The smoky village- Jespa

Early in the morning as we got ready and had barely started having photo sessions around wildflower hotel while waiting for the breakfast,I could spot somebody,almost a look alike of Bruce Lee.

In fact a closer look and I could realise that if Bruce Lee was stretched from both ends for sometime than he would loose some of his chest & muscles and gain some more height.a bunch of hairs hanging on either side on his upper lips made what was a moustache.The hairs appeared to be pasted by adhesive.I was curious and wondered whether he was the judo instructor from Manali or maybe some kung-fu freak.

I went down to the group who kept chirping and clicking themselves in various different poses around wildflower as if some photoshoot was on.I have a feeling that this is a typical syndrome with girls to strike various different poses(sometimes exposes also)in front of the camera and than look at the photos to get convinced about their beauty from some angle or the other.But I must admit each one of them was looking so cute and beautiful.I stood their admiring their photo poses and their spicy conversation on who was looking hottest.

Neeru was looking wonderful in her jeans and top,so attaractive that one had to stop and look at her.She was the last to wake up and she took the max time to dress and make up.But looking at her all that was worth the time taken.She looked awesome.Ria as usual was throwing up jackets to give some Hollywood like poses. Sally and Preeti were decently posing for a few snaps here and there in between.

Coming back to our own local Hollywood look alike,aka Bruce Lee duplicate, who was standing so silently at the gate looking like a ghost who has been left out of his group in the night.I went ahead and asked Dharmendra who was this mystery man and he told me that he was our Driver Karan who was a Ladakhi and had come to pick us up to take us  to Leh and beyond.He was our driver for the next one week or so.Once the photo shoot got over the girls except Ria went back into their room to put some more make up as if whatever was on them wasn’t enough to attaract attention.

I quickly went and whispered this news into Ria’s ear.I was so near her that I could smell the perfume she has put on.It was really capitivating and filling my nose as I was spilling the news in her ear.Her first reaction was of awe,as she looked at his moustache with side hairs which were moving aimlessly with the morning wind.

Then we both went and met Karan and told him that we were part of the group he is driving to ladakh.He gave a small grin and his small hairs started swirling as if they were also part of that grin.With his thinner than a stick like structure,probably supported by the car side he was banking on,he folded his hands and said Namaste.The guy appeared to us as a very decent and honest Ladakhi.We reciprocated  his greeting and asked him as to how far was Jespa from Manali.

Jespa  was our destination for day two of the journey.He scratched his head as if all the while giving our question a thought and said” bahut dur hai! kafi time lagega (Its quite far and would take lot of time to reach there).He added by saying, if you people are disciplined about time all the way than we might reach by 5PM.Aur agar paani aur pathar raste mein aa gaya to kitna time lagega koi nahin janta(if we find water and stones,effectively meaning a landslide on the road than nobody knows how much time the journey would take).

I, Preeti &  Ria had our breakfast packets loaded quickly and put our luggage in the Qualis as we saw Neeru and Sally frantically coming out of their room looking for the vehicle and the driver after some 30 minutes.The grin on the face of Karan was slowly changing to frown and than restlessness in those 30 minutes.A delay on the first day was probably something he was not liking,though,expecting.Finally Neeru and sally came up to the vehicle and gave Karan a closeup like smile and Karan mechanically folded his hands in Namaste and immediately blurted that in hill journeys all of us will have to keep tab on time every morning or else by evening we may have enough water and stones for our company on the road.

Neeru and sally gave him a dirty look but immediately covered it with a smile as if smile was a cosmetic to hide their hatred against the statement Karan made targeting them early in the journey.I and Ria sat in the front seat with Karan as if it was pre decided.There was something very infectious about Ria’s laughing,I must admit here.Her whole body would move rhythmically with the laugh and she would look very naughty while enjoying the laughter.She would slap my thigh for a good joke which I contributed, and that gave me the encouragement to contribute more.By the way I was the official entertainer for the group also with my timing of words and humorous interpretations of everything around.

Preeti’s smile was generally very formal and sometimes a forced one especially when the joke was a bit of dark humor.As it is Preeti seemed less comfortable with dark humor.I and Neeru continuously remined her that she needs to be used to all this.After all she was going to marry soon.

I told Ria, that probably Karan must have had some terrible incident involving water or stones or both in his childhood,otherwise why would his conversation would involve water and stones every 10 minutes.Finally with all set the vehicle started rolling.Karan seemed to be cautious and skilled driver from the word go.It was first good news of the morning.If your driver is skilled,you can actually sit back comfortably,chat,sleep or share jokes all the while as he trudges along smoothly on the route which is so curvy & risky.

Karan was a nice driver and a nice person except for the paani and pathar (Water and stones),which he continued to talk about every few minutes.At his age he should be more obsessed with girls than with water and stones,I told Ria.Maybe in the next few days we might able to distract him from these two objects of his desire.

