The Sarchu camp

In the morning after waking up  first thing which I, Ria and preeti did was to go to the riverside  once again as we were among the early risers. Preeti gave me some solid tips about how to meditate and then also reach a stage where you could hear all sounds.Even the slightest chirp of a bird or sound of a leaf falling does not miss your ears.We tried it once in all honesty and I can tell you that it was an amazing experience.Meditation as I had learnt was to make everything blank and this was a completely new concept and learning.

Preeti now was coming out with her inherent talent as she got timed out from talking on her cell phone. I hoped that in our further journey if there is no network we may certainly know her more and more. We did a photo shoot with  each one of us standing on rocks next to the river and going into the river and standing on the rocks.The morning sun-rays struck the waves of water striking harshly on the rocks,giving mirror like reflection the the clear water of the river.

Sally & Neeru joined a bit later and had their photo session separately as we were through and returned to the hotel. Outside our friend cum philosopher cum guide Karma was looking at his watch and muttering something to himself.

As we got ready, had breakfast, and were about to board the vehicle, I came to know there was some confusion related to something between Ria and preeti. Something to do with punctuality. Preeti was very punctual with time. Perhaps she was the one on Karan’s side when it came to maintaining timelines.But Ria was also never late,perhaps a last minute trip to the loo delayed her a bit and Preeti’s sermons did rub her the wrong way for the moment.

After a bit of chit chat we settled down. Ria told me specifically to again sit with her on the front seat.I told the group that finally all was well that ended well. Neeru was immediate to ask whether the context of the comment was about the front seat sharing.I could not appreciate her sixth sense more.I looked at her smiled and let the smile tell everything.

Karan got off to a start all the time grumbling about the time and I could make out the words paani and pathar somewhere in his grumbling. An obsession can cross limits with some people,I thought.But that was our dear Karan, who could not resist his favourite line on any available occasion.

During our journey from jespa to Sherchu we reached a small lake where we saw a monk looking in to the water. The water was very shallow so I ruled out chances of the gentleman diving into the lake for the purpose of a suicide. Maybe he was looking at his reflection in the water. Probably they do not have good mirrors or any mirrors in this place, I thought. Later Karan told me he was trying to meditate and concentrate to see his guru’s image in the water.

I found it very strange and confusing. A completely new concept of finding one’s guru’s image, of all places in the waters of a shallow lake. I thought Karan has very bad sense of humour. But then I thought maybe it has something to do with Buddhist mysticism. I felt like telling Karan that if the monk fell in the water than with his big gown on the up everything worth seeing would be visible to the world except his face or of his guru.

But I stopped myself because I did not want to hurt his religious sentiments. Also I had no plans to spend the night near the lake, freezing, as girls would park themselves inside the vehicle,just in case Karan refused to go ahead because of my comment.Outside in the chilly night without anything to save from the harsh cold would not at all be a funny proposal.

As we crossed midway between Jespa and sarchu, we were approaching something which we had never seen in our lives. Something so breathtaking and majestic that one could stand there awestruck for hours. It was a lake called Chandra Taal (Taal means lake).On a surface filled with snow,there were patches where there was no snow but water.The water in those gaps in the snow was deep green. From the top it looked like a large necklace studded with green sapphires.

We all stood outside the vehicle our eyes and mouth wide open at the view. The lake was so much below the road that it would take a couple of hours to actually reach there. Any thought by us of going to the lake and coming back and then proceed to Sarchu would have prompted Karan to dive in the lake and commit suicide, I thought.

It was so divine that we could feel god next to us. We cherished the moment, mesmerized by the beauty of the lake and stood awe struck for some time. Later we danced and sang songs on the road and were in complete masti(fun).

Sally and Preeti sat on the edge of the rock near the lake view and Neeru was taking snaps. One small slide the next photo shoot for Sally will happen inside Chandra Taal only, I thought.

Karan wanted us to hurry up as it had started getting dark. Day ends early in the hills so we needed to reach sherchu on time. But Ria was emphatic that she would open her jacket and have some hot photographic session. Sally added fuel to fire by encouraging her to open her jacket and argued everybody had a right to show his/her body to a limit.

I was wondering what she was up to, in a weather which could chill and kill. But even I was also excited and looked forward to the show coming up. All of us cheered Ria as she threw her jacket around and Sally was quick to capture her reactions and some of mine in the same moment. It was so naughty of her to share those during our next break at an eatery.

