Great Lakes trek (Kashmir 12th July)

Yes, it was time to go back to civilization. But Indiahikes wanted to cheer us with our efforts. We got certificates of accomplishment. As we posed for photographs there was some foul odour to which Holly remarked "Oh! the horses." But it was difficult for me to distinguish my smell from the horses. My stomach was bad all through. After 8 days of gadget-free life, we marched towards civilization. Women are always a part of my life. In the beginning, it was Mala, whom I followed. Now, while going back, it was Shilpa whom I followed during the climb down. My legs trembled as I climbed down. Contrary to my expectation, climbing down turned out to be difficult. My knees started aching. At the first tea-point, I was relieved to have some tea. Suresh bhai paid for it and disappeared before I could thank him.

At the tea point I finished my puri and choley. Holly and Aidan too started eating the puris from the aluminium foil. They had carried their back packs all along with them during the journey. Aidan was motivated by the 12 year old kids of the Roopkund trail. They walked without any complaint.Holly turned out to be the daughter of the Himalayas. Inspite of diarrhoeal problems she carried on the trek with her heavy backpack. My journey became lighter, as I recalled the funny anecdotes she shared with me. Divesh bhai lightened my tired nerves with jokes. Tarak fell while gliding down, and I laughed. He tried to keep my spirits high and seems to fit the role of a leadership trainer. He tried to dispel my fear of falling down. I fell twice and got up and tried finding longer paths which were slip-proof.

On this downhill journey, one handsome guy sang "yeh kaha aa gaey hain hum". Those were the right words for all of us - for both the bruised ones and the cheerful ones as well. Tarak had grown sceptic towards the end of the trek, as his sister was flying down to the lap of the this Kashmiri beauty. This Kashmiri beauty is hard to win like the Helen of Troy. I had cursed Rahul Patil for not warning me of the arduousness of this journey. What was expected to be a tra-la-la-la stroll across the meadows turned out to be strenuous journey for our feeble feet and tender toes. At the end, all the thunder had left from our thighs, they were just a bundle of numb flesh.

The path down seemed never to end. My knees creaked, and my toes got numb. Shilpa kept herself motivated by telling herself that she would have chocolate cakes and fish at the hotel. Yes she deserved the treat after such a torturous journey. She pointed out with her stick downwards towards the tinned roofs saying, "we have almost reached". Finally we reached. I devoured a plate of rice and paneer curry, gulped down a packet of juice. Megha paid for the lemon tea as I relished it.

The vehicles reached and all of us got into respective vehicles for Srinagar. The journey ended sooner than I expected. Holly, Aidan, Kunal, Tejas and I got down. We went hotel hunting but ended up in a houseboat all for ourself. We hosted a dinner for our fellow trekkers. Naveen and Sharat turned up. It was yummy dinner. The boys were perfect gentlemen. I was the sloppy old lady in the group - always worried and tensed. The dinner was over and we all dispersed.

I woke up early to catch my flight at 11. I thought, everyone was fast asleep, except Kunal, who has extra reserves of energy. He woke after the first knock, I bade him goodbye and got on to the Shikara. At the ghat, an Innova was waiting, which drove me to the Srinagar airport for my Delhi flight.

The trip was organized by Indiahikes.

Great Lakes trek (Kashmir 10th and 11th July)

We had spent a good time near the stream. The sound of stream is the only thing you hear here in the hills other than the human visitors. We started as usual after our breakfast. The climb began across the boulders. We climbed with care. The boulders were huge, Naveen and Sharat instructed me to take the smaller steps. I followed the instructions to a tee and after some time at one place I bent low with my bums towards the sky and I walked like a baboon to reach the other side. My sun glasses fell and I tried with my walking stick to pick it up. I was unsuccessful. Javed went down one step and bent down to pick them. I put back the restored glasses in my bag. I continued climbing up and higher.

As I climbed up I was gasping for breath. My legs felt heavier than usual because they had swollen. Bending became difficult. I was dressed in layers, so, I decided to remove two layers - the thermals and the waterproof trousers. Looking for some cover to change my pants I climbed higher. I told my guide, "Shamim, don't look behind. Just keep an around if there are tresspassers."As I started removing my pants, Rachna blossomed in close view in orange windcheater. She offered to help me and kindly folded my stinking thermals. I resumed walking in my ordinary trackpants. It felt lighter and easier.

