Things I learned from my Pantars

Who am I? An Introvert? An Ambivert? After a lot of thought I figured I am just a difficult person, who has many insecurities and so finds it difficult to socialize and stay in touch with people. And yet, I haven’t been kicked out of this group for over four years now.

‘Pantar Log’ is what has stuck as our group name. I am fortunate to have come across each of these ‘pantars’. They have added immensely to my being. Here’s a glimpse.

I recall the first year college days when like everyone even I was trying to fit in, look cool. Using cuss words for no reason is one of the lamest way to look cool. Oh my, and I even tried to.

While the f word is the most common, I uttered bastard to someone quite smoothly. And then after a while, Shantanu pops up and asks me ‘do you even know what bastard means?’

I sunk in a pool of thought and wondered what I was doing to fit in. From then on each word I ever uttered got refined before being used. Even each word I write is looked back at to see its worth.

I owe it Shaan to have popped that question to me so early in my college life. It definitely made a huge difference in the way I behaved and behave today, the words I used in college and do today. Such a simple question but a big learning of making each thing uttered count.

What are you doing Christine?

Working on this art piece…

Reading for this write up…

Listening to this new thing…

That is Christine for me in a nutshell. Always a surprise, constantly on something. Even when she is chilling with us or other friends, she is the one who will begin some interesting conversation of something nobody in the group will have a clue of.

I get bored of one thing too soon. But I envy how this girl loves to know things well in depth. She is only human and has her lazy days but whenever she has worked on something, I have adored it.

My bond with Joanne has been very weird. I have bonded with others from the first year. But, with Jo I think we were two similar in few ways and hence repelled. We both have our set of insecurities and it was tough to break the ice between us.

But, in third year, we both took the same specialization and the pressure of last year in college helped to melt the ice. We looked out for each other with notes, on the Industrial Visit etc and in time I felt foolish to have not attempted to know her more all these years.

Nonetheless, Joanne has taught me that nothing is permanent. If you put enough efforts into people you can shape the bond you have with them. With time, I and Jo are now able to be there for each other when in need. Life just feels better to know I have a friend which perhaps I would have lost to my stupid insecurities.

If there is one person who I will award to have successfully for years being able to carry his heart on his sleeves, it has to be Iyyer. He wasn’t from our college and I haven’t met him enough times, but this boy has always managed to surprise me.

There is no dull moment with him around. Some people do not like people like him who say so much truth on the face, but I love it. If I can be even little expressive as he is about anything and everything he feels, I would feel better.

He doesn’t share what is deep within him, but his views on whatever is happening is always out there to know. I haven’t been lucky enough to see his emotional side but hopefully someday I’ll. Whatever little I know of him, I have things to learn and imbibe.

Amongst us eleven, we all have a few people we are closer to than the rest as we are all humans and we have our favourites. But this has never come in way whenever it comes to helping someone in our group for something.

I said the above because, I never got denied by any of these pantars for any help. I didn’t either, but Jenny is another level. I have being helped by her when she could have easily chosen not to. Why so kind Jenny? Will I ever be able to be that kind and selfless, ever?

My existence in this group can be traced back to when Vanessa added me to the group. I obviously owe it to her but there is much more than that.

I remember, I had a family emergency and I called her saying I can’t make it for the project work. She could have asked me questions, perhaps yelled but she just sensed my tone and said okay.

Next day I met her, told her whatever happened and thanked her for understanding. She is otherwise the clown who makes everyone else also go quirky and laugh but the loving soul within is pure gold.

Apart from Vanessa someone who is blessed to tolerate my audio notes of fuckall singing is Aashish. What would why I do if you hadn’t heard my audio notes. I suck at singing is a difficult truth which these both helped me accept. But moreover, Aashish helped me accept myself. It is okay to suck at something. It is okay to not know everything, and that we all have some or the other insecurities.

This boy says it bleeds his ears to listen to me sing and that it will affect his music career and what not. But, has still always opened each of my audio notes & recently wrote to me that he has it all treasured.

For a year I sent and still do to a few, audio notes on birthdays. I sing some song I relate to them as a birthday wish and explain why I chose a particular song. This wouldn’t have been possible without the random audio notes to Aashish.

Common thing that people say about friends is that they change. But, there is one bond I share that has not changed, just grown. It is with Lynston. He is the sarcastic fellow of the group, who can take your case and make you smile about it too.

But nothing has changed between us since the time we know each other. We have been there in need for each other no matter what. He is a person of less words and I too do not share too often nor too easily. We do not know each other’s deepest secrets but that doesn’t ever come in way when we wish to help each other.

The two people who I am crazily attached to among the pantars are Felicia and Omkar. I have learned to understand the importance of self-love and self care with these two. If I am ever low on confidence or otherwise, they are my go to source of some love and care. I would be complete retard full of doubts if I had never known these two. There is more I learned from them, have a read here.

From day one of knowing all Pantars to the bond I share with each of them today, many things have happened. Our college festivals, other college festivals, general festivity, learning under various kinds of teachers, IV madness and so much more.

