My First Trip To Mukteshwar (Finally Continued)

Time does flies very quickly. How much time does it take for the present moment to become a thing of past? A minute, 5 seconds or 1 second, a milli second. I guess it is just the very moment in time after which it becomes a thing of past.
Today I realized that I must continue my "to be continued post" for which I had committed to some of my most trusted friends who once became fan of my post
(Sumeet(My inner conscience): When did any one say they were fan of your posts?
My inner conscience again: Shhhh! some times faffing helps increase the TRP:),, just kidding :P.

I have just taken help from Bill Gate's Microsoft excel to calculate that 802 days ago (2.19 years ago) the IMI batch of 2009 on 25 October,07 went on a trip to Mukteshwar.

633 days ago (1.73 years ago), on 11th April 08 I made a commitment to continue my post on the trip. So before reading my final post on it please, I request you to first read the original post (http://sumeetrathore85.blogspot.com/2008/04/any-thing-done-for-first-time-has-its.html) and then continue reading this one.

After serious deliberation and thoughts from Meghna, I got clues to what all we had done on that unforgettable trip to Mukteshwar. Meggs actually told me that I can get the idea of the events from the dates on the photographs and then it clicked, I thought it was a good idea untill I found that Rinkal didnt set his camera that time to actually record the dates and time, but then we had other photographs too, the idea finally worked. With a final consultation with Pujju I got the sequence of events which I discussed with Meggs on chat and a copy of it can be found at the end of this post (for easy and quick reading for lazy people like me).


_____________________________________________________________________________________



...Slowly the lights were put off. But the whispering still continued in low voices, some were already asleep and cosy. Some were busy using the mobile some were talking and busy sharing there innermost secrets of life. The panoramic view of the dark grey sky and the black trees out side the bus window looked peaceful. The moon was smiling as bright and radiant as ever. The silver light of this heavenly body, pouring itself selflessly on us, was entering every now and then through the window as the bus slowly and steadily neared Mukteshwar. It was like the moon was saying “keep your eyes closed and finger on your lips, its time for you to be in you dream land”. Like a naughty child I didn’t wanted to close my eyes, I wanted to live each and every second of that beautiful moment. Dreaming with eyes wide open I didn’t realise when I went to my dreamland but when I opened my eyes I realised that we were almost in a real dreamland………


It was around 6 AM in the morning when we reached a dhaba which had posters of hero and heroins who had visited that place earlier. Recently it was visited by John and Kajol. The location of the dhaba itself was awe inspiring, over looking the deep valley and surrounded by grey morning clouds it was fun being a part of it at that moment. We had tea and snacks and soon we left that place. Revolving around the mountains circling round and round we finally reached our destination at around 1 pm. We were a bit late while our Qualis troupe had already reached a couple of hours before. The guest house was an amazing place. It had terrace farming style farm all around and it had tent houses which over looked the deep valley surrounded by a range of Himalayas.

It was time for us to analyse the five star facilities we had been provided. An open air washing basin (to be used for brushing teeth), made of cement and which had chilled running water. This was cool! I mean chilling! The next was a partially open shrubs surrounded loo, where only the bravest of all would have intended to go in the night. A lavish bath room with no bath tub or geyser. So that was (pause) kind of fun :), I mean never before I had experienced that.

After having lunch we arranged our bags in the tent houses. Initially we were made fool when the Qualis troupe told us that every tent has names written on it and that only partners can stay together in one tent. Later we discovered that it was fake, many had a sigh of relief.

That night we saw another group arranging for bon fire, we decided that next night we would arrange it for our selves too. In the night we were all called by bhuppu and to our surprize we had to play the Mat game, which was actually a team building exercise. We were supposed to synchronize each and every step on the mat with out putting our foot outside the mat area on the ground. There were two teams and I guess one team made it till the end.

After having a good deal of food, I mean dinner, it was time for all to be in our tents in bone chilling weather. Few hours later while in our tents, we heard of a news. The girls gave in to the chilling weather and chose to stay in warm cozy rooms, there were some boys also who joined them. Living in the tent that night was kind of different and back then I realize it was a once in a lifetime stay. When did we went off to sleep while still chit chatting, no idea, but I can imagine some one waking me up in the morning at around 5 AM. "Sumeet! get up. Come lets see the rising sun." I guess it was my room mate Ashutosh. "Damn! is this a good time to wake some one up (I thought)". But then who could have left that scenic moment of rising sun behind the long mountain range, which could also have been seen directly from our tents. We clicked some photographs and again went back.