While I climbed higher, the young girls were struggling to cross the boulders below. Jahangir pointed at me "Look! Auntyji had climbed up there. Come on! You can also do it." I carried on. My 17 year old guide was a smart boy. He led me along the tracks of the horses and mules and we covered the distance faster than one could expect us to cover. Then came the snow patch. Holly, the snow white was responding to the untimely and unwanted nature's call while Aidan stood in guard like a gentle knight without a shining armour.

We crossed them. I religiously followed the footprints of the trekkers who had traversed the trails before me. However, the snow betrayed me. It gave up under my weight and I went down till my knees unwillingly. Shamim laughed but controlled himself looking at my expression. I told him, "I prefer the stones to the snow". I will step on the stones rather than the snow. He agreed to my deal and we continued through the rocky stretch avoiding the snow. But the last lap to the ascent of the peak, was full of snow. I invoked Allah and Kali and held Shamim's hand tightly and hurriedly crossed that long steepy patch of snow. We parted till we placed our foot on the rocks. The view was pleasant from here - the blue lakes were a pleasant sight. I clicked few pics here. Next we started descending.

On this long patch, Megha looked like ancient Socrates. She stopped to watch even a caterpillar. I live in North Kolkata in a middleclass neighbourhood with lots of caterpillars invading us everyday. We are tired of dropping them outside into the shrubs from where they come back to our bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. I continued my walk while Megha was busy interacting with the local kids.

After reaching the tent I dropped flat in my tent. The next day was our holiday - rest, rest and rest. But the group had too many youngsters who were too excited to play games than rest like an old woman like me. I enjoyed watching them from the tent. During the dumb charade, the Raghu, the doctor took all for a ride. If you thought doctors are a serious species, you are mistaken. Their lighter side can be seen in Raghu. Dumb charades ended up in evoking  a lot of fun and laughter among the trekkers. Dipesh entertained us wholeheartedly with his sign languages which no one understood.

I hijacked Megha for some chitchat while Shilpa and Shanthala filled the air with their giggles and laughter. The wind became chillier and I let go my Socrates, Megha. Then I walked towards the lake with Viral. Viral and Mahi, the cook seemed to be soaking up the calmness and the beauty of the lake. We spoke about fishes in the lake and the deceptiveness of the ice on lakes. How the ice unwittingly gives up under mild provocations were discussed with horror. As we walked back towards the tent, the moon shone brilliantly but it was not a full moon. Everyone had their cameras on to capture the moon, but only one man had the privilege of enjoying the full moon and that was Ramky, as his Poornima shone brilliantly right before his eyes.

 Photo courtesy: Kunal

Next day, I got up early to avoid the queue before the toilet tent. I was surprised to find none awake. I enjoyed my time alone in the toilet tent without interruption. Walking towards the tent back felt heavenly with the clear blue sky and the gushing stream on the left. This was what I dreamt of as a child. Living by the stream like R.L.Stevenson amidst nature. I bent down and poured water on my head. It felt cold and soothing.

 Photo courtesy: Harshal

Sureshbhai was the most happy-go-lucky guy in the group. But now he seemed quiet. He enjoyed riding on a horseback. Like a child he wanted to be photographed at every corner. At the lake, other men seemed to enjoy swimming in the ice-cold water. Kunal and Tarak looked like water horses as they swam forth and back with perfect strokes. There was no sign of the chill till they spoke about it. I ambled here and there with half a mind to go up to see the other lake. My stomach churned, so did Holly's. Her TPs were in safe custody of Aidan who had happily crossed the stream. Holly's urgency made her fly across the stream. I waded through the water carefully and reached the other side safely.

Photo courtesy: Kunal

We headed back to the tent for lunch while Holly, Naveen, Aidan and a Swedish guy tried fishing in the lakes. I spent sometime on the rocks watching the waters gushing down. The waves frothed in anger as they rolled down through the spaces between the rocks, resumed calmness in the arms of the placid deep blue lake, and then resumed the fury at the other end as they continued their journey down. Waves formed on the other end of the lakes and each waves seemed to compete with the others. The waves hurried down fast as if they picked up the competition that Suresh bhai had started.

The bonfire was lit. Our young guides danced while Holly tried to catch few steps, and she successfully ended up innovating the steps. We played antakshari but I was too tired to sit till the end and crawled back to the tent.

Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir 9th July)

We started as usual after breakfast towards Satsar lake and we were informed about the long snowy patches. As we climbed higher, it was getting colder. There were long stretches of snow and we had to descend but it was quite a long and steep descent. The Assistant team leader went down the snow like Noorani, the guide. The guides were like the mountain horses, they trotted down easily but we were not comfortable gliding down like that. Aidan moved quite fast but he stopped at the right place. I followed him and successfully completed the slide too.