We lived through it all and only grown as people and as a group. I am sure we will embrace the big change happening soon with love and grace. I am blessed to have them, and hopefully write another post on them a decade later. Cheers to that!

August 26, 2018

River Baby

In the recent past, I have opened up with all possible human emotions to the dear river.

I have whined about life, wept about it, I have laughed and danced around it, I have cried out of sheer joy and spoken about so many emotions I didn’t know existed within me.

I have walked through many mountains and forests. I have seen many various forms of nature. I wondered, why, why is it that I connect to the river then?

The Flow

Rivers have a constant flow. This is the prime attraction and learning from a river. To keep going, no matter what.

I am bad with letting go of things, people, and emotions. I take everything too seriously and when it is time to let go of something, I just can’t. Sometimes, I pile up so much of crap in me which shouldn’t have bothered me at the first place that it makes me very uncomfortable.

The moment I am alone near a river, I think of all the things I should let go of. A bad relation, a stupid fight, an awful day, a big mistake, anything that is making me cringe within. I spend the last moments with this thoughts and emotions and finally let go of them.

The Rocks

Have you noticed the rocks around a river? Have you seen how the water cuts through these rocks? Have you seen the water flow between these rocks especially near a waterfall?

Every time I notice this, I have a strong motivation to do something. The power that the water has to be able to shape rocks around makes me believe that even I can do something, write something thought provoking enough to mold some minds for the better. I feel powerful.

There is a stark difference in the rocks that lay under the water for long and the rocks that never. The rocks underwater are always soft, often known as pebbles. Rocks otherwise are sharp and can even give a good wound.

The pebbles and sharp rocks according to my understanding are people who either wish to know perspectives or stay rigid with their own. The pebble kind of people are ready to dive deep and stay there to know you, know your perspective. The sharp rock kind of people are just the opposite. But the catch here is to be like the river and flow through all these people without letting any affect your pace of flow.

123 — One of the poems, I wrote on my bond with the river

The Life

Water is life is a known fact. We all take so much from the rivers, do we ever consider what its life is like?

A river begins on some mountain-top, flows through a forest perhaps and reaches some other water body in the plains. It tries to flow through everything that it faces to reach a destination it isn’t even aware of. It knows only one thing that it can’t stay where it is.

As it is set on this journey without a destination in mind, it feeds a few creatures and humans on the way, it dances and has fun with the big rocks. It lives free and with its happy sound spreads joy all over.

Unfortunately, the joyous journey becomes a horror one when we do our best to kill this joy. The plastic trash around rivers, cutting down of trees and much more. We know about it, we are all guilty in one way or other.

What if rivers cease to exist? What if there is no single river left who has a happy journey? This thought makes me cringe. Every time I see a dead river with trash all over, I mourn. I will hopefully work on this cause. I believe that the life-giving river that teaches me much more should last forever.

This post is a glimpse of why I am a River Baby and a few ways in which I connect to rivers. There is much more I’ll learn from a river. What are your thoughts? DM me for a conversation on Insta @nisha_navgire

August 20, 2018

Why I suck!

I was thinking about ways to put forth how I am managing various emotional and practical situations in my life when I realized I suck at doing so. And here is a glimpse of it.

Unrealistic Expectations

I had an adventurous trek last Sunday to Songiri fort with my cousin Sanish. We were lost twice and it was a miracle that we actually made it to the top of the fort. After coming down we had fun near a waterfall and head back home with a smile.

I wrote and posted my last week’s blog and head out for some work. And people were going crazy. It was a day to celebrate friendship. I saw a friend bring for his ‘best friend’ chicken biryani and my heart sunk.

I came back home and felt so low for not having a friend in my life that would bring me chicken biryani. Only to realize, one, though I love biryani, I am not a foodie plus a lot moody about food and all my friends know this. Two, I don’t communicate with many people to have many friends in life.

Three, if I hadn’t stepped out, I wouldn’t have felt so. And also the fact that I replied to all the happy friendship’s day messages with my blog link.

It is silly to be a not-so-people-person at heart and yet expect to be loved liked one. I mean, my mind just fucked up a beautiful trek day for me with a silly unrealistic expectation.

Being a Super Human

I have an assignment submission end of September and last month I began working on it. It was very difficult to get back to studying after eight months of working. Body got used to not using head and following the lead of a person without a head.

It was tough to break that and start using some brain for learning concepts, ideas, examples and writing them down for the assignment. This is why I planned to study one answer a day, and only one subject a week.

It has been three weeks and I got good at it. It is funny how I started loving what I was studying and my new study routine for three weeks while I hated my job even after eight months of working.

But, now that I was being human, my mind said, why not try to be a superhuman? I added more study time in my routine. I kept adding all small to big task my mom expects of me. If that wasn’t enough, I added some more personal fitness, reading, and writing goals.

Obviously, my mind and body both couldn’t handle it after two days of following the new routine. I drained myself so much that I couldn’t move from my bed for a week.