Neeru was having severe constipation and was looking for some medicine and Karan suggested that medicines will only available at a town called Keylong some 50 miles from Manali with no medical help or petrol pump on the way. Neeru was complaining about constipation and I immediately suggested having a banana could help her get relieved. Ria immediately butted in to say how taking a banana would help reduce constipation and the group broke into a laughter. Karan did not have an inkling of how naughty the group was and what lay ahead in store for him during the journey.He was quitetly concentrating on the road ahead.

Ria and I jostled now and than to get a leg space in the otherwise small space we were sharing in the front with Karan.Neeru,Preeti & sally were in the middle and luggage and food packets occupying the back seat.It was easy to share naughty jokes with Ria because she was sitting next to me and than she would laugh loudly and spill it to Neeru who in turn would give me sermon about being more tounge in check than I actually was.Although at times the humor was so very timely that even Neeru would also laugh heartily first and thereafter with a little support from Preeti,would act like a neighbourhood granny.

Sally was naughty in her own way.She would throw up something very naughty at a very appropriate timing and than let me have a free run dissecting it to the fullest and end up making it damn hilarious and entertaining.

We reached Keylong in the after noon.The town was small and full of men who were either drunk or going for drinking.It seemed the men did not have much work as some were playing cards in a group.There were only a few of them we saw in the whole town who did not look intoxicated,but they were looking at Ria and Sally as if they could see through their clothes.Coupled with dirty looks the men were laughing in a very obscene manner after cutting some jokes in their language.With their gestures it was amply clear it was directed towards the girls.At that point in time they were not used to seeing girls in jeans and skimpy clothes,hence,it could be another reason for their curiosity and talking.

Suddenly Sally had the urge to go to the Loo.What a timing I thought.I took her to a hotel where people were drinking laughing and merrymaking while chatting very loudly.Sally was scared but I and Ria told her that we would take care of her.We came out without any untoward incident.Probably the men were not violent and they were restricted to their groups because they knew we were tourist and Ladakh thrives on tourism.

We crossed the road and reached a Kirana shop to find a lady manning the shop.In most of the shops we could see ladies were manning them.We could sense that the men were good for nothing, idle and useless.Perhaps the only thing they knew was how to make babies.The lady in the shop was so sober in her manners and very cute.We took a few items from her and she served us,and smiled all the while as we chatted with her.She looked to us as one of the very few sensible people around that place.She must be forty.around my age and was very gracious in appearance.

We started our journey for Jespa after halting for around three hours  at Keylong. Karan brought medicines for Neeru from a small medicine shop located at the other end of the town.It was already 4.30 pm and Karan was mumbling something.I asked him what he was saying and he said now its so late,worried it would be dark by the time  we reach jespa.

And the very next moment as he was speaking,he stopped the vehicle by applying brakes suddenly.All of us were jolted with his sudden action and looked at him as if we would kill him.There was no vehicle in the front or coming from the other side then why the hell did he apply brakes. Karan told us to keep quite and he got down the vehicle quickly putting his ear next to the hill on the left.No w all of us started having doubt over his sanity. Neeru got down and asked him the reason for the sudden activity.He told her there was a sound which he could hear as he applied brakes and it suggested that the foot of the mountain was about to throw out some kind of slug with lot of water,rocks and sand.It was unheard for all of us as we had never experienced such a thing in our lives.

With a small thud a slug type material came out from the foot of the hill after a few seconds. Patthar aur paani. This was probably the first live demonstration of what he had repeated atleast 19 times in my presence and maybe another 10 times to others in my absence from Manali to this place.The whole thing gathered force as water with lot of mud and stones started oozing from the base of the mountain.Water,sand and stones moved ferociously towards the other side going down all the way into the valley making a scaring noise.

How the hell could one except such a thing from the base of the hill which stood rock solid seconds back.Nobody would ever expect anything would come out ever from something so solid.The sight was frightening as I looked towards the height of the mountain and thought about the whole damn thing falling on us.Only thing which I found good in my thinking about the situation was that if everything falls on us we will not feel pain and die instantly without suffering or actually getting any time to suffer.

Karan asked one of us to keep a watch on the place from where it was all coming out as  he got ready to drive past the point fast. Neeru volunteered to be out there all the time watching the vent till the vehicle crossed the point.Honestly I was a bit afraid to go near that place.Who knows the whole thing could come out at once and beat the shit out of me.As if it would shower flowers on Neeru who was standing so near to the large hole as if she was trying to locate the source of the landslide.I could only admire her from inside the vehicle for her courage.

More so,I admired Karan for his alertness otherwise our trip could have taken a different direction taking us down the valley and upwards to heaven in few seconds time.

