Juneflower - The Exhilarant Expedition!

I desperately needed a getaway and good old Adi was concerned enough to realise that and astute enough to come out with a stirring itinerary.

The initial plan was to do a long train journey and just talk – over cups of steaming chai and mirchi pakore. A ramification (a rather divine one on after thought) of my friend’s idea was to do a taxing trek. The best place up North for this endeavour was of course the Vaishno Devi climb! So this plan became the primary and the train journey per se was subordinated – to an extent I’d say.

Here goes the story of the most satisfying expedition of my life thus far…

After a busy week, I hurriedly rushed to the airport on a dark Saturday morning of the 26th of May. I was quite a sight with dripping, dishevelled hair (I just did not have the time at such a crazy hour in the morning!) and my not-so-meticulously packed Wildcraft trekking bag which resembled a carelessly stuffed pillow. I arrived in Delhi with a thirty minute delay to find my friend with a chauffer driven car. (The car in reality belonged to Baba – the wounded soldier whom I was determined to visit before he decided to venture into another of those hilarious road adventures and croak his way up the heavenly stairs.)

I have always admired Delhi for its elegance and alternative scenes of old charming architecture and spiralling flyovers. The admiration (topped with patriotism for having set foot on the nation’s capital) was obvious in my eyes which were constantly looking out of the car window to catch some nice sights. The chai sipping saga started while we were in the car itself and once I parked myself at Adi and Baba’s house in Delhi (we took the route to Ghaziabad to land there) – there seemed to be no end to my gorging and snoozing. As the day came to an end, Adi and I realised it was the time to start the first leg of our journey – get to Jammu and then Katra in a pre booked Volvo. The bus went all the way through Punjab and Haryana and I was feeling proud of having traversed the Northern part of the country with such ease and of course the constant chatter of my fellow traveller was a welcome thing.

We reached Katra on Sunday and decided to do the climb on Monday. We walked to the origin (instead of taking an auto) to gain some momentum (and it was a secret pilot test conducted on me by my comrade to judge my capabilities and physical strength vis-à-vis walking – which I passed with little difficulty). The Trikuta hill which houses the Vaishno Devi shrine looked indomitable from below. I realised how important it was then to bash my ego and raise myself to a higher level to accomplish this feat. Divine intervention was beginning to surface already. I started the climb with neither over confidence nor diffidence – but with an aim to complete the 14 km trek to the top as early as I could. It was getting hotter as we climbed – the road was flat but was steep nevertheless. There were old women being carried in palkis by men and the old and young alike on ponies making their way up the hill. I was startled by the sheer number of people and the mix of demographics that they represented - but they all had one voice Jai Mata Di!.

Adi had wisely carried a big packet of Glucon D and he kept feeding me swigs of glucose water to keep me going as if the goal itself was not motivating enough. Reaching ArdhKuwari milestone was a huge relief and pushed me to walk faster. When we were three quarters way up the hill (we missed Saanjhi chatth which is where Air Deccan helipads carrying pilgrims landed - as we were taking the new route), I was granted my first cuppa while my companion nibbled away on a dosa to fulfil an impulse of eating one on a hill top (surprised? Don’t be – we are like this only!). It was getting chill and also started to drizzle as we moved up the flat pathway. We witnessed several Mahindra Bijlee three wheelers transporting people up and down. As I looked around, I saw the beautiful Tawi river which seemed to understand no boundaries. The destination appeared less daunting and the sight below made us feel like humble conquerors. Crossing valleys with serrations looked as if a wide toothed comb had made its way through several women’s thick crowning glories while they were sitting together. We finally did make it to the Bhawan milestone at around 4 PM (we started the climb at 10 in the morning). All the fatigue vanished at the prospect of seeing the Goddess. We locked away our belongings and joined the queue of people who were waiting to enter the cave where the Goddess resides in the form of a rock. I was stunned by a metallic full sized statue of Vaishno Devi on a lion at the entrance of the cave. The actual darshan in the cave was for split seconds – the priest managed to tell us that the three rock formations in the cave represent three Goddesses – Amba Devi, Vaishno Devi and Saraswati Devi from left to right in that order while the security guard shoved us away. We drank the sacred water and were elated at having made it to Vaishno Devi!

The descent seemed more painful with my calf muscles trembling and starting to give away. The top is not always a vantage point, I realised. But we kept going. There was a power cut as we were getting down – this did not hinder us either. At about 10 PM, we reached the same point at which we started our expedition. A total of 12 hours for 28 kms – breaks and darshan all inclusive.

We took a bus to Jammu and managed to do the train journey as well to Delhi. This time, I got lots of chai, chole bathure and other mouth watering chaat items at frequent intervals. Once in Delhi, I got to travel in metro rail and was awestruck at the clean and flawless operation of the system. After catching a movie, it was time to fly back home.

The entire expedition left me with a feeling of tranquillity and thoughtlessness – a state which only months of meditation can confer on you - for several days to come. I am looking forward to my next adventure – not sure if it would be as fulfilling.

For a few photos: http://flickr.com/photos/nomadicbliss/sets/72157600408339112/detail/