The reason for the unscheduled stop was because after the hot photoshoot Ria was gasping for breath in minutes and inside the vehicle she started feeling cold and was shivering badly. I had to hand hold her to get seated in the vehicle earlier as she started feeling uneasy.

By the time we reached the eatery she was unconscious and we all were so nervous. Karan was grumbling all along the way because Ria did not give a damn to his warning that the cold winds can chill and kill in no time, as she threw her jacket around.

In the eatery we came across the other group of foreigners whom we had met at Jespa last night. They had oxygen cylinder which was than put on Kavita’s nose as she slept like a cute & obedient baby for an hour. After an hour or so she woke up and than was feeling a bit better. I told her she looked great when she threw her jacket near Chandra taal. Inside me I was also shaken by the sudden illness but tried to cool her down before Neeru could give her a piece of mind.

Neeru and sally were having hot maggy sitting on the other side of the eatery. Suddenly girls wanted to go to the loo after snacks and there was no bathroom in that place. What a timing again.So they decided to go behind the rocks for the loo with myself trying to cover most of the view for the traffic coming in as I relieved myself on the other side.

I joined Karan who was sitting alone sipping tea. We chatted about the weather, time left to reach sarchu and as he was about to start talking about water and stones when I excused my self to have a look at the photo session the girls were having next to the rocks where they had gone for the loo. As if it had become a tourist spot in a few minutes. I wondered how much girls like being photographed and with each photo they start feeling more and more beautiful and sexy.

Karan got into the vehicle and started the engine to signal us that we were terribly behind time and anymore act of bravery from Ria or others was least desired now, to reach Sarchu before sundown. After a while we were on the road to Sherchu.It had started getting dark by then and Karma looked like a worried man carrying a bunch of naughty youngsters so unpredictable in their ways.

On the way as we were approaching Sarchu,Karan told us in short a tale of a tantrik(one who practices occult) who came from India to Ladakh and he was insulted by the local people.As a curse he gave to them whole of a mountain fell on the village and everybody perished.

The tale seemed so unbelievable but we did not comment because Karan looked quite helpless with what all that happened at Chandra Taal.Ria was holding me tight on the shoulder and nudging slowly so that I should not utter something in the name of humour which may piss off Karan completely.

Yes, I was about to, but held myself back. Karan showed us a big ruin near Sherchu. Rocks all over, suggesting at some point in time the mountain fell off unabated, may be a few hundred years back and shattered everything underneath. Something real enough to support his tale which he would also have heard from someone.

Or maybe he was instructed by Amit,our main guide based at Leh, had made it mandatory to tell us this tale.Because as he finished his tale and with no immediate comments from us he was concentrating on the road as it was dark and road was barely visible.

In a few moments we started descending into a valley, where, from far off we could see tents suggesting some settlement on a plain between the two hills. We guessed it to be out night halt destination of Sarchu. As we descended in to the valley a flat road led us to the tents. Sherchu was a small open area surrounded all over by high mountains. The beauty of the place and the tall mountains surrounding it gave a very serene view as we reached the tents.

In charge of the place, Mr Sundarji was a tall,medium built person, around 45 years age, gracious in his looks & with a bit of western aura around him, was standing near the place to welcome us. As we met him, he told us about the place and showed us our tents. After my NCC days this was the first time in many years that I had seen and now was to spend a night in the tents. Sundarji told us that a lot of western tourists come to this place during this season. I thought probably that could be the reason for the western aura around him. Not only that he spoke good English too.

Sally and Preeti were very nauseated by the time we reached Sarchu. But it was Ria who after having developed so much complication en route Sherchu, was chirping like a bird. It had been a long and hard journey in the mountains and the girls had gone overboard at Chandrataal also. Ria was showing no sign of tiredness during the journey was looking fresh like a daisy.

Nobody could have said that an hour ago she was sprawled in an eatery with a cylinder to her nose gasping for breath. She knocked me on my elbow as if to show how fit she was. I told her to quietly acclimatise with the place otherwise this time it would be even more nasty with so many people around.

Neeru was on the verge of breaking down also but after a bit of acclimatisation she looked fine. We went about resting for 15 mins in the tents. Sally and preeti were fast asleep after vomiting and taking some tranquilizers provided by Sundar and his team.

After around 15 minutes I came out of my tent while Sally and Neeru were sleeping (I, sally & Neeru were as usual sharing a tent with 3 beds while Ria & Preeti were sharing another with 2 beds).