Trying to fit in

I got close to someone my age recently. We connected on various levels and had a blast. But, this bond made me realize how disconnected I am from people my age.

I am a morning person and my entire class in college was the opposite. I didn’t find a single colleague who loved mornings. I was proud of this fact.

However, when I was talking to this person, throughout the day there wasn’t much sharing but at night there was a strong connection. I began to shift my routine. My close friends were shocked to see me online after ten thirty but it was going to get worse.

Morning time has for years been my ‘me time’. I have tea with mom, followed by some reading and writing. Now it had turned to no morning tea with mom, late night conversations, late morning breakfast with delayed lunch and study routine.

Finally, my mom pointed it out to me and I snapped. I told her to let me live my age, this is how youngsters live and I haven’t for years, and it is high time I do.

Comparisons

The best way to feel that you suck is to compare. What a feeling it is to see yourself as an ant in front of the mighty Taj of someone’s life. It sucks so much that you began to question your existence.

Three years back, I built up courage, began this blog after I gave up on all the comparisons. But little did I know I would go crashing back at it.

Daily there are updates about a beautiful trip, an amazing boyfriend, a fun family, a huge house, crazy fun colleagues and what not. It sucks to see even your college juniors prosper and work so much more than you ever did.

I have unrealistic expectations, I try to be superhuman, I always wish to fit in and to top it all I can’t stop all the comparisons. I am very harsh on me and I know it, this is why I suck. But hey, I am trying to deal with it. In these ways or others, I know you suck too and I hope we all sail through.

This post is obviously to point out that I suck, but more about helping you not to. If you relate to this post, let’s chat, @nisha_navgire on Insta!

August 11, 2018

A True Friend

“You talk the most, to yourself the entire day, so make sure, you talk well”

I don’t remember the exact quote or the name of the writer but it meant what I managed to write above. And this line is important because you can lie to your best friend but not to yourself. In this busy world, try to find a true friend in no one else but within you.

How to find a true friend within you? Simple, as you have found all your friends in life. Don’t know how to do that? Read on to find out.

“You watched Zakir Khan stand up?

Yes, of course.

And it leads to an hour talk on his jokes, which one is funniest, comedy overall etc. Instantly, a relatable conversation sparks up the start point of a friendship. Spark up a question to yourself, why do you enjoy Zakir Khan’s comedy? Answer that and you’ll have a little window open within you.

Another reason why people bond is they receive and reciprocate care and concern. Two people who try to be there for each other through thick and thin are said to be the best pals. You know who the one-two or if you are lucky five-six people are, who will be by your side, no matter how much you screw up.

But hey, when was the last time you took a day off for you? Did nothing but spent time reading, went for a spa, took to the art gallery or anything that relaxes you. Your body is all you got and showering some love for no reason is something you should try.

Over the years, the way we make friends, the way we bond has sure changed. I remember mom recalling in her college days she went for one movie only, they would all bond only during their study time and community functions.

Today, it is all over the place. You can talk on the phone, you can chat, you can go to movies, go to the mall, go to the stadium for a match, or to a club or a coffee house. The options are plenty.

The idea of how and where you bond transformed, but not the reason. Man is a social animal and will always like to be around people to talk, have fun and connect. It is a part of being a human.

The best way to stay connected to what you are is by meeting your old friend. Take your phone and call the oldest friend on the list and maybe if lucky, try to have a meet. It will be like looking into a mirror and watching your own transformation as a person.

‘I don’t know how to stay in touch with people’ I said

‘What do you mean?’ a colleague intrigued.

‘I don’t do math usually but I am in touch with two people from school, two people from junior college, and at the moment close to only two people from senior college’

‘Oh, that a weird math. But, if you wish to stay in touch with people, just text or call them randomly’

I can’t do that. Only if I could, I would be in touch with more people today. I tried to explain so to my colleague this a year ago, but she didn’t get it. I can’t chat on my phone with more than three-four people at a time. I can’t call someone every other day and talk randomly. This is how I am and I have been for years.

Have you faced something similar? If not, you are way too cool than I am. But, if you are as weird with this whole maintaining friends thing, high-five! Hopefully, we sail through this.

This is also the problem that we face while finding the true friend within us. I mean who can maintain taking a day off every month? Loner is what you will be called. You might even be called a retard.

I have faced it and I know it. But it is important to maintain that connection with you. It can get challenging and if not a best friend, try to find at least a friend. Try to know yourself. Try to understand why you did what you did. Accept your flaws, appreciate your efforts, improve and excel your abilities.

I am sure you will wish many people a happy friendship day, but, I hope you think about finding a true friend within you. It might sound creepy or it might sound wonderful, but I hope you give it a try.

August 4, 2018

5 Travel Essentials

There can be many essentials to carry when traveling but the following are a pure no-no. If you ever went on a trip and didn’t enjoy, you probably need to take notes. There are my five travel essentials I tick mark surely before I leave.