Got ready for early morning tea time. I could'nt choose to use those tattered bathrooms early in the morning so had to wait to use a proper one. The guest house actually had good guest rooms too.

Later that morning we went for Trust Fall. A game where we had to fall backwards trusting our friends who were ready to catch with their hands all spread out evenly. Some of the strongest hands were situated in the middle while people who were strong enough to bear mild pressures were situated near the place where the head was supposed to be while trust falling.


Then soon we went to play the spiderweb. Which had web made of rope and that one block was supposed to be used only once, and that while some one is passed through the web from one side to another he/she was not supposed to touch the rope or the whole event was to be repeated again. Dosent seem to be difficult at all untill we had to repeat it several times and when we had to carry some one as heavy as Sajjal or Meghna :P.


Later that day we went for mountain climbing and rippling. Here I recall my incident. I remember it was sunny day and I was one among many in line, while Priyanka had already taken the brave initiative to do rappling,I was all ready with belts tied around me and was waiting for my turn when Aditi came rushing to me. "Sumeet, (in her usual longtone) can you come after me? I want to go first". Well that was no big deal. "Yeah sure". So it was Aditi's turn after which I was to go next. I was pepping my self up and thinking about Aditi, how brave she was, going so easily. In the midst of all these thoughts some one shouted, "Oh my God! look. Aditi is hanging upside down". I gulped.


That was the moment when I realized that there was something called the fear of death. I remember that I couldnt gather enough strength to look down at Aditi hanging upside down, but I got my (presumably last pic)photo clicked. My face was all filled with last moment's fear.

It was a tough decision for me then but I went along. I instructed the trainer that "I will just follow your instructions and please tightly hold my life rope". I told this to one of the two trainers who were holding me when I was at the edge of the cliff. My heart was ponding and I was running cold, but the trainers were hardly ready to listen any thing. "Yes we will, now be fast, take the first step." I finally made it.

But the game was still on. The next we were supposed to do the rock climbing. Every time there is some one who gives some strength, either knowingly or unknowingly. When I reached down near the mountain foot for rock climbing, I saw the deep - deep valley where If I happened to fall then no one will be able to even find me :O. I heard some one say "there are ponints for going through differrent ways",, maan,, do they have to insert the point system every time in every thing. Soon I heard some one saying, that Shruti had taken the longest path to reach the top. She was still hanging from the edge and I was gathering strength. Which I did get from realizing that if she can do so can I. Soon I was on my way through the longest path on the mountain. When I reached mid way I realized that there was very little space for us to either keep one foot or hold something with hand. Suddenly something struck me, and I felt as if I was loose and that the rope will open and I will fall head on into the deep valley. Soon the strength seemed to vaporize. I almost had a minor heart attack. But now it was no looking back, the decision was taken and I was hanging. After some struggle I found my way to the top.

Whoao! That was truly breath taking adventure.

We returned at around 5:30, all tired and laden with dirt and sweat. Some of us were terror striken due to the whole days'event and some of us were enjoying our time. We took rest, had small chit chats, went here and there and soon it was night.

Well it was time for the night trekking in to one of the most terrifying jungles of that region. We were soon gathered in groups at the back yard from where we were supposed to start the night trekking..."Students. U all must have heard about this jungle, it is one of the most dangerous one. Not because it has wild animals living in there but because it is haunted :O. You are specially instructed that if you see any wild bear or lion or tiger crossing by you, please do not, I repeat, do not PANIC or run, just remain quiet and let the animal go". This was better than the morning terror I thought.

