A hike to Triund

Call from my junior, Kishore, woke me up at 6 in the morning.

“Hello”, I said, fighting back the grogginess of morning.

He asked me if I was ready. I wondered what the best reply would be. But before I could come to any decision I replied that I was. I don’t know why I always do that.

Well he told me come to gate 2 in ten minutes. I was supposed wake up Rajeev, one of my friends, and others. It was 6:15 I had set an alarm of 5 in the morning. The alarm obviously did not wake me up. I rushed to Rajeev’s room to wake him up. He had been sick the night before and getting him ready was my responsibility.

Rajeev was fast asleep when I entered his room. I took me some time to wake him up. Though Rajeev kept saying that he didn’t want to come I made him get ready. Mean while I kept receiving calls from seniors to hurry up as we were already late. In the end Rajeev refused to go locking his bag inside his room. I decided not to waste any more time and rushed to the gate where seniors were seated in cab and ready to go.

Dharamsala is just a few kilometers before McLeodganj, nine kilometers to be exact. As we passed Dharamsala I was reminded of my previous visit here. I had seen the famous temple and gone for small hike above the waterfall. I remembered where I had gone to play playstation and where I and Varun had had a fabulous dinner and few expensive drinks. I remembered how surprised I had been last time on reaching Dharamsala and not seeing any Tibetans. Being the home of Tibetans in exile I expected a lot more Tibetans. But later I realized my mistake. McLeodganj is the home of famous Dalai Lama and Government of Tibet in Exile.

A lot of foreigners could be seen in McLeodganj. I was in particular fascinated by a shoe polisher, a kid, who seemed to be very interested in foreigners. We were sitting in front of a monastery when I noticed the kid talking animatedly to a foreigner. I could not hear the phrases but from a distance his English sounded rather unaccented (for us Indians that is) and grammatically correct. The kid seemed to be asking the foreigner a lot of questions. Finally the kid offered to shake with the foreigner who was a guy in his early thirties, around six feet and smartly dressed.  A trait common in foreigners is that they do not want to offend the natives, mostly. They seem to be very obliging and condensing. The foreigners shook the kids hand without a moment’s thought. Shaking hands with a dirty kid is not something many Indian will do. A few minutes I saw the kid come back the same road with two middle aged lady foreigners, chatting animatedly.

After shopping for glucose, water, tuna, cheese, bread and the like we started our hike. My breathing became heavy just after walking a hundred meter, making me wonder how I was going to travel the 10 kilometers hike to Triund. I was really tired after covering a distance of 2 kilometers when our senior and trip organizer Abhinab Sir made a halt at a shop, aptly named “Rest A While”.  Price of things was double here. A bottle of mineral water was priced at 20Rs as compared to 10-12Rs in town. We bought just a bottle form the shop as we had our own bottles. We drank glucose solutions and had some chocolates. After that I was able to travel quite quickly and somewhat easily. It may be due to all the time spent in gym or the energy food but I think it was due to the mental training in the gym. It felt like I had just completed two reps and I had eight more reps to go.

My mind was buzzing all the way with the thoughts that I had brought from civilization. I tried to shake them and just concentrate on the path and the fauna but mind would invariably begin to wander. I did not have to try for long though because after travelling for five kilometers my mind became calm by itself. I felt quite at peace and it was very relaxing. It felt like I could be myself without worrying about the consequences.

It started to snow just before reaching Triund. Though I have always lived in cold places at high altitude, it was the first snowfall of my life and I loved it. We stayed at the guest house and ever the fore planner Abhinab Sir had already booked the cabin.

At night we had a bonfire. With all of us surrounding the fire, a full moon night and an exhausting day, it was a perfect scenario for talks of heart, love, secrets and ghosts. A circle of trust was established there and everyone trusted the other person at the moment but sooner or later the sun would shine the exhaustion and darkness would end, as will the ‘circle of trust’ with anger, regret and bitterness.

The next day one of my third year senior, Himal Prasad and a fellow second year stayed back and rest of us headed for snowline. The air was so thin at the top that walking even a small distance uphill left us breathless. The place where we had put up had a shop (double priced of course) and the owner had a dog. This dog accompanied us on our trip to snowline. I almost quit just after starting but after resting for just a short time I felt refreshed and decided to push on. Later I just followed the dog and without realizing I moved far ahead of the others. After walking for sometime the dog left me and I was left clueless as to proceed further or not and if to proceed then, in which direction. I climbed a bit higher on the cliff to get an idea as to where I should proceed. I could not see any of my group members from the top. I wondered if had come a wrong way. I need not have fretted though, as the others soon joined me. The snowline was in fact just a short distance ahead and that is why my hairy friend had left me.