As we started our journey again Karan started by talking about his favourite subject once again but I told him to concentrate on driving as the road was quite narrow. Ria gently nudged me to tell me that I was a bit rude to Karan, for me to stop him in his tracks all the time.

But at once Neeru and Sally came to my rescue to add that sometimes one has to be objective and straight about things.I was not thinking about the comment but was dreaming about the nudge.it had some nearness in it which I could sense because love was one thing I was deprived of most in my life.The journey started looking more interesting.

As we neared Jespa  we were driving down the mountains towards a valley like space between two long ranges of hills.It finally became a plain straight road and suddenly from nowhere we could see a small yet beautiful wooden structure in the middle of nowhere.Alongside the river we drove around 10 kms to reach the only hotel at Jespa. It gave ghostly and mysterious outlook as the sun kept going down and the hills seemed to be painted with the fading sun rays.As we entered the hotel we got a news which we seldom hear in developed towns.

In the age of mobile telephony the place was not even connected with a  landline. No towers in that place and hence no telephonic connection with the outer world. No Cellphone usage and no land phone. How exciting!Suddenly in the next few minutes I began to realise that Preeti was chatting a lot more with us than usual. Probably she knew she can’t get in touch with her hubby for at least a night now. We settled down in the two rooms booked for us in that place.An extra mattress was arranged to be put on the wooden floor in both the room.

Jespa is a small smoky village, and has a big hillock to cover itself from the outside world.A river flowing at one end.It was a very captivating view of nature at its wild best.As we settled in the rooms on first floor,we could see sheep returning home after grazing and little bells making a rhyming sound.It prompted us to immediately move out of the hotel and start looking for a route to reach the river before darkness could set in.It was already dark as we found trail to the river and I and Preeti were the first to reach the river.

No photos were possible by the time Sally, Ria and Neeru joined us as it was pitch dark.The sound of river crashing on the boulder was so very inviting that we stood there 15 minutes just sensing the beauty getting absorbed into us.None of us talked much.Such a place was unimaginable in the civilised world,we were thinking.I n a matter of minutes there was a cold wind blowing and the place became chilly and too cold to bear.

We quickly started our retreat to the hotel where some firangs had already started drinking.The hotel stocked all possible stuff like Italian dish ingredients,Chinese items,Indian food,tandoori also.So many varieties in one place amazed us.But probably this could have been because of so many firangs charting this route to Leh and since most of them were part of some package,so arrangement had to be done as per everybody’s taste.

Al of us were of the opinion that since we had time in hand for having dinner,we wanted to open the Bacardi and Vodka and make full use of them to kill the chill.The place did not have a heater so booze was the only way to kill the chill all the way.But to have a hotel in the middle of nowhere was also an achievement,I thought.As we settled down on one of the tables,we could see some Foreigners drinking.Soon as we started drinking,these people got on with their meal and then started leaving for their rooms.As we gulped the drinks a fierce discussion broke out on various different topics and finally zeroed on the empowerment of the girl,Now,I knew it was four to one,but I kept on for sometime as the discussion became more noisy.With more intoxication we were shouting our lungs out.

Our caretakers,the staff of the hotel were busy watching a movie.Once it crossed 10 pm,one of them came to us and politely told us that it was very late in the night and our noisy discussions would be disturbing their dollars worth guests as floors in the hotel were all wooden.He was probably more pushy because they were also tired of seeing the full movie and wanted to sleep after serving us dinner.We had not much apetite for a dinner after drinking so much.I was literally on Ria’s support to sit straight.Even she was not objecting because she also wasn’t in senses.

While coming back to the rooms I was on complete support of Neeru,occasionally trying to justify whatever I said and she just asked me to concentrate on the steps.Last thing she wanted me to fall down and screw up the next stage of the journey to Sherchu. While coming back to the hotel room and for the first time since we began our journey from Manali she wasn’t envious at all about what was happening between me and Ria but I could sense that Neeru was feeling I had shifted or inclined slightly towards Ria.

I told her repeatedly that she was the only person in the world who meant so much to me.Everybody else was second to her.There was so much we shared ,agreed and disagreed but it was true that we knew each other more than anyone else.

After coming back to the room I and Neeru talked for almost 3 hours on various personal things  we did in many years that we were away.After all both me and Neeru had gone through our own share of tragedy and sorrow.Either of us felt a lot more deprived when it came to getting true love. At 2 am Neeru climbed on to the bed and I went in to the blanket on to the mattress which was put on the wooden floor.It was very cold in the night.The coldness seeping through the wooden joints made it worse.

