rajeshvora’s blog

Continued from blog posted on 21.01.2007 of this series

During our stay at the GMVN resort at Rishikesh, we learnt that there is an excellent river rafting facility about 20 kilometers away. As always we dint want to give a miss to this one. We gathered all the details and decided to have a go on this one too the following day. As it is we had a few extra days on our hands, due to leaving the skiing trip a bit early.

We decided to go to shivpuri by road and do the rapids all the way to Rishikesh. Actually January is not a good time to do the rapids. The waters are freezing cold and one is invariably bound to get wet in the swirling waters. But like I told u before, we dint mind all these small things. Damn getting drenched in the ice cold waters. We just can't imagine doing this in south India where rivers are dry for the better part of the year and whatever little water flowing thro most of them is bound to be the one that is flowing out from the city’s sewers.

Next morning we headed for riding the rapids. Due to off season, there were not many takers for it. Looks like we were the only two dumbos who were gonna go thro the one-way thoroughfare. We donned on the life-saving jackets and both of us took our positions right at the front of the raft facing the direction that we were headed for. We were given oars and asked to follow the instructions given to us from time to time.

According to its level of difficulty, white water river rafting is divided into six levels - from 1 to 6. Level 1 being the easiest and the level 6 being the most difficult. Here in shivpuri, there is upto level 4 (i am not sure if it was level 5 too). And there are names for many spots. And the names are very very funny. For eg. blind mice, torando, good morning etc etc. we enjoyed the ride thoroughly. No traffic rules. No signals. No pollution. The only fuel needed was an adventurous spirit blended with a generous dose of adrenalin. Our instructor asked us to lean out of the boat with our heads popping out like some mast head on a ship at one particular point. And then we maneuvered thro a level 4 rapid. With water gushing onto our faces and us getting wet fully with the ice cold water. And with our faces out of the boat facing the river and the boulders - it was one helluva experience. After that we were chilled to the bone because of winds blowing across and we were drenched fully.

We reached Rishikesh near the lakshman jhula. Our expedition finally came to an end. We headed straight for our room. We were so hungry that we could eat a horse. After a heavy lunch we hit the bed, completely exhausted. We decided to leave for Delhi the next day. This time, we swore not to take the train, but travel by road. Buses were available at regular intervals, we were told.

January 25^th 2001.

so the next morning we headed for the bus stand and we soon found ourselves aboard a bus bound for Delhi. The bus was not comfortable, but still it was much better than traveling by that lousy train. After a brief halt at some non-descript place enroute for lunch, we finally reached Delhi.

Finding a hotel and getting a room to stay is an arduous task in Delhi. Make that 10X if the day happens to be some important day. Like we reached Delhi on the republic day. There is an unwritten rule that no hotel is willing to take on guests during that time. Due to the security factor involved. Luckily Jay had called up his uncle in Mumbai, who in turn informed us to go to a particular hotel, nearby to the New Delhi railway station. Since he was a frequent guest at that place, we got a room without much hassle. Still all our luggage was checked both physically and with a metal detector.

We were then contemplating as to what to do. We wandered around aimlessly around CP (connaught place for the uninitiated). Did some window shopping and also watched a movie. We still had a couple of days in hand. Since our return journey tickets were booked and we couldn't change them suddenly, we decided to have a dekho at our capital city.

Jan 26^th 2001

The following day too we roamed around the city with nothing particular in mind. Just wanted to kill time. I don't have friends in Delhi (now there are a few thanks to iLand.). We spent the better part of the day that way ' roam around and met a friend of Jay too.

We were tired that evening. Stepped out to have dinner at around 7.30pm. we went to a small hotel. And ordered our food. It was ages since we watched TV or read a newspaper. Thus we watched the TV placed in the front. Some news channel was on. Suddenly the scrolling strip at the bottom caught my attention. At first, I couldn't make out. My eyes got fixed to the TV. I wanted to read again to confirm. The scrolling strip kept repeating the same ' "Quake hits Kutch. Epicentre at Bhuj and Bhachau. Thousands killed blah blah blah . "..

I did not know whether to believe it or not. Wished that all this was just some prank. Nothing of that sort happened. But I couldn't wish away the feeling. My heart sank. My knees gave way. The ground beneath me shook. My mother and sister were in Kutch, where the earthquake had hit. I was so much shaken that I could not talk or eat. I wept like never before.

The earth quake could have hit Kutch, but the aftershocks were felt in my heart.

What happened to my family in kutch?

To be continued .

(the Auli series is over here as such.)

 continued from the previous blog posted on 16.01.2007 of this series…..

My friends and I were now at our wits end. We had tried our level best to somehow get the vehicle to nudge atleast a bit and hope that eventually it will pass the devil’s stretch. But the vehicle had a mind of its own. A couple of times were hair-raising and very very scary. Since we were at a hair pin bend, the vehicle used to skid almost to the edge of the precipice. At that time our hearts would skip a beat or two. After what seemed a long time, we noticed a vehicle climbing up the hill and coming towards our direction. It was an army vehicle, a maruti gypsy. Since our vehicle was in the middle of the road, it couldn’t get past it. After some 5-10 minutes, that driver told us that we could hop on to his vehicle if we cleared the road immediately. Our joy knew no bounds. We were a relived lot and soon after we all packed onto the gypsy. We got to know that there is an army post a little further from where we stayed. After thanking the driver and the other officer in the vehicle, we alighted near our resort. We had reached just in time for dinner and amidst much anxiety of our other friends there. We gave a blow by blow account of all that happened to others and had a hearty laugh at the turn of events.

