Hello frds,
This is my first blog and through this blog I have tried to do two things-Keeping my promise made to Prashant that I will write a blog about this trip and secondly as years pass by,the memories are bound to fade so whenever I feel like I can go back to one of the most enjoyable trip.And this blog is incomplete without the pictures of beautiful Uttrakhand.I think that Our own Uttrakhand is no less than Switzerland and its beauty and tourism value is grossly underestimated by our government.Before starting let me tell you something about the place we were heading for-Tungnath-Chopta,around 200 kms from Hrishikesh and 450kms from Delhi is a religious place but due to heavy snowfall it is closed in winters and very few people,mostly trekking freaks head for it during winters.This was the precise reason why we were heading towards it.It was a relaxing time just after the job placement and we decided to celebrate new year at some special place.So let me start once more with the journey.Every situation described here is true but still I hope that you will find them funny. Hope you will enjoy it.
Disclaimer: This is a real story and NOT a work of fiction.However this is completely my opinion and any damage done to the image of any person involved here is not my responsibility.I also want to bring to the notice of readers that I have not taken any money from Uttrakhand govt. to promote their tourism. Furthermore, there is a possibility that this piece contains violence,abuses and sexual content.Reader Discretion is advised.LOL
First let me introduce you to the people involved(from left to right in the above photo)
MAIN CHARACTERS
1.Anupam Joshi a.ka Gayboy a.ka. John Joshi a.ka J.J- Ek number ke daarubaaz aur suteri hai.Inki Pehchaan hai inke best feature Baal(Hair) and his interest in Fin(Finance).Aapne theek pehchane-yeh jo photo main rayban lagaye hero ki tarah khade hai-yahin hai apne joshi
2.Ashish Singh a.ka Puppy Singh a.ka. Chodri sahab(Chowdhary Sahab).Inka sirf naam hi Puppy hai,reality main IIT ki poltu(politics) main godfather aur kingmaker types insaan the.
3.Praveen Suhalka a.ka bhagwaan.Duniyadaari aur jeevan maran ke bhandhon se door,dharti par kabhi kabhi paida hone waali species se belong karte hai.
4.Shivendra Prakash a.ka Shibu a.k.a Dehaati-The most admirable thing about him is his accent.Bihar ke sasaram dist. ki shaan hamare dehaati bhai jaise hi kuch bolte hai to hum sab craj(z)y ho jaate hai.Yeh hindi ke normal rules ko follow nahi karte.
5.Prashant Kumar Sinha a.ka Sinha aka PK-Good(read sarcastic and raunchy) sense of humour and iske liye yeh door door tak famous hai.But this man will help you when you need the most.
6.Varun Singh Bhaudaria a.ka Bahadur-Yeh hai joshi ke saare paapon ke saathi.Group main kayi logon ki life kharab ki hai inhone movies dikha dikha kar.Din main sone waale aur saari raat jaagne waale is Praani ke shauk abhi bhi thakuron jaise hai.
7.Tejram a.k.a Teju.Delhi se chopta tak ka raasta inhe aise hi yaad tha.Army waalon ki tarah rehna pasand karte hai-Photo main cap lagaye,shoulders par bag ke saath hai hamare apne Teju bhai
8.Abhishek Garg a.ka myself a.ka. Chacha Chaudhary a.ka 1-2 naam aur hai par considering that I am writing the blog so I grant some advantage to myself by not mentioning those nick names which can tarnish my image.
9.Driver bhai-He is the one who had taken the pic.Although during the blog you won't come across much about him but considering that lives of 8 great people were in his hand on narrow,broken and very risky roads of Uttrakhand,he is worth mentioning here.His name was Ravinder and he hailed from Chandigarh.He was married and was in his early 30's.
Special Appearances
Khadhag Singh , 1-2 garwalis and a kuuuutta (Yes its Kuuuutta and not Kutta(dog),again thanx to our own dehati).Will tell you more about them in the due course.
Start from Delhi
It was 29/12 night and we started our journey in a Qualis from IIT.We came to know that our driver was not very experienced in hills but ab kya ho sakta hai.Joshi who suffered a major loss in the previous trip to Chopta as he was not able to find any Beer shop in Uttrakhand alarmed us right away
"Saalon sutta daaru Delhi se hi le lena,uttrakhand main nahi milegi-afterall devbhoomi hai" .