The mattress was a bit short than my height as they would have made it to suit their heights or for the Japanese or chinese tourists.I kept on trying to keep myself with the blanket all the time while trying to be fully on the mattress.There was no sleep till 5 am for me in the cold.My ass was frozen completely through my jeans because of the wooden floor which allowed cold air to pass through so easily.But the only good thing in my case was that I could sustain without enough sleep for a day even if I have a catnap for even half an hour.By five my body gave way and  could not take any longer.Pressing my hands between my thighs(that was the only place in the room which was above room temperature and growing warmer) I went into deep sleep all the while thinking about the close calls with Ria, my past years with Neeru,and the journey ahead.

What was the journey bringing in for all of us.There was no doubt that the journey was slowly unfolding before us as a great adventure.But the fact that 5 hard nosed professionals,along with a sweet local driver cum guide, were a part of this group and with views so divergent things were going to be rough,tough,and exciting.

A Day in Himachal

As I came out from my room at four, after my mobile alarm woke me up,I came out to look for  the servant who would make tea for us.To my utter surprise Ria was standing in front of my room,fully dressed  and waiting to knock at my door.She smiled and told me it was her habit to wake up at 4 am everyday.Not a good habit,I thought.On Normal days I don’t wake up before 7 unless I have to.

Her infectious smile spread over her face with few loose strands of hair hovering over her eyes.She was beautiful and her eyes suggested she was naughty too.Her eyes so very expressive and waiting to say something.The something she said was nothing very romantic as it was about how to arrange the tea.I told her about the bribe I gave to one of the Chaudhary’s boys and we went down and wake him up.he showed us the packet of milk and it contained milk in quantity which we generally throw without looking into the plastic packet.I knew Chaudhary would not arrange anything more than the package so I bribed his servant.Sugar in the container was scratched by the boy till it started making noise as if someone was trying to start a old Lambretta scooter.Only thing he had was plenty of water and a little tea dust.Biscuits were provided as a portion of bribe went in to buying a packet.

As we were having tea,the boy came smiling and told us that either of our drivers have not turned up and they had switched off their mobile also.I was wondering how could somebody give such a bad news with a smile like a  TV news reader. Chaudhary sahib came after 15 minutes to give the same news with gory details of how both the Haramzadas (Evil persons)  had cheated him.It was only of academic interest to us anyway.We were not even thinking about reaching ladakh,we were thinking of ways and means to reach the Delhi airport now. I and sally rushed to the nearest highway but waving our hands to many vehicles was to no avail.Finally one Tata indica stopped and we jumped on it.It was the chaudhary saheb’s driver only.The other bugger was following him and came soon therafter. I had no time to even give them a taste of some worst North Indian Vocabulary.As we reached chaudhary villa,chaudhary sahib was standing outside and started hurling abuses on them.Each one of the drive started blaming the other all the time for the delay

We picked up Preeti from the point agreed with her and headed to IGI airport.There was already a panic because of delay and we were constantly telling the driver how his coming late can now cost us the whole trip.The baffled driver took one of the car through the wrong entrance gate and had to retrace his path for 2 kms to return to the right terminal gate.We thought probably the flight would have left as it was 6.50 am already,but like us,the flight was also late and I found out that flight departure was not announced also.Everybody heaved a sigh of relief.So the trip was still on.

So this brings me to what was an enthralling journey of five strong headed professionals as a group starting their journey to Ladakh. The flight to Kullu, our first town from where we were to start journey by road,was very bumpy,though it lasted 40 minutes,it was a very scaring experience.For the pilots it must have been routine experience.The Air hostess served breakfast and suggested we open it after reaching  Kullu airport as otherwise with the twist and turns,the whole thing could spill on our lap. Ria was falling all the time on me as we were seated next to each other on a two seater arrangement on either side in the small Air India plane. She looked at me with a pale smile clearly suggesting she was shit scared.I tried to show as I was quite calm but inside me I was also shaken with the small  plane hurtling wildly towards kullu in a crowd of hills.Finally it took a huge round over the hills all the time shaking violently as it touched the airport with a thud.We reached Kullu airport and heaved a big shy of relief.We were still alive and on the trip.

The Kullu airport spotted a neat and clean look,with a beautiful lobby.We generally find so much cleaniness only when civil aviation minister is on a round.One could see his/her face in the neat tiled flooring.We started our drive for Manali in a Innova sent from Manali to pick us up from Kullu airport.

As we started our journey towards Manali we saw people doing water rafting on River Beas.Ria immediately told us we could also do water rafting and I seconded her proposal immediately without even knowing what water rafting was all about.I had seen some people doing it like crazy when I was posted in Nepal but never got into details.But since Ria had proposed,I also responded fast.Every single agreement would mean more closeness(as if we were not close enough sitting next to each other on the front seat). Neeru was already whispering in sally’s ears and their looks toward me and Ria gave me immediate impression that they were talking about us both.

