For @ and the rest of my already-family...
PART-4
Dreams that won't go away...
The next day I woke up to an altitude-sickness-free morning. I rubbed my forehead in glee, it had probably gone away sometime in the night. It was then that I remembered something-the three dreams that I had had the previous night. The 3 dreams that had woken me up and that which I had gone over again to relate to Chachan in the morning. For they were so strange that I felt I really had to tell him. But that could wait-first I had to find the watering hole for some urgent business. Someone had drunk my precious 'essentials' water and I shuffled my way over to the stream uttering some choice curses to the chill mountain air. It was so cold that the tents, the boots that lay outside were all covered with ice. The dew had frozen. The lichen and the small grass on the ground were all covered with ice. The ground was a thin layer of white under the rocks, on the grass, everywhere. I found Chachan by the stream by a gutter he found filled with- ice, that's right, and we broke the ice and carefully collected the water underneath. I once again found a beautiful spot behind a rock to take a dump. Why do I find such awesome spots? Awesome view of the mountains all round, really if someone could give me hot water, I bet there was nothing to beat the experience of taking a dump on the mountains. After the morning chores me and Chachan got talking on a rock near our tents. I told him about the dreams.
"Did you dream yesterday? I had the most astonishing dreams yesterday-and 3 of them can you believe it?!
"Did you?..Ente aliya yesterday I had a very terrifying dream. I have never been this scared about anything for a long time."
"What was it about? I will tell you about my dreams after you say yours-in a stretch."
"Onnum parayanda(Don't even ask!) I dreamt that I was re-admitted for Sunday Catechism in 10th standard!! "(For those of you who don't know. Its just religious education for an hour or so every Sunday. No big deal-even a lot of fun. We meet our friends there and its always a chance to see the girls in the neighbourhood.)
"What! that's what scares you? Harmless Catechism? What's scary about that?"
"You don't know. I have always been scared of Catechism and I have never gone after 10th."
I had visions of Chachan's dad tugging a very reluctant 'small Chachan' to the Catechism class and of an older Chachan who dragged his feet to the class while the rest of the class was perched on the church boundary walls keeping a sharp lookout for the neighbourhood beauties coming to church. Poor Chachan!sniff!-no that was just me clearing my nose.
"Well yesterday I had the most beautiful, yet strange dreams of my life. All about @. Each continuations of the one before it. And it was so clear that when I woke up in the middle of the night, I decided to go over the story again so I could tell you."
"Really! My God! all about her?"
"Yep all about her. All taking place at our insti. Each in perfect correlation and even having direct references to what has already taken place. But there was one main difference."
"What was that?"
"There was a character who doesn't exist in real life. There was a villian in the story, a guy who challenged me."
"That's ruddy brilliant! Never heard anything like that. A guy who challenges you...one who doesn't exist..Mawe I don't know a lot about this whole dream business, but you know I do read stuff about psychology right?"
"Yeah what about it?"
"Well what if your brain is taking all the obstacles in your path and giving it a human form? You know the rest of your story fits in real life even though some of it is yet to occur. But this particular character..what if it is just your brain talking to you? There's talk of that kind of a thing happening, in psychology lectures..."
We didn't speak for a while as we thought it over. Damn that sounded fascinating, I hadn't thought of that. But the more I thought about it, it could be have been possible, my brain picturising my obstacles indeed..and what if things ended the way it did with the guy?Oh my God! I felt a warmth running through my veins!!...
By now guys had woken up. I could see Kaanta2 coming out of his tent. He had braved a lot of boils on his feet on yesterday's walk and was a real hero in making it, the way they hurt him. There was Dude limping about, his face a sorry Monalisa-he had a lot of boils under his feet too and some had broken. There was Trekker running about with toothpaste- I reckon he was the only one with toothpaste atleast enough for a month in the mountains. I could hear someone shouting to check in on DS-DS was a late waker, a bit shy to wake up, but once on the road there was nothing late about him. Did he get altitude-sickness? From the shouts I heard there was nothing wrong with him. It felt good to be in the world of the healthy again and I was looking forward to the hike. Very soon I could Jhansi and c.o fooling around and the sun stepping up over the mountains. The ice on the tents started dripping, and we had our breakfast.
Hike:Nandanvan-VasukiTal (approx. 6kms 1-way, max. alt. approx.4900-5000m)
We set off after that without our rucksacks-phew! across a valley that lay to our left with Shiv-link behind us. We followed the stream a long way, and the path slowly climbed onto a ridge that lay as long as the eye could see-long and winding and climbing. I was enjoying it, what with no altitude-sickness and no rucksack I was very happy. We climber over more stones and were walking on the ridge both sides of which had begun to fall sharply to rocks and crevasses. We must have gone half an hour when Shuttle clutched onto a rock and sunk to the ground.