Due to a little drizzling that night the ground was slippery and we were supposed to walk hand in hand all the way. In reality the slippery ground was actually dangerous as we were supposed to move up the hill. Soon we all got lost in to the darkness of the jungle, hearing some animal sounds every now and then. Leading in the front was Ashutosh, he was moving along with Isra.
"Did you see that?" some one shouted "What?" some one else shouted. And their was a panic situation. There was a white animal/ghost just a few yards from us. The guides were no where to be seen.
Ashutosh literally got scared and in hindi as they say "uski to literally fat gai". "I wont move. I am holding Isra" said Ashutosh. Then some one started to shout on the white thing that people saw. Started abusing it and soon threatened to kill the beast/ghost by throwing stones etc. This was happeneing at the leading end of the row. Back at the place where I was standing, we could only hear things and imagine. We were all squatting on the slippery ground. Some girls started crying. Soon the white beast/ghost ran away. We had our victory and we again started marching ahead. Some one from the back still shouted, "Arre wo white kapda tha, it wasnt the beast or the ghost it was our very own trainer" :D. But terror is terror, no logic at that time could have defied the truth that we had actually seen an unusual thing.

Later that evening we realized that that there was no bear/lion/tiger inthat jungle and that the ghost was actually our guide. So now it was time to celeberate our victory and the best way we thought was by having a bon fire and then getting our Man-Sea (Mansi) married to PJ. Satish performed his Rajasthani dance during the marriage and the girl was brought to the mandap. The boy was brought with a lot of pomp and show, and there we had our pandit ji reciting mantras from his religious books. It was time to be merry, to be self and to enjoy every bit of it. That was the night of 27th October 2007, a time when we were only 3-4 month old and we hardly knew each other. When I look back now at those events and those masti we did then, we (frankly speaking) never knew where all 36 of us will be after (2.19 years) i.e. today, or who will be a friend to him/her and who will become the strongest foe.



That was way beyond description. That was the last night we spent in our tents, this time we were awake till late. Some of us shared our deepest thoughts with each other. Confessed truths, laughed together and cried together. And then went off to sleep again.

Next morning came qquickly and after having mornig tea and breakfast we went to the same trekking hill, this time under the bright sun all of us were strong and brave enough to lead :D. We did river crossing with out any actual river. Dozed under the sun. Passed our time trying to figure out which way the rope should be turned so that it can actually form a knot. We cudnt'and the trainer finally did it for us.
There we saw unity when all the girls came together to pull the rope so that it can be made tight enough for people like Meghna to hang :P.

After hanging from the rope and sliding through the river bed and also after clicking a hundred photographs we finally packed up and left for delhi at around 2 O clock.

Well well well! That was real fun we had all at one place. Nauseating and reminiscing we circled around the mountains and kept moving away from Mukteshwar which we inhabited. Back in the bus we sat mesmerized and tired recollecting what ever we did and experienced in those 3 days. The days which we can never forget and which even time can not erase. It saw some strong bondings being built among many. Similar thing happened to me but I don't remember where it went away in that valley of chilling cold and hot morning teas, in those tent houses and bon fires. Those marriages and friendships, those terror filled trecking and rapplings. These lines can aptly define it all, I picked it last night from one of Shruti's post:

Memories make us laugh,

Memories make us cry,

We are destined not to live forever,

They are destined to never die!

---------------------------------

Someday, many years from now,
We'll sit beside the candle’s glow.
Exchanging tales about our past,
And laughing as the memories flow..
And when that distant day arrives,
We know it will be understood,
What really counts in our lives,
is: We were here, and it was good!






Ok now the quick fix part for lazy zzzz people like me, I am quoting the chat I had with Meggs before I wrote this post: (Note: teddy refers to meggs)

9:33 PM
Teddy: hi

me: hiii sup?

Teddy: nothin bored to d hilt

me: wow :D, so how was th day?

Teddy: boring super duper

me: cool :D

Teddy: :(

tumhara?? fun filled? action packed

me: ok

Teddy: okie

me: not action packed,, but it just passed that was the good thing

9:36 PM
Teddy: ohh cool my refused to pass

me: ok

we were in reality supposed to have a holiday today coz maruti was not operating, but our HR head ,, wudnt ,,like us taking leave

Teddy: grrr hate this heads of stuff ppl

me: yeah

Teddy: they r so like bored of their families n refuse to let th rest of us sleep in

grrrrrrrrrrr

me: nd he was happy that all of the hr department had come u need to help me out
9:38 PM
i ve taken a major decision

Teddy: okie

me: :)

Teddy: what what bolo

me: after 11th April 2008 , the day when i wrote the Mukeshwar wala blog, nd left it ,,to be continued,

Teddy: hmmm

me: today I want ur input ,, so that i can actually...

zzzyawning

finish it

:)

Teddy: hee hee okie wot input u want.. shoot

me: the events that we participated from day one

wen we reached there?