Neeru was staring at me as if saying that years of good relations have been forgotten in hours because of somebody whom I had just known yesterday.I gave an uneasy smile and distracted by talking about rafting.Since the proposal was found attractive by all so all of us other than sally got down and sat in the raft.Sally took charge of all our clothes and belongings in the car.The raft in charge started giving us a long sermon on do’s and dont’s of rafting.The raft in charge was getting into so much details as if we were going for a War.Finally he left us alone with one person who would take control if the raft went haywire.

We started our journey happily not knowing what was in store for us in the next few moments.As we descended on the rubber raft and before I could utter a word the raftwalla told that me and Ria will sit together in front with Preeti and Neeru together at the back.How did he know what was going on,I thought.

The journey started soon after with a huge wave coming towards us within minutes of starting.The water came rushing on to us and the boat turned in such a manner that the water drenched me and Preeti completely reaching the remote corner of our insides.I could surely tell about myself as I could feel the water everywhere in my body.I could tell with great confidence that water had entered her also in full flow.Water was so damn cold as if it was directly coming from a freezer.It sort of stirred our soul and for a moment all of us in general and me & Preeti in particular were completely silent like those monks in the monastries. 

I broke the silence by saying the water was too hot to handle and Ria made a face to suggest it was a boring statement to make.I explained the whole funda by telling them that if we have this thought in mind that the water was hot we would feel less cold.My whole funda was washed out by another bigger and more nasty wave covering whatever area of our body which was left out by the first one.Pointless to have taken bath in the morning,I told to myself.

The raft was rocking under the impact of the waves and the next worst thing I was anticipating was this bloody rubber would overturn and than I am sure we would not feel anything thereafter.I was full of envy for Sally who would be sitting comfortably with the driver in the car.i forgot to take out my purse from my trouser and hence all my cash,cards,tickets also got completely drenched.After a while the waves died down and the raft started moving stably and thereafter another wave came sideways and this time it was Neeru’s turn to taste the cold water,sitting behind Ria. Of course Ria got the first wave followed by Neeru. I could hear the clutter of their teeth and looked around to see whether she was mumbling something or her teeth were only doing the talking.Now all of us were equally cold and shivering.

As we neared the point where we had to get off(needless to say all of us had our share or more of water inside our clothes).I came out the first and was greatly relieved to leave the raft.The aircraft to Kullu from Delhi also did not shake so much as this raft.I was wishing if we had undergarments made of plastic,fully waterproof to handle this rafting business.Because there was no way we could change that till we reach Manali. The rafting boy asked us to get into an open jeep to reach the point where we left our car,as if sitting in his raft was not enough painful.With drenched bodies and stirred souls we started our journey to reach back.As we sat next to each other in the car,our wet clothes giving us a chill with the cold wind playing the devil,we felt hungry.All we wanted was something spicy to eat something and have some good hot tea.

We stopped at a small but tidy roadside dhaba to have something to bite. Neeru was constantly telling us that lunch was arranged at the hotel in Manali but since it was already 1.30 pm,we could not resist having a bite.The taste of food was good and the service very prompt.As we started from there,a little bit of sunshine came in and our clothes started to dry though sogginess was difficult to go away that easily.We were imagining how good or bad the hotel would be at Manali and Neeru constantly kept telling us that it was a so so  small but very cute hotel. Since she and sally had stopped over for a night during their last trip at this very hotel,they knew more about the Hotel.

As we entered Manali it was around 2.30pm and already the town had a sleepy look.Small and beautiful as it is(I had also visited manali 3 times before this) only a lot of traffic and traffic snarls had decreased the beauty of the place and increased pollution somewhat.It took us almost 30 minutes to reach the hotel which was at the other end of the town next to River Beas. Every time we saw a hotel we asked Neeru if it was our wildflower Hotel and Neeru would say a little further.We only hoped she would not take us to the bank of Beas and say that here are the wildflowers and we are spending the night here next to the river!

After some 20 minutes of roaming around in the small but full of traffic town of Manali we got a glimpse of Wildflower hotel.Wow! was the first word I and Kavita uttered together. Neeru,while she was happy at our delight,was suspicious on the timing of the joint utterance from us.It was a lovely property as seen from outside and we all gave thumbs up to Neeru for this. Preeti had been talking to her fiancé every now and than describing him the places she was reaching and leaving.I could remember my early courtship days.

Coming back to the Hotel,the Manager of wildflower came out with folded hands as if he had stood for some local election and was asking for a vote. Neeru told us his name was Dharmendra but his physique and looks he was exactly opposite of the great indian actor. Though he appeared to be a polite and honest individual.