As we continued through the slippery snow, I almost lost control at one point and was slipping downwards. Shamim stopped me from going down the bottom of the slope. We carried on carefully until we reached the longest snow slope. Noorani trotted down efficiently but Tarak takes the lead in sliding down. I was comfortable with the slide and I followed him. However, I lost control on my way down and fell on my back as I sped downwards till I spun back to my chest like Shammi Kapoor in Junglee. I screamed for help until I stopped automatically at the right place. I lay in that position for few minutes till Tarak came and pulled me up.

After that there were more slides. In another slide, my scarf dropped on the way. Tejas took all the pains to climb up and get my scarf back. I blessed him profusely for his kindness. Then there was a long green velvetty patch and I danced all my way till we reached the stream near the army camp. After negotiating with the rocks we crossed the stream. On the other side of the stream everyone was basking in the sun. We waited there for the others to catch up with us. After resting and lunching there, we started our trip uphill to the army camp. After we got the permission, we continued with our trip towards our tent.

The journey became challenging with huge rocks on the way. Megha and Naveen climbed up the rocks like Tarzan while I looked helpless. Viral comes up from nowhere to show my confused eyes the direction. We continued with our painful journey till we reached our tents. On reaching the tents a pall of gloomy clouds chased towards us but it soon cleared away and made way for a colourful rainbow. Sharat, the doctor photographed the river for a long time. I bundled myself inside the tent with wearied eyes and refused to stir out of the tent. Tarak, the tiger comes up to motivate my tired soul. I crawled out of the tent and started soaking up the nature.

With renewed energy I started peeping into other people's tent to have some conversation. I was surprised to see everyone so energetic inspite of the tiring journey.

Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir 8th July)

"The Nichnii pass had sucked out all my spirit," thought I. But the most challenging trail was the Vishnusar and Krishnasar trail. We started climbing after our breakfast. As I limped like an old mare, Shamim emerged like a god-sent boon. He came like Jesus Christ to save me and deliver me from the difficult terrains. I requested him to carry my bag and camera for me. As the most treacherous trail was ahead of us Shamim appeared as my saviour at the right time to rescue me.

The slope became steeper and narrower. If you turn your back, you see nothing but the depths. My heart shrank and I started trembling and that was the last time that I looked back. On the entire ascent, I only glued my eyes to the craggy walls of the slopes, ignoring the open side. I donno, how I climbed the craggy rocks, passed the slippery walls of the slopes and reached the top. At one point, I felt like a spiderman. My hands and legs stuck to the wall of the slope and I dragged upwards on my chest.

Shamim lost his patience after sometime and started pulling me all the way till we reached the top from where we could see the lakes Vishnusar and Krishnasar. I was tired, shocked and numbed to respond to the welcome applause of my team. I fell flat on my back and panted for breath. After the torturous ascent we started descending. After a long walk we reached another lake called gadsar lake. The kodipadys were relaxing there. Sharat and Harshal had given me company on my way as they stopped frequently to take photographs.

As we continued with our descent, like a mad elephant I tumbled down the slope. My fellow trekkers were surprised to see a panting pachyderm pounding downwards. I was ignorant about the world as I just wanted to reach the tent. We stopped a while at the army camp and then headed towards the tent. The waters looked innocent and enticed our leggy Nithya. Once more her feet bathed in the chilly stream after the involuntary bath she had had in the chilly waters in the early part of the morning.

The evening delayed here and as it grew darker around, our Nithya, the runner, was running a temperature. The journey had taken spunk out of many. Sailesh bhai vomitted while few others experienced stomach problem.

Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir 7th July)

The journey to Nichnai begins. Little Aditi, petite Poornima, and royal Ramky are the Kodipadys from Hyderabad who set out casually for the climb. For this lovely family, this trip was a cakewalk. While I crawled, rolled and was dragged by the guide, Shamim, the tall Nithya (8 km regular jogger) seemed to cross the mountain in a moment. Nobody could keep pace with this jogger. Holly became the mountain flower, who fertiled the rocks during the day on the entire trek, while I fertiled the meadows in the darkness. We became friends with the rocks which helped us hid our bums from the public gaze.