I and Ria took a small walk on the road around 200 meters from the camp, hand in hand, as Sally and Preeti were resting and Neeru was talking to Sundarji about the arrangements.

Later on, I could spot sundarji standing and looking towards the mountains behind our tents as if it was going to fall soon. His face showed the hardship he would have gone through all these years. I went to Ria and told her about sundarji and told her if we could join him and know more about the place.

This man looked mysterious to me for various reasons. All my doubts were cleared once we reached near sundarji. He politely welcomed us again. He was too humble for people like me and Ria. I am especially mentioning our names because we were occasionally or say more often soaked in dark humour and cross the line though all for a hearty laughter. Neeru also could not stop herself but laugh but would thereafter disapprove of the joke as being over the line as if to appease Preeti.

I asked sundarji very inquisitively as to what was he looking at in the mountains so keenly. He told us about the mountain goats who would come towards the edges on the mountain to eat a very small patch of grass growing on the edges.

The edges looked very steep in the twilight and I wondered how these goats climb such heights only to eat a small patch of grass somewhere. Sundarji told us that in this region there was no grass and except for the patches the hills were barren. These mountain goats survive on these small patches of grass only. This is the reason why they come here once in a while.

The goats would teach their younger ones to move on these edges at an early age so that they should not feel the fear of falling. It was amazing to hear this thing as we thought how difficuilt it was, surviving in such a tough scenario.

Sundarji told us that sometimes in the process of moving around these edges these goats slip and the stones fall on the next edge triggering a serial falling of stones and the sound is more deafening than a military firing exercise.

I looked towards Ria as both of us felt sundarji was now going overboard with his tales and going too far. Ria seemed to agree completely so we politely took leave from sundarji and turned around to move away for a stroll and suddenly, sound of a falling stone triggered cascading effect as many more stones fell with a sound, which was so frightening that we stood silent in our tracks as if frozen like a statue. The scene was so frightening and sound so deafening as if the whole mountain was coming off on our tents.

We felt a fear and chill inside our body as we had never felt before. The sound carried on for almost 3 minutes and those 3 minutes were so very scary. Sundarji was calm and composed after the whole thing receded but both me and ria were completely shaken and  . A cut on our hand would not have fetched even a drop of blood also. Both of us stood there speechless looking at the mountain as Neeru came out of the tent thinking a big boulder had fallen of from one of the mountains.

Sundarji was quick to break the jinx and smiled at us, the victory of his theory shown in practical, so quickly, clearly reflecting on his long face. But we were scared, no two ways about it. But it was also true about sundarji that his observation power was very good. Another of his good quality which I liked was his patience in terms of listening completely to each one of us when we had a query about anything. It was really great to meet and know this gentleman.

After spending a couple of hours at sherchu and were feeling quite acclimatised with the place. Neeru went with the foreigners to a nearby place and I and Ria went walking on the road towards Leh. Tommorrow we would trudge along this road and it would be the longest and most difficult journey to Leh,  Karan had told us.

I was constantly tripping on Ria which irked her somewhat. Before I forget to tell you,there is a very strange quality,or should I say rare quality about Ria,which I must tell you as it would help you to understand a few things about her. Ria by the way has three different moods during 3 times of the day(hopefully we have 3 recognised time of the day and not more).

In the morning she is full of energy and ready to go ahead and put a flag on the top of Mt everest. She would talk of planning a bang bang evening of party and continuous dancing at the next destination.

By afternoon she would have done something to exhaust herself and would be requiring oxygen sometimes to breathe properly. And by evening she would be only in a position to have food,booze,sulk and slump to bed early(Not to mention again that she is also an early riser,much unlike me, Neeru and sally who would sleep till they can every morning during the trip).

So coming back to the walk and my constant tripping over her, Ria nudged me hard to tell me that I was almost pushing her into the pit next to the road. I told her probably it was her attraction that was pulling me towards her. The magnetic theory we read in physics. We hated it so much then, but now,  when it comes to practical attraction you somehow start liking the same as if it was the most interesting theory you have come across.

After walking for some time and constantly looking at Ria, her face now quite a bit covered with hairs making her more beautiful and desirable. The wind in these parts was very strong and constantly played with your hair. Of course only if they are long enough. I would not risk my hairs as they were few and very precious.