Next: Our training used to progress at a steady pace. And we used to also have a great time when we weren’t skiing. Bon fires. Singing songs. Pulling legs. Long walks. All used to be a part of our daily routine.

And then it happened one day. The sky was a bit gray during the day. And later in the evening it remained that way.  We never expected it. But were overjoyed. It had started snowing. We all rushed out into the open in the fading daylight to have the time of our lives. Coming from where i am, where the climate is hot, hotter and hottest, even cooler climates are a dream, so forget about snowfall. First it was very very slow. Those cute little crystals falling slowly from the sky. gently on you. Gently on your stretched out palms. Millions of them falling on your head. All of them white …. like we say in our daily lives snow-white….. yet each has got an individuality of its own. Most of you must be aware that snow crystals are like our fingerprints - each and every crystal different from the other in its shape. This is what true nature is. In spite of being so individualistic, they don't fight each other etc. The co-exist peacefully - each crystal accommodating all its neighbours. When will we humans learn from nature? We are abusing it to the maximum extent possible. Sometimes we think we are one step above nature, that we have conquered all that is to be conquered. Bullshit. We can never do that. And it will be the fallacy of our minds if we start thinking like that.

So most of the pics of us enjoying the snowfall must have been viewed by my friends on my previous blog. The fall of snow intensified as the night grew on us. With a joy in our hearts and smile on our faces, and tiredness in our bodies, we all hit the bed that night, even as it was snowing for the better part of the night. Since we were so tired that day, we all slept like logs.

I woke up at 6am next morning… nature’s call u c. it had been pretty cold that night. I headed for the toilet double speed. It was quite urgent. But tell you one thing. It is an arduous task. I had to undo three layers of clothing - each alternatively stuffed into the other. It was still pretty dark with very little light emerging from the skies. There was no power and thus it was quite dark in the loo too. As I was cleansing my system out, I noticed a candle lying on the floor. I laughed. Someone had come here in the dead of the night to relieve himself. I tried to pull the candle free from the floor and keep it outside. It was very very cold when I touched it. And it wouldn't budge. As the daylight grew, I noticed that it wasnt a candle, but ice. Ice had formed from the water dripping from the tap last night. And it grew on to look like a candle. I had a hearty laugh at myself.

As we stepped out, a very beautiful sight was there behold. A sight, that I had seen only on postcards or movies. It was white everywhere. As if a white blanket had been strewn by god on the floor. We ran around in the snow. Like little children do in sand, with gay abandon. We behaved silly. Threw snowballs on each other. Had a great time again. We learnt that the temperature last night was -5*. What? We couldn't believe it. And we slept without any heating too. Dear wifey had prepared a container full of choclate fudge. Apart from the food dished out at the canteen, this fudge and other preparations from home kept us alive. My friend had brought some brandy with him. He used to keep the small flask in his pocket always. I think we woke up the next day of the snowfall, coz we took a liberal quantity to fight the cold thro the night.

Believe me, the best things in life are not enjoyed amongst plenty of everything, but when u live with whatever you have at that moment. That is what I was thinking when standing in front of those huge peaks one fine morning. I had woken up early… everybody was asleep. I went out for a walk and did some talking with myself. I felt so minuscule, standing like a dwarf in front of the mountains. The towering cliffs surrounding you. You are nothing but a small spoke in nature, the mountains seemed to be telling me. Listening to the soft whispers of the winds not with my ears but with my heart, I was glad I did come here. Made a resolve not to exploit nature more than is necessary. Spread the good word about being a good citizen of the earth.

Snow beaters were pressed into service to beat and settle the snow. Today our practice ground had grown manifold. And also the timing was just right. We had learnt quite a bit as to how to ski down the slope. Not like pros though. But at the same time without falling or hitting into a tree or something like that. Another service was put in place. One that pulls us uphill thro a suspended rope. We just hold on to a rope and slide our way up the hill. Then we ski down. And continue to do the same as many times as we wish. This was the best of times. I was able to ski downhill with much confidence and was having a ball of a time. The snowfall was very timely. It provided us an opportunity to ski much better on a larger field.

But my friend twisted his ankle that day. So he couldn't continue the practice. His leg was not in shape the next day too. I went for the practice alone the next day. He could not do so, with his injured leg. That evening, he suggested that we leave the next day. There were actually a few days still left for our camp. But since he was not feeling alright and getting bored too, he suggested that we leave. I was enjoying my skiing to the hilt, but at the same time i did not want to disappoint my friend too. We decided to leave the next day early in the morning itself. Coz, it is a good 10 hours drive to Rishikesh and it is advisable to undertake the journey only in the day. Another two people, a man and a woman from Hong Kong had also decided to leave the next day. So the four of us hired a cab to Rishikesh. The journey to Rishikesh was quite uneventful. And much comfortable than the one in the bus. We reached in a much better shape, esp. - me. I hate traveling in the mountainous roads.

We again stayed in the same GMVN resort that we stayed on our way up.

To be continued another adventure - this time in the river .

Now coming back to Day Two at the camp:

After lunch, we decided to go downhill to Joshimath to make calls back home. Five of us took the rope car downhill at 3pm. We made phone calls and informed our folks that everything was fine etc. I made an additional call to my friend in the bank to know what to do about the lost Traveller’s Cheques. After that, we went to the market there to purchase Dangris. We were advised to purchase second hand ones. They are mighty cheap and serve our purpose too. Of protecting our clothes from moisture and dirt if we fall on the snow when practicing. When it was time to leave it was 5 pm . And we were dejected to learn that the last cable service uphill had already left for the day. Now we had no other option but to take the road. And burn a hole in our pocket in the process. We enquired with a couple of jeep drivers. A young kid advised us not to take the Sumo and to take a Mahindra Jeep instead. He said, “saab, beech mein baraf hai. Sumo wahan se nahin jaa sakti hai. Mahindra gaadi nikal jaayegi.” We thought this guy is trying to fool us. But in the end, we did take the Mahindra vehicle. There was a patch of hardened ice in between which the lil guy had told us. But the vehicle made little fuss of overcoming it. We reached our cottage after it was dark. And thoroughly exhausted.