As we climbed the craggy mountains, I was tired and breathless. At one point I wanted to give up as my hands were numb with cold. The temperature in the mountains drop as we climb up. With the clouds blocking the sun, you feel the chill further. I felt weak and uneasy and called for help. Young Viral was too young to spot my fear. But, the ghodawala, Ashique read me quickly. He understood my fear and encouraged me a lot. Rachna from TTH group revived my wilting spirit with kind words. I was soon on my toes and started climbing.

Tarun, Mala, Pramod and Halak were also very kind and supporting towards me. As we reached the snowy patch, I was confused. Everybody was ahead of me. As I followed the smarter trekkers, I fell on my back in the snow. My legs dug into the snow till knee and I did not know how to get up. Luckily, Pramod, my fellow trekker came to my rescue. As I continued, the mountain slopes became steeper and I fell frequently. At one point, I saw Tarun sliding down, after Pramod slid down, but I was scared to slide down such a long way. I begged Tarun to wait for me. He waited down at the bottom of the slope till I too slid down safely. I enjoyed the slide and looked for similar more slides.

I fell on my back on the snow frequently and Tarun counted the number of times I fell. Tarun lightened my mood by saying that "you shud be given an award for falling down so many times." I laughed a lot. Then the snow ended and the dry slopes began.

Yellow and purple flowers blossomed on the craggy slopes. The bright colours energized me. Then came a stream. I crossed the stream and was dry till the last lap when I lost my balance and my left foot fell in water. It was wet. My woodlands was wet. Then came another stream where the stream was deep enough to enter my shoes. Now both my feet was wet. After crossing the stream, I sat on a rock to squeeze the water out of my socks. Mala crossed the stream with shoes removed. By the time she had reached the other side of the stream, her feet were numb.

We started our journey again after the brief stint with the stream but we could not spot anyone in the vicinity. After a point of time we found someone in the distance. I rambled towards the people running ahead of us. As I followed them downhill, my bag of adipose tissues assisted me. Gravity was in my favour and I reached the tent sooner than anyone could imagine.

I waited for others who were with me on my journey. I waited for Holly, who looked like snow white in the horizon. I welcomed her. We rambled down together to our tent and rested till dinner. An over-enthusiastic group charged towards the Vishnusar lake uphill, while the tired souls took shelter in the tents. The sky was overcast, the wind was chilly, but after sometime the sun shone with all glee. So this was the track from Nichnai to Vishnusar.

Stomach upset, tired legs, tired backs could not stop us at all. We climbed up the Nichnai pass and down to our tents by afternoon. Aidan distributed sweets. Yes, we deserved the sweets because the Nichnai pass was a difficult climb.

Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir - 6th July)

We had woken up early to get ready for a long walk across the meadows. We washed our face and drank water from the stream. Some slipped down the wet slopes in their effort to reach the narrow stream. After our breakfast we started to walk towards Nichnai village. The enthusiastic group of 27 started with lot of fun and laughter. The team marched and so did I. After 100 steps, I realized, everyone was ahead of me. I stopped to catch my breath. Soon, I realized there was somebody behind me. From behind, the instructions came in, "continue walking." When Tarak, the team leader came and stood right in front of me, I said, "I want to go back". In a very matter-of-fact tone, he said, "you cannot". I looked behind to see the other team, TTH also packing up. Their horses passed by and a stillness set in. For a minute my 77 kilo body seemed puny in front of this green-eyed, tall, slender tanned Auroville product.

I carried on. I dragged myself all the way. I pulled my bulky body with great effort. I cursed all kabsa, icecream, beers, chips, samosas for giving me the extra load. I made vows on every corner of the trails I covered. After a point of time, I realized I was not so behind the group. I was somewhere in the middle and this made me a lonely trekker with a chance to interact with strangers on my way.

There were my fellow trekkers, who seemed to be set only to run, as if their hometowns never offered them enough space for running or jogging. Some of us sat to soak up nature. As we walked and walked, we clicked pics, but I had no energy for pics after a point of time. I just wanted to sit and rest. Finally we reached our tents where we were welcomed with snacks.

After a quick dinner, we chatted and then gradually moved to our tents. In our tent we were three. Holly, Nithya and I.

Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir - 3rd to 5th July)

 Great Lakes Trek (Kashmir - 3rd to 5th July)

Fever swept me on 23rd of June to dump me on my bed for 5 days. When I got out of my bed, Kolkata started crying in buckets. I needed to do the last minute shopping before I started for the trek but the rain water had drowned the streets by then. Being waterlocked, I started hunting for stuff at home. The treasure I found was a pair of track pants my brother had left, an old thermal shirt my father wears on the chilly nights in the winter. Still not content with my packing, I called up Sharat Kolke, Naveen, Megha and Shilpa to share notes. However, I ended up eating away their packing time.