1 No Guilt

There can be a whole big list of trips I have had with the guilt of missing something important. A friend’s birthday, family occasion, some interview and what not. Throughout these many guilt trips, I have had the evident company of sorrow with a toss of weird emotional state.

Back when I began trekking and having big vacations, I was in college and would only have weekends to spend time doing something else. And so there would be some family gatherings or a night out at a friend’s place or something planned for the weekend.

It was still manageable back then as I would meet these important people during the week and make up for not being there for the weekend and traveling instead. But now that all work, missing a weekend gathering gives a bigger guilt.

After ruining a few trips, I added this to my checklist before I leave. I spoke with two of closest friends and told them why traveling is important for me. They have a better backstory of my life and they got it. It gets difficult, but now they always know when I am heading out and all our night outs and meets are planned way ahead.

2 No Emotional Baggage

How are guilt and emotional baggage different? Well, here I mean, if there is something is bothering you real bad, it is sucking the life out of you, it can be anything, big or small, don’t let it be in the way of you having fun on a trip, instead use the trip as a way to let go of it and feel lighter.

I have a habit of overthinking and it sucks. I still remember years back, I had a small argument with a very close friend before I left for a trip and I didn’t enjoy the day at all. It was so bad I couldn’t stop whining about the fight to a few I was traveling with.

I realized instead of being there and enjoying with people I was with, I spread gloomy vibes. Only if I could go back and change that day, and be a better person, I would. But hey, that day gave me this pointer. If you are an emotional fool like me, make sure you don’t miss ticking this off.

3 No Responsibility

This is one a little more subjective than the ones above. I am a responsible head otherwise. I have taken charge of things, people and situations and have done well. But, when I travel, I love to be with myself.

It is purely my time, where I get all my thoughts out and just be me. Be amidst nature and feel the love around without a single thought about the real world back home.

Last week I had been to Gorakhgadh and I trekked it with an eleven-year-old girl. It was her first ever trek. I saw the entire fort through her eyes, her observations, her happiness, her care and concern for others, her idea of fun and laughter. It was beautiful.

But, the entire climb up and down with her, I was worried. For this trip, she was my kiddo, she was my responsibility. It was different and difficult. I am not good with kids in general who are big enough to speak. I get very awkward, shy, or I don’t know why very conscious. But this kiddo was different.

Among the many things I learned from her, I surely figured that I can’t travel with someone’s responsibility. It was a fun trip with her but it isn’t something I can do often. I can do such a trip once in a while but not too often.

4 No Health Issue

This is the most important one and you should definitely add this to your checklist. I have traveled with a cough cold and fever and managed. But, always listen to your body, it does tell you if you can or cannot do something.

Do not mix this with the feeling of fear. Feeling sick out of fear is normal, but if there is something severe, just don’t go. Oh, yes, I have traveled sick and that trip is one of the worst I ever had.

I just had to travel and so I head out. But that day I realized when you are sick you slow down the entire group. You aren’t able to enjoy much and you kind of spoil it for others too.

I don’t even let someone carry my bag even if it is extremely heavy and the climb extremely difficult. If I am not able to carry one bag, how would someone carry two? Don’t let your health issue or any sort of physical trouble spoil someone’s fun. Stay back home and if you head out, give it all you got.

5 No Virtual Presence

I have made it a habit for my mom now that on one-day trips I call her only once when I began my journey back home and on two-day trips, I call her twice. On bigger trips, I call her once in two days. This is because of a simple rule I follow that is to use my phone only to click pictures, take videos and call mom once.

My phone is full time on airplane mode to save battery too as I still own an old Moto phone. If you have read my previous travel posts and loved how I connect to nature and people around, add this to your checklist and make sure to do it. This will help you be more present in the place you are more than just physically.

There is not a single trip I had where I haven’t followed this rule since my first ever trek. And the results have been beautiful. If not always, try this on your next travel, do let me know how it works for you.

These are five travel essentials I check before I head out. It may or may not work for you as they are purely subjective to my travel experiences but hey, if you try any of these, or do follow any, I would love to know your story.

July 28, 2018

Embracing Uncertainty

I was down there, on my bathroom floor, sobbing. I have done so before for legit reasons but this was the first time I didn’t know the reason. It was just a burst out of an amalgamation of many emotions at once.

Usually, I don’t share feelings. I write out to myself, cry and get done with. This is how I have grown. This is how I have lived. But each time I have dealt with something this way in the past, I was certain of what I am feeling, and what it was that I was dealing with.

But a few days back, I was sobbing in the bathroom without a clue. Only to realize after hours of being there, it was just ‘adulting’!

Last April I got done with my graduation and from then life has been nothing but chaos. I had a fun vacation to Manali and Ladakh in May. The following June I trekked every weekend to the Sahydaris. After which my mom retired from her first job after working there for 37 years and I managed to land upon my first job ever.

I didn’t think much at all. I just went with the flow. The May trips were pre-planned nothing after that. I took up a job because I had zero clarity about if I wished to do masters and if yes in what field. Luckily, with the soul-sucking job I managed to deal for eight months made me realize that yes, I should surely do further studying and am not so ready to be strangled in the work cycle yet.