The first day was quite relaxed ' at the practice session. But the second day was the one to reckon. Skiing is a thrill to watch. So would many other sports too. But try standing on the slope on your skis. And the entire thrill will vanish from your mind. You need lots of strength just to stand at one place. Forget about zooming around he slopes like they show you on the sports channels.

We had a tough time learning how to stand upright there. To stand in one place, always stand perpendicular to the slope. And put your weight tilting towards uphill. If you had to stand pointing downhill keep your legs pointed and rest your skis on the edges. So that there is minimum contact of the blades and the snow. Cos, more the contact, more it will slither.

Another tough thing to do was take a 180* turn. It was a very arduous process. First lift your right leg and place the back end of the ski on the floor. It should be near the front edge of the left ski. Then turn you right leg around you till the ski is in the opposite direction to the left one. Then lift your left leg from its position and keep it parallel to the right. Gosh. One has to experience it to understand what I am telling. Imagine I have to write a paragraph just to show you how to take an about turn with your skis on.

Slowly we were learning the intricacies of the trade. What looks so beautiful from afar is achieved only with lots of hard work and dedication. This is what life is made of. We need not be the best in what ever we do. But what is definitely required is that we put our best into it. And leave the rest to god. Losing more than a thousand calories (or was it 2000, I am not sure) or more in a matter of hours would stand testimony that it takes great deal of fitness and a tough mental attitude for this sport. We used to perspire like in the summer !! With all the snow and chill wind around us, we still used to perspire. That was because of the many layers of clothing that we used to don.

The phone at our camp was still not functional and some of my friends asked me to accompany them to Joshimath. They hadn't come the previous evening and they wanted to make phone calls. This time we decided to go walking downhill thro the jungles. We took along the son of a helper there to take us thro the woods. This was also a great adventure. We stopped at a couple of places enroute to take a sip of the cool spring water flowing down the small streams. Ice cool and fresh. Lovely water. Manna from heaven. We reached Joshimath and finished our work. Bought the rolls too for the camera. Today too we missed the cable and had to take the jeep. The Mahindra guy was not to be seen. There was a sumo there. we thought about the little kids warning the previous day. But on the other hand, it was getting darker and we dint want to be left stranded there. we wanted to make it home. Walking downhill is one thing and trekking uphill is a totally different ball game. Giving hope a chance, we decided to hire the sumo.

Soon the five of us were seated in the sumo and we were zooming uphill towards the resort. We had crossed more than half the distance and it was quite dark too. It was almost 6.45pm then. We chatted along making small talk about our experience at the camp. After a particular hairpin bend, the vehicle stopped moving forward. What the heck? At first the driver tried to revv the vehicle a bit more. But no way. It just wouldn't move. Forget moving ahead, it kept sliding back. We all alighted from the vehicle to take a look at the road ahead. Yes. What the kidoo said the previous day was correct. Snow had hardened into ice for about a stretch of 50 feet uphill. This vehicle just wont move. The earlier day we had crossed the same path with effortless ease in the Mahindra jeep. The sumo's engine doesn't rest in the center of the bay. It is towards the right. So the weight of the vehicle is also more on the right and thus it used to slide towards the right.

We tried keeping big rocks behind the tyres and also small stones beneath the tyres, so that the tyres can get a bit of friction. But all to no avail. We were at out wits end. What to do now. We were in the middle of the jungle. Half way through. We cant risk walking back to our resort. The previous day, a guy told us about wild animals moving around that belt in the night. That made it all the more scary. Darn !!  What to do now?

to be continued ..

contd from the previous blog posted on 05.01.2007

We were elated. We had actually reached Auli !! And the place was beautiful. Tall peaks on the three sides and a bit of greenery and the hill on the other. We went to the GMVN office for registration. After completing the formalities, we were shown to our cabin. And were asked to report immediately back to the office after depositing the luggage in our rooms and refreshing ourselves. Friends, if you are accustomed to luxuries and the best of everything, then this is not the right place for you. Go to the Alps or the US of A, or wherever not Auli and esp not GMVN. The cabin was very functional. I don't know which term to use here ' basic or Spartan facilities. Use whichever conveys the lowest meaning. There were about eight rooms in that cabin and two people sharing a room. Four rooms on the either side beyond a small hall-like room in the entrance. A small fire place in the corner. Only one tube light in every room. No room-heaters. WHAT?? No heaters?? Man, I am gonna freeze to death. I made up my mind to sleep near the fire place that night. Damn the room and damn everything. Dint want to die as yet. And at the far end of the cabin, there were two toilets and two bathrooms. So that was where we were gonna spend the better part of our next two weeks.

After refreshing ourselves, we marched back to the office. We were given a brief of how the schedule was gonna be like and were informed to collect our skis from the stores. The only phone in the office was dead. No other phone sorry nothing nearby at all. So that laid to rest our hopes of calling back home that we had reached Auli safely.

We all swarmed to the stores immediately to get the best skis. A word of praise for the Uttranchal Govt. They bought the skis from some European co. They were one of the best in the world. Just because they were charging peanuts for the course, they did not give us inferior quality of skis or training too. But for the stay part, everything about the infrastructure was just great.