The rain in Kolkata continued till I started on my Kashmir Great Lakes Romantic trek on 3rd of July. The driver came to drive me to the airport inspite of the inclement weather. My 77-kilo body boarded the flight on time to reach my beloved city Delhi. Bad weather led to cancelling of Leh flights. All Srinagar carriers were delayed. Luckily my flight was on time but at Srinagar, the visibility issue prevented the plane from landing on time. After a 45 minutes air show, the plane descended. I took out my phone only to realize that my pre-paid phone numbers are clueless in Srinagar for security reasons. There was no booth around. An agent came up to tap my confusion and I landed up in an expensive houseboat.

Through the gloomy roads, the pre-paid taxi driver drove me to the romantic abode, dal lake. I was warmly welcomed there with a hot cup of "gawha" (a kind of tea). Next, I borrowed the SIM from the houseboat bearer and started calling up whoever I could. Poornima got stuck before the comp to rescue me from the disconnect I suffered due to the useless pre-paid cards. At one point, I remembered, I had forgotten medicines and the disclaimer form. So, I called up Sharat to bring some anti-diarrhoeal medicines for me. Then, I requested Megha to get me the disclaimer form.

Next day, I got to do a Modiwalk. The roads were empty as Modi was in the city. I wandered around alone till evening, until Sameer turned up to take me around the city. He dropped me safely to drive back to office and then home, 60 km away from Srinagar.

After two days of luxury at the houseboat, I started for the trek without a phone, but I felt helpless. From the Tourist Reception Centre, I made a call to the Bangalore office to find out whom I should contact to reach the Sonemarg base camp.

When I contacted the person concerned, he advised me to board the red car opposite to the J&K Bank. I insisted the person to give me the vehicle number but he stuck to his point "the red tavera". When I reached near the J&K Bank, I found several red taveras and I lost my temper. Under the pressure of my own rucksack, day pack and my handbag I was in an angry mood. As I sweated in the heat, a young charming guy came up to ask me if I were Shewli, to which I poured my anger on him. He said, "I am not the driver". I was taken aback for a second, but I followed him to the car.

Holly and Aidan joined us with their heavy bags. Packed in the Tavera, Aidan, Holly, Kunal, Tejas, Vinitha, Dima and I started for our exciting journey. On reaching Sonemarg, my excitement dropped as it started raining. Through the misty rain a tall, slender, green-eyed man emerged. He had a tanned face and wore spectacles. His movements were fast and smooth and I took him for a corporate trainer. On reaching the camp, we were welcomed by a charming man called Viral. His eyes twinkled and his cheeks dimpled as he smiled. Assuming him to be a fashion institute's pass out, I kept staring at the locket round his neck, till he introduced himself as a trek leader. His smile melted not only our hearts but also mother Earth's. She also wept in joy.

I had gotten into the tent with water dripping from my raincoat. The residue from my tea cup had fallen on the mat to the irritation of the social ethics' practitioners from Dubai. I wiped out the mat with my old newspaper. After enjoying the rain, the practitioners came in and muddied the mat to my relief. I shifted to Nithya, the regular trekker's tent.

By nightfall, we all Indiahikers were assembled inside the tent and given basic instructions. We introduced each other and got to know Aditi, the teenager in our group. Unlike other Indiahikers, I was not carrying my plate and glass. Everyone looked pityingly at me but the dimpled boy, Viral took out his plate to save me. The handsome photographer, Harshal, delighted me by lending me a spare glass. With regard to drinking water, Viral suggested the water from a nearby rickety muddy stream. I had my last bottle of Aquafina with me and started sipping from it. After the dinner, we dispersed to our tents.

Next day we woke up to a gleeful morning. The clear blue sky had perfectly hidden last night's clouds with its bright dazzling smile. I crawled out of the tent and then rose to my feet. I tried to spot a rock to relieve myself. After climbing 5 minutes the yellow tents of Indiahikes disappeared. I sat down under the open sky. As I lifted my eyes, they fell spot on blue tents. Oh! no. Though the yellow tents were out of my view, the blue tents stared at me. I consoled myself thinking they were all sleeping. In a minute a horseman came to the stream and it was obvious he had spotted me. But I put up a brave face, ignored everything and left the spot.

When I reached the tent, I found a long queue before the toilet tents.