"My head is killing me!! I cannot walk"
Altitude-sickness again. Shuttle joined Bob at the end of the queue and someone gave him water to help reduce the pain. We carried on, Shuttle and Bob struggling along and still keeping up. As we walked we saw glaciers far below. The water collecting in big pools, the sunlight glancing off the melting ice. We were walking on a ver narrow ridge as usual and sometimes there was no way but to walk on the slopes, slipping and sliding, with sheer falls on one side. We must have walked for about three hours and we had a glacier ahead. Huge rocks lay to the bottom with loose sandy and rocky slopes to get to them. The ice in the rocks was melting at places and there could be rockfalls at anytime, the guide had cautioned. From this point on no one who wasn't sure of his bearings could go, and we had to leave the ones who were ill behind. They had braved a lot of pain to reach here with us, but it was too risky to take them further. What followed was more slipping, sliding on the slopes, nerve-wracking jumps over rocks and sure-footed landings on some. We finally reached the side of the mountain we had to climb to reach VasukiTal on the other side. There was a slot in the mountain-side and since it wasn't high enough to walk in, there was a rope strung through it and one had to catch hold of the rope and walk slanted on the mountain-side. There was a sheer drop to huge rocks in the glacier for a lapse in concentration.
Cats have nine lives.I have used up one of mine.How many have I left?
We began our journey upward. I caught hold of the rope and tried my first footholds. The mountain-side was slippery what with there being loose sand on a rough surface. It was one step at a time. And every step with the utmost concentration. We were walking slanted on an already inclined surface. On the way my bottle slipped out of my pocket and fell away. I could hear it thudding away a long way below. No just concentrate in your next foot-hold. As we reached the top about 10-20 m. below the rope gave out. THERE WAS NONE OF IT. EITHER IT HAD WORN AWAY OR SOMEONE HAD TAKEN IT OFF. SO WE HAD 20m TO CLIMB ON A SLIPPERY INCLINED MOUNTAIN-SIDE AND NO ROPE. THERE WAS A GLACIER WITH HUGE ROCKS UNDER US AND WE HAD NOTHING TO HANG ON TO. What followed was the most nerve-wracking, gut-trying, tense period of my life till then. We clutched on whatever we could get. We made hand-holds, dug our fingers into the sand and found surfaces of rocks to hold on, found niches in the rocks, burrowed our hands into the sand groping for hand-holds, searching for footholds, testing some to see if they would hold-and praying. I prayed to God with probably the most intensity and frequency during that period of my life till then. Finally after pulling our bodies,climbing over the surface we made it to the top. 13 of us 14 of us with the guide of the 16 made it to the gentle slopes of what was VasukiTal that lay below. There was delirious joy having made it risking our lives and with much difficulty, everyone mad with joy. The lake was beautiful, the calm green waters a sight to remember, in that valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. We ate our lunch remembering to keep some for the ones left behind and drank water from the lake. There was a photo-session of the victorious group.We decided to make our descent in order that we get back in time before sundown. And that's when we understood what we had put ourselves into. To climb up without a rope was o.k compared to getting down with gravity forever willing to take you down faster and the slopes as slippery as they were. Blood drained from our faces as we set about to do it. We descended, trying to gain footholds but this time facing the deadly drop below; we lay on the ground pasted on the mountain-side and gripped whatever we could trying to make our way down. That's when the guide reappeared by my side.
"Daro math.kade hoke neeche utharo..la apke haath deejiye..mein aapko jaane nahiin doonga agar mein chala gaya fir bhi.."(don't be afraid.Descend down standing.Give me your hand I won't let you fall even if I fall) With that he showed me how to do it.M'God! this man was a goat..so nimble..so sure.
But that showed me how to do it and I mustered courage and descended standing up. We reached the rope section. I must have taken a few steps down when it happened- I slipped, and for a few seconds I hung by the rope-the whole bloody ravine below me. My grip on the rope was always good and that saved me, as also did God's grace. I regained my footholds and made my way down. Cats have nine lives. I had used up one of mine on our way here and I had used up another now. Damn how many have I left? From the rope section it was back acrooss the glacier. More precision jumping, slipping, sliding and climbing up to the ridge. We made our way back to the campsite-a victorious and happy lot, we had made it to VasukiTal-and back too, to tell the tale and our joy knew no bounds. On the way the Kaantas and me had the fortune of seeing a stream start to flow right before our eyes. Ice had probably melted somewhere. It was evening by the time we reached back at Nandanvan. And the sun was just saying goodbye. We set about gathering the dried grass and whatever dry that could light up for a bonfire.
