Nandadevi in the setting sun from Auli
Perhaps it is quite a matter of going overboard with our
feelings and ruing the luck that was not our companion in some matters that are
mundane, but at the same time that we can never revisit if missed out. And we,
in our middle age regret with uncontrolled difficulty. Then we gather and
decide, ‘well the others who follow me, my children should not stumble on to
the same desolate plateau’.
Let me be more candid. I mentioned in a few blog posts the
misfortune I had vis-à-vis the relationship with my father. I remember having
not felt or cared-I missed out on him when he was alive, when even we had those
showdowns and the autocracy he wielded only added to the distance, the chasm,
the gap. But the depth of the loss of having missed out on a vital aspect of
human relationship began haunting me, more when well into my later forties, (I
suppose it was also his case later in his life as well). And then when the
sudden gust of wind hits you, the rush of intense damp air – the realization
that, well you have now reached a phase in life from where the downhill journey
will begin in man’s ephemeral life span and you got to do something different
for your kids.
So I always wanted to provide my children, especially my son
things and moments that eluded my grasp while I grew up. Most of all the
closeness to the father! He was quite a temperamental fellow, critical than the
mould I’m, even while he was little and also in early teens. And taciturn too
like me.
I decided to go on a
travel with him. And it was the summer vacation in May five years ago. He was
15 then and just finished his ICSE 10th exams. The moments are so vivid in me.
He was back home and I planned the journey to the Himalayas- Kedarnath and Bhadari, (inspired by Balcahandran,). I
felt a trip with him to a new part of India would be a learning experience for
the boy and a soulful of gratification to me – experiencing the pleasure in a
reverse way. I mean giving something I could not get.
He was initially bit reluctant .But once we boarded the
flight from Coimbatore to New Delhi, he became quite at ease. We stayed in New
Delhi overnight and took the early morning Shathabdhi to Haridwar. It was the
second time he was in New Delhi. A few years prior four of us (I, C and the two
kids) together, made a triangle tour of Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi in winter.
It was good experience for the kids.
Haridwar was quite
warm and sweltering in the May heat. For the boy it was the beginning of a dawn
of realization, something he did not imagine. A kind of cultural shock, a bolt.
The dirt, the human excreta by the sides of the road, the muck, disease and the penury, the dust all-around
when we got off the train and walked to the bus station nearby to go to
Rishikesh! He became silent and gloomy, quite perplexed! We checked in at the
Rishikesh tourist lodge and went out in
the late afternoon for a stroll down the Ganga and the joolas. There were lepers and ailing people waiting
all around begging for alms. All that, I suppose made the little fellow very
distressed that he refused to walk further and wanted to go back. I cajoled him
to the ghat by the mighty river Ganga. He always trailed behind very irritated
and kept saying we go back home. Then, the argument began by the Ganga. He just
walked away from me. I could not leave him. He frowned and fumed and wanted to
know why I was following him. I felt miserable very miserable! I sat by the ghat
on the steps and I could still remember me crying, the ache in me. A dream was
turning sour! Or was it? I noticed
suddenly that he was missing for a while. I got panicky and ran around
frantically and utterly distressed and at last found him sitting elsewhere
further down by the ghats.
I felt that I might have to cancel the trip and get back to
Delhi. I spoke to C that evening to tell her A was upset about the whole thing.
She suggested I change plans and travel elsewhere with him, where he wanted or
even get back home. I asked him what he wanted. He refused to answer. That
night he slept without eating. Next morning, we had to take the bus well before
dawn to Gowrikund. At three in the morning I coaxed him out of bed. He was
still moody and till almost half of the nine hour journey he was not in his
elements. Then, just as the fickle weather in the Himalayan heights he changed,
became different and a child hanging one me, enjoying the journey.
En route to Kedhar
We had very good moments that evening in Gowrikund, a tiny
mountain hamlet. To make matters rather unpredictable again, I suddenly began
to feel chill and feverish. It seemed I was going to be stricken with fever. Fortunately,
the next morning I was feeling fine. He was first to wake and arise the next
morning at 4 ’o clock and we set off on the long climb of 17 kms to Kedarnath.
It was a fascinating journey. Of course both of us were not at ease with the
undisciplined pilgrims and their cacophony. They were missing the mountains and
with it their Gods! We drank from the mountain streams, ate chocolates for
energy and had a few encounters with Sadhus smoking bhang and marijuana in
their rock lair by the way side. I wished I could borrow their smoking chillums!
It took us almost 9 hours to walk the serpentine climb.
The peak at Kedhar
When Kedhar welcomed us with its snowy shining peaks he was
thrilled. I enjoyed his happiness. We went around the town. The temple were
they have faithfully incarcerated Lord Kedhanath was too crowded. I wondered how God can be
comfortable in that melee and the unrelenting petitions and lobbying from
pilgrims and devotees. We were fascinated how he would handle his misery. I
suppose he vanished from the shrine long ago and moved further up into the
inaccessible snow clad, wind Cold Mountain. Far from his maddening devotees. It
was six in the evening and was fast getting dark. We devoured a good meal of
rotti, dal fry and sabji. Now either we hang around the night and try our luck
of getting space to sleep or must descend. But it was not so wise either way
and a storm was gathering. It was going to be risky walking back in the dark.
We fixed a deal with two ghardwali men
and for Rs 500 per head they agreed to give us two mules for the downhill
journey. A, enjoyed the precarious ride on the mule in the heavy rain and over
the tricky terrain. I was hollering the hell out in panic. And A was smiling
and laughing, all the while enjoying the ride on the mule. The mule-men were
irritated with my moaning and were laughing amongst themselves at my precarious
perch on the mule. One said to the other, “ye ladka teekk hai. Wow admi
pagal”.And one said, certainly not thoughtful of my knowledge of Hindi, “Arey,
chillana math”.
We reached back at Gowrikund by eight at night. A, asked me why I was throwing tantrums all
the way down and shouting like a kid. He was laughing at the comedy that I was,
on the journey on the mule.
I felt immensely happy that he was enjoying the travel, the
togetherness at last!
Next morning we traveled by bus and broke journey at the ski
resort of Auli where we stayed for a couple of days .Being the height of summer
and the absence of snow was indeed disappointing. We went to Bhadarinath from Auli , before coming back to camp at Joshi
Math and then traveled back to New Delhi. There were quite a few moments to
cherish for both, ordeals as well!
At Auli a moment
He now wants to redo the tour with me. I jestfully tell him,
“not me anymore with you”. Now he has grown out of teens, he is twenty and went
with a couple of friends of his to a remote mountain side in Utarakand. They
even went to Rishikesh and set off on white water river rafting. And elsewhere
near Kasol, even were caught unawares in a hailstorm in the forest. They lost
their way and spent the night in the forest. He travelled second class “two
way’’ from Thpuram. A fifty two hour journey one way and he wanted it so .Journey
in second class (cattle class) on Indian Rail is the surest way of understanding,
knowing the throb of India. He understood quite a bit of what life in India is
all about and he has many more miles to go to understand much. That it is not
the comparative cocoon of comfort and security that some children like he is
fortunate to have.
He wants to plan another trip up north soon. He has begun to
enjoy moments that eluded me while I was his age! I guess, at long last, I
could also give something I could not experience, feel or enjoy!