"But what about the Delhi border-thullon ne check kar liya to" was the genuine query from Dehaati.
"Abe saalon, bags main bhar lo,koi check nahi karega aur karega to thulloon ko paise khila denge"-solution came from Teju.
"Chalo Phir beer,whisky aur brandy le lete hai,aur 5-6 sutte ke packets"-bahadur came with a proposal.
"MERI 4"-yeh hai joshi ka ek time ka beer ka quota-aur yeh pint nahi,badi bottle 650 ml waali.
We stopped at the next wine shop and purchased brandy,whiskey and beer in plenty.We also purchased a good number of cigarette packets(at least we thought so at that time).Joshi already gave special instruction to the taxi owner that the qualis should have a CD player and many CDs.So with music on and sutta and beer party going inside we started on a very good note.
It was night time and we were really enjoying the drive.We were around 100 kms from Delhi and it was already around 2am.We were enjoying a lot and we were planning to enjoy with our eyes wide open"Suddenly fog started increasing and creating problem and not more than 15 minutes have passed before it was impossible to see anything around.
"Bhaiya aisa Karo us bus ke peeche laga lo.Jahan se bus nikal jaayegi wahan se hamari qualis to nikal hi jaayegi"-who can come up with such a good and intelligent idea other than our gayboy joshi(in a partial drunk stage)
The driver said nothing but the way he overtook the bus that moment itself showed that his ego was hurt.Afterall he is a capable driver and why should he follow somebody else.
Nothing was visible.
"Yaar are we going on the straight road"-Dehaati murmured in my ear.
"Pata nahin yaar" was my obvious answer.
"Agla station kaun sa hai"-Dehaati seemed to be restless.
"Ab roorkee aane waala hai and uske baad Haridwar"-Driver said.
"Yaar,lets do 1 thing.So jaate hai,agar zinda rahen to we will wake up at haridwar and take a dip in ganga,otherwise marne ke baad to Ganga main Jaana hi hai"-Was I really nervous or was I joking?I am still confused.
2-3 people gladly accepted my offer.(I was not the only one who was scared :))
Haridwar
When we woke up,we were in Haridwar(luckily alive).After an intense driving of around 2 hours in fog, driver needed some rest.It was around 4:30 in the morning and it was really cold.We stopped at the ghats near Ganga.Everybody except Joshi woke up.Joshi was sleeping on the middle seat and driver arranged for himself on the front seat.(This was the case when we left them.After that nobody knows :)).So we 7 guys headed for holy ghats-like Harki Podi etc etc.
"How religious these guys are,they are bothered to come so early in the morning"must have been the thought of handful of people who were there.
"Abe saale kitni thand hai.Bahadur yaar ek sutta nikal"-I insisted.
"Abe yaar sutte ka maaza to chai(tea) ke saath hai.Woh dekho chai waala"-Dehaati added.
So there we were-smoking and enjoying chai at haridwar.
Suddenly I felt the changed feelings of other people about us ."Saale in papiyon ka kuch nahi ho sakta,haridwar main bhi inki yahin haalat hai"-now the expression says.
"Yaar abhi to ghar main bataya hi nahi ki main Trip par nikala hoon. Aisa karta hoon ki Bottle lekar Gangajal le leta hoon.Mummy ko bataunga ki haridwar se gangajal le kar aaya hoon to happy ho Jaayengi"-my little brain thought out of his capacity.
So 4 of us took bottles and filled ganga water into it.Water was very cold and no body dared to have a dip in water.
"Abe yaar dip kya maarna, muh haath dho lete hai bus"Chodri came up with an idea.
So our little stint in Haridwar was over with that.We started towards Hrishikesh(50 kms from Haridwar)
Hrishikesh
Till the time we reached Hrishikesh,it was around 6am.Now everything was clear and visible.We again took off from qualis(again without driver and Joshi who was still sleeping) and headed towards Laxman Jhula.Here we took 3 camera rolls from a shop.(I wander why shops open so early at religious places).The scene was wonderful and beyond description.I think a photo or two will help.
After walking proudly on Laxman Jhula which actually is a Jhula(chalne par hilta hai) we went back.We kept our bottles filled with Ganga water below the back seats.