It is easy to write down the above paragraph today, but living the last year of my life wasn’t so. I am the kind of person who loves to plan and wishes to follow them. If you know Monica from FRIENDS and how she loves rules and discipline, I relate to that side of her. And now imagine going through such chaos about masters, about doing a job etc.

The May trips made me write to me that I shall try to visit the Himalayas once a year at least. The treks after that helped me understand that I can’t stay away from the Sahyadris. Mom’s retirement made me grow closer to her. My first job molded me in many ways.

I faced my first failure at my first job. I dealt with a horrible workspace and a relatively dizzy boss. But this job and people I met helped me getting regular with my craft as I began blogging weekly.

So the chaos that I went through, lead to something good. Now I am dealing with a different set of uncertainty altogether. Earlier the uncertainty was whether masters or working. Now it is more like, what if after doing this master I figure this is not what I want, what if this is a wrong decision? What if I waste years of my life?

Unknowingly, in the past year, I embraced the uncertainty and started blogging weekly, realized my love for writing and traveling. And this is my hope to embrace all these thoughts in my head right now, the reason I sobbed, the uncertainty about the master, the fear of failure again.

I am embracing all these thoughts, all this uncertainty, in hope that it will turn out to be good, it will all sort out and fit in.

I don’t know in what phase of life you are right now, and what is it that you are dealing with. I just penned down a bit of what I faced and am facing and how I am dealing with it. If nothing I hope you take from this that there is no escape from the chaos and embracing the uncertainty without giving up is the only way forward.

July 20, 2018

Why I travel

‘So what are up to these days?’ An aunty visiting home enquired.

‘Some studying and some traveling’

‘Oh, good you are studying, but why do you travel?’

This is the first time ever an aunty visiting home made me think. I believe in ‘ignorance is bliss’ when such people come home, but this time it was different. I jabbered some ‘I like to travel because…’ answer to her but wasn’t satisfied. I began to find the reason why I travel.

As a kid, I didn’t like the environment in the house. I would always try to escape being home, be it going out to play, going for a picnic etc. It made me happy to be out of the home. We didn’t go on trips every summer, but I cherish the few times we did.

I loved these few picnics we had because it helped me escape from the usual vibe. This is the root cause of me loving to be outdoors though now I have found better reasons. I would go crazy and have fun on this trips because I knew I couldn’t do so back home.

In secondary school, it was the thing to brag about trips and travels one has had. It wasn’t the generation of phones and selfies but I remember friends getting photo albums to school and bragging about the beautiful trips to Matheran, Mahabaleshwar etc. Sometimes these albums would include photos of the places but more often it was the family members trying hard to pose on or with a horse, outside some temple or monument etc.

IMG_20180715_173338130 — This picture was taken exactly a decade ago when posing as such and getting the photo this kind of frame was cool.

I no more am an escapist and the vibe at home over the years got better. Now I just like to escape my daily routine and be in nature. But the instinct to still be crazy and have fun when I am out is predominantly there!

I am the quiet one otherwise, but when outdoors, I am the one initiating conversations, singing, dancing and trying to have fun and making sure others do too. It is another level of happiness to make people comfortable on trips and having fun with them.

I am not the kind who likes to flaunt my travel. As a kid, I didn’t have anything to and now when I do travel, I don’t wish to. It is more about sharing what I learned than flaunting the pretty photos. Social media has made it easy to flaunt your life but I try my best to be kind who shares knowledge.

It has been two years since my first big trip and more than two years since I began regular trekking. Now, I have come to space where I connect to nature, where every travel is more about being able to spend time in nature, being able to connect with the environment.

Be it a forest walk, a mountain climb, hugging a tree, hugging a stone, opening up to rivers, I have done it all. I connect to every aspect of nature differently and learn from each in a different way. My subconscious has questions that nature breaks down and gives answers to in its own unique way.

A poem about what I learned from the clouds. Check my Insta @nisha_navgire for more.

The people I travel with and the people I meet, both add so much more learning to my being. This is another reason I always look forward to every trip because there hasn’t been a single trip with the exact same people as the previous one. There is always someone new adding a new flavor.

I travel because I wish to do something different from my routine. I travel because I connect to different elements of nature and learn from each. I travel because learning about a new place and sharing the stories about the same gives me joy. I travel because I learn from people I travel with and people I meet and all of this together adds to my being. The next time this aunty visits, I will have the answer to why I travel.

July 15, 2018

Siddhagadh Photo Story

After summers, the first monsoon trek is the most awaited thing. It wasn’t even a week I was back from Spiti and I was going back to the mountains, I was excited. To my delight, we were going to have a bike ride to the base village of Siddhagadh. I couldn’t be happier, as I believe monsoon and bike rides are just made for each other!

PhotoGrid_1531197474659 — An epiphyte is when a plant grows on another tree or plant. We noticed this tree with two different kinds of leaves on our way and it could be an epiphyte.

