Out of the drudgery of a sedentary job for Rajat and Gaurav, the pressure of ever elusive MBA success for me, much needed inspiration for a new music composition for Kukubh and the search for the right vocation in life for Ankur, along with the common desire of breaking away from Delhi’s heat and celebrating the liberation achieved from section 377…:) , the 5 of us embarked on a journey which was going to be the most enthralling experience for all our lives..we set out for a ‘no itenerary’, ‘no booking’ and ‘no plan’ trip to Nainital. The only thing we had planned was the promise to come back with atleast 500 pictures of our 3 day tour :) Day 1
We left from faridabad at midnight in an innova only to be greeted by a big disappointment right in the very 1st hour. Just before leaving my place, I had managed to sneak into the kitchen and pour 4 trays of ice cubes in a “cool pot” to be used for chilling the beer that Ankur had promised would be available in Delhi. But all our ‘mild intoxication’ plans went bust when none of the “thekas” was open at that hour. Understandably, Ankur had to take a lot of shit from us.
But shortly, god blew breath into our sagging spirits by confronting us with a severe traffic jam at Ghaziabad. Surprised?? No don’t be…we were happy coz we had found the opportunity to pull out all our cameras (3 of them) and showcase our talents of cool posing and killer photography on the roadside. What a scenic setting..he he :)
Next came the time to keep up to the promise of not sleeping through out the journey and making sure that the driver wasn’t taking any short naps at the expense of 5 innocent lives :)
Next I remember is waking up to a cloudy morning 30 kms away from our destination. The warm n sultry weather had transformed into cool, breezy balmy weather. As we pulled into Nainital, the sight of the Naini lake with sun setting its gleam over it made us forget all our fatigue. Minutes later we had settled ourselves in a nice small hotel nestled in the mountains overlooking the lake. The price n the occupancy also confirmed the fact that we are well into the off-season and we wont have all the hustle-bustle typical of a north Indian hill station which we wanted to avoid anyways.
After relaxing for sometime, we went out for a stroll at the mall road. Post a good lunch, we took a horse riding tour which was more action packed than we had anticipated. For the next 2 hours we experienced the most picturesque and breath taking views of the panoramic coniferous jungle and kumaon mountains. The count of our photographs kept rising fast as the journey continued to various “points”. Hawa mahal, tiffin top and dorkhi seat were magnifecent. Particularly interesting were the ‘lovers point’ and the ‘suicide point’. Actually it was a single spot and in a locals words ‘as long as u are sitting here its lovers point and when u jump, it’s the suicide point”…:)
We trekked down the jungle and headed straight to the lake for a boat ride. Chhabra had managed to buy a couple of beer cans that we enjoyed while boating. Finally after exploring yet another new restaurant on the mall and having our dinner, we decided to hit back to the hotel. Once there , I introduced everyone to a game of cards gambling which we enjoyed sitting in our blankets for the next 2 hours. After some hilarious jokes over pictures clicked all day, some “leni-deni” of each other and myself winning a 100 bucks in the game , we decided to call it a day.
Day 2
Come morning, and the first thing we see from our room are clouds hovering over the lake. What a view to wake up to!!! Simply magnificent. I came out in the balcony and asked myself – “why do I stay in fbd?” “why cant we have multinationals in hill stations to work in ? ”. “why cant I come here every month? “. But Ankur interrupted my rhetorical questions with nothing but a “clik” :) We again started posing in front of cameras with broad smiles on our faces as we prepared ourselves for another eventful day tour of Mukteshwar.