One rule for the size of the ski sticks is that the length of the ski should be equal to your height. Now don't ask me why, but it is like that only. The skiing gear consists of ski boots, ski blades and the ski poles. That is the most basic and functional gear needed as far as skiing is concerned. Then you have to have helmets, lots of sunscreen lotion, lip guards, sunglasses(a must, esp. with UV protection), gloves and 'dangris'. And if your Dad had lots of cash stashed away for you to throw around, you can purchase all the best equipment of your own. A pair of skis cost a cool Rs.25K and upwards and add another equivalent sum for the other accessories.

Now due to technological advances much lighter equipment ' means skis and boots would have arrived. But what we had then was quite heavy. The ski + boots together weighed about 14kgs. We had to lug them daily to our practice area and back to our rooms. The equipment that we were given was supposed to be in our custody for the entire period of training and we were liable to pay for damages or loss of the same. So we used to take utmost care of our equipment, lest we pay thro our noses.

When we met all the participants for the particular camp, we were surprised and amazed. We were the only two blokes from the four southern states. We were proud of ourselves. There were about 8-10 from Mumbai. Some from Kolkatta. Quite a few from Delhi and of course many from abroad too ' hong kong, japan, US etc. There were 4 gujjus guys from Mumbai. And they were of our age group. So we got along well and had good company throughout. One thing is for sure. Go to any place in the world. You are sure to come across some gujju guy there. So also with mallus. These two species are like air ' present everywhere. No need for anybody (gujjus and mallus) to  grudge up against me. Being a gujju, I am making a comment on myself too.

Our Schedule was somewhat like this. We used to wake up at about 6.30 - 7.00am. Not that we loved to wake up early, but to ensure that we beat others to the loo. 3 toilets between 16 people. And in that cold weather, you cant hold on for long. After attending the nature's call and refreshing ourselves, we head straight for the canteen.

One point I forgot to mention. We had a bath only once a week. We have never in our life had such a long time gap between two baths. Well, I used to think the 'firangis' are crazy not to have a bath daily. From that point onwards, I stopped thinking that way. Taking a bath in that climate was like, never mind, I can do without it.

At 8am we are served piping hot breakfast. Not too much of choice or variation, but excellent food nevertheless.

At 9.30 we leave for our class room ' the vast snow field on the upper range. Because it had not snowed properly that winter, there was less snow near our cottages. We had to first take the cable car and then trek for about a kilometer from there ' all the while carrying our 14kgs of skis, water, towels etc.

With a break of about 15 mins in between, our training session used to last till 12.30pm. We head for lunch after that. And after a hearty lunch we rest for some time. We have a mini practice session from 4pm to 5pm. That is not compulsory. It is up to us, if we want to practice. After that we are free. It generally gets dark at about 6pm. We go for the practice sometimes and we don't at other times. Instead the time is spent in taking walks around the place ' a different route every time. It used to be an exhilarating experience. Supper used to be served at 8pm. We used to assemble near the fire place before and after supper. Singing songs, sharing experiences, pulling legs ' all used to be a part of the activities at those sessions.

That was how a typical day used to be for us.

(thankfully no suspense this time also, aint it?)

To be continued

A link to the online album that I have created. Hope you enjoy the photos.

 
http://picasaweb.google.com/rbvora/Skiing

..

last blog ..

we were onto one of our most adventurous trips, eagerly looking forward to. this was going to be one long journey from chennai to delhi. so we settled down to dreaming about the exhilarating days that were awaiting us.

..

continued from last blog ..

I was shivering in my dreams. Thinking about all the snow the chillness.. and shivering.. We were crossing the plains of central India that night. If there was no delay, we would reach Delhi by early morning, say about 5am. The shivering did not stop. I woke up with a jolt. I wasn't shivering in my dreams. This time it was for real. It would have been 5*C, but for me even that sounded like -15*C. I just had a sweater on.. and it was woefully inadequate. Took out all the warm clothes that I had with me and put them on. I dint care if I looked like a stuffed clown. But I dint want to make it to the next days headlines ' "Cold kills one smart alec in train" ' or something like that . Dint sleep the whole night, what with the teeth refusing to stop stuttering. Due to the heavy fog, the train reached Delhi a good 3 hours late.

Hearing about another train leaving for Haridwar from another platform, we made a dash for it. No reservations, no nothing there. It was a passenger train. We thought we were lucky to get this train, since we skipped breakfast too, lest we miss this train. But fate had other things in mind for us. Firstly, we forgot to purchase the ticket for the travel from Delhi to Haridwar. So we had to shell out fare plus penalty to the lady TTC on board the train. It was a small consolation that the train we were traveling was a passenger train and thus the fare was also dirt cheap. Secondly, the train traversed thro all of UP before reaching Haridwar. Sigh. Never ever take a passenger train. (for those uninitiated with the Indian railway system ' passenger trains are divided into 3 classes ' Super Fast, Express and Passenger.) The train passed thro so many towns in UP, I have lost track of the names. It used to stop at every damn town and village worth its name. and also at umpteen other unscheduled places where some one wanted to board or alight the train or attend to the call of nature. Sigh. But to think on the positive side, we got to see beautiful lush green farms and fields. UP happens to be the sugar bowl of India, we were taught in Geography in school. This we witnessed for real. The engine changed its position to either side of the train atleast 3-4 times. And we were like man wot's happening?

