When the life keeps you busy for a long time or when your schedule is not permitting you to break the shackles of a periodically repeating monotonous life, you get the epiphany that the mountains are the only spot where the solace can be found.
When the glittering lights of metropolitans and the flaunting fake beauty of the so-called cities become non-stimulating, the perfect time to fetch the pure and cool breeze of the hills is for sure waiting for you to feel it thoroughly.
Unsure of my symphony with the beautiful time, I packed up my bag to embark upon a short and beautiful journey to the Lansdowne. I choose to keep the project submission at a halt to initiate the journey to the hills. Beauty is what we perceive for our inner happiness but its relevance arises only when we are able to really gauge its depth. Nature with its natural glory needs no flaunting and the appreciation. It was there from the infinity of the time inconsiderate of the presence of the human. It was thoughtless for the human race till it realized that the success of true beauty lies in the identification and appreciation of it. Then, human race started evolving on this planet.
Regards to the canny nature of human, the human race started building the beauty of its own. In due course of time, he set up big scientific giants and the skyscrapers like structure turning it into a well-developed city. But still, nature is mighty enough to vanquish all the endeavors of human with its beauty.
In realization of all this, we all went for a visit to connect with the nature in the condition if either the time permits or time forces us to. I choose to visit Lansdowne. It’s a hilly place and a cantonment town in Pauri Garhwal district in the Uttarakhand state. It was a journey with my batch mates and few others from the junior batch.
The time becomes an undisciplined entity when you are in a group of boys only. Work ethics are thrown into the garbage. The bus departure time from Kashmere Gate, Delhi at 10.30 pm and we reached sharply at 10.20 pm. What a margin!!!
With the time running out and choosing between the dinners or to catch our bus, we all skipped our dinner. Our belly was empty and as a consequence, I have to face some stomach ache the next day. One of the junior, Abhay, was fully sure that we will easily catch the bus and was comforting us to stay relaxed. The night journey on a state bus was a tiring one. We touched the cold air and inclined land of Kotdwar at 4.30 am. We stretched our body for a bit and then took a jeep to cover the major hilly portion of around 40 km. We all were lying inside the jeep which itself was in a curvy motion due to hilly roads. Our body was physically rotating a turn of 360 degrees. At around 6 am, we reached our final spot i.e. Lansdowne.
The next was the search of a cheap hotel where 7 tired fellas can throw their bags and jump into beds. Finally, a hotel in the steep road on the side of a dried up brook finally came to our rescue. After some rest, we moved towards Bhullatal Lake. It is a serene lake maintained by the Indian army. (This place is a home of Garhwal regiment.) It is loved for its tranquil atmosphere. We did some direction-less and confused boating in the amusement park nearby. It was certainly a beautiful place surrounded by hills. This spot was the starting point of our trekking. We covered the steep hills and reached St. Mary’s Church. It was the time to remember our identity as a social site networker. Aditya was ready with his phone to go LIVE on facebook.
The next destiny was the ‘Tip in Top’ point. It is also called as Tiffin top. It is the best place there to watch the complete skyline. I was already feeling like on the top of the world there. The vast spread mountain with a green covering and the existence of few human localities in between were definitely a rare view and a picture worth keeping for the rest of life. This point gives a mixed feeling- on one side, you feel like on the top of the world but on the other side, the vast geography will make us realize how tiny we are in this whole universe. Love has no dimension and is gifted with immense reach. It can be easily proved when I saw multiple love birds name and their confessions that left their prints on the stone wall there.
By the way, this all trekking were made to view the Sunset point. The junior batch fellas were ahead of us in this race but their victory was fruitless when we all realized that this point is a useless and a fool trick only. This point has nothing but a stone in the name of sunset point. Interested party can climb this small stone to view the sun but everyone can enjoy the same view without the stone also.
Now was the turn to cover the same road back again. We were very tired. We finally gave up our climbing spirit and instead took a cab. On the journey so far, I realized two very important lessons:-
- The Himalayan people are very happy living the way they are living. They are well connected to nature and are living in proximity to the creator itself. They are enjoying the beauty which we, the urban population, can rarely afford.
- They are very honest people. They will charge for the service they provide to you on a minimal level only. No undue advantage is taken from their side.
We returned back to our hotel. The hot tea dipped with the buttered bread was an instant relief from all the tiredness. The sleep easily took us all into its realm. It was one of the best sleep ever. The exhausting day, the pure air, the cold breeze, the mountainous surrounding- it was all a perfect blend to induce a sound sleep.
According to the Barney Stinson from the TV series ‘How I met your mother’-“New is always better”. The next day was a new day and the better day as it was the time to climb higher to Tarkeshwar Mahadev temple. It is believed to be one of the ancient holy sites. It is situated at a height of 209 meters. It took another 3 hours to reach there but the time was totally worth it. The road to the top was itself a Jungle safari. We all have gone crazy whenever Aditya used to click the beautiful pictures from his DSLR camera. Even I learn some of the photography skills on the way. This part of the journey was the most beautiful because of the following highlights:-
- The temple was very beautiful and the surrounding was no less than a picnic spot. The path to the temple was covered by the multiple bells on both the sides. This was the similar picture which can be seen in the Buddhist religious places also. Instead, they have a spinning Praying wheel in line.
- A mix of weather was observed here. Initially, on the way to temple, the Sun was at its peak. But its effect was downsized by the plethora of tree branches. A little and comforting sunray was coming from the canopy. It looks like the way movies are shown in the theater where rays are coming from the back. Suddenly, a hail storm was started. The weather was very beautiful now. The dry hills now turned into a beautiful and moist mountain. With every rain drop falling into the ground, a strong scent of the soil was emerging. This Petrichor effect was enough to create vivid picturesque scenery.
- The temple journey ends by filling up our belly with the 2-minutes Maggi noodles. What a reach, Nestle!!! What a coverage, Nestle!!! Wah!!!
The person selling this stuff was simple and honest and didn’t charge a penny more than required. INR 35 was just enough to sustain his livelihood. On a small talk with him, I came to know the hardship he monthly does for this meager business. He monthly visits the nearest town of Kotdwar to get the bundle of Maggi packets and other ingredients. And he has to travel an inclined distance of around 2 km from his house located in the foothills on a daily basis to reach the tourists and travelers like us. A smile on his face gave us a realization that happiness can be found anywhere in any form.
The journey was about to end. We took a night stay in the Kotdwar. We all didn’t like any of the elements of this place. Probably, the culprit of our notion was the immense incomparable beauty of Lansdowne and its people. We all took the bus next day to Delhi.
This journey will stay with me for the lifetime. I don’t know when will be the next time for such a trip. I am thankful to all my mates- Vikas, Archit and the accompanied juniors – Gaurav, Aditya, Abhay and Arindham. I hope our journey song of ‘Tiakaaa takka tikki takka’ with a mashup from Aditya’s personal touch will be remembered forever by all seven of us.
Final semester examination is the new adventure now. I hope I will succeed in it with flying colours.
Vimanyu Sahu 
Travel diaries!
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You can say that…
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u have travelled very near to najibabad …
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I know…
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It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape
-Ruskin Bond
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Wah…true
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