The route to Mukteshwar was mesmerizing. The road was marked by a narrow curvy path, a thick conical forest cover, an engaging view of the valley and a quaint silence that can only inspire awe. As the car halted to a midway stop, we stepped down and decided to do some impromptu mountain trekking (or should I call it mountain climbing). While getting pictures clicked there, is when I realized that even I do have a photogenic face. Ahem! :) Girls, are u listening ? (For those who dare to differ, zoom in on the profile pic :)
After a 2 hour drive ,just as we got out of our cars at Mukteshwar temple, Ankur’s sight went to Kukubh’s feet and what we saw left us bewildered. There were a couple of blood spots on his toes and calf. Kukubh grimaced as we all looked at each other in utter disarray. The anxiety did not go away until the local guide placated us by telling about it. It was the bite of a leech which was apparently harmless. As we let out a sigh of relief and focused on our agenda ahead, our eyes met a splendid beauty . No its not a “pahadi” babe I am talking abt. It was the small shiv temple atop a hill. The place looked so quiet, so untouched and so unexplored that in no time we all climbed some 100 odd stairs to appreciate the splendiferous edifice. The chime of the echoing temple gong coupled with the serenity of mountains and a gentle gush of cool breeze took us into a new world far away from all the tension and stress of a cosmo life. We completed our worship chores while appreciating the view around. Kukubh particularly liked the temple priest who counter intuitively had bohemian rockstar looks with a long pony tail and a stubbled face :)
Our serious countenance and silent walk while the descent from the temple was obvious. We had all just witnessed what is called the feeling of absolute NIRVANA.
What followed next ?? No prizes for guessing…PHOTOGRAPHY :).
After eating some freshly plucked pears, we decided to go on a random jungle walk around the place which led us to a point called “chauli ki jaali”. The place had a huge rock protruding from a mountain with a hole in it, big enough for a grown up person to pass through it. As tradition stands, if a female unable to conceive passes through it on the auspicious occasion of maha Shivratri, she stands a good chance of getting blessed with a baby. Even after warning Chhabra multiple times, he took a shot at it to showcase his audacity. We are all patiently waiting for the ‘good news’. He he :)
After thanking the guide for taking us to some stunning locations around the place, we hopped into the car towards our next destination. The “bhim taal’ and the “naukuchiya taal’. Naukuchiya taal had an enigmatic attraction about it. It was quite different from all lakes we had visited so far. The mountains surrounding the place were dark, thick and somewhat scary. I’ve rechristened the lake as the ‘indian panama canal’ :) After another boat ride there, Chabra cajoled everyone for a jungle trek. I was reluctant at first, but gave in to his idea owing to my inability to think of any better plan. The ascent was steep and tiring. After about half a km from the start, I lost interest (read energy :) ) and decided to walk down with Ankur. Soon after, rest of the gang followed.
Once back into the hotel, we decided to enjoy the evening true casino royale style :) While I prepared everyone a drink, Rajat began dealing cards as we got down to celebrate the eve of our departure. For the next 2 hours, we had a helluva fun as the booze started playings its magic and rajat (the only teetotaler in the gang) kept losing all his dough.
Finally before going off to sleep, Kukubh decided to make the most of the Tata Sky connection available in the room. He did something which he could not do back home for the fear of getting caught by his mom. He watched 15 minutes of FTV :). Finally after my forcing him to sleep for the sake of waking up early, he agreed to sleep but only with a vivid mental imagery of the ramp show he had seen minutes ago :)
Day 3
Woke up to the sound of a light drizzle outside. Packing the bags was a mixed feeling for all of us. The excitement of taking a last walk on the ‘mall’ was combined with the depressing thought of returning to the mundane life back home.
The moment we walked down the mall road, everything seemed so different. Not because we were leaving, but because it was the weekend. The entire town was abuzz with families, kids and ofcourse, chicks from around the place.
While the 4 of us did some typical touristy shopping for our frenz n family, our studboy Chabra was busy buying bangles for his girlfriends. And as if the count of his gf’s wasn’t enough, he tried to unleash his ‘chance pe dance’ talent there as well. He made multiple attempts of talking to a cute girl at a shop, but could only end up asking her if she would help him decide the right size of bangles for his sister. :) Sorry dude..we’ll strategize the next time an opportunity strikes.
With beautiful memories and impressions suffused in every nook n cranny of our hearts, we bid a final good bye to the place with a promise to come back next year. The next few minutes were spent appreciating the last views of the scintilling place. It wasn’t long enough till we hit the plains and came to terms with the warm weather that awaited us ahead.
The remaining journey was spent in catching up of sleep and discussing some arbit topics ranging from debating the various strategies that Chabra could have used to ask the phone number of the cute girl in the bangle shop :) ; to explaining the concept of ‘management consulting’ to Ankur ; to discussing with Kukubh his upcoming rock band competition.
In no time we were amidst the chaos and flurry of Delhi.