From here we started forward.From Hrishikesh mountainous region starts.Everybody was now awake.
The Journey ahead
It is a steep slope just after Hrishikesh and we were at a frightening height in a very short span of time.Roads were as if they are made to kill people-very narrow,broken,sharp turns with landslides being a common phenomena.
"Oh God,I still have responsibilities left in this physical World"-my frightened soul prayed.
Suddenly I realised that I have kept Ganga water on the qualis floor with alcohol bottles and also near the feet of people.
"That can make God angry"-a religious man somewhere in a very small corner of my heart was now raising his head.
"I should keep the bottle inside my bag"-I thought(there was an extra jeans and other clothes in bag).I did it with immediate effect.
The journey went on and we were gaining more and more altitude.Now looking down,Ganga was not visible.Oh, suddenly I realised that here is the "Pataal Ganga".Saala aise hi hindu mythology ko gaaliyan deta tha-yeh to sach main Pataal Ganga hai:)
We turned on the music so that driver doesn't feel sleepy.Ab to uske hi haath main tha(saalon galat mat samajho,Mera matlab ab to uske hi haath main tha hamari life ka steering)
The driver put a Punjabi CD in.Here it is worth mentioning that the driver was a Punjabi and all of my friends(who were not aware that the driver is Punjabi) have something in common-they don't like punjabi songs.So with much irritation one said-Saala yeh punjabi gaane chu***e hote hai.Saala ding ding ding ding karte rehte hai and he spat out a word or two against punjabi songs(not hard to guess what those two words can be :)).There were many inside the qualis who second his thought.I was sitting in the back seat and here it is important to note that I have spent around 8 years of my life in Chandigarh before coming to IIT-Delhi(I know punjabi very well).Suddenly I remembered that driver is punjabi and with a very high probability their remarks might have angered him.A scene flashed in my wide open eyes-"We falling in Pataal Ganga with driver already jumped out and saying the same 2 words to us".I told this to bahadur and told him that its upto us to save life of rest 6 friends.So with the last hope of saving our troubled souls we both starting singing the same punjabi song which was playing.It was not a problem for me as i have listened to them so many times but our bahadur showed immense courage to repeat them and in process inventing a language which was somewhere in between hindi and punjabi.But I think this helped and everything was back to normal.
We were now approaching Deo Prayag.It is the place where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi meet and Ganga comes into existence.It was a "Y" shaped junction and I can't stop myself from putting a picture of the junction.
After moving some more distance from here,some problem developed in the vehicle and it was decided that we will get the repair done in the next major city(Srinagar in our case,30 kms from DeoPrayag)
At Srinagar we stopped to get the repair done.The mechanic told us that it has developed a major problem and will need around 4 hrs.So we decided to roam around in the town.
Local people there confused us with bollywood people and thought that we have come for shooting.(I think they got confused by the model like looks of our own joshi)
We decided to go down to the river and enjoy.The water was very cold but the depth was not very much and we stepped inside the river.
I don't know swimming so I avoided going deep inside but friends pulled me in.My jeans was wet now but who cares-I have kept extra jeans for precisely this kind of emergency.
Meanwhile Bahadur and Dehaati came up with an interesting game.There were round(actually oval shaped)smooth stones lying there which resembled a very important organ of man(you can see those stones in their hand in the abovie pic and guess the organ).Now the game can't be explained,you can however guess by lookng closely at the pic
Going back to the mechanic shop we met a group of family members of a very sacred animal and how can we afford to miss a chance to get shot with them.
As soon as I reached Qualis I proudly took my extra jeans to change,thinking that how smart I am that I have kept an extra jeans.
"Madar***d ne dhoka diya,Purane plastic ka bottle pakada diya jo ki bag main burst ho gaya aur bag main rakhe saare clothes gille ho gaye.Saala baitha haridwaar main hai aur kaam chor bazaar waala"Bag kholte hi yahin nikala mere muh se.The extra jeans was more wet now as compared to the jeans I was wearing so I decided to continue with this.
We left Srinagar and start heading towards RudraPrayag. Till Rudraprayag the way for Kedarnath, Badrinath and our destination-Tungnath Chopta is common.We still have around 80-90kms to go.