Teddy: okie.. when we reached there the core grp ws already dere.. then we all went brushed our teeth n take a bath.. in tht really stupid choota loo widout garam pani..

brrrrr....

fir we did ... umm... some of tht make a sqaure thingie wali excercise na

me: yeah ,,was rinkal in ur team?

Teddy: umm.. no sachin ws.. he ws like th star there we had Chatru n Deva

me: okies,,

Teddy: sachin n parikshit n bhavya.. ewwww

me: :) nd then u went for spider web?

Teddy: yeah...?? ussi din tha?? yeah.. we went for spidy web u guys went for trust fall

me: yes

u also went for that too the same day?

Teddy: no next day
9:44 PM
me: morning

Teddy: yeah...

me: okies

Teddy: then we went for rock climbing na?

me: yeah thatwas next day

Teddy: aare woh kab tha? PJ and mansi ki shaadi.. remember

lol

me: oh yes..that was on bonfire i guess that was the next day we reached their
9:45 PM
what say?

Teddy: hmm

yeah

me: wen was th time wen bhuppu called us all in the garden outside and gave a lecture?

Teddy: day 2...just before hte maze game tht chaitayi wala..

me: k

Teddy: 3 legs on one.. 2 legs on one bit

me: k ,that day in the morning we did rockclimbing thing na

Teddy: and when ws tht thing at nite.. the trekking
where we were scared shitless

yeah day 2 morning.. rock climbing etc

me: k

Teddy: th trekkin??

me: the night rrekking was a day before we left

Teddy: day 2?
9:48 PM
me: confused a bit

Teddy: yaar ek nite ko maze tha..and ek nite ko trekking

me: coz one night we also did bonfire and shadi

Teddy: hmm

me: and i am sure it was not the first night

Teddy: okie.. mayb it ws like dis

me: coz some other gang was doing it

Teddy: okie m confused now

me: :D

nice i like it

Teddy: hey do u hav th pcis for tht

me: yeah

Teddy: just see it from one person ka camera dates etc sequence

me: cool

Teddy: bt from one folder.. urs or rinkals..

me: sahi hai ,,,

ok

rinkal had an extensive one

brb

Teddy: wohi

:)

brb too.. dinner

me: okies

fine
9:50 PM
we will continue

Teddy: yeah in 15 mins:D

me: k


9:54 PM
disaster.. rinkal does not have dates :( in his pics

15 minutes
10:10 PM
Teddy: its okie

other ppl also took pics na

"And here I leave to check out the dates on other pics and to also to take views from Pujju"

8 minutes
10:18 PM
me: m back

Teddy: :)
10:19 PM
me: with ur advice and a final consultation with Pooja, i have the list all done

we started in night 25 oct 07

reached around 1 or 2 next day then we did square thing

Teddy: kk

me: ur group did the spider web and square we did trust fall, 26 day ends,,
in night we did the mat thingie
nd we sleep in tents

and u in rooms :P

Teddy: hmm

me: 27 morning we did spider web

Teddy: kool

hee hee

kk

me: and then we left for rock climbing
Teddy: hmm...

me: and we came back at around 5 30

and then bhuppu caled us

and lecture

Teddy: yeaaahhh

n some ppl got yelled at

me: then in night we went for trecking

came back terrified, and then in that terror we got mansi married

then we slept

Teddy: :D

hahahahaa

lol

good one

me: 28 morning,,

got up early and went to the hill again,, but in day time

wondering how terrifying the last night was

and then did river crossing

and left mukteshwar by 12 30 or 130 after having food :)

back to del 28 night

so that was it

:)

Teddy: hmm.. yeahh..

perfect

so yeh chat toh kahin tumhara blog nahi hoga??

me: easy rahega

i can paste it :P

Teddy: haah

go ahead

:P

me: can be used as a quick recap for lazy people like me :D
10:26 PM
Teddy: hee hee

yeah

totally

me: chalo,, before i sleep I must write something ,,byee tc

Teddy: kk

bbye