It was a proper black out. Not even a single thought was running across my mind. All I remember was when these guys came back and were preparing the bed, and all I can hear was “abbe ab kya karna hai” and I was down again.
Dawn broke and Ujjwal woke me up. Woah, what a feeling it was, as if it was the first time I felt of being ALIVE. I stood up, and everyone was looking at me. Within these five to ten seconds, the whole journey crossed my mind. All that danger we all went through, all the pain and all the problems, and we were just half way through. It was a physical as well as a mental torture for the all of us. I looked up when Siddhu asked me, “negi, kaisa hai? Kya karna hai ab”? I looked down, closed my eyes. My head was still paining, but not as intense as it was the previous night. I was glad we took a night halt in Manali. If we would have continued, I don’t think I would have reached Sarchu alive. Took a deep breath, stood up and said, “kya matlab kya karna hai, CHALO AAGE”. All of them looked at each other and asked me again, whether I was sure to continue. I smiled and said, “chalo yaar, jo hoga dekh lenge” and I went outside the tent.
Woah!! What an amazing view it was. We reached Sarchu in the dark, so had no idea how it looked, but now I was, standing on a green plains grassland for about one km on each side of the road, and stretched about four km long, everything in between huge mountain range, running parallel to the road. All of them were Desert Mountains, light brown in color, glowing with sunlight all over them, and above them was a clear blue sky. I can smell the freshness in the air, pure air. I stretched my arms, looked up into the sky, and smiled. I was so proud of myself, that I finally made it, WE FINALLY MADE IT. I could recall all the words that the foreigner said to me, and why he was so happy and why he shook my hand and congratulated me.
All I can say is, it was my life best achievement. I turned back, and saw Ujjwal and Dhyani loading our luggage on our Enfields, and Siddhu was trying to ignite the engine. It was cold there, and due to that, the bykes engine was jammed. But within ten minutes, we were all set and Vroom Vroom, we were off. I, as usual, convinced Dhyani to give me control of the byke. I was recharged, confident, and more over very eager to find out, what more this journey has for us. The road ahead of us was not as good as it was before, plus all the riders were starting all along with us and within one km, there was big traffic jam. It was a broken road, with small sand mountains in the middle of road. I was so happy at that moment, that I lost the calculation of my bike luggage and the sand mountain that I bumped into one. Lucky enough, the byke was still under control. Dhyani asked me if I was comfortable, and there was no need to prove anything to anyone. I calm him down and said it was just a small miscalculation. After few minutes, we saw one more water stream ahead of me, but it was a bit safe as compared to the previous day water stream. I was able to cross it, without a single halt, but my fear started when I saw ahead. We were on a mountain and big deep river flowing along with it. We needed to reach the other mountain, which was connected by a bridge. It was an old, iron bridge, but the path on the bridge was made of concrete slabs, and some of them were broken. It was not as dangerous as compared to what we have faced earlier, but my main concern was what if the concrete slabs breaks. I could see down across the broken slabs, river flowing with high current. Dhyani advised me to go slow and easy on the slabs, but I didn’t even heard him. The moment I reached the starting of the bridge, I raced to the end of the bridge. All I could figure out was, the soon we cross the bridge, the better it was. The bridge was connected to the main road. What a relief it was to be on a well constructed road.
Sun was shining, the climate was perfect, the mood was set, and the surroundings were perfect. We all were awed by the views and were enjoying all of it. After a few km, we saw a sign, “WELCOME TO THE PARADISE OF INDIA”. We all stopped on that sign and took some photos standing near that sign. There we all took a small break for a short talk. There Siddhu told me that how all of us were so exhausted and tired last night, and at dinner, they were discussing about me. Everyone knew I was not physically accepting the changes, and was most affected. Even they were physically and mentally tired and came into a conclusion that we all should return back. No one was sure how the road and situation would turn up for the rest of the journey. In the morning, they all decided to came up to me and we all be returning back to our respective places. It was a very important journey for all of us, but all of us were scared, mostly because it was affecting me the most. But when I stood up, and in my condition, I was the only one, who said that we should continue forward, that motivated them and there we were, standing on the Paradise of India. I was all surprised, and dumbstruck, what to say. All I said was Chalo yaar, and we were back on our bykes. On my way, I thought of all the situations and scenarios, and was again very proud of myself. But more than being proud, I was happy.
