Travelogue

What did you do for this New Year Eve?

Well, the standard answers from most of the adults will be one of the following:

1. I went to this party at this cool pub (blah, blah)
2. I went to a disco with my gf/bf
3. I just laid back on my bed and watched all the nonsense on TV
4. I am old and am just happy that I am alive
5. Dude, I was working in office and I had a quick deadline
6. I am a grad student and don't have enough money to party hard

A very few lucky souls will have an answer similar to mine.

7. I went trekking, got lost and spent the night in woods amidst
wild animals, dangerous tribals and scary ghosts!


And the story goes as below...

Characters:

Who: Shashi, Bapu, Me(from Mumbai) and Mathe(from Pune)
Where: Bombay-Naneghat and back
When: 31 December-1 January
Why: We forgot to ask this question!










I woke up on 31st December completely unaware of what was in store. I knew that I had this tentative plan of going for a trek somewhere outside Mumbai but I wasn't sure.
But, some divine intervention had me thrown into a jam-packed local train which headed towards Kalyan. The trouble started even before it all began. A friend who was supposed to join us at Kalyan stopped picking up his phone. After hours of wait, he finally contacted us. Apparently, he fell asleep on a bench while waiting for us.

The next scene was in a Maharashtra Govt bus whose driver was just back after a good season at F1 circuit. The ride sometimes also felt like we were in a flight which was just about to take off. By god's grace, we avoided two close accidents and another closer one.

At the end of it, we found some strangers waiting at the bus door and they were all back-packed and ready to trek. We knew we found company and desperately wanted to avoid it. We did the inevitable and got off the bus at a hotel far before the base of the mountain.




5.30 PM


All of us were damn hungry by then and gulped on loads of hot tea and garam pav. I then realized that I forgot to inform my peeps back at home and tell them that they won't be able to reach me on mobile. The signals were dead already. The hotelier told us that there was an STD booth in a near by village and directed us to it. We soon reached the village and pleasantly found that every body was willing to help and direct us to the phone booth. After roaming around for about 20 minutes in the village, we finally found the revered STD booth. And as fate would have it, the phone wasn't functional. An elderly man who stood near by had a great advice to give. He pointed us to a hotel near by (which was the very spot we came from) and told us that mobile catches signal there. So much for a phone call which was never to be made. I finally called a friend in bombay through a local PCO and asked him to inform my peeps in hyderabad. Happy ending? The real troubles didn’t even begun yet.


6. 30 PM





We soon started to walk towards the base of the mountain which looked too hot to resist. It was close to 7 in the evening and the beloved Sun started to fade. (We planned to stay overnight in the mountain cave but never planned to trek through the entire night. As a result, we were soon to go short of lots of things which are a must when you trek in the night). We soon separated into two groups on the walk. I/Shashi were complaining about how slow Bapu/Mathe were while they were too busy discussing the vampire movie that Bapu saw when he was a kid!

We reached the base at around 7.30. Pleasantly, the moonlight was good and the mood was upbeat. We got out our torches, put on the jackets, rearranged the back-packs and
plunged into the dark tunnel towards the mountain.

The initial path was smooth and everybody was full of energy. There were alternate patches of rocky beds and sandy roads which was so akin to life. Someone intelligent amongst us pointed out that not all torches should be burnt lest we should go out of light. Somebody else noted that mobile phone lights will help us in that case. All is well when you are in a well!

We met few villagers on the way and they revealed the golden truth (all that glitters is not gold): "There are arrows everywhere to point you the direction and when you find two divergent paths, be assured that they will meet in the end". After this happened, the trek shaped into a single point mission. Just fetch for the arrows. Shashi, who by this time emerged a natural leader (this was based on his past experience which incidentally was full of failures...did someone say no experience is better than bad experience?) was actively engaging others to look for arrows. Mathe was the most excited of all whenever he found an arrow. It was almost as if he found a treasure. The arrows were plenty to come by and we just kept walking. Johnywalker!

The moonlight was pleasant and so was the company. Light jokes and harder ones made the mood much lighter and it was almost like walking in heaven. We then found a plain which was straight from storybooks and decided to take a break. For a change, nobody was bitching about their jobs and avoided the talk about how life sucks in general. Like all good things, it had to come to an end too!

All the four of us learnt a lot of trigonometry back in school and triangle was one of our favourite shapes. But not today. At a horrible juncture, we found sets of arrows pointing in two different directions. We divided ourselves into groups. Mathe/Bapu stood the ground and Me/Shashi did the dirty work of figuring out the right way. After thirty minutes of roaming around the dirt tracks, we found ourselves back at the original spot.

9 PM



We regrouped at the spot with the bizarre arrows and had a small brainstorming session. It resulted in a dynamic research in both the ways but the results were bleak. And then, Shashi did something quite natural to him. He suggested that we back track the arrows and then may be we will find the spot where we went wrong.