One can go Siddhagadh via Narivalli village and from there it is the highest fort climb in Maharashtra. But we took another way through Jamburdhe village which cuts around an hour’s climb.

We parked our vehicles and just before we began to walk, we noticed this old well. Such sources of water on and around the forts in Maharashtra is common. My eyes were pleased to see some purple flowers adding to the green colour scheme around. For the first time, I saw houses with a block that had the year written on it. My friends said it is the year these houses were made but I am not sure of this.

As we were walking we found this two things. The one on the left is microbial in origin. It could be slimy fungal species or a slime layer produced by some bacterial species. The one on the right is a common mushroom one can find on monsoon treks in the Shyadris.

We reached the caves. We took pictures and left. Later, we noticed the Ganpati on the bottom right corner of this image.

There are a few difficult rock patches and if you are new to Sahyadris, kindly be more careful. I and a new friend who also searched the slimy bacteria for me were having fun as we climbed together.

There is a ‘nandi’ and ‘shivling’ at the top of the fort. But they weren’t placed together as they should be as seen in temples. We were waiting for a few and it began to rain heavily with strong breeze too. I was so happy, I sang and danced until all arrived.

After exploring the fort, we took a different way down and came across a beautiful old door. We walked past it and reached a temple. It had ‘shivlings’ and ‘nandis’ found around the place kept together. There was also a broken ‘tof’ kept ourside the temple.

There were also this stone structures called ‘virghals’ kept around the temple. These structures are found around many forts in Maharashtra. They depict the history of the maker of the fort.

Saw this colourful leaves just before we reached back to our vehicles.

The walk down got more slippery but it was worth it. We had some hot tea before we began our ride back home. I can surely count this trek as one of my favourite monsoon trek experiences.

July 10, 2018

My Spiti Saga – IV

There are two ways to reach Spiti Valley. One is through Manali crossing Lahual before reaching Spiti from Kumzum Pass (15,059 ft). This route gets cut off during winters. The southern route from Kinnaur from Shimla is an all-season route. We took the southern route to reach and left Spiti Valley by crossing Kumzum Pass.

A headache in the mountains means a symptom of altitude sickness. When I got out of my bed I was so relieved to know my headache was gone. Do read about altitude sickness before you head to the mountains, prevention is always better than cure!

As planned we ate breakfast and reached Koumik. It is the highest village with a motorable road in Asia and is at a height of 15,027 feet above sea level. The land is considered barren for cultivation. And like many parts of Ladakh, it is cut off completely from the rest of the country during winters.

We entered the Lundap Tsemo Gompa Monastery, famous for being the highest motorable monastery in the world. The 14th-century monastery has a fortified castle made of slanted mud walls, representing the murals, scriptures, and arts. This Monastery has ‘Matrey Buddha’ or ‘the future Buddha’ and believed to be the one who looks after the village.

I was observing the place is awe when Sir mentioned that Koumik village has severe water struggles. He gave us time to take pictures of the place and spend time in the village. When I stepped out, I saw a local drinking water from a stream and I approached him.

I drank water with him and initiated a conversation. He told me that for two years they have a ‘kull’ (like a dam) that has reduced their water problems. And the information about land being barren turned out to be false as he said they do cultivate peas, coriander among a few leafy vegetables too. They mostly cultivate it for their homes but sell the rest in Hikkim, a village 5km from Koumik.

According to the man I conversed with not water but a hospital is a bigger concern. There is only a dispensary that they have access to which is also in Hikkim. On the brighter side, I was happy to see a school at such a height. This proved the importance that people have for education here.

Now we left for Hikkim, this place is known for it has the world’s highest post office. No other place at such a height has a post office! Sir being Sir had carried postcards for all of us and everyone sent postcards.

I like to write but it is a task to write to someone and give it to them. I have books filled with thank you letters, birthday letters, random poems I have written for people and never given. So obviously, I wasn’t thinking I’ll be sending postcards.

But something in me challenged me. I wrote and sent four postcards from Hikkim. I was so emotional on the ride back from Hikkim because I couldn’t believe I did it. A part of me was hoping that the postcards don’t reach. A part of me was dying to know when it reaches!

With such mixed feelings, I got down at the next stop. It looked like a beautiful patch of green land with mountains at the back. It was a fossil bed. Sir asked us to find fossils. I couldn’t but a few in our group did find fossils. This fossil bed is little away from Hikkim on the way to Kaza near a stream.

After lunch, we left for Manali, a long bus journey from Kaza. I decided not to sleep and watch the change in terrain like I had done on the ride from Kalka to Sangla. I was done with singing, but as I looked at the mountains and streams pass by, my mind couldn’t stop playing something.

After crossing the beautiful Kumzum Pass, we reached Baatal. We were now to face the most difficult road patch according to Raju, our beloved driver. He was so scared that it was evident on his face. But we managed to cross it and do so before it got dark.

It was dusk but someone was out to say hi. It was a big full moon smiling at us between the big mountains. It looked grand and gorgeous! The smile became brighter as I saw the sky become darker. This transition from dusk to dark was the most enchanting one I ever saw!