The night is ablaze
That night was a night to remember. 16 guys and a guide who were deliriously happy and a blazing fire that sometimes smoked our eyes off. All of us took turns on tending to it but DS was 'chief fireman'. We recounted old insti stories, girl-friends too were remembered. HALL-2 anthem was proudly sung atop Nandanvan-but what happened to Hall-3 anthem eh?(hahahaha)It was some night, 16 guys around a blazing fire the light dancing on our faces, us standing with our arms outstretched to get them warm. It did get us warm pretty quickly and at times made us cry too-ohh that smoking grass! Remo on his ingenious ways of getting the fire to burn right...Jhansi in a desperate effort to get his bottom warm..Laughing,cracking jokes...DS swaahaaying to the fire..what fun! Oh..we had a night to remember-Kaanta was supposed to park his arse on the smoking ashes after 1 hour to see if they were still hot, and if it was and he lost the Hall-3 guys had to sing their anthem in jubiliation. We know that Kaanta lost for sure-na Kaanta? but still no anthem?? Apparently that's only for 'special' occassions eh Hall-3 waale? Lets leave them to it..
To be continued...
"Yep all about her. All taking place at our insti. Each in perfect correlation and even having direct references to what has already taken place. But there was one main difference."
"What was that?"
"There was a character who doesn't exist in real life. There was a villian in the story, a guy who challenged me."
"That's ruddy brilliant! Never heard anything like that. A guy who challenges you...one who doesn't exist..Mawe I don't know a lot about this whole dream business, but you know I do read stuff about psychology right?"
"Yeah what about it?"
"Well what if your brain is taking all the obstacles in your path and giving it a human form? You know the rest of your story fits in real life even though some of it is yet to occur. But this particular character..what if it is just your brain talking to you? There's talk of that kind of a thing happening, in psychology lectures..."
We didn't speak for a while as we thought it over. Damn that sounded fascinating, I hadn't thought of that. But the more I thought about it, it could be have been possible, my brain picturising my obstacles indeed..and what if things ended the way it did with the guy?Oh my God! I felt a warmth running through my veins!!...
By now guys had woken up. I could see Kaanta2 coming out of his tent. He had braved a lot of boils on his feet on yesterday's walk and was a real hero in making it, the way they hurt him. There was Dude limping about, his face a sorry Monalisa-he had a lot of boils under his feet too and some had broken. There was Trekker running about with toothpaste- I reckon he was the only one with toothpaste atleast enough for a month in the mountains. I could hear someone shouting to check in on DS-DS was a late waker, a bit shy to wake up, but once on the road there was nothing late about him. Did he get altitude-sickness? From the shouts I heard there was nothing wrong with him. It felt good to be in the world of the healthy again and I was looking forward to the hike. Very soon I could Jhansi and c.o fooling around and the sun stepping up over the mountains. The ice on the tents started dripping, and we had our breakfast.
Hike:Nandanvan-VasukiTal (approx. 6kms 1-way, max. alt. approx.4900-5000m)
We set off after that without our rucksacks-phew! across a valley that lay to our left with Shiv-link behind us. We followed the stream a long way, and the path slowly climbed onto a ridge that lay as long as the eye could see-long and winding and climbing. I was enjoying it, what with no altitude-sickness and no rucksack I was very happy. We climber over more stones and were walking on the ridge both sides of which had begun to fall sharply to rocks and crevasses. We must have gone half an hour when Shuttle clutched onto a rock and sunk to the ground.
"My head is killing me!! I cannot walk"
Altitude-sickness again. Shuttle joined Bob at the end of the queue and someone gave him water to help reduce the pain. We carried on, Shuttle and Bob struggling along and still keeping up. As we walked we saw glaciers far below. The water collecting in big pools, the sunlight glancing off the melting ice. We were walking on a ver narrow ridge as usual and sometimes there was no way but to walk on the slopes, slipping and sliding, with sheer falls on one side. We must have walked for about three hours and we had a glacier ahead. Huge rocks lay to the bottom with loose sandy and rocky slopes to get to them. The ice in the rocks was melting at places and there could be rockfalls at anytime, the guide had cautioned. From this point on no one who wasn't sure of his bearings could go, and we had to leave the ones who were ill behind. They had braved a lot of pain to reach here with us, but it was too risky to take them further. What followed was more slipping, sliding on the slopes, nerve-wracking jumps over rocks and sure-footed landings on some. We finally reached the side of the mountain we had to climb to reach VasukiTal on the other side. There was a slot in the mountain-side and since it wasn't high enough to walk in, there was a rope strung through it and one had to catch hold of the rope and walk slanted on the mountain-side. There was a sheer drop to huge rocks in the glacier for a lapse in concentration.