As we came back from the walk we sat at a central tent which was also the makeshift dining room for that night for all. We quietly had tea and biscuits while sally and Preeti were fast asleep and recovering from the nauseated feeling. Neeru suudenly came and saw us sitting there. Before I could open my mouth there were these usual accusations which started coming thick and fast.

She told me that she was looking for both of us and had guessed that we would be together some where. Girls feel so proud when their ideas match with reality.Anyway after pulling our legs for sometime,she settled down and all three of us started chatting about various strange but enlightening experiences we were having.

Later others also joined along with our firang friends who helped us with the oxygen cylinder at the eatery when Ria got ill. We had a nice session of Hindi songs before dinner. Though the songs were initiated by a south Indian person who was traveling with the firangs, Neeru also contributed a lot with her sweet voice.

I must tell about this gentleman and the lady accompanying him also as More We looked at them, We got a feeling of something fishy about them. He was traveling with this lady in the firang group. He told us she was his sister. From their actions we could guess of any other relationship also. It was possible they had come together conveniently to dupe the foreigners on whose money probably they were travelling too. The Man was staring at Neeru in a way which made her uncomfortable.

Neeru was interested in Tarot cards which this so called sisy of this gentleman said she was very good at. She started very sincerely and placed card after card, and in the end concluded that Neeru would get married soon. Neeru immediately got closer to me and told the woman that she was already married to me.

The man suddenly looked up for a while and thereafter he was no more staring at Neeru and was much sober towards her. I could sense Neeru had deliberately done this to serve two purposes, the prediction of the lady went for a six and her partner was also alerted.

When Neeru was busy in the tarot business with the lady, the gentleman asked me if I knew how to play teen patti(flash), a game of cards. I nodded and brought a pack of playing cards which we had with us. In the half hour, as the prediction of the lady was washed off by Neeru, I had made her partner poorer by 500 bucks. He looked sad about loosing the money but he was more perplexed about the continuous winning cards which I pulled out.

As if I was some tantrik. After all he thought His sisy was the only one good at it, because of her tarot knowledge.

When we called off for the night he told Neeru, that her husband has robbed him of 500 bucks in the game of flash. Neeru gave me a smile and we had a hearty laugh on our way back to our tents. Neeru was walking gracefully with me, hand in hand till the duo were staring from the tent gate. Both ending up as unexpected loosers. But then we thought they would make up these in dollars with the firangs.

As I was lying down on the bed in the tent, wind literally filled up every part of my body despite being wrapped in a blanket. The wind was making a ferocious sound and entering the tent from all loose ends. The place was almost open with many gaping holes which practically cannot be plugged easily. Neeru and slept on one side to keep Sally at one extreme end to protect her from the winds as she was still so ill.

As I lay there my thoughts started making me think about Ria. She was so lively, although a bit moody too but the chemistry between us was not bad. Equally as I thought of Neeru, the time we spent together and the ups and downs of life we saw in our respective lives. The wind was making a whistling sound all the time as it entered our tent through the gaps. The sound of the wind was so much audible because of the force.

Last time I experienced something like this was at Jomsom in Nepal when I was on a trip to Muktinath. At night one could here the whistling sound of the wind at night. It was impossible to be wind proof in the tent, I thought. We were both worried for Sally who was sick and had not eaten much. Whatever she ate, she vomited in the evening. We pressed two blankets tightly to her body to save her from the harsh wind. Thereafter Neeru went to sleep also, or I thought so.

After lying down for some time and not a wink of sleep coming I just thought of coming out of the tent and have a look at sleeping beauty called sherchu. Whichever hill town I visit it is my habit that I like to move out in the night, when everything is silent and so divine. Its an experience I like to take to have in all hill towns mainly. As I came out of the tent I got mesmerised by the starlit sky. Stars seemed to be so near as if a big beautiful umbrella studded with diamonds was over my head. Could be because we were at a height, I thought.

But they seemed so near, as if I could raise my hands to catch some of them. The place seemed to so quite and divine in the lonely silence that even a small sound could be heard. But I was immersed in my thoughts about comparing the life we were leading at our workplaces and the aura of this place. Back at work our bosses would be shouting at their aggressive best and colleagues would be bitching around with baseless gossips. It was so meaningless and this was so meaningful.

