It happened all over gain, that familiar restlessness, that need to don the boots and strike out on a narrow ledge somewhere high up. The mountains were beckoning and I was a willing listener....
The old trekking group regrouped, made ambitious plans and began the preps in earnest. This was was going to be less of a trek and more of a proper expedition, it was going to be longer, higher, steeper and narrower than we had ever done before. We planned to cross not one but two high passes, traverse not one but three valleys, walk along and among several glaciers, trudge thru miles upon miles of ice / snow fields, camp on narrow snowbound ridges and face blasting winds that would freeze us in sub-zero temperatures. The fact that we were taking on all this willingly and happily didn't quite make any sense to all those that I spoke to about my plans, so I stopped speaking about it... just put in all my energies in getting into top shape.
Normally we do things like clock work, schedules are maintained, we leave on time, arrive on time, start things on time and more often than not finish them on time too.... but this time things were a bit different, one of the chaps was late in coming so we left Delhi 2 hours behind schedule, things compounded and we were very late in reaching Rishikesh for the night halt, next morning the trend continued and we were eventually stopped at Joshimath. It was nightfall and we weren't allowed to drive any more. That meant that we would have stay the night here and travel to Govindghat in the morning. So the early morning start of the expedition was ruled out, all we could aim for now was to hopefully start by 9 am, and even that would need us to really push things in the morning. Next morning we were really at it, pushing things, getting stuff started but something kept happening and minutes kept slipping... the 9am deadline came and went. I kept looking at the watch and wondering why. It was only a little before 10 am that we eventually looked all set to go. The porters had loaded up, the team was all assembled and ready, all we now had to do was walk across the bridge and trek up the steep slope on the other side towards Ghangaria. In two days the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara would formally open after the long winter break and we were hoping to beat the pilgrim crowds by going past Ghangaria by nightfall. Already the Gurudwara at Govindghat was jam packed with pre season pilgrims and we had to weave our way past the gurudwara gate and then onto the bridge to get to the other side of alaknanda. This was technically the beginning of the trek and as we did a quick headcount and found a member missing. We immediately patched him on the wireless and it turned out he had met someone near the Gurudwara and would join us in 10 mins. I was amused, that naughtly djinn was at it again, leaking away our minutes. I looked skyward and wondered why couldnt we keep to the time.
Just then I heard a commotion across the bridge and instantly I knew why all these delays had happened. The Guru Granth Sahib at Hemkund would be moved down to Gobindghat every winter and two days before the season opened it would be taken back up to Hemkund Sahib in a impressive procession. What I saw crossing the bridge was the beginning of that procession. First came a jathedar sprinkling holy water, purifying the path, then came the nihangs and the resplendant guards, then the young acolytes, followed by the conch blowers and the air was rent with the chant of 'bole so nihal, sat sri akal', then came the bearers of the guru di sawari, chanting the mesmerising 'wahe guru, wahe guru', one of them was carrying the granth on his head, as he passed me I bowed my head in silent thanks. To me it was all very clear. This was a sign, my path ahead had been blessed by a most potent force. All of us were destined too begin our venture in the wake of the guru granth sahib.
No wonder there was a spring in my step and a warm feeling in my heart as I began the trek.
The old trekking group regrouped, made ambitious plans and began the preps in earnest. This was was going to be less of a trek and more of a proper expedition, it was going to be longer, higher, steeper and narrower than we had ever done before. We planned to cross not one but two high passes, traverse not one but three valleys, walk along and among several glaciers, trudge thru miles upon miles of ice / snow fields, camp on narrow snowbound ridges and face blasting winds that would freeze us in sub-zero temperatures. The fact that we were taking on all this willingly and happily didn't quite make any sense to all those that I spoke to about my plans, so I stopped speaking about it... just put in all my energies in getting into top shape.
Normally we do things like clock work, schedules are maintained, we leave on time, arrive on time, start things on time and more often than not finish them on time too.... but this time things were a bit different, one of the chaps was late in coming so we left Delhi 2 hours behind schedule, things compounded and we were very late in reaching Rishikesh for the night halt, next morning the trend continued and we were eventually stopped at Joshimath. It was nightfall and we weren't allowed to drive any more. That meant that we would have stay the night here and travel to Govindghat in the morning. So the early morning start of the expedition was ruled out, all we could aim for now was to hopefully start by 9 am, and even that would need us to really push things in the morning. Next morning we were really at it, pushing things, getting stuff started but something kept happening and minutes kept slipping... the 9am deadline came and went. I kept looking at the watch and wondering why. It was only a little before 10 am that we eventually looked all set to go. The porters had loaded up, the team was all assembled and ready, all we now had to do was walk across the bridge and trek up the steep slope on the other side towards Ghangaria. In two days the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara would formally open after the long winter break and we were hoping to beat the pilgrim crowds by going past Ghangaria by nightfall. Already the Gurudwara at Govindghat was jam packed with pre season pilgrims and we had to weave our way past the gurudwara gate and then onto the bridge to get to the other side of alaknanda. This was technically the beginning of the trek and as we did a quick headcount and found a member missing. We immediately patched him on the wireless and it turned out he had met someone near the Gurudwara and would join us in 10 mins. I was amused, that naughtly djinn was at it again, leaking away our minutes. I looked skyward and wondered why couldnt we keep to the time.
Just then I heard a commotion across the bridge and instantly I knew why all these delays had happened. The Guru Granth Sahib at Hemkund would be moved down to Gobindghat every winter and two days before the season opened it would be taken back up to Hemkund Sahib in a impressive procession. What I saw crossing the bridge was the beginning of that procession. First came a jathedar sprinkling holy water, purifying the path, then came the nihangs and the resplendant guards, then the young acolytes, followed by the conch blowers and the air was rent with the chant of 'bole so nihal, sat sri akal', then came the bearers of the guru di sawari, chanting the mesmerising 'wahe guru, wahe guru', one of them was carrying the granth on his head, as he passed me I bowed my head in silent thanks. To me it was all very clear. This was a sign, my path ahead had been blessed by a most potent force. All of us were destined too begin our venture in the wake of the guru granth sahib.
No wonder there was a spring in my step and a warm feeling in my heart as I began the trek.
1 comment:
How lovely that you got to experience that....the timing couldn't have been more perfect...I can totally relate to that spring in the step that comes after such almost divine moments :)
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