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Sunday 10 January 2010

Finding Frozenland: A trip to the Himalayas!

Inspired by Tejesh Kinariwala's Toast Master Speech.The post is mostly his views, paraphrased.
 
We went on a trip. Traveling from Delhi to Haridwar to Rishikesh to Uttarkashi to SangamChatti to Agoda to Bewra to Manjhi to Dodital to Darwa Pass and back...

Forget about awesome mountains and frozen waterfalls, the mushy fields of snow and the crystal clear lakes, the rosy cheeked mountain girls and the breeze of fresh air; I wouldn't write a hyperbole about these things here - I want to tell something much more important.
We were clueless about what was to happen, so before we started there was a great mayhem and confusion about what should we carry in our baggage? Will we be able to survive on bread jam, or do we need to take rice? Should we take stove or will firewood work out fine and so on...

Don't we face the same mayhem and confusion everyday in our lives? Don't we ask ourselves - 'what should I carry in my bag on this journey of life?' - We don't know the answer because we don't know what is to come...
It was one of those times in my life, infact it was one of those times in everyone's life - when we pushed ourselves; and did what we wouldn't have otherwise done - like trekking 40 Kms in 2 days; or after spending a horrific night in -7 degs, pooling up enthu to go to -12 degs. Each one of us was highly motivated to do this. But everyone was wondering, 'what will help me travel that last furlong...'


Don't we always ask ourselves after we have put in loads of hard work and have come far, and when all that remains then is the last step - 'What will help me travel that last furlong...'

And during the trip I found an answer, simple one - friends. What should we carry in our baggage - friends. Why?

After camping in the freezing cold night we had to climb a steep and high mountain the next day and reach 4200m for the first time in our lives. The temperatures dipped as we moved and the air become thinner. With every step we bargained with our legs to take us just another step further. The more we climbed the more we felt that the peak still stood just as far...


 
But we HAD to do it. So we kept climbing. However, when we were just there, and could even see the peak - 3 among the 5 of us collapsed, sat down and proposed to call that very place as the 'Darwa Pass'. It was the remaining 2 who stood by and pushed them, before we all made it to the actual Darwa Pass...

Hence the answer is simple - friends. What should we carry in our baggage - friends. Why? - Because they help us travel that last furlong...


And hence the trip was actually -

Finding Friendsland




7 comments:

  1. SINCERE Friendship is the mainest thing in the life.
    "Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you always know they are there".

    and my favourite saying:
    “Friendship consists of only one soul; inhabiting two bodies.” (Aristotle)
    :)

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  2. Oh this was a wonderful post! :) Loved it!
    "What should we carry in our baggage - friends. Why? - Because they help us travel that last furlong..." so true! :)

    Cheers,
    Annie.

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  3. @ Alyona - True. Couldn't have agreed more.

    @ Annie - Thanks :D.

    @ Both - Any such treking trips you went to?

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  4. I havent been to treks as such... but we (me n my comps class) have roamed practically all over India... Goa, Shimla, Manali, Nainital, random places outside Mumbai... so we have had some pretty awesome times :) A trip at the end of every sem was our norm... Sigh! Fond memories :)

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  5. Ha :), infact we often wondered during the trip if we would be able to go out together, and roam as freely as do as we do now, once we start with our jobs... :|

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  6. I went on a trip to Leh with four people I had never met or even spoken with. One of them was a friend's friend, and that's how I got to know they were going. In fact, even the four of them didn't know each other.

    Travelling with friends is of course, the best one can do. But it is challenging trips with unknown people that'll help you discver your own strengths. You will not only have the answer to stuff about your adjusta-bility, communication skills, leadership and all that jazz, but you will definitely rediscover your likes and dislikes.

    You truly begin to differentiate trivial from important, and enjoy a feeling of accomplishment. After all, how many people travel with unknown groups to a solitary place like Leh?

    Go for it!

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  7. Yes! That's true!

    And in my experience, so does traveling Solo - especially in lesser known regions on in places where people might not even understand your language. It's a test of your decision making abilities, how level headed you are and how you can overcome your likes and dislikes to find people who can help to reach your goal.

    I should write about those Solo experiences as well, I guess :)

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