From Rudraprayag to Chopta not much took place.We all were tired and were feeling drained.But before Ukhimath we have a belt of around 40 kms which is known as "Mini Switzerland".It has lush green farms just near the river and presents a great view.
Mini Switzerland to Ukhimath
Anyways, around17 hours after we left Delhi we came across a place which is known as Ukhimath.Our destination is around 20 kms from here but the problem is that the road is very narrow and heavy vehicles are not allowed as the slope is very very steep.It was very thinly populated and jungles on both side of the road.Way to Chopta-The last leap
After moving around 3 kms up we came across a board
"Landslide Prone area-Be careful"
A testimony to this board was soon on the way.You can find many big rocks lying along the road. "Is there any rock waiting up the hill to fall on us"-God knows.
Some way ahead and another board showed its face
"Raasta dhans rahan hai-Saavdhan"
Oh is this a place like heaven or is it actually a way to heaven-we wandered.
As if this was not enough another board was waiting for us
"Bhooskhalan ho rahan hai"
I was not able to control myself.I asked bahadur(he was the one who was here before and also suggested this place for the present trip)-Saale Bhenc**D bata nahi sakta tha ki aisa raasta hai.
"Saale batata to tum yahan aate kya"-Apne bahadur ne hanste hue kahan.
The next board was a bit soothing
"Asuvidha ke liye khed hai"(sorry for the inconvenience)
"Oh,at least Uttrakhand govt. is courteous enough to say that"-one of us said.
Then we reached a place where not even a single man was there.And guess what-our guest house was still 6 kms from here.
By 7pm we reached there.Some snow was there.This guest house(Maya Guest House) was the only guest house there-and guess what nobody was staying there(except 3 persons who work there) when we reached.We winded down and in the meantime those guys arranged wood for Bonfire and food to eat.It was very cold out there and nobody was ready to move his ass even an inch away from bonfire.Food was tasty.1 out of those 3 guys is worth mentioning-his name was Kharag Singh. I will come shortly why he is of importance here(with due permission from our own Joshi :)).After we arrived,a group of bengalis also arrived at the guest house.
This place is at a height of around 3000m above sea level and in winters air is very thin(oxygen in air is less).You can't afford to sleep with your quilt on the face.After taking food we slept.Afterall an important mission was due next day-Trekking up to tungnath temple.
Mission Tungnath-31/12/06
We left early next morning.The place where we were going was already vacated by localites and it was almost necessary to come back before sunset (for two reasons):
1)It is very cold after sun set.
2)There is a higher probability of meeting a bear or a snow leopard after sunset.Yes this area is known for that.
The enthusiasm of the group was immense(as is evident from the photo).Nobody was bothered to prepare for the trekking.Arre we are tough people.Taiyarri to kamjor log karte hai.So with a bottle of water, soda and brandy each we left our guest house and headed towards tungnath.After travelling another 6 kms in vehicle we reached a place from where trekking starts.There is only 1 dhabba which was open there and we took our breakfast there .
Here we decided to have a phtograph of the group(coz kya pata-"Kal ho na ho").As the luck would have been Chodri ji ke Samne khade the Teju bhai-(both have almost same height).Chodri ji ka puppy chehra nahi aa rahan tha photo main.
"Abe saale thoda aage ho ya baith ja"isi ke saath Chodriji ne Teju bhai ko halke se push kiya.
Teju bhai dard se karhaate hue usi waqt zameen par baith gaye(One aspect of Teju is that after getting injured in a gym accident his right shoulder has a tendency to dislocate.But it came out of nowhere.Push was very light and of late his shoulder used to be fine).
"What will happen now"-question in mind of many of us.
There is no hospital nearby.Even if we cancel the further journey and return, the nearist city where a hospital can be expected will take around 2-3 hours.
But our Teju showed immense courage.He moved his right hand (it was painful as was evident from his facial expressions)in order to relocate it.Luckily after a bit of movement here and there the shoulder finally relocated.He decided to move on.So this photo is dedicated to the courage of teju bhai(this is where the shoulder dislocated)
We started trekking at around 10am.The trekking slope was 3.2:1(which means if you move 3.2 kms on the track,you gain 1000m altitude(1km)).Steep slope together with thin air and combined with the fact that we started trekking soon after taking food took its toll on the water bottle which was empty in the first half an hour with almost negligible distance trekked.We took out good sticks from the trees nearby so that they can support us on the way.Trekking conditions were tough and I was already breathing as if there will be no air on the planet the next second.