We stopped for a pee break after which people in bus asked me to sit ahead, next to the driver. I couldn’t have asked for more. The moonlight reflecting off the ice made the ride sparkly! I took videos for a few people and we sang some beautiful songs.

The sparkling road, the smiling moon, some breeze and my mind singing romantic songs for the moon, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to cross the Rohtang pass!

We reached Manali late in the evening, had some dinner and slept. Next day we spent some good time in Van Vihar forest and also visited the famous Hadimba temple. We saw the Nagar Castle and also Roerich’s museum. After lunch, we headed to our meet with Dr. Vaji Varghese at his place.

IMG_20180529_130012166 — Mesmerizing pine trees of Van Vihar forest

He has worked with many people around Spiti Valley for various illnesses and has tremendous experience working in Manali from the time he came here in 1979. He showed us pictures he clicked of people and places as he traveled. We saw some jaw-dropping pictures of Zanskar Valley and more likely, next May that is where we will head!

Sir gave us the night to explore eateries around Manali and be back by 9pm to the stay. We had some good dinner and wine and got back to the stay just in time. The rest of the night was spent well laughing, joking and making the time together worthwhile.

The next day we left for Jibi. We reached in the night, had some delicious dinner and slept. I attempted to talk to people now. This is how my mind is, usually quiet and loves to be away from people, but when the trip is going to end, like a reflex, blabbers with everyone around!

Early morning we left for the waterfall. The walk to this waterfall is one of the most serene walks I have had during this entire trip with dark, lush green trees around. I felt like walking into the soul of a forest and the serene look of the waterfall felt like reaching the heart of it!

After spending some calm time we came back and left for Chehni Kothi. It is believed that Chehni Kothi was built in the 17^th century by Kind Dhadu therefore also referred to as Dhahiya Kothi at times. The tower is assumed to be used as both temple and a watch-tower.

The architecture of Chehni Kothi is a special technique known as Kath-Khuni where blocks of stone and wood are placed alternatively to create a strong earthquake-proof structure. This sort of architecture even the Nagar Castle had and also some structures seen at Chitkul.

After lunch, we went to Bahu Temple. This temple is in the middle of a beautiful pine forest. It is famous for it has an offering place where there is a lot of iron offerings done by people. There are wheels, trishuls, cookers etc found as offerings.

On the way back it started to rain. It was such an amazing feeling, amidst tall pine trees rain trying to find its way and kissing me. I felt so loved on the way back, I couldn’t help but smile all the way through.

We had some dinner and slept. I talked to a few people for a while before I dozed off. Next day Sir took us to the waterfall again. It was the last thing after which we left for Kalka. Yes, it was going to be a goodbye mountains moment and I wasn’t really prepared.

We got up and we reached the waterfall, and Sir asked us to do our own thing, to bid goodbye our own way. I looked at the waterfall for a while, after which I started following the stream down.

It is so easy for me to open up to flowing water. I talked about the entire trip, about everything good and bad, and about the challenges that lay ahead once I am back. This time, I didn’t cry, this time I smiled. I was happy and content with a cherishing experience and I promised to stay happy once back home.

We left for Kalka later that day. We reached by evening, had dinner and slept. Next day morning we took the train back to Bombay. This time the train journey wasn’t weird. I had managed to build some good bonds with people. I surely had many moments to cherish again and again with people and also the places. Blessed is the word I truly felt as the overall vibe of the trip.

July 2, 2018

My Spiti Saga – III

Spiti Valley was ruled by Sen Kings. In the 7th century was annexed by the kingdom of Ladakh and in the 10th century was given to one of the three sons of the King of Ladakh. Hence, the living of Spiti is similar to that in Ladakh. This is the third post in my series and I hope you enjoy the read!

I got up and got ready. Before we left our room with luggage, I took a picture of the view from our room. In my head, bid goodbye to Tabo and headed to the bus with my bags. After loading all our bags, we had breakfast, took some packed lunch and left for Mane Village. We began our trek to Mane as soon as we reached the village.

IMG_20180526_052848355 — Me: Goodbye Tabo!

Tabo: here, take this flower as a souvenir.

In the start, the terrain was similar to that of Lari but later land became much more firm for a proper grip. The walk became a struggle for a few people and Anish Dada came to the rescue. He asked the few people who were finding it difficult, to walk ahead. Everyone was instructed to follow them. He made sure they walked at their pace, took enough rest and didn’t give up even if they felt like.

He didn’t ask of me anything, but I felt the need to help him. I tried that there is no big gap developed in the middle from the people ahead and Sir at the back. I walked with the last person and made sure there was not a real big gap anytime throughout the walk and that all walked almost together.

As I did so, I figured I wasn’t walking at my pace. I was walking very slowly to match up with whoever was being left behind. This made me more tired but I saw Anish Dada ahead doing the same and I kept walking.