After a good day of being on the lousy train, we finally managed to reach what is called Haridwar. One of the four most holiest places in India, where Kumbh mela is held every 12 years. We did not stay there for long. We headed straight for the bus station, since our goal was to reach Rishikesh. It is about 20-30 kms from Haridwar. We reached Rishikesh without much hassles. I am making this sound as if hassles were bound to come to us at every step, which was so till now.

We reached Rishikesh when it was quite dark. With the help of directions we trudged our way to the GMVN Guest house there. It is a sprawling campus with the cottages and rooms spread all over it. A nice and quite place, we liked it instantly, though the facilities were basic and just about ok. After hogging ourselves at the restaurant, we proceeded to take a stroll around the town. We went to the bathing ghats, the lakshman jhula and the other jhulas etc. it's a sight to behold. We enquired at a couple of places the rates for taking a cab to Joshimath ' the base station to proceed to Auli. After hearing about the astronomic fares, we decided to take the 'sarkari' bus suvidha to Joshimath. The flip side was the only convenient service we had would leave by 5.30am. But the plus point was we can catch it at the entrance of the guest house. My goodness ' waking up at 4am in that cold climate is sort of torture. Well, had to. No other option. We were waiting for the bus next morning. It did arrive. If u can call a tin sheet contraption put up on four wheels, I agree this one was a bus. All the passengers inside were mostly from the country side. All tightly wrapped in 'kambals'. We did manage to get two seats to sit in the last row. Did I say anything about hassles, earlier in my post? Well this one was. Never never take a last row in a bus, esp. when u are traveling through Ghats (now what do you call the ghats in English?). Atleast I cant tolerate it. And I had to endure the worst 10 hours of traveling that time. The route is totally thro hilly terrain. And nothing picturesque. All the windows of the bus were shut due to the cold. And most of the passengers were smoking away on their bidis. And I was at my nauseating best. There are few small towns enroute. Rudraprayag and Chamoli are all that I can recall now. I don't remember the names of the other towns.

We reached Joshimath after what seemed like a decade(for me atleast). I was relieved so much after this 3^rd degree ordeal. I wanted to jump and shout in joy. But remember problems, hassles and dumbness all have one thing in common ' the name rajesh. I felt around my jean and found my wallet missing. "What?", Jay exclaimed. He said don't pull my leg. Out with it. I told him I aint pulling legs and was dead serious. Darn !! Our TCs worth 10K were in that wallet. Darn, Darn Darn. And the last service on the ropeway up the hill to our ultimate destination ' Auli was to leave in 5 mins. We searched around and enquired about the bus etc. But nothing. No time to call our folks back home that we had reached too. So we bought the tickets and awaited our turn to board the longest ropeway in India(at that point of time). It was built with the collaboration with some European firm and we had a great experience traveling on it. What would have been a 45-50 mins ride by road took us less than 20 mins flat.

And Lo behold. Here we were on our dream destination ' Auli.

All our problems, hassles, bunglings were forgotten for the moment. We were savouring the fact that we DID reach the place. From almost what is the southern part of India to what is almost the northern part of India. People might travel 100 times that distance in a jiffy. But then too we were elated. We took the most basic of facilities and expenditure to reach there. It was a sense of achievement, even before we had started our actual course.

To be continued

 
(all the above has been written purely from memory….. so if there are a few lapses in names of places or in other such details.. please forgive.)

sometime in September, 2000.

We wanted to go on an adventure. Any. Our first choice was to go to Leh. Not just go. But to go on a bike. Ok ok.. this is no GIR. But atleast either from Delhi onwards or might be from Jammu or whatever. But we were also sure we will not be given the permission(from parents and spouse) to do what we liked. By we, I mean me and my best friend, Jay. Both married. Both are the only sons of our parents. And with the kind of staid and conservative thinking of our parents, (not that I am blaming them), we were doubly sure that we won't be going. But like they say, aim for the stars and shoot at the sky. And sometimes if your lucky stars are really shining bright and mighty, who knows you may even land a star too. Well, permission denied. (but the thought of the trip is still dreamt of by us. Keepin' our fingers crossed, being the ever so optimists.)

We chanced upon a newspaper ad promoting tourism of the newly formed state of Uttranchal. It is one of the best states as far as the beautiful places to visit are concerned. It was offering skiing courses in Auli. We had heard of Gulmarg. But Auli? Well, we decided to gather some details. We got good response to the snail mails from GMVN. That's Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd. for you. Uttaranchal government has two such divisions ' one is GMVN and another is KMVN(the latter is for Kumaon). Garhwal and Kumaon are the two major regions in this state.

We were elated to get a green signal from our folks to attend this course. Dear wife was not happy with this, since I was going alone. She was not interested in this sort of activity, so didn't want to come. Also she is averse to extremely cool weather. Even though we were supposed to leave only in January 2001, our preparations began well in advance for it.

October ' December 2000.

In a way there was not much of preparations. But since we were headed for such a long time, such a long distance and at such adverse unaccustomed conditions, we wanted to be doubly sure of everything. We first began preparing lists for everything that we thought would be needing on our journey as also during our stay there. Since we don't need woolens over here deep down south, I had very few woolen clothes. So had to buy thermals and the pull overs too.  

Januray 2001.

Makara Sankaranti day

My co-brother dropped us at Chennai central station. Even as we were walking towards to our compartment, I noticed that I had forgotten my hip-pouch. It contained my wallet and travelers cheques too. We just couldn't proceed without them. There was very little time left for the train to depart.

 

"Mere Sapnon Ki Raani"

I was now contemplating as to what to do.