Suddenly somebody tapped on my shoulder and stepped back as if he/she has seen a ghost. Even I was woken out of my dreams. Yes, it was Ria. She had come out in such a windy night all wrapped up and covered only revealing her face which had few trade mark but really lovely curls of hair. The night was almost full moon and the moon shone upon her as if the focus of moon had also shifted from me to her. I was thinking of a very romantic line to utter to her but before I could do that she laughed and told me she wanted to go to the loo! What a damn timing? I thought for the third time in the trip.

I told her to sit next to the tent as everybody was asleep, otherwise the winds will be harsh enough to freeze her ass. How unromantic was this.In a starlit night all two individuals were doing were searching  for a place for loo. She laughed but agreed readily. She came back in a minute, relieved. 

I held her hand, as she bent on my shoulder for support, as we gazed at the stars which were shining so bright with the almost full moon, lighting the otherwise dark and silent night. I could not utter anything beyond how Ria was feeling in such a moment. I never had that courage in me since college days, otherwise my life could have been another story altogether.

As we both sat on the wooden benches kept there, I had only one feeling. I did not want to sleep but just sit here with Ria sitting next to me all night, slowly talking and sharing each other’s feeling. She started feeling cold winds rushing and huddled nearer to me. My heart started pounding very hard as if I was a schoolboy being touched by a girl for the first time. Why can’t the damn wind blow even faster, I was thinking. As if I was only dependent on wind to bring us closer. Actually, I was.

She spoke first only to tell me that my beard was not looking good now, and I needed a shave, and beard was looking rough. I told her the earliest I would cut it after reaching Leh as I wasn’t carrying a shaving kit. Her hand quietly moved over my shoulder. My heart skipped a few beats, in fact it was beating very fast now. She pointed towards the moon and told me in a very sleepy voice how good it was looking in the starry night.

I thought we could sit there whole night looking at each other, talking, but the wind could again choke her, and we would end up creating a scene at midnight.

She had experienced it during the day. She told me about the incident when she had got sick after taking off her jacket. I had held her for some time in my arms and then in the vehicle she had slept on my shoulder completely leaving her body on me. I had also dosed off for 5-10 minutes piling my body on Karan for a few seconds. He mumbled something and asked me to at least stay awake as the route was very treacherous.

He then made some remark about madam (all along he used to call her only madam, while he used to address Neeru, Preeti, Sally by names, followed by madam.So that everybody could make out who was his biggest pain in his ass till this part of the journey.

 Ria told me that Sally had taken a dozen pictures of both of us in various different poses with a director’s precision to make them look more spicy and interesting. And poor me, I had no clue as to what was going on.

After some time of togetherness winds started becoming more and more harsh so we decided to go back to our respective tents. I immediately got asleep all the while savouring that moment, but suddenly a fear also crossed my mind. 

My heart and mind kept on fighting like mad  but by than I was fast asleep as it was already 3 in the morning and little did I realise that Neeru was still awake as I came back after spending so much time in the open. Probably because Sally was really ill and groaning all night with little fever, cough and cold.

In the morning when I had woken up in the tent (Most of the night the cold wind had been kissing my ass and getting into all ventilated areas to keep me chilled enough) only to find Neeru playfully smiling at me. I also looked at her as if nothing had happened. She started by asking me what was something happening outside the tent in the night. She could hear both of us speaking and laughing and rest of it she was trying to presume.

She asked me how far did it go, and I was quick to remind her that from college days she knew how good I was with girls.

Then she told me that actually in the night with icy winds blowing from all directions it was hardly a sound sleep and hence she could sense our get together from the tent. Even Sally was waking up every now and then. I sheepishly said we just met, nothing more, she gave me a romantic look and went out to arrange tea. Neeru had known me from my college days, I thought, that should be reason enough for her to believe that nothing more could have happened.

But probably she thought I had become smarter with time and there was more in my story than what met her eyes. As She brought steaming tea for me I could see the shady gentleman and his partner looking at us again as they stood near the toilet tent for their turn. 

Constipated individuals, I thought. I smiled and waved at them as I thought of the game last night.

Preeti came out of her tent and before Neeru could start the tale about our last night outing, i cut her short by talking about how none of us could sleep last night because of the cold and holes in the tents. That probably saved me from a long description and repetition from Neeru.

The toilet tent did not have a place to hang clothes so, as each one of us went to the toilet, one person had to be there, standing with the clothes. The person inside the toilet had to keep on singing all the time as there was no latch also. Because if the person standing outside with clothes moved from the spot, somebody may barge into the toilet. We completed the exercise one by one and assembled for breakfast.