‘Why can't life be an eternal holiday?'’ were the last words I spoke before the car pulled into my house at Faridabad.
We left from faridabad at midnight in an innova only to be greeted by a big disappointment right in the very 1st hour. Just before leaving my place, I had managed to sneak into the kitchen and pour 4 trays of ice cubes in a “cool pot” to be used for chilling the beer that Ankur had promised would be available in Delhi. But all our ‘mild intoxication’ plans went bust when none of the “thekas” was open at that hour. Understandably, Ankur had to take a lot of shit from us.
But shortly, god blew breath into our sagging spirits by confronting us with a severe traffic jam at Ghaziabad. Surprised?? No don’t be…we were happy coz we had found the opportunity to pull out all our cameras (3 of them) and showcase our talents of cool posing and killer photography on the roadside. What a scenic setting..he he :)
Next came the time to keep up to the promise of not sleeping through out the journey and making sure that the driver wasn’t taking any short naps at the expense of 5 innocent lives :)
Next I remember is waking up to a cloudy morning 30 kms away from our destination. The warm n sultry weather had transformed into cool, breezy balmy weather. As we pulled into Nainital, the sight of the Naini lake with sun setting its gleam over it made us forget all our fatigue. Minutes later we had settled ourselves in a nice small hotel nestled in the mountains overlooking the lake. The price n the occupancy also confirmed the fact that we are well into the off-season and we wont have all the hustle-bustle typical of a north Indian hill station which we wanted to avoid anyways.
After relaxing for sometime, we went out for a stroll at the mall road. Post a good lunch, we took a horse riding tour which was more action packed than we had anticipated. For the next 2 hours we experienced the most picturesque and breath taking views of the panoramic coniferous jungle and kumaon mountains. The count of our photographs kept rising fast as the journey continued to various “points”. Hawa mahal, tiffin top and dorkhi seat were magnifecent. Particularly interesting were the ‘lovers point’ and the ‘suicide point’. Actually it was a single spot and in a locals words ‘as long as u are sitting here its lovers point and when u jump, it’s the suicide point”…:)
We trekked down the jungle and headed straight to the lake for a boat ride. Chhabra had managed to buy a couple of beer cans that we enjoyed while boating. Finally after exploring yet another new restaurant on the mall and having our dinner, we decided to hit back to the hotel. Once there , I introduced everyone to a game of cards gambling which we enjoyed sitting in our blankets for the next 2 hours. After some hilarious jokes over pictures clicked all day, some “leni-deni” of each other and myself winning a 100 bucks in the game , we decided to call it a day.
Day 2
Come morning, and the first thing we see from our room are clouds hovering over the lake. What a view to wake up to!!! Simply magnificent. I came out in the balcony and asked myself – “why do I stay in fbd?” “why cant we have multinationals in hill stations to work in ? ”. “why cant I come here every month? “. But Ankur interrupted my rhetorical questions with nothing but a “clik” :) We again started posing in front of cameras with broad smiles on our faces as we prepared ourselves for another eventful day tour of Mukteshwar.
The route to Mukteshwar was mesmerizing. The road was marked by a narrow curvy path, a thick conical forest cover, an engaging view of the valley and a quaint silence that can only inspire awe. As the car halted to a midway stop, we stepped down and decided to do some impromptu mountain trekking (or should I call it mountain climbing). While getting pictures clicked there, is when I realized that even I do have a photogenic face. Ahem! :) Girls, are u listening ? (For those who dare to differ, zoom in on the profile pic :)
After a 2 hour drive ,just as we got out of our cars at Mukteshwar temple, Ankur’s sight went to Kukubh’s feet and what we saw left us bewildered. There were a couple of blood spots on his toes and calf. Kukubh grimaced as we all looked at each other in utter disarray. The anxiety did not go away until the local guide placated us by telling about it. It was the bite of a leech which was apparently harmless. As we let out a sigh of relief and focused on our agenda ahead, our eyes met a splendid beauty . No its not a “pahadi” babe I am talking abt. It was the small shiv temple atop a hill. The place looked so quiet, so untouched and so unexplored that in no time we all climbed some 100 odd stairs to appreciate the splendiferous edifice. The chime of the echoing temple gong coupled with the serenity of mountains and a gentle gush of cool breeze took us into a new world far away from all the tension and stress of a cosmo life. We completed our worship chores while appreciating the view around. Kukubh particularly liked the temple priest who counter intuitively had bohemian rockstar looks with a long pony tail and a stubbled face :)
Our serious countenance and silent walk while the descent from the temple was obvious. We had all just witnessed what is called the feeling of absolute NIRVANA.