"How far are we planning to move"-I questioned
"Saale abhi chalna shuru kiya aur abhi se pooch rahan hai"-Prashant replied.
"Temple tak to jayenge hi,approx.4.5 km hai"-Bahadur came up with a more concrete answer.
"Yaar I need water"-My thirsty soul came up with a request.
"Tension nahi lene ka.Aage shop par mil jaayega"-Teju said.
So we started once again.It was really tough and after every 100m we have to stop and catch the breath. I was thinking that how tough it is without actually knowing that worse is waiting still.We trekked to a point where army bunker kind of thing was there(in the pic).Here we tested our fighting skills with snow as weapon.
We trekked some more distance.In the meanwhile we took a shot of brandy to keep ourself warm(without using our chemical Engineering mind that this will further cause dehydration)
After some time I gave up.
"No,I am feeling giddiness,I dont think I will like to move up"
"Don't worry,I will wait till you catch your breath back"-Prashant said.
"I Don't think I can move up"-I again insisted.
"How can you loose hope.We will definitely move and reach the temple.Nothing will happen"-Prashant said.
With whatever was left within me and with the confidence and hope of Prashant I decided to move up.Soon I started realising that I am feeling better-Later I discovered this is the phenomena of "second wind".
After moving some more distance we saw a man trekking down.
"Bhai Sahab aage shop kitni door hai"-Teju asked.
"Shop??Kaisa Shop??Upar sab band hai,kuch nahi khula hua??-Bhai Sahab replied.
"Paani ka koi nalka(tap) hai"-Teju seemed to be worried.
"No" was the answer.
Ab sab ki phat gayi.No water ahead.Should we turn back???
Saala itni door se aaye aur trekking bhi nahi kar paaye,Yeh nahi banta-in the eyes of many of us.
WE DECIDED TO MOVE ON
It was cold and we were without food and water.
Someone came up with an idea-"We have Handkerchief,we have ice,we have sun and more importantly we have brains.Lets produce water".
How intelligent we are,we surely deserve to be in IIT(again in the eyes of all of us)
So we took some ice,put it in Handkerchief and exposed it to direct sunlight.
"kuch water Produce hua"-Suhalka asked after 15 minutes
Teju pressed the handkerchief hard,hoping that some water will ooze out.
You know what-not even a single drop came out :)
With 8 people and 1 bottle of soda-still we were cooperative enough and have a sip each and started again. We were still 2.5 km from temple.
As we were going up, the slope was increasing and more snow was there,making it difficult to walk.But we continued to move up with rests taken at regular intervals.the track was becoming narrower also.There were footprints which seem to belong to bears.
I was left behind when suddenly I realised that there is someone apart from we 8 people.Who was that?
I saw a dog like animal coming towards me on the same narrow way.Shuru main to mujhe mota Kuuuuta jaisa laga but shibu ne upar se aawaaz lagayi-"Siyaar hai,Siyaar"
I had a thick stick in my hand.Siyaar was afraid of me and I was afraid of him.
Seeing the thick stick in my hand the wild animal refused to move even an inch on the way and finally I have to make way for him by moving up the hill and leaving the track for him.
Anyways by 3 pm we reached the temple.It was deserted.There were some very small hut like houses around the temple(look into the pic).We were hungry as well as thirsty.
Survival is the first and foremost religion of man-This is what I learned there(let me explain how)
Some of us came up with an idea.
"See,we can break the lock of a house,take some sugar or anything that is eatable.We can put some money inside the house for that.When winter will be over,the owner will come.Nothing will happen to his house in the meanwhile as not many people come here anyways.And in any case we will hang the lock on the latch."
But we are high moral people afterall.So we finally decided against it.
Then comes another request-"Yaar,its very cold,lets drink brandy?
"In the temple"-question arised"
Then dehaati came with an explaination-"Yaar,Shankar bhagwaan ka temple hai.Unke yahan to yeh sab milta hai prasad ke roop main-bhaang,daaru etc etc."