Getting inside the Hotel room confirmed our delight even more,fully wooden and very tastefully done the rooms were cosy and comfortable.We took bath little bit of rest and came out for lunch as we had less time in hand to do river crossing.Something Neeru and Sally had done lasttime also.After Lunch ,which we found delicious,we started for the bridge on river beas, next to which,river crossing was going on.Everybody enjoyed the river crossing except me as I thought somebody should live to tell the tale.There were really cheerful young people throwing their hands in air all the way while river crossing.

Only if that hook attached to their body snapped,then you do not have anything to throw except a few flowers on the body,I thought.Girls were chirping as if a long cherished dream came true.Proud parents were looking at their siblings as if they had won some national award.Some really bulky gentleman also tried the rope and others were waiting to see the unusual,I mean the rope breaking and the rescue(god help the rescuer).

Some Married individuals tried the rope one by one.each taking photos of the other in every pose which was happening.The camera has maximum use for a married couple for few days just after marriage.thereafter its use decreases as no of years increase.I thought the married couple could go together on the rope.After all it could have given them rocking experience of lovemaking like feeling and it would have been free show for onlookers  who wanted some more action.

When sally did the action Neeru was busy taking her photos and Preeti was talking to her fiancee,I took time off with Kavita. She was in a mood to throw her jacket around and wear hot pants and than do river crossing.I told her about the sudden change in weather which happens in Manali after 5 pm.With  less clothes it would be really difficuilt to handle the rough weather, and even more,the rougher crowd of onlookers.It was not about that time only.Every time I told her about these perils,she would tell me to be more adventurous with her.I could not make out what that meant,but it gave me a feeling that more adventure was in store for me

After river crossing we went to local market to buy some liquor as we were told that en route we could get liquor only in bars by pegs and it could be very costly.And there were no Foreign liquor shops beyond Manali in Ladakh.

Dharmendra arranged a complimentary north indian dinner for us as our operator had goofed up on the menu for evening.It was a nice gesture from him towards us otherwise we had to eat the clumsy Chinese cuisine which the operator had fixed for us.Last time when Neeru and Sally stopped at the Wildflower,Dharmendra was a bachelor,Now he informed us,a Hema had come in his life last year.We drank a little before having dinner all the while discussing the journey ahead.After all the rough patch of the journey was to commence from next day.

After dinner we moved to our respective room and went to sleep quickly as we were tired with the hectic journey all day.I got a wooden extra bed on the floor in the room with Neeru and Sally while Ria and Preeti had a room for themselves.The rhythmic sound of river beas flowing in the peace of the night,kept me awake for a while.The setting was very romantic.I thought of Ria once,how her long hairs covered her baby like face and it made her look so desirable.I thought of walking with her,hand in hand along the beas river in the silence of the night.But knew it could be a really difficult proposal so early in the trip. A mixed feeling took over me as my eyes closed and body gave way.The sweet sound of river Beas was like a mother singing for her baby.The place was quiet,mysterious from outside as much as it was cosy,modern and comfortable from inside.

A trip of a lifetime....

It all started as a simple Routine trip some 12 days back and  got converted in to such a  wild,captivating,eventful,mesmerising and a completely memorable journey.

The whole thought took me away from the busy Leh Airport to few days back.When Neeru called me to tell about the Ladakh trip,I was in two minds about going for a trek and started thinking of the long and dusty never ending trails which screws the life out of you(as if mine had not been screwed enough through my  years of sales experience).With just a graduation degree,I feel I have had a fair share of good experiences working with a MNC for many years.

My parents belonged to a modest middle class and never understood what I was doing and where will it lead me to.I don’t blame them because they themselves were never exposed to the world to guide me through.I am the proverbial peace  and happiness loving individual and I am lucky to have got enough good experiences in life.

Any way Coming back to the trip idea,yes,I must take the onus to tell about Neeru, my cousin, first as she is the most near and dear to me.She is someone with whom I had the most lovely moments when we studied and with a lot of disagreements on many things,we happened to share a lot of commonality in ideas so we were very near when it came to caring and sharing.She is very warm and so receptive that even a stranger feels comfortable in no time,when in her company. She is very popular with her students. Neeru has been travelling and trekking at least a few times in all these years while I am completely out of touch with any kind of tour,leave alone trek.(The last I went on a trek was ten years back).But during my school days I have been to many treks and tough ones in Uttarakhand and Himachal.

But the idea of Ladakh excited me and something from inside me told me that it would be a soul searching spiritual trip(it turned out to be much more).After almost two days of deliberation on how I will convince my boss, I gave the thought  for a few minutes from my heart and called up Neeru to confirm my presence on board. Neeru was delighted and with much of details,sent me an itinerary immediately on mail.which I honestly never read,except the date when I would reach Delhi and the date when I start back from Delhi.Rest all was planned by Neeru, so I was bindaas not thinking about any of those.