What followed next ?? No prizes for guessing…PHOTOGRAPHY :).
After eating some freshly plucked pears, we decided to go on a random jungle walk around the place which led us to a point called “chauli ki jaali”. The place had a huge rock protruding from a mountain with a hole in it, big enough for a grown up person to pass through it. As tradition stands, if a female unable to conceive passes through it on the auspicious occasion of maha Shivratri, she stands a good chance of getting blessed with a baby. Even after warning Chhabra multiple times, he took a shot at it to showcase his audacity. We are all patiently waiting for the ‘good news’. He he :)
After thanking the guide for taking us to some stunning locations around the place, we hopped into the car towards our next destination. The “bhim taal’ and the “naukuchiya taal’. Naukuchiya taal had an enigmatic attraction about it. It was quite different from all lakes we had visited so far. The mountains surrounding the place were dark, thick and somewhat scary. I’ve rechristened the lake as the ‘indian panama canal’ :) After another boat ride there, Chabra cajoled everyone for a jungle trek. I was reluctant at first, but gave in to his idea owing to my inability to think of any better plan. The ascent was steep and tiring. After about half a km from the start, I lost interest (read energy :) ) and decided to walk down with Ankur. Soon after, rest of the gang followed.
Once back into the hotel, we decided to enjoy the evening true casino royale style :) While I prepared everyone a drink, Rajat began dealing cards as we got down to celebrate the eve of our departure. For the next 2 hours, we had a helluva fun as the booze started playings its magic and rajat (the only teetotaler in the gang) kept losing all his dough.
Finally before going off to sleep, Kukubh decided to make the most of the Tata Sky connection available in the room. He did something which he could not do back home for the fear of getting caught by his mom. He watched 15 minutes of FTV :). Finally after my forcing him to sleep for the sake of waking up early, he agreed to sleep but only with a vivid mental imagery of the ramp show he had seen minutes ago :)
Day 3
Woke up to the sound of a light drizzle outside. Packing the bags was a mixed feeling for all of us. The excitement of taking a last walk on the ‘mall’ was combined with the depressing thought of returning to the mundane life back home.
The moment we walked down the mall road, everything seemed so different. Not because we were leaving, but because it was the weekend. The entire town was abuzz with families, kids and ofcourse, chicks from around the place.
While the 4 of us did some typical touristy shopping for our frenz n family, our studboy Chabra was busy buying bangles for his girlfriends. And as if the count of his gf’s wasn’t enough, he tried to unleash his ‘chance pe dance’ talent there as well. He made multiple attempts of talking to a cute girl at a shop, but could only end up asking her if she would help him decide the right size of bangles for his sister. :) Sorry dude..we’ll strategize the next time an opportunity strikes.
With beautiful memories and impressions suffused in every nook n cranny of our hearts, we bid a final good bye to the place with a promise to come back next year. The next few minutes were spent appreciating the last views of the scintilling place. It wasn’t long enough till we hit the plains and came to terms with the warm weather that awaited us ahead.
The remaining journey was spent in catching up of sleep and discussing some arbit topics ranging from debating the various strategies that Chabra could have used to ask the phone number of the cute girl in the bangle shop :) ; to explaining the concept of ‘management consulting’ to Ankur ; to discussing with Kukubh his upcoming rock band competition.
In no time we were amidst the chaos and flurry of Delhi.
‘Why can't life be an eternal holiday?'’ were the last words I spoke before the car pulled into my house at Faridabad.
Thanks Piyush for explaining things in a descriptive manner.Loved reading it and could get to know what all masti my bro had there.
ReplyDeletecool keep tripping.
Thanx..Your brother indeed had a lot of fun..and so did the rest of us
ReplyDeleteHello Piyush, I'm Gaurav's cousin,the travelogue is well written, funny and interesting. good job! Don't be surprise if you get other comments from his extended family, he shared the link with!
ReplyDelete