My wife would be petrified by now. As it is she is a very timid girl. And if she comes to know that I haven't boarded the train, all hell will break lose(for her at that time and later on on me). Or atleast that's what I thought. And the second and an equally important worry for me at that time was ' my Dad.  I was mortified at the thought of my Dad coming to know about this. I get reprimanded severely even for small mistakes, but I could not even think what will happen for this, er, achievement.

An Idea struck me. I thought of catching a cab and go upto Dindigul, the last station before Madurai, which is about an hours drive away from Trichy. I will catch the train there and nobody at home will be any the wiser about me doing stupid things. I was soon haggling with the Taxi guys. I wanted to minimize my loss of money but at the same time dint want to waste much time, which will ruin my chances of catchin' up with my life at dindigul. I finally settled with a guy and asked him to drive as if his back was on fire. Drive he did ' as if his car had a parachute attached to his rear bumper. As soon as we were out of the town, that bloke pulled into a fuel station. Darn! This was the last thing I needed in life. Remember Murphy's Law? If anything can go wrong, it surely will. Here everything was going wrong man. "Saar, diesel podanum. Advance venum.", he mumbled. (sir, want an advance to fill diesel). Gave the money to him grudgingly. And asked him to finish it off fast and move on. After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally on the road.

In the train, at first she thought that I must be playing the fool around. 5 minutes elapsed. Then 7. She was a bit worried and angered too that I was stretching things a bit too far. She looked around. No sign of any dumbo nearby. She talked to a gujju family, a few cubicles away. They asked her why dint she inform before - that I was left out? They would have pulled the chain. "I am not worried about him. He will reach home somehow. That is the least of my worries now. My main worry now is the luggage. The luggage is locked and he has the keys, tickets etc. I want to atleast open the luggage. Can you help me?" she quipped. They were quite taken aback. "What a lady, not minding about her husband being left out" - they would've been thinking.

Here minutes were ticking by. Every minute seemed like an hour for me. I used to glance at the watch every minute and at the road the next. I constantly kept glancing at the speedo too. It never budged beyond 60. I was getting edgy. I thought I will never make it to Dindigul at this rate. I got angry at the driver and asked him to drive faster. I said I want to catch up with the train at Dindigul and at this rate, he was not helping me the least bit. "Are you kiddin'? Do you know that is an express train? We cannot catch that train at dindigul at any cost", he said as a matter of factly. What the hell? I wanted to bash his head. How these guys change colors. I had specifically mentioned to him that I wanted to catch up with that train at Dindigul. And now he is talking like this!! So again I was in contemplating-mode. What to do? What to do? Bashing up this guy will do me no good.

I saw a STD booth by the way side. We pulled up there. Called up a friend of mine in Madurai. I asked him to go to the station along with hack-saw blades, a strong hammer and such other tools ' to help open the locked luggage in the train. I told him in brief about what happened. I dint see any point in going to Dindigul now. So I asked the driver to take another route ' a short cut which is quicker to reach Madurai.

On the train, she got the luggage unlocked with the help of the gujju family. They were kind to her. Offered her coffee and snacks etc. made her feel comfortable. So she was at her relaxed best. It was me who was a nervous wreck.

Guys, you really got to believe me. Always be optimistic in life. I never let that thought off my mind that I will not be able to catch up with her, in spite of being nervous etc.

So here I was taking a short cut to reach Madurai as fast as possible. There is a stretch after Kodaikanal Road Station where both the road and the tracks run parallel for several kilometers. I was fantasizing that I will run parallel to the train. She will look at me. I will wave my hands to her. You know the song "mere sapno ki raani kab aayegi tu ." where Rajesh Khanna drives in a car along with the train!! I was dreaming of something similar happening and me waving to her .. Well nothing of that sort happened. Know, I was out of luck today so no chance. Madurai seemed light years away all of a sudden. But without much anything uneventful happenin', I reached Madurai. I urged the driver to head for the railway station. It was my last hope to avoid being caught of this debacle.

As the driver reached the station, my heart was thumping like mad. Mad. Mad. Mad ..

Hurray. The train had not arrived at Madurai. I had reached there before the train. My friend's staff had also arrived with the, er, tools.

As the train pulled into the station, I was looking frantically. At last she alighted from the coach with bag in hand. I looked at her sheepishly. Wanted to tell her everything, but not a word came out from my mouth. The gujju family was awe-struck and whispered amongst themselves that I had made it after all. She laughed as she looked at the tools.

Alls well that ends well. She became a bit bolder and me a bit wiser after this incident.

—————————-THE END——————————–

p.s.: This was one incident that I will never forget in my life ' come Parkinson's or come Alzheimer's or whatever, this incident is etched in my memory and will die only along with me.



[My sincere thanks to all my friends who have been reading this series and posting your comments on them. ]

Cont'd from previous blog date 14.11.2006

This was the first time that I got one full week in Mumbai with my wife. We decided to meet our relatives on one hand and also wanted to roam around the city that I love so much.

The city is always on the move ' hustling bustling, full of people who are full of energy and an enduring never-say-die spirit. Maybe I caught that bug only from there. I was in Mumbai for more than three years. I traveled extensively there and have seen and experienced that city at very close quarters. And the experiences that I got there, one won't get it even in the best of colleges. I thank my lucky stars for that.

The best way to criss cross the city as quickly as possible and with minimum hurt to your purse is by using the world famous Suburban Local Train system. The statistics of this train system are mind boggling. It's not a place to be for any newbie or for those faint at heart. But I am very comfortable in using it. One has to flex one's brains and make judgments and also a bit of luck plays here to make the most of you journey. Its not as simple as purchasing a ticket and boarding the next train available for your destination. Lots of forces come into play in making your decision. I think any mumbaikar will agree to this.