Chilled souls find it a good explaination to maintain there body temperature as well as their religious integrity.So 4 out of 8 guys drank there.(I was not one of them)
So after around 20-25 minutes we started coming down.Coming Down is easier as compared to going up(you might be thinking that what a fool I am,this is a universal fact).But there is another difference here.We went up on our feet,we came down on our asses.You just have to plant your ass in snow with a right amount of pressure applied and then skid down.
You think -its easy??Ask us.
Our asses(the part of the body where maximum insulation is provided by God) were freezed and stopped feeling anything(Again you dirty minds,don't think filthy.I am talking about various thorns and stones it hit during sliding).In fact by the time we covered 70% of the way down,our hands and ankles were also freezed.
But when great minds are at work,ideas come natural
ly.We have lighter with us thanks to joshi.We stopped at a deserted hut,took some wood out and set it on fire.We dried our socks and gloves and also put life back into our almost dead body parts.The rest 30% distance was covered in a go and by 6pm we were back(alive).After a near death experience we slept for 3-4 hours.
New year Party-(Joshi-Kharag Singh special)
In the night we started celebrating around a bonfire.We wanted tea but Kharag Singh(a man in mid 40's) who was drunk by now refused saying that it is not possible for him to make tea. Joshi came to our rescue
"Don't worry I will get tea for you".With this words joshi went inside the kitchen to talk to Kharag Singh.
30 minutes passed,no news from the kitchen.
"What happened to Joshi"-Bahadur was worried.
To our surprise Joshi was coming from kitchen and kharag singh behind with tea in his hand.
"What did you do Joshi"-Everybody was curious.
(Till now exact reason of Kharag Singh changing his mind is not known.
Our version-Joshi made a compromise.
Joshi's version-He talked in a very polite manner to Kharag singh and asked about his family.According to him every man needs respect.Kharag Singh was moved by our well mannered Joshi and he changed his mind)
Well after that we drank,danced and enjoyed a lot.Me and joshi drank a lot and were out.Uske baad kya hua kuch pata nahi.
01/01/2007
We woke up(again early coz we have to come back).I was still high.Raat ka maaza ab nikalne ko taiyar tha.Puke karte karate ,aise waise karke hum vapas chal padhe.I was high till 2pm so don't know what happened before that(except that I puked 2 times).But by the time we reached Hrishikesh everybody was fine again.
At Hrishikesh we were waiting at Railway crossing .Prashant,dehaati and Bahadur were off the vehicle and near the railway track.Train was about to come when a good old idea came to the mind of Prashant.
"Lets keep a coin on the track"-Prashant said.
Three of them looked for a coin in their wallet but not able to find one.
Our bahadur has some Australian cents in his wallet(which he earned while he was in australia).Train was approaching real fast.
"Yaar saala yahin rakh deta hoon"-bahadur said.
Ab bahadur to coin rakhkar vapas aa gaye qualis main.Prashant and Dehaati waited there so that they can take back the crushed coin.
The train was a pure swadeshi at heart(What else can you expect from a train when Railway minister is Lalu Prasad Yadav).It didn't like the fact that the coin didn't belong to India.So our two friends were not able to find any trace of the coin once the train was gone.
"MadarC**D mera australian coin bhi gaya-bahadur was disappointed.
Now that Prashant and dehaati were over with their good old idea,the rest of the guys also came up with a notorious plan.
"Saalon ko aane do qualis ke pass.Jaise hi peeche baithne lagenge,bhaga lenge gaadi ko"
As soon as they tried to board qualis from behind,Gaadi ko bhaga liya gaya.
After making them run for about 1 km in Hrishikesh we finally stopped and decided that this much punishment is enough for them.
Well somewhere near haridwar we stopped at a dhaba to have something to eat.Few of us were dogs enough to smell sugarcane nearby.
"Abe yahan to ganne ke khet hai,chalo thod kar laate hai thode bahut"With this idea 3-4 of us went to the fields and got some sugarcane.It was not that for the first time we were eating sugarcane like that but I have to admit that ganne were really tasty.
After a while, we came across a car with a very beautiful girl in.Our driver was cooperative and he started driving ahead of them.This started from from and ended around meerut(100 km feast).
By the night we were back to IIT's with a nice piece of adventure and fun behind and a promise to continue this fun in the following trip as well.