Cats have nine lives.I have used up one of mine.How many have I left?
We began our journey upward. I caught hold of the rope and tried my first footholds. The mountain-side was slippery what with there being loose sand on a rough surface. It was one step at a time. And every step with the utmost concentration. We were walking slanted on an already inclined surface. On the way my bottle slipped out of my pocket and fell away. I could hear it thudding away a long way below. No just concentrate in your next foot-hold. As we reached the top about 10-20 m. below the rope gave out. THERE WAS NONE OF IT. EITHER IT HAD WORN AWAY OR SOMEONE HAD TAKEN IT OFF. SO WE HAD 20m TO CLIMB ON A SLIPPERY INCLINED MOUNTAIN-SIDE AND NO ROPE. THERE WAS A GLACIER WITH HUGE ROCKS UNDER US AND WE HAD NOTHING TO HANG ON TO. What followed was the most nerve-wracking, gut-trying, tense period of my life till then. We clutched on whatever we could get. We made hand-holds, dug our fingers into the sand and found surfaces of rocks to hold on, found niches in the rocks, burrowed our hands into the sand groping for hand-holds, searching for footholds, testing some to see if they would hold-and praying. I prayed to God with probably the most intensity and frequency during that period of my life till then. Finally after pulling our bodies,climbing over the surface we made it to the top. 13 of us 14 of us with the guide of the 16 made it to the gentle slopes of what was VasukiTal that lay below. There was delirious joy having made it risking our lives and with much difficulty, everyone mad with joy. The lake was beautiful, the calm green waters a sight to remember, in that valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. We ate our lunch remembering to keep some for the ones left behind and drank water from the lake. There was a photo-session of the victorious group.We decided to make our descent in order that we get back in time before sundown. And that's when we understood what we had put ourselves into. To climb up without a rope was o.k compared to getting down with gravity forever willing to take you down faster and the slopes as slippery as they were. Blood drained from our faces as we set about to do it. We descended, trying to gain footholds but this time facing the deadly drop below; we lay on the ground pasted on the mountain-side and gripped whatever we could trying to make our way down. That's when the guide reappeared by my side.
"Daro math.kade hoke neeche utharo..la apke haath deejiye..mein aapko jaane nahiin doonga agar mein chala gaya fir bhi.."(don't be afraid.Descend down standing.Give me your hand I won't let you fall even if I fall) With that he showed me how to do it.M'God! this man was a goat..so nimble..so sure.
But that showed me how to do it and I mustered courage and descended standing up. We reached the rope section. I must have taken a few steps down when it happened- I slipped, and for a few seconds I hung by the rope-the whole bloody ravine below me. My grip on the rope was always good and that saved me, as also did God's grace. I regained my footholds and made my way down. Cats have nine lives. I had used up one of mine on our way here and I had used up another now. Damn how many have I left? From the rope section it was back acrooss the glacier. More precision jumping, slipping, sliding and climbing up to the ridge. We made our way back to the campsite-a victorious and happy lot, we had made it to VasukiTal-and back too, to tell the tale and our joy knew no bounds. On the way the Kaantas and me had the fortune of seeing a stream start to flow right before our eyes. Ice had probably melted somewhere. It was evening by the time we reached back at Nandanvan. And the sun was just saying goodbye. We set about gathering the dried grass and whatever dry that could light up for a bonfire.
The night is ablaze
That night was a night to remember. 16 guys and a guide who were deliriously happy and a blazing fire that sometimes smoked our eyes off. All of us took turns on tending to it but DS was 'chief fireman'. We recounted old insti stories, girl-friends too were remembered. HALL-2 anthem was proudly sung atop Nandanvan-but what happened to Hall-3 anthem eh?(hahahaha)It was some night, 16 guys around a blazing fire the light dancing on our faces, us standing with our arms outstretched to get them warm. It did get us warm pretty quickly and at times made us cry too-ohh that smoking grass! Remo on his ingenious ways of getting the fire to burn right...Jhansi in a desperate effort to get his bottom warm..Laughing,cracking jokes...DS swaahaaying to the fire..what fun! Oh..we had a night to remember-Kaanta was supposed to park his arse on the smoking ashes after 1 hour to see if they were still hot, and if it was and he lost the Hall-3 guys had to sing their anthem in jubiliation. We know that Kaanta lost for sure-na Kaanta? but still no anthem?? Apparently that's only for 'special' occassions eh Hall-3 waale? Lets leave them to it..
To be continued...
what do I comment? surreal!! you must have no more fear of anything :P
ReplyDelete