We decided to let the walking do the talking and just traced the path back. Mathe was soon found complaining that we are going too down-hill and may soon reach the base if we don't stop. We realized the mistake and under the able guidance of Mathe, found the way back on to the hill. It was one of the moments of serendipity when luck finds you at the most unpredictable moment. Two of our torches suddenly went blank.
And the other two started showing signs of fatigue. At this great moment of misfortune and indecisiveness, we sat together for dinner and had cakes, pavs and more cakes and pavs. The drinking water as expected was going to finish sooner rather than later.


10 PM

After dinner, Bapu declared that he was too tired to think of further adventure. Everybody agreed that the light wasn’t enough to venture further into the jungle. Fear is the genesis of all misfortune!


We soon found shelter, it was really just a patch of rock with no grass. We were surrounded with dense patches of grass and trees beyond that. We were staring at multi-fold dangers: Reptiles, Animals (including humans) and Ghosts! Well, it’s too easy to claim the absence of ghosts but you should have been there to realize the extreme pressure we were in. Bapu, as he usually does, gave up early and decided that it’s time to take a nap and his claim to fame was that there is no reason to fear.

11.30 PM

The year had only half an hour left in it and we decided to make the most of it. The discussions and deliberations revolved around the performance of the cricket team in South Africa, nuances of planetary motions and the basics of the existence of universe and predictions on its growth strategy. Bapu also expressed his liking towards the kind of work that NGO’s do and how he is disillusioned with the corporate world. The discussions ranged from mild debate to hot dialogue. Suddenly, Mathe erupted from his silence and declared that his company was not giving enough raises and how the problem is the failure to generate revenues. In effect, everything and anything was being discussed.

Cold winds began to take over the pleasant weather and the temperature started dropping steeply. We had a few hours before the moon went down to result in pitch darkness. Nelly Furtado was singing passionately from a mobile phone.


The new year soon arrived. The greetings were limited to mild handshakes and everybody was soon back to the business of keep themselves warm. Mathe brought twelve candles (why twelve mathe?) and soon burnt the first. Shashi warned against warming up the area which might attract reptiles. So intelligent of him!

And very soon after that Shashi stood up and used the torch to check the sorroudings for any slight movement. We were caught in the middle of no where and had no where to go if someone attached. So all sorts of care was called for. Bapu was indifferent to all this and soon started snoring. (He later claimed that he never slept at all and all he did was taken a small nap!).


2 AM

The rock we were sitting on was unbearably cold and I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up along with Shashi and started looking at the moon which was moving slowly but steadily. Our prediction was that we had an hour or so before the moonlight vanished. We started using the torches alternately. Mathe was part of the unanimous (minus bapu) cry that no one should sleep. He was fast asleep.


3.30 AM

Everybody was almost frozen. I had given up all hope of any more warmth. The candles had given up against the fierce cold winds. I realized how lucky I was that I have a solid roof to sleep under, everyday. The moon was completely set and one couldn’t see an inch ahead of oneself. I just wrapped the blanket around me and decided to close my eyes for the first time in the day.


5 AM

Bapu and Mathe were awake. Shashi almost fell to sleep but soon got back to his consistent position of standing upright. It was almost as if he was defending the native brown Indians against the onslaught of some French army. I was in semi-sleep mode and wasn’t really thinking about the cold and the darkness. It was almost as if my mind was frozen and I was unable to perform any neural processes beyond basic breathing.

Soon, Sun came up from behind the mountain head. It felt almost like we were seeing a dear friend. I never really wanted sun to shine so badly.


6 AM

Me and Mathe decided to discover where we went wrong the other night. Shashi kept on talking about some electric towers he walked by when he last trekked to this spot. We also saw some torchlights along a lane of poles early in the morning.

So, we took the plunge into the rocks and started hiking towards the poles. We had to cross dry waterfalls, millions of broken branches, zillions of hard stones and soon reached a spot which can logically called a point where successful hike to the cave above us can begun. But, reality soon sank into us. We were short of water and our bodies were aching because of the cold wave. Even if we climb onto the path, it might be very difficult for us to gather stamina to come back downhill.


Sadly but surely, we decided to put an end to an upward trek. But, we had to finish what we had started and had to get down the hill. It’s tricky when you climb down. You can move at your own pace when you climb but when gravity takes over when you decide to come down. One of those pranks of our mother planet. I toppled twice, Mathe once and I don’t know about the rest as they were too far ahead.


8 AM

We almost reached the base but not yet. The path, however, was much friendly now. All the pleasures we had dreamt of the earlier day came back to us. Every simple thing like the sweet flower and smooth stream of water looked divine. The dry grass looked absolutely gorgeous. I closed my eyes and drank the moment to its fullest.



9 AM

We were back on to the main road and were ready to walk to the nearest bus stop. But, surprises were not to end so soon. A govt bus came from nowhere and stopped next to us. The F1 driver was back but we were in no mood to enjoy his stints. We soon feel asleep.

1 PM

When I next opened my eyes, I was lying in my apartment! It felt like heaven and I felt like really living after a long time!