We had a snow fight at snow line, took some snaps and I decided to quit smoking as I was feeling too breathless; as I hadn’t smoked for last hours it seemed the right place to quit. I wanted to go back to civilization as tension free and unassuming as I had been on the high altitude but soon bitterness and stupidity seemed to creep back into my friends. Besides I too sprained my ankle on the hike down making me grumbly.

Well they say “All’s well that ends well” in that case let’s take reaching the snowline as the happy ending cause it was a picture perfect moment on the top of world.

A day in life

I woke up at 7:20 in the morning 10 minutes before the alarm went off. Next I hit the snooze button on my mobile for the 7:30 Alarm. At 7:45 I had to wake up or I would miss my class. One day I hope to get out of the bed the second I wake up. I just hope that day comes in this life time.
I dragged myself to the bathroom and was ready for class by 8:15 A.M. It was electrical and electronics measurement and instrumentation class. I have finally remembered the entire name of subject. One day I hope to remember the name of topics as well. I managed to get through the entire class without falling asleep but since I do not remember a word of what was taught. So it would have been all right to fall asleep, I guess.
I like to use two pens, one blue one black to write notes (I hope that making neat notes will tempt me to get down to study, no such luck so far though). But I don’t know how my classmates realize that I have brought two pens and some one always turns up without pen. Maybe it’s one of things which are not supposed to happen. I have not given up though; I hope to write notes with two pens some day. The next class was free and I managed to get to hostel, sleep, read a few pages of a book, and sleep again in one period. Believe me it takes special time management skills to do that. And you can understand that since I was very busy doing these things I could not find time to write the assignment which was to be submitted in the next period. Besides I did not know how to do the assignment and I did not know it was due the very next class.
Not to worry though I managed to finish it before the teacher arrived. Heck, I even managed to staple the papers together. Then I accidentally glanced at the blackboard and realized I knew most of what was being taught. What I did not know I asked the teacher like I was the most sincere and studious boy in the class. And surprisingly I understood the procedure really well. After two more boring lectures it was lunch. I am trying to set a new record of not eating in the mess. You see I go to gym and the mess food is not sufficiently nutritious for me. Or, at least that is what my excuse is. Actually, the mess’s food is really bad and canteen is not that costly. After a satisfying lunch I headed for circuit theory lab. I miss the old days when a subjects name was simple like maths, physics, biology, English, etc and not different forms of electrical or/and electronics. It really confuses me.
My group had to verify Thevenin’s theorem. The practicals are actually quite easy since all you have to do is connect the already arranged circuit. That is of course if you have read the manual. I was too full after lunch to read the manual and others had their own reason for laziness. Still we managed to get the readings and reasonably accurate readings with the help of intuition. I am so proud of my group.
We were free after the class and I had decided to use the free time and study. Unfortunately, there was no time left to study after watching the movie on my pc and I plan to start studying tomorrow.
But, hey tomorrow never comes so cheers.

Life

What is life? What is destiny? Are we a cosmic mistake? Are we so very special, or are we nothing more than chemical reactions? Why does life go on? And to where? What is this all so consuming love? Perhaps nothing more than nature’s way of ensuring our species survival. Perhaps nature made a mistake by giving us means not only to survive but to thrive. For though one of her sons lives, others perish. Or may be this for the best as we can ensure our survival even if earth were to be doomed someday.
Life will go on. Things which are so important to us will not be even considered when mankind looks back. For it does not matter to humanity that when a person’s heart was broken his life was shattered. Life cannot be lived for the future for nothing lies in the future nor does it lie in the past it exists only now. If we lived now and only now it would not matter if we are remembered or not for we lived.

I am invincible

I always wanted to be able to cook. My mothers a great cook but she never realized I wanted to cook even though I told her so many times. I know a lot of things driving, I am doing engineering, I can deal with people very well and I am very independent sort of fellow. So whenever I saw some one cooking I felt kind of stupid and felt admiration for the guy who has the skill to cook.
Well enough was enough, I entered the kitchen and tried to cook myself an omelet, well it’s not much but it is a start. I got the ingredients ready and unfortunately broke the egg shell and put the insides on pan even before the oil got heated. The egg was in liquid state for a long time. I finally ended up making a scrambled egg out of it and it was delicious. (Too bad I couldn’t find cheese or it would have been better)
Anyway, I then even washed the dishes if my household helper or anyone would have seen me they would have been ashamed and wouldn’t have let me do it, but I loved it. It felt like breaking free, breaking a taboo and I felt invincible- I can do anything.
I am searching for some sausage recipes now…..