Talking of other Members,Neeru told me Sally, would be there.I have happened to meet Sally only once. Sally was one girl whom I have met in my life,who is full of confidence and is a self made individual.When she thought of starting her own business some  years back,everybody thought she was crazy and was wasting her time.Today because of her grit and endurance she is a proud owner of a business that is booming and she is very well known in her place.She is really a great entrepreneur and a very good inspiration for many around her.

Preeti,a fashion designer was to be another member of the group.I have met Preeti a couple of times. I had never spent enough time with Preeti as she used to be junior to us in college.But through Neeru some interactions with her happened and I found her to be very cute and confident girl with a lot of ambition to become big in life.This trip,would give me something more to know about her also.

The fourth,last but not the least was Ria and she was the only one completely unknown to me.Except for the fact that Neeru told me she was a financial consultant and a dynamic,young,outgoing girl.Her father being a bit conventional was quite protective so she was not moving around so much.This trip would probably be her longest outing in life till now.

Ah! In all this spate of introductions,I forgot to think about one crucial factor.It was going to be a one is to four ratio in the group.I could sense the pressure of handling four girls,all professionals in their own field,hard nosed,I felt, going on a wild Ladakh trip.I told Neeru about this  very fact next day.She asked me to chill and not read much into the one boy four girls theory.She asked me to just think about the trip and the program she had sent me on mail.I generally am a guy driven by sixth sense and do not like too much of analysis of the situation.So I just thought of the date when I had to reach Delhi.and the date when I have to start return journey from Delhi.Whatever in between will flow naturally,I thought.

Mostly we were known to each other except Ria who I was meeting for the first time.My sixth sense said she may be quite a lively person.For this one more time my sixth sense was bang on target.What I had thought about Ria was very less to describe her.We will get into the details as we go more into the journey.

My boss was a bit shocked to hear that I wanted 15 days leave.He could not believe his ears,so asked twice.After much of deliberation and the commitment of completing all unfinished work before going and completing the backlog by month end after coming,he agreed to sign my application.I was delighted because this,I think was the single biggest hurdle to the trip.

I was on the moon and gave a call immediately to Neeru to confirm having received the leave sanction.She was startled that after giving confirmation for the trip I had managed the leave.Little did she know how sales guys operate. She had taken all prior permissions from her university boss and planned the trip.And Here was I who did it just the other way round,and still got through.

I told her how I did screw up happiness of my boss and she advised me like a granny not to use these words as I would be in all girls company for the next few days.I must be a gentleman,even if for her sake. Neeru is such a person who will not be able to hide her smile when such things are told,sometimes she laughs also when she cannot hold it further but within seconds she will act as a moral  inspector, say this,this is not polite enough,this is not light enough,it is a bit cheap…blah..blah….Who would explain to her that dark humour is not cheap.Lot of people pay a lot of money for it.But all said and done my cousin is the best.

I was the first one to land at Delhi,followed by Neeru who came two hours later as we settled in a small home cum guest house owned by a crazy Chaudhary sahib who apart from staring at us all the time was overboard with the description of his place and the services it offered.Although reality was far from this.In the evening we got confirmation on Sally and Ria boarding their flights from their respective places and we started for the airport to receive them.They were to almost simultaneously so that saved us one extra trip to the airport.

Ria’s father being a retired army officer and a great disciplinarian, he brought her to the airport as early as 6 pm for a flight which was at 9 pm,as if she had to do 2-3 check in dress rehearsals before finally boarding the aircraft.She sat at the airport and probably knew about all the flights operating between 7-9pm before she could board her own at 930 pm.As we got confirmatory message about their departure I and Neeru reached the airport.Sally was the first to come out followed by Ria and there she was,just like I had thought!

She looked at me standing next to Neeru and waved.Not realizing for a moment also that she was waving at Neeru, I also waved at her.Confusion right at the beginning.As the duo reached the taxi,Sally started telling Neeru about what all she had packed starting from medicines to cosmetics to jeans to so many other items and told her still a lot of things have to be bought at Manali which was our frst night halt in Himachal Pradesh. I wondered whether sally was going to permanently stay at Ladakh with the kind & variety of items and large baggage she was carrying.A gentle tap at my shoulder took my attention away from Sally.It was Ria,her face partially covered by a flock of hair which was flying unattended.She obviously knew about me what Neeru had told her.I must admit she was very open right from the word go.

She must be around 30 years,I thought,around same age as Preeti, and looked very attaractive in her pinkish T Shirt and body fit jeans with a trademark navel showing at the point where her T shirt met with her jeans belly buttons.She was cool and quite excited about the trip.Every time she had to make a point to me,she would tap at my shoulder during our journey from airport to the Chaudhary mansion,where the Chaudhary stood as if a ghost was doing overtime at 11 in the night.All of us had quick dinner and as we were tired with our journeys and had to wake up at 4 AM because our flight to Kullu was at 6.15 AM.The first day at the base ended abruptly after dinner with excited short discussion about the next day and the trip and then we retired in our respective rooms,I mean I went to my single room and girls stayed in the large room which they had for themselves.

