut off from the so called modernized civilization. The humbleness in their words, the truth and innocence in them got me really scared. It got me worried about the people I live with, the person that I am, the way the rat races happen, the frequent fights, the unnecessary pain, the heartaches..gosh…it is definitely something we don’t need to live happily. I met people who had never left their villages. They apparently don’t even step out for 4 months of an year when the snow covers up their world and their houses. And as the old man said, we chat a lot, we laugh a lot, we drink tea and eat all the food that we are accumulating rest of the year. Gosh, basic life in its glory. I and you can never live like that. We can never be so happy in life. We can never be content. For we always need more. We need more money or we need more love. What we have never suffices.

The pain that the body took everyday was humongous . For people like me who are sitting in the chair all day, this was the other extreme. But as Sameer and Sidharth decided to quit at the last but one base camp, I was looking for some hope. That came in through the young Mr. Chawla. His way of walking 20 steps -take 10 deep breaths technique was mesmerizing. He did that for all the hills we scaled and all the glaciers we crossed. Slow and steady…he would have won the race, if not for the fast and furious Shantha and Sundersh. While Doctor Prashanth practiced reading the medicine list every day, people queued up in front of him for some free medicines. KT consumed the most variety of pills, while Shantha choose to take a sip of 8pm arranged from a old military man’s house in the Khati Village. The only shopping I did through the journey were those 2 amazing bottles. Kept us warm. Kept some healthy. But most of all, kicked up some fun at the end of the day when legs were singing.

We had a sweet Fruit & Nut couple with us…and the reason I called them that was not because she was sweet or he was nuts over her…it was more because they had the most dry fruits with them and had a glucose bottle that served the entire team through the trek. Rest of us instantly made her our sister as soon as she introduced her husband right at the airport in Bangalore. Luckily Shambu was not late that day or for the flight. Otherwise, the dude really showed what solitude is all about and how one should enjoy the mountains and the jungles and the waterfalls and the spirit of fun is always  in the journey and not in the destination. As he dragged his feet towards the base camps each evening, it seemed like the sun was holding back his last rays of the day to guide him and would pave the way for the chilly moon right after he entered the camps.

Sundaresh was at his best spirits right from the moment the pilot switched off the AC and till we forced some spirits to him. For a moment, I felt, I failed for once as a salesman. And I did. I finally met a person whom I couldn’t manage to get drunk. When Aravind followed him in non drinking vows, it just took him a sub zero degree bath at phurkia to gulp one straight down his throat without a wink in his eyes.  In Shantha, I have always felt amazing human qualities. Learnt a lot in my life just by observing him and when he ran once in a hill trying to see in a dear in a godforsaken forest in Kuderemukh, I knew he was made for the mother nature. It was amazing to see how much he enjoyed every bit of this wonderful hills and snow and wilderness. He felt at home always. Be it a dip in the flowing water or a fall in the ice or a run in the terrains of wood, it was just like watching mowgli from the jungle book in real. And his buddy was KT. Now, Mr. Krishnanand himself doesn’t know why he is called a KT, but it fits him for he is an amazing person that I found in this trek like the rest of the gang. There are few people who appeal to you very strongly in their first meeting. KT is one of them. His highlight for me was when he made me go in the dark to the donkeys to record the sound coming out of their bells tied to their necks. KT wouldn’t have appealed to me if I were to be at the wrong end of those donkeys in the dark.

There were lot of moments that made me live this trip like a bachelor. Be it the mandatory double meaning jokes session at night after dinner, when we all slept in the same room like a boarding school , or the adrenalin with which we ran through those hills and jumped over boulders and rocks and the slides on the snow or even the Deepika-like-shake-it-baby dance from Sunderesh or the night forest walk in the dark to catch a sunset painting the white snow peaks with orange. There were quiet moments as well, when we watched an amazing sky show during the sunset in Dwali..A show I can never believe till date that god can be so artistic…there were surreal feelings one went through at the sight of the big Himalayas, the astonishing silent talk when you are staring at the mighty nature and you seemed like a tiny ant in front of her.. All along the trip, I was wondering why Pradeep sat silently and most times walked silently ; for I was just the opposite… It was finally when I reached the zero point that I understood, that even silence can be an amazing tool. Not that I practiced it later…but now ..writing this in a far away lonely place in USA, with no one to talk to, I am feeling the power of silence.

While kudos go to the man behind all this, Anjan who did the leg work and planning, it was the torch bearer, the captain of the team, the duplicate doctor in crisis, the let me walk first and slip glacier walker, the kid in me makes me slide on snow dude, the emotional father of a cute son, the king of double meaning jokes, the example of mind over matter of being agile, the man in glasses and with pen to note down team’s expenses, the guy who looks like a red ooty apple when offered whiskey, the lion king among all snoring men was Prashanth. Now, with so many adjectives, I hope he will not kick my ass for not writing this blog earlier.

Dan, the American showed why we are the only race in the world which cribs always. He ate his chapati’s and aloo sabzi every day twice, as if it was his last meal. He burped happily at the end of it, when we were still staring at the lifeless piece of wheat and a tasteless colored boiled vegetable.

Walking in the dangerous slip-n-u-die glacier crossing was fun on the last stretch of the trek. Having clicked pictures at every single angel and view, including Dan pissing on a road side, we were finally not bothered about taking pictures or for that matter, we were done with the worldly things anymore that day. It was a sense of reaching a goal. A sense of realizing what a beautiful place this world..this earth is afterall…pristine..pure…magical..mighty beauty. The real calmness nature brought us there was amazing., I could live happily at that no man land, provided what the Baba who lives there has. A satellite phone, solar charger and a lot of good will of the innocent villagers…oh one more thing.. A village qualifies to be called a village if there are more than 3 houses and more than 5 people. Anything more, it becomes a town there.

Having soaked in the snow, with Prashant doing the final slide from the big mountain to end an hour of slides, we were racing back to the camp. It was not because we were scared of the rain and the chance of we being dead trying to cross the slippery ice glaciers in the rain, but because we had eaten just a small cup of Maggie to start our big day. By the time I reached the camp all wet, I would have eaten the buttler’s hand if I didn’t sight the same old chapatti and Aloo sabzi..on hindsight, I guess the hand would have been a better choice.