Leadership

The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. Dwight D. Eisenhower

The real leader has no need to lead--he is content to point the way. Henry Miller

New Delhi Railway Station

I arrived in Delhi at around 4 o'clock. My train left from New Delhi at 20:40. So I had lots of time to spare and kill. I was not sure from where I was supposed to catch the train. I asked the conductor where it would be best to get down from the bus to catch a train from New Delhi. He told me it would be best to get down at I.S.B.T. I was not really sure where that was though I have been there twice. As soon as I got down my memory came to my aid and I knew I had to cross street via cross over (not something very common in India and therefore a landmark). Though just to make sure I asked a few passerby if was headed in the right direction for the railway station and they replied affirmative.
My memory and the directions of the passerby were right; they did lead to Station but Metro Station not Railway. Realising my mistake I asked a gentle soul sitting idly how I could reach New Delhi Railway Station. He directed me to a bridge at some distance. It took me ten minutes to reach there with my suitcase (fortunately I had decided to travel very light and all my bag contained was three pants, three shirts and few books (College books as well as novels)). After reaching the pointed place the wait began. Now it may not seem much to you who just sits there reads this line but waiting for a bus on a highway road in Delhi summer is quite a daunting task. The gentle soul had told me catch bus number 212, I think. Bus number 211 arrived shortly however I decided to wait for bus number 212. After waiting for 20-25 minutes I decided to take the bus 211 and then try to reach the railway station. But unfortunately the bus stopped just 500m ahead as that was its last stop. 'Enough!' I thought and decided to take the Metro. I walked back to Metro Station (the light suitcase now seeming to gain weight). I asked the metro checkers who decided not to check my bag how I could reach the Railway Station. They kindly guided me take a token for Chandni Chowk. I followed their advice and to my surprise Chandni Chowk was the first stop after my boarding.
I got down at the Chowk and looked around. The signs led to Railway Station and the Library. I am a big fan of literature; I regretted not being able to visit the library. On reaching the railway station I breathed the sigh of relief and rested for about twenty minutes. I wanted to relax but I thought it would be best if I made sure the timing of the train and I was on right railway station, it felt like something was wrong. After standing in the queue for 10 minutes at the enquiry counter I asked the timing for my train. It comes at the New Delhi Railway Station he replied. I didn’t know what to do for the next 30 seconds. Then, I headed straight for the taxis parked outside, asked the guy to take me to the New Delhi Railway Station and didn’t even bargain with him when he said it would take 80Rs; I just wanted to get it over with.
Finally I was at the New Delhi Railway Station but I still wanted to make sure of everything so I asked at the enquiry at what time the train was leaving. He told that the train would leave on time. I finally was at ease and retired into the rest room. I spent the next four to five hours finishing “The first man” by Camus. I kept checking the time table at regular intervals. Finally when there was just 45 minutes left for the departure I took my suitcase and was about to leave when a women in late thirties gave me such an acknowledging smile that I had to half smile in return. Half, because I was not sure why she was smiling. She said something to me and as I was not expecting her to say anything I didn’t even hear what she was saying.
“Pardon?” I said, expecting her to ask me time or something.
“Leaving!! Won’t you even offer a cup of tea?” She said.
“Whoa” I thought “Get the hell out of here Dude”.
For once my thoughts and my instincts were agreeing on something and I got out of there as soon as possible. The train was on time and I got upgraded from 3 tier AC to 2 tier AC. I wish that wouldn’t have happened as the AC of 2 tier was not working.

Welcome

Namaste and welcome my newly created blog. Dont know what to expect from this Blog.
I have created it so that I can improve my English. Its good already but at times I find it difficult to describe an event in writing. So I will mainly try to describe events from my life. ( I am in a reputed college currently so I hope I have many interesting events for you.) But as I love to read literature and am a believer of kaizen(never ending improvement) you will find many wise interesting and motivating quotes and stuff.
I would like to end with the request- critcise! I have created this blog to improve so please do what everyone loves to do criticise. Show me my grammatical errors/ provide suggestions to make my writings better.
Keep smiling it will the best thing you do today and it might make it the best day as well.