Dawn broke and Ujjwal woke me up. Woah, what a feeling it was, as if it was the first time I felt of being ALIVE. I stood up, and everyone was looking at me. Within these five to ten seconds, the whole journey crossed my mind. All that danger we all went through, all the pain and all the problems, and we were just half way through. It was a physical as well as a mental torture for the all of us. I looked up when Siddhu asked me, “negi, kaisa hai? Kya karna hai ab”? I looked down, closed my eyes. My head was still paining, but not as intense as it was the previous night. I was glad we took a night halt in Manali. If we would have continued, I don’t think I would have reached Sarchu alive. Took a deep breath, stood up and said, “kya matlab kya karna hai, CHALO AAGE”. All of them looked at each other and asked me again, whether I was sure to continue. I smiled and said, “chalo yaar, jo hoga dekh lenge” and I went outside the tent.
Woah!! What an amazing view it was. We reached Sarchu in the dark, so had no idea how it looked, but now I was, standing on a green plains grassland for about one km on each side of the road, and stretched about four km long, everything in between huge mountain range, running parallel to the road. All of them were Desert Mountains, light brown in color, glowing with sunlight all over them, and above them was a clear blue sky. I can smell the freshness in the air, pure air. I stretched my arms, looked up into the sky, and smiled. I was so proud of myself, that I finally made it, WE FINALLY MADE IT. I could recall all the words that the foreigner said to me, and why he was so happy and why he shook my hand and congratulated me.
All I can say is, it was my life best achievement. I turned back, and saw Ujjwal and Dhyani loading our luggage on our Enfields, and Siddhu was trying to ignite the engine. It was cold there, and due to that, the bykes engine was jammed. But within ten minutes, we were all set and Vroom Vroom, we were off. I, as usual, convinced Dhyani to give me control of the byke. I was recharged, confident, and more over very eager to find out, what more this journey has for us. The road ahead of us was not as good as it was before, plus all the riders were starting all along with us and within one km, there was big traffic jam. It was a broken road, with small sand mountains in the middle of road. I was so happy at that moment, that I lost the calculation of my bike luggage and the sand mountain that I bumped into one. Lucky enough, the byke was still under control. Dhyani asked me if I was comfortable, and there was no need to prove anything to anyone. I calm him down and said it was just a small miscalculation. After few minutes, we saw one more water stream ahead of me, but it was a bit safe as compared to the previous day water stream. I was able to cross it, without a single halt, but my fear started when I saw ahead. We were on a mountain and big deep river flowing along with it. We needed to reach the other mountain, which was connected by a bridge. It was an old, iron bridge, but the path on the bridge was made of concrete slabs, and some of them were broken. It was not as dangerous as compared to what we have faced earlier, but my main concern was what if the concrete slabs breaks. I could see down across the broken slabs, river flowing with high current. Dhyani advised me to go slow and easy on the slabs, but I didn’t even heard him. The moment I reached the starting of the bridge, I raced to the end of the bridge. All I could figure out was, the soon we cross the bridge, the better it was. The bridge was connected to the main road. What a relief it was to be on a well constructed road.
Sun was shining, the climate was perfect, the mood was set, and the surroundings were perfect. We all were awed by the views and were enjoying all of it. After a few km, we saw a sign, “WELCOME TO THE PARADISE OF INDIA”. We all stopped on that sign and took some photos standing near that sign. There we all took a small break for a short talk. There Siddhu told me that how all of us were so exhausted and tired last night, and at dinner, they were discussing about me. Everyone knew I was not physically accepting the changes, and was most affected. Even they were physically and mentally tired and came into a conclusion that we all should return back. No one was sure how the road and situation would turn up for the rest of the journey. In the morning, they all decided to came up to me and we all be returning back to our respective places. It was a very important journey for all of us, but all of us were scared, mostly because it was affecting me the most. But when I stood up, and in my condition, I was the only one, who said that we should continue forward, that motivated them and there we were, standing on the Paradise of India. I was all surprised, and dumbstruck, what to say. All I said was Chalo yaar, and we were back on our bykes. On my way, I thought of all the situations and scenarios, and was again very proud of myself. But more than being proud, I was happy.
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