I love climbing mountains, and here we were going to do nothing but just climb mountains the entire day. I was overjoyed by the scenic beauty around, though I wasn’t at my walking pace, I was in my happy place!

I missed my usual dance partner but it was time I find a new one and I did. I did London Thumakda twice with her, once my steps, later her steps. I think we did one for the camera as well. I am surprised how I always manage to bully at least one person to dance with me.

Dancing alone couldn’t release my happy hormones, I had to pour it out and so I began to sing. I changed my playlist depending on the level of struggle of the person I was walking with.

We reached Mane Lake. It was dry land. According to our guide, this time of the year, it would have water years back. Sir always says that ‘you don’t realize climate change and global warming until you see it’ and this is extremely true. My heart sank to stand on this dry patch of land, longing to be a lake.

However, I jotted some thoughts and then joined the celebrations of the reaching the lake. We danced. We clicked pictures and had a lot of fun. I realized I was so truly happy with the people I was with!

All the dancing, taking different pictures had drained all of us. And now when it was time to walk down, I sensed that it will get difficult, for me and for the group as well. So I got a playlist ready in my mind, some sweets in my pocket, all set for the task down.

However, the climb down turned out to be climbing a few more mountains to reach Mane village. Now the gaps started getting bigger and maintaining them became tougher. I could manage only a few at a time and felt bad I couldn’t push myself more to lessen the gaps in the middle.

Somehow with a lot of efforts, we reached the village. I heard Sir say that the group did well. I looked at Anish Dada and felt so proud. He took charge and all of us managed to do the trek well. One person got altitude sickness and a few others were broken mentally. I saw it yet felt proud as no one gave up or cribbed, and they were all still saying that it was all worth it.

We ate and took good rest that day. We packed our bags and left for Dhankar Lake next day. The trek was kept optional as a few were sick. However, maximum people did turn up for the trek.

As we started the climb for Dhankar, I saw a girl lead. When I looked closely I figured she was one of the climbers struggling yesterday. I felt inspired and decided to walk with her. After conversations, I figured it is the love for mountains that has let her overcome the fear of climbing one.

I was so happy looking at her personal growth in a day I sang for her. I asked if she was okay with my singing, she said she found it soothing and that’s how we both reached Dhankar Lake. Some conversations, some singing, some observations of birds and the environment, what more for a happy climb!

We spent some time around the lake and left. As we walked down I had fun with a few friends and then decided to walk at my pace. I reached down and saw my climber friend down already at the Dhankar Monastery waiting for the rest. I told her that she really did well. That from struggling yesterday to ace the climb as well as descend today was commendable!

I saw that people were yet to come and Sir would take time to reach too. Whenever there is some time in hand, ‘let’s talk to locals’ is the siren that plays in my head. So I went in search of people willing to talk. I came across a group of ladies working on lamps.

I asked if I could join in to help and they smiled. I then enquired if the lamps were for a special occasion or were it their daily routine. ‘It is Budha’s birthday tomorrow. We have been cleaning the Monastery for months and now preparing for the big pooja tomorrow.’ I helped to put oil in the lamps and do the twigs too.

They were all from Dhankar village and they get together every time for such occasions and do the preparations together as a village. Kids and youngsters join in later and do the ‘mandaps’ for serving food. As I took the lamps inside the Monastery, I saw the monk and said Juley!

He greeted back and I asked him about the big pooja the next day and specialty of it. He said they celebrate Buddha’s birthday every year. It involves the participation of the entire village, some prayers, chanting and some feast for all at the end. I thanked him and came out.

In a while, we all left for Ki Monastery. Halfway through we got permission from Sir and sat on the top of the bus. There was Spiti River on the side, curvy road leading to Ki Monastery in sight, breeze kissing my face and caressing my hair. I felt free, I felt happy, I felt blessed, I felt all of this and more on the crazy ride to the Monastery.

Ki Monastery looks beautiful and the view from the top is exceptional. A monk showed us around the Monastery. He showed us ancient paintings and the place where ancient scriptures were kept. We weren’t allowed to click pictures but we stood in the room where Dalai Lama stayed and which as per this monk hasn’t been much disturbed after he left.

From Ki, now we left for Chicham Bridge. This bridge was built last year. It now connects the Chicham village to of Spiti. Earlier people would have to cross the steep valley to meet their needs. The height of this bridge is 150mtr. The view from this bridge was beautiful, we didn’t have time but someday I’ll go to Chicham village and know some stories.

However, my thirst to know locals was full filled as we reached Kibber and Sir gave us time to explore. I greeted many people and talked to a few. There were two ladies who had been to Pune, Mumbai and didn’t like it there. They couldn’t handle the urban noise.

One monk who had accompanied them even fell sick and they came back. One of them said that there are people from the village who have gone to cities and even abroad and are making a good living but she would love to live and die here in her small yet peaceful living in Kibber.

After a delightful conversation, we left for Kaza. We ate and had a good sleep. The lights in my room were too low and didn’t suit my eyes. I had a terrible headache and just slept with a hope to be not sick in the morning

June 25, 2018