The night of warfare was finally over. The demon of snores was defeated and laid to rest. We woke up with some anxiety as today we were on our own. The luxury of a toilet was not with us anymore. What we had at our disposal was an open field and a roll of toilet paper. The open field was strategically divided based on gender and as is always the case the number of male OTs was enormous. The male OTs marched towards the left side of the field as ladies are always right. The task of finding a hideout without going too far proved to be challenging. As OTs pursued in different directions, they encountered various land mines possibly laid by the previous trek groups. Tactfully avoiding stepping on them, we marched forward and when the pressure became overwhelming, we compromised with the partial visibility of such locations and made motion. All that time in the background we heard that old little limerick..
" नीले गगन के तले, सुबह के पाँच बजे, लोटा ले के चले !"
Post that, we found this natural stream coming from uphill that was the only source of water there and that became the place of all morning chores of washing teeth and what not. That water was so clean and tasted better than any mineral water bottle ever packed. Pristine. After having our breakfast, we started our day which was more or less easy as it was a downhill trek to Guttu the only issue being it proved to be more than 16 kms. As always, the trek details given to us proved wrong or possibly that is to trick the group by quoting shorter distances. Anyway, we seemed to have better coordination today and moved faster.
On the way we came across a hut where there was a group of goats and there was this white little 2-day old goat kid. Yes yes, baby goats are called as kids. The kid was so excited to see so many new human faces and started jumping up and down. Meanwhile the kid was entirely enjoying the play session with the OTs, it was unaware of the aspirations of some the hungry OTs. But of course better sense prevailed. When we resumed our trek, the kid started following us. Of course it was unaware of the heavily packed schedule of the Foundation Course here in Mussoorie. Eventually the owner had to come running to take it away.
On the way ahead, it was a pleasant surprise to meat Trek Group 9 which was coming uphill from Guttu. The charge was led by our very own Sawan Kumar who looked full of youth and energy. It was great to reunite with our friends although only ephemerally. We exchanged some gyan about the places where we had been and where the other group was scheduled to go. And since they had a long way uphill, we said goodbyes. We also stopped by a hut where the old lady offered us tea, lassi and buttermilk. The freshness of that milk symbolized the difference in country life and that of ours.
After that refreshing treat, we marched forward gushing through several rural households. But still the destination seemed far away. We had exhausted all our water and were thirsty like hell. We kept moving and checking out the houses but couldn't find anyone there. The taps on the way were as dry as our throats. Finally an old lady answered our calls and brought water for us. Now although we could have finished an entire tank but it occurred to us that these people might have went down all the way to the river to get this water and we should not finish their entire stock. After paying our regards, we marched again finally reaching the core area of the village. Some of us who reached the place pretty early had a lot of time to kill which we wisely utilized for food and a wonderful head massage at a local saloon.
When the entire group assembled, we proceeded to Budakedar. Now these five days had been really exhaustive and extensively draining. And ergo many in the group felt that possibly the Belak trek could be avoided so as to have the much needed rest. That was a wise call to make as not everyone has the same physical stamina and there is no point in taking chances. So an option was negotiated that those who wanted to rest would stay here at Budakedar meanwhile rest would continue the trek to Belak the other day. For the night stay at Budakedar, we had a school and a small guest house at our disposal and some of us volunteered to chose the school as the space in the guest house was limited. It was great to see this sense of voluntarism.
After this wonderful dinner in the school premises served by this local vendor, we retired in one of the classrooms of the school. And our worst fear came true yet again, the demon of snores had resurrected like a phoenix!
Click here to read about Day 6
" नीले गगन के तले, सुबह के पाँच बजे, लोटा ले के चले !"
Post that, we found this natural stream coming from uphill that was the only source of water there and that became the place of all morning chores of washing teeth and what not. That water was so clean and tasted better than any mineral water bottle ever packed. Pristine. After having our breakfast, we started our day which was more or less easy as it was a downhill trek to Guttu the only issue being it proved to be more than 16 kms. As always, the trek details given to us proved wrong or possibly that is to trick the group by quoting shorter distances. Anyway, we seemed to have better coordination today and moved faster.
On the way we came across a hut where there was a group of goats and there was this white little 2-day old goat kid. Yes yes, baby goats are called as kids. The kid was so excited to see so many new human faces and started jumping up and down. Meanwhile the kid was entirely enjoying the play session with the OTs, it was unaware of the aspirations of some the hungry OTs. But of course better sense prevailed. When we resumed our trek, the kid started following us. Of course it was unaware of the heavily packed schedule of the Foundation Course here in Mussoorie. Eventually the owner had to come running to take it away.
On the way ahead, it was a pleasant surprise to meat Trek Group 9 which was coming uphill from Guttu. The charge was led by our very own Sawan Kumar who looked full of youth and energy. It was great to reunite with our friends although only ephemerally. We exchanged some gyan about the places where we had been and where the other group was scheduled to go. And since they had a long way uphill, we said goodbyes. We also stopped by a hut where the old lady offered us tea, lassi and buttermilk. The freshness of that milk symbolized the difference in country life and that of ours.
After that refreshing treat, we marched forward gushing through several rural households. But still the destination seemed far away. We had exhausted all our water and were thirsty like hell. We kept moving and checking out the houses but couldn't find anyone there. The taps on the way were as dry as our throats. Finally an old lady answered our calls and brought water for us. Now although we could have finished an entire tank but it occurred to us that these people might have went down all the way to the river to get this water and we should not finish their entire stock. After paying our regards, we marched again finally reaching the core area of the village. Some of us who reached the place pretty early had a lot of time to kill which we wisely utilized for food and a wonderful head massage at a local saloon.
When the entire group assembled, we proceeded to Budakedar. Now these five days had been really exhaustive and extensively draining. And ergo many in the group felt that possibly the Belak trek could be avoided so as to have the much needed rest. That was a wise call to make as not everyone has the same physical stamina and there is no point in taking chances. So an option was negotiated that those who wanted to rest would stay here at Budakedar meanwhile rest would continue the trek to Belak the other day. For the night stay at Budakedar, we had a school and a small guest house at our disposal and some of us volunteered to chose the school as the space in the guest house was limited. It was great to see this sense of voluntarism.
After this wonderful dinner in the school premises served by this local vendor, we retired in one of the classrooms of the school. And our worst fear came true yet again, the demon of snores had resurrected like a phoenix!
Click here to read about Day 6
1 comment:
Nicely written. Come to know that ias have to do this type of things in training. You expressed everything so natural.
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