Everyday a different route, a different venue. And also an elaborate guideline to my wife, complete with a map of all the stations and nitty-gritty details of where we are going to board the train, where we are going to change them etc. What to do if it's going to be a Fast Train and what to do if it's going to be a slow one. Since it's very very crowded during peak hours, I ask her to board the exclusive ladies compartment and I board in the general one. That's why all these instructions were necessary. And another round of lecture for worst-case scenarios. What to do if she could not alight at the destination etc. etc. were being told. "Are you scheming to leave me off some place?" she asked once. What??? That was the perfect antidote I needed to stop being a pessimistic, which I normally am not. So this went on for a week. And finally we were headed home to Madurai.

We had taken a train which terminates at Madurai. The first day was quite uneventful. In fact uneventful means boring. I used to alight at each and every station and she kept nagging me ' why do you alight at every station to stretch your legs? How dumb? Why don't you just walk along in these long compartments? Ok. I guess she was right too. "Rajesh, pataa nahin kyon, magar mujhe Deepa bahut yaad aa rahi hai." my wife told me. (nothing to do with the iLand Deepa. This Deepa is a cousin of mine.). God only know why she had to think of her without any rhyme or reason. But think she did and both of us suffered due to the consequences.

The scheduled arrival time at the destination (Madurai) was 12.30pm. At 9.00am the train pulled up at the Trichy station. Trichy is one major station just before Madurai. It's about 125 kms from here and takes about 2.5 hours by road (due to winding and bad roads) and equally by train too (because of longer distance than by road).

I alighted there to get the breakfast. After breakfast, I was still hanging on in the platform. The train had arrived there much before the scheduled time and so we had an extended halt there. I then went to buy coffee. I didn't inform her. After coffee, I saw a telephone booth nearby. I thought lemme call up home. I planned to tell mom to have someone from shop come over to the station and help us with the huge cache of luggage that we had. (I dared not tell this to my dad.) So I called up and talked to mom and told her that. I hung up, paid the bill and came out of the booth. There was no train at the platform. I could see the last coach roll out of the platform about 100 meters away from where I stood. I was no Ben Johnson to run and give it a last try to catch it. My eyes were wide open in disbelief. I wanted to kick my back as hard as possible but could not. How dumb can you get rajesh, I asked myself? I pinched myself, just to re-affirm that I was not dreaming. Well I was not. All sorts of thoughts ranging from anger to despair to exasperation to outright dumbness were criss-crossing my mind. I was in my shorts. I had the tickets and the keys etc. She had the luggage and a worry about an idiot not turning up. (It so happened with my cousin Deepa too, that she got left in the train when my Jijaji had alighted at a station to make a phone call .. now you got the connection??)

What will happen next? Will the chain be pulled? Will I be stranded there? Will the TTE harass my wife? What is the worse case scenario?? And what is not .

Guess what will happen next………………..
 
(sorry for the suspense………. this is already such a long blog……. i cant make it any longer by writing more……… as it is you people will be cursing me for such long blogs…….. i dont want more gaalis from you……….. ha ha ha……. )

to be concluded next week . last post of this series.. part 5 of 5.

continued from previous blog dt. 12.11.2006

What? This was the last thing we wanted. Our hearts were beating crazily. What next? Looks like fear decided to follow us like a shadow without a let up. Try however hard we might, we just could not get rid of it. Some of the people looked at us menacingly.

We thought today we are not going to get out of this at all. My brain had stopped working and I dint know what to do. The driver, in the meanwhile, decided to take matter into his hands. He got down and talked to a few people in marathi. He explained that we were just tourists and were proceeding to visit Ajanta and Ellora. After what seemed like an eternity, the mob made way for the vehicle to proceed.

Whew !! That was a pretty close call. Thank god I did not sport a goatee that time. Otherwise, the consequences could have been disastrous.

The rest of the journey was incident free. We saw the beautiful Ellora caves first. In Ellora there are Buddhist, Hindu as well as Jain cave temples, spread over a stretch of 2 km. Caves 1-12 are Buddhist, 13-29 are Hindu and 30-34 are Jain, excavated in that order. Perhaps, all religions thrived peacefully at that time because the dynasty in power was tolerant of different religions. The first caves were excavated during the rule of the Chalukyan dynasty. The rock cut Kailasanatha Temple, in the centre of the group, is a fine example of the south Indian architectural style. (www.indoarch.org)

Ellora Caves are one of the finest examples of Rock cut architecture(also called monolithic, since it is made up of a single rock). Rock cut architecture refers to the practice of creating buildings, temples, etc., by carving living rock. Essentially everything that isn’t the structure is carved away until only the desired structure remains. Rock-cut architecture occupies a very important place in the history of Indian Architecture. The rock-cut art is more similar to sculpture than architecture as structures were produced by cutting out solid rocks. (www.wikipedia.org)

Next we went to Ajanta Caves, which are famous throughout the world for their paintings. It truly was a sight to behold. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the caves, since the flash and the infra-red rays tend to damage the paintings. So we had to make do with shooting ourselves outside. (all the photos that I have posted here were taken by me. i have scanned them and used Picassa to make a collage of them. Three of the photos pertain to Ellora and a lone one of Ajanta)

The caves at Ajanta, display a high quality of workmanship helped no doubt by royal patronage and support from the business community. The mountains encircled by the Waghora River have 30 such caves. This major Buddhist centre exhibiting sculptures, murals and decorations was abandoned in the 7th century and was overrun by the jungle for more than a thousand years. In 1819, an English hunter chanced upon it during a hunting expedition. The world took notice and started surveying and documenting the murals. (www.indoarch.org)

We were famished after so much walking since morning. It was truly a great experience. I really wonder sometimes ' there are so many beautiful places to visit and marvel in our country itself. Even a lifetime won't be enough to view all of them. Then still why do people crave to go abroad often, rather than look at all these splendors that our own country has to offer?

