DEHRADUN – MY FIRST TRYST WITH THE MOUNTAINS

Charm is a way of getting the answer yes without asking a clear question

Sneha: Are you sure?
Satabdi: off-course am! I clearly remember, I had turned off the light before going out.
Sneha: Then how come its on?
Satabdi: Donno. How’ll I know? Something’s wrong here……..
Sneha: Hey stupid! Don’t scare me! Am not gonna sleep in this room tonight….am going to their room. You? Coming?
Satabdi: No. I want to enjoy a night alone with an unknown ghost in this room!

So, a few minutes later, we heard a knock at our door and the two musketeers were standing there with their respective pillows and quilts. What happened later? Well, next morning when the hotel-boy came to serve bed-tea, he found three beds joined together and instead of three, he served total five cups of tea!

We were on an excursion from the university to the defense labs of DRDO in Dehradun. Ten brave-hearts, if you don’t mind! We five girls and five boys, all classmates and one of our professors. I don’t remember the actual date, but it might be sometime around pre-puja, i.e. during september-october. One breezy night, we boarded the Himachal Express from Howrah station and reached Saharanpur the day after next day. The first ever visit to the mountains in my life! I was excited way beyond expression!! :)

Saharanpur is a small town at the foot of the Himalayas. We hired two private cars and started towards Dehradun. For first few hours it was the usual small town scenery – two/three storied buildings, shops, vehicles, office-crowd……. I was not very sure what’ll be in store for me.

A few yards later, a monkey showed up on the road-side. Unusual? Well, yeah, little bit. After all, you won’t see monkeys roaming around on Kolkata roads! Gradually, city-crowd started to thin out and what emerged in front of us was a road usually frequented by fairy-tale princesses! It’s actually just another highway….. but am not exaggerating a bit. A narrow, slender road, bordered by tall, mountain-trees on both sides; their branches making a never-ending arch overhead! I was feeling like stepping out of the car and taking a stroll – like a princess walking down the backyard of her castle – lost in her own world of sweet dreams!!!

A little while after, we started climbing up. Rocky mountains, covered with lash greenery started peeking up roadsides. We were crossing past u-turns in full speed – rocks on right and a dried-up mountain-river bed on the left, lying several feet down the road! I was sitting by the door on the left; closing my eyes every time the car taking a turn; fearing what if the door is not properly locked! I’d be thrown out of the car like a villain punched off by Sunny Deol or Rajni Kanth and would fall down the depth……..

Thankfully that didn’t happen and I survived to share my feelings with you! :)There’re some feelings which worth a meticulous memoir……and this trip is surely one among them. Till today, whenever I look back to my university days, I live every moment of the trip! It feels like just a matter of yesterday…..even after three eventful years!!!!

……….At that very first night, we were attacked by the unknown ghost and for the rest of our days in Dehradun, we five squeezed ourselves in three beds and were jostling with each other for space until we got tired and fed up and ultimately gave up and slept off!

Daytimes were booked by visits to various labs of DRDO. We had only the evenings to explore places and we utilized them to the extreme. Once we went to the heart of the town and walked back to our den covering 8 miles! Next morning I woke up with legs weighing like 2 kg sacks! Once we went to a temple [sorry, don’t remember the name :( ]; the entrance was cave-like; we had to actually crawl to enter! It seems, you should not go to the God with your head held high; it should be bent down in respect. How many among the visitors do have that respect I don’t know; but the idea’s great! Even world’s greatest atheist can’t disrespect the God, if he/she wants to see the idol!

Luckily we got a full day off from our busy schedule just a day before our last day at Dehradun. And that day came out to be the most remarkable day of the trip! We went to Mussoorie. Mussoorie is about a few hours journey uphill from Dehradun. We started early in the morning and by the time we reached Mussoorie mall, it was already lunch time. Mussoorie mall is a small place; a few variety shops and hotels, restaurants, car parking. And not to forget the horse-riding! First time in my life I rode a horse and it was so amazing! For a body used to struggle with hard, uncomfortable seats of public transport, the horseback appeared too soft and delicate – as soft as a feather! While boarding the horse, I became so conscious thinking that I might end up hurting the poor creature, that the man-in-charge of the horse told me, “if you hesitate so much to ride a horse, how’ll you hold your new-born?” :P

There’s a hilltop at about 1km distance from the mall, named ‘Gun Hill Point’. Sounds a little scary, is it? Like, the (in)famous ‘Suicide Point!!’ :P I was actually thinking it might be a historical place where disobedient people used to be shot at point blank range during the British Raj! Or max to max it’d be a war-memorial sort-of; with a rifle headed up, sheltered by an army-cap. I still don’t know the significance of the name of that place, but one thing I can assure you of – there’s more than what meets the eye in that place; or to be more specific, more than what your mind can imagine. The way upwards was a little steep; we were halting and grasping for breath in every 10-15 minutes. Almost half an hour later, we reached the top. And what did we see there? I don’t know how to express that feeling in words. I stood there awestruck for almost 5 minutes! Lying in front of me was the magnificent Himalayas – stretching his arms as far as my eyes can reach……..the far away peaks smeared with white soft cloud!

Mostly when people come close to the nature, they become poetic. I had a different feeling though…a little out of place, you might think. But the truth is, the moment I saw the Himalayas, I felt protected, I felt secured – as I feel when my dad is with me! To every child, his/her dad is a know-it-all Superman. To me, he’s still the same. And the moment I saw it, the Himalayas reminded me of my dad. With its sky-touching height, rock-strong feature, never-ending stretches covered with soft greenery – the Himalayas was looking so much like my dad. So strong, yet so gentle; so powerful, yet so caring. I was feeling like screaming out loud, to tell my dad - “Daaaaaaad…..don’t worry dad. I’m safe here. You don’t know dad; but I can see you here. I can feel you. You’re with me dad. I fear nothing!!!!!”

You know one thing! Life is a collage of millions and millions of tiny moments. In the hustle of daily life, it appears smudged, as meaningless as a kid’s first stroke of sketch pen; but when you stop for a while and take a closer look, it soothes you like nothing else. My visit to the Gun Hill point is one such moment. To a regular traveler it might not appear so scenic. But for a first time viewer like me, it was simply beautiful. And to add to the richness of that moment, there was a cup of steaming coffee, overflowing with white bubbles! I don’t know how espresso or cappuccino tastes like; but I’ll love to remember the moment as am holding a hot cup of espresso/cappuccino lost in the comfort of the Himalayan majesty!

Our 10-day journey ended with a short tour to one of the seven most sacred places of India – the Hardwar. I’m not that religious-minded; but I’d request each of you to visit Har Ki Pouri ghat at least once in your life; if not for religion, just to inhale the essence – the essence of humanity. So many people, from so many different walks of life, all coming to take a holy dip in the sacred river of Ganges; hoping to be a better person in next life. It’s just so incredible!

Here ends my little travelogue. Hope you enjoy reading it. While writing down, I was actually living back those moments! I don’t know how much these words can fill the canvas of your imagination…..let me keep my fingers crossed! :)