End of a long and memorable journey

As the only clock ticked at the not so busy  small Leh airport and the seconds needle completed a round,I looked at  Ria, her hairs partially covering her face like dark clouds covering the moon partially.She was sitting next to me with her eyes closed as if savouring the long journey and what all happened in between. It had been a long,tiring ,yet fascinating journey and the memories of whatever happened in the course of the journey  kept me fresh though with  a bit  of nostalgia.Something which started as another trip had become an experience for the lifetime.But the thought of getting separated from Ria in a few hours as we reach Delhi.Our ways would get separated from there for our respective places.

 Karan,our driver for the whole journey,held his hands together in a sign for Namaste and goodbye.I went ahead and gave a warm hug to Karan. Afterall we had come through the treacherous route completely having full trust in him.And he never let us down.Ria, Neeru, Sally and Preeti came behind me and thanked Karan for all he did for us all along. Karan looked at them and heaved a sigh of relief,his face clearly showing it.After all the girls had kept him on the edge all the time during the trip and he had his reasons to feel relieved after dropping them on time and in full.

We started toward security check to board our Jet flight to Delhi.Much of our time was spent in taking a quick nap once we were on board. Ria was sitting next to me and as the flight took off she leaned on my shoulder for a nap,as she did during the most of the Journey while sitting in the front seat with me.Strands of hair flying on her face and partly resting on my shoulder.Another few hours and we would part our ways.I did not know when,while thinking of the time we spent together,sleep took the better of me. Neeru, Preeti and Sally were seated in another cluster.All of them also in deep sleep because of the cumulative tiredness suddenly creeping in.

These were such good days spent in an environment where we only we were there in a world completely different and full of adventure ,love and so many fond memories.As we reached Delhi Airport it was time to say goodbye to each other.While all four of them had to wait for a flight at the airport,I had to go to the railway station to take the train journey. Ria saw at me in a way asking whether I will forget her as ways part and my eyes conveyed to her a sincere gesture that maybe I will remember her till my memory fails.And I promised to myself I would meet her again soon.All this while a pale shadow of sadness coming over all of us as we parted.With a warm hug to Neeru I conveyed to her,that without her initiative and great management such a trip was impossible.Though once the journey started we all had had a hand in making it awesome and unforgettable.

I looked back as I came out of the airport to have one last glimpse of Ria but she was already lost in the crowd of passengers.

  

Context

Declaration

This is a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to anyone alive or dead although most places mentioned in the story are situated exactly where they are described to be situated.

Context
The context of the story is a very exciting,memorable, and once-in a lifetime type of trip taken by me along with  four more friends to the picturesque territory of Ladakh that too from the Manali end which is a far more tougher route to Leh than the other one from Srinagar because of the treacherous road and dangerous twists and turns.

Also the route does not have any connectivity except BSNL network in select places.In fact in one of the places Jespa, where even BSNL landline was also not there,so no communication with the outside world at all.Only help which could be derived in that route was possible by getting to one of the scattered army camps,and even those were not located all over.The essence of such a journey can be a roller coaster ride,even more so if the other four individuals are hard nosed professionals with diverse tastes and moods and more so if all of them are girls.I hope now you realise how complex the trip was with so many variants.

To add to all the spice we had a driver who with his weird way of looking at life,was another tough variant.Every now and then he would caution us with a grim face that water and stones can come from nowhere and sweep us along with the vehicle in to the deep valley anytime.It seemed that travelling extensively on that trail that was the only thing that fascinated him,though there were beautiful girls in colourful attire all along the way.Our friend was though more in romance with the nature than them.

Inspite of all this the girls had fun in the manner they wanted to and bothered least about what the guy was thinking or saying.Poor fellow,he was constantly thinking of how and when water and stones would suddenly come,sweep us off,and his point would be proved.Fortunately for all of us his point was not proven till the end of our Journey.But all said about our driver companion we were a lifetime fan for his driving skills and devotion to our safety,even if he went overboard sometimes.Not that it had any effect on any of us.

This kind of describes the whole group which was unique and thriving.Always ready for adventure even in adverse circumstances.Fear was the least used word to describe us as we travelled through the rough terrain from Manali all the way to Leh and beyond.So I invite you to be a part of this Journey with all of us.Enjoy the Journey.And,yes,plan one such Journey as a group of five friends even if you cannot find this kind of unique combination.This trip can easily become one of the best trip you would ever have in our country.

Your comments and suggestions will always be welcome.

Thanks                                                                                                                         Kolkata
Shankar                                                                                                                        December 2017