The journey back home to Jalgaon was uneventful. We were so tired that we dint know when sleep hit us that night.

Jalgaon may be a small town in Maharashtra. But it has many distinctions. The major ones are that there are no slums in the whole of the city. Not a single slum. When will BMC learn, god only knows. Another fact is that it serves a very cash rich hinterland. And the town is situated in the middle of a thriving and vibrant agri-based economy. So that reflects in the town too. We were informed that there are atleast 60 bunglows with their own individual swimming pools. What? Man, this region is really prosperous, i thought to myself.

After another day there, when things were normal, we decided to leave for Mumbai. (Gujarat was still in a pretty bad shape.). We had two options before us in Mumbai. Either stay back and roam around or take the next train back to Madurai. We all decided to stay back in Mumbai. This was the first time I was spending one whole week in Mumbai that too with dear wifey. Sigh !! (now now.. don't ask me what that sigh was for).

Ok, I won't put any suspense in this blog .. I will save it for the next one………ha ha ha ……

To be continued .

(gosh, two more to go .. yes, I will wrap up this one in two more posts.)

(I thank all my friends who have jeelofied me for the long long blogs and also for commenting on the previous blogs in this series . I am really happy that you did read them .. thank you so much friends thank you.)

……………………Continued from the previous blog dt. 08.11.2006

Part 2 of 5 (hopefully)

The wait seemed endless. When was the next station going to come? Minutes seemed like hours or more. All the joy and carefree ex-pressions had vanished from our faces. We all sat solemnly, each trying not to think of any worst case scenarios. I dint even try to bring us out of that mood, coz I was too pre-occupied with my own apprehensions. Later on, when I was back home, I just kept wondering, how it must have been to be in front of a frenzied mob, helpless and in despair. I can still remember the photo of the man on India Today begging for mercy to spare him. We at that point of time were no where near any scene of riots etc. But still fear kept stalking us every minute.

Eventually Jalgaon station arrived. I was standing at the door of the compartment. As the train screeched to a halt, I was wondering what to do. A man approached me immediately and asked me if I was I. Well, I could make out that he too was Kutchi and a wave of relief descended on us all. He asked us to alight along with our luggage immediately, as the train does not halt there for more than a few minutes. Other things could be discussed later on. Please alight first. Well, all of us alighted there as instructed.

He introduced to me as the uncle of my co-brother's bother-in-law. Well, that did make some connection. He had received a phone from my co-brother last night, that we were proceeding to Ahmedabad. So he was instructed to prevent us from going further as the situation there might not be good. So that explained the chain of events and we all proceeded to his home. After refreshing ourselves and a very welcome brunch, we were sort of relieved, for the moment.

Then we came to know about the Godhra Train carnage in more detail at his place. We were all shocked about the whole incident. Today I thank my lucky stars, that because of my co-brother's alertness, we hopped of the train. I shudder to think what would have happened if we did reach Gujarat. There was fear all over ' Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad all were on curfew. Anything can happen in such a situation. Losing your belongings would be least you could lose, if you remained alive and unharmed that is.

All the family members made us feel at home there. We chatted for quite a long time. Theirs was a joint family. Being a part of such a small community has its own advantages. Wherever you go, you are welcomed and looked after as a member of a family.

I called up my uncle in Ahmedabad and informed him that we had alighted at Jalgaon itself and that he need not worry about us. Next I called up my friend. Updated him too about the turn of events. The elaborate marriage ceremony was now most certainly cancelled, if the situation remained the same. And eventually, that is how it turned out. I felt very sorry for him. About how fate plays with our lives, our hopes, our aspirations. How so ever successful one may be, there are certain things beyond our control. Circumstances like these make us believers. They reinforce our faith in God, or by whatever name you chose to call him or her or whatever. (Ultimately they got married on March 7^th, in his house itself in the presence of family members.)

Maharashtra state-wide bandh was declared the next day. Here in Jalgaon, now we were safe for the moment. Travel anywhere entailed a certain degree of danger. So we decided to stay back for a couple of days and play the wait n watch game. Going towards Gujarat was totally ruled out. So we planned to leave for Mumbai after a day or two. Uncle suggested that we can visit Ellora and Ajanta, the next day. It was just an hour's drive from Jalgaon. Since it is a very out n out place, we won't be facing any trouble there, he opined. We neednt need another word. We wanted to salvage whatever was left of our trip. Visiting Ellora caves and the nearby Ajanta caves' paintings would be not just a small consolation but a god given gift.

He arranged for a cab locally. It was just a day trip. So apart from snacks, water  and food we dint take much else. We woke up early that day and left home at day break. On one hand we thanked our lucky stars for getting a chance to see a new place and on the other we also prayed to God that we don't come across any trouble in our journey.

We would have crossed about 20 kms and were well out of city limits. It was a pleasant day and we were chatting nicely and looking forward to have a nice day ahead. Just as we approached a road junction ahead, we saw a huge crowd. A mob actually. There were lathis, daggers and flags in their hands. They were shouting slogans. The saffron triangle flags denoted them to be shiv sainiks. Our worst fears came to the fore . Our hearts popped out ..

What will happen next ..??

to be continued

(I hate to do this  . I mean the suspense part but wot to do ..its turning out that way I dint do it intentionally coz it's a real life incident.)