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| Our inked fingers! |
Right after inking our index finger in the 18th general elections, we proceeded to a week-long stay in a homestay in the Tehri mountains of Uttarakhand. The ranges are beautiful, as usually are mountainous regions everywhere (more so for people from the plains), and more than anything else the cool climes are a charming relief from the burning heat on the plains of northern India during this time of the year. Not that the summers don't have their own special charms like having the king of fruits - Aam (mangoes of myriad varieties), Kharbooja (Muskmelon), and Tarbooja (Watermelon). What to talk of the excellent mountainous fruits that come along each year from a friend's sasural (in-laws) which includes raw, soft, juicy Badams (almonds), Loquat (Japanese Plums), Aadu (Peaches) and Aalubukhara (Plums) - all hand plucked and oozing with lots of love from Rampur Bushahar. Each season has its own pros and cons, as does each stage of life. Relish them all and frankly, it is all up to oneself to take it up, the way one wishes to!
But for an instance of a heart-in-mouth situation, the hilly drive was rather okay for the seven-hour drive. The car in front of us was with a family of four including an infant and probably a five-year-old child, the driver was unable to move the car ahead on the steep slope with each effort only resulting in the sound of screeching and the smell of burnt rubber! After a couple of tries, the father decided to move out of the car while the mother fetched her son along too. Meanwhile, the inexperienced driver asked a passer-by if he could manage the situation and interestingly, he parked his scooter and took the driving seat. Once again it was all sound and smell with some movement of the car but in reverse direction and that is when it scared us since we were right behind. I tried and moved my car a bit towards the back in order not to allow a collision. Fortunately, it worked when two men pushed the car from behind while the driver pushed the pedal hard enough just giving us enough way to pass by. It is important to keep vehicles in perfect condition especially when going the hilly trails.
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Our vehicle parked in the roadside parking area.
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We reached our destination at about 4pm and were welcomed by an attendant at the parking lot and some cool wind and drizzle, the latter of which Mickoo considers a blessing on every occasion it has happened. I opened the car door to step out and experience the wind pass through my overgrown hair and to my utter surprise, saw a slip of paper fly away from the side pocket of the opened car door. Oops, that was the tiny Rs.60/- entry slip that nowadays all hill stations charge from vehicles coming from outside the state. Seems they will start charging soon on a per-passenger basis rather than on a vehicle basis soonest! Our car was parked on the edge of a valley and the wind was rather strong taking the entry tax slip to over 50 meters high up over the valley and then a sudden gust of wind dragged it down towards the valley as I watched helplessly. All of a sudden my heart sunk at the possibility of eventually losing the 'immaterial slip' into the deep, deep valley. Must be some kind of a miracle, as if the slip (or was it the wind itself?) realized what I felt, another equally powerful gust carried the slip gliding over the huge valley and to the side of the mountain and then onto the road, about 50 meters away from where we both were watching all this happening with bated breath. All this happened in just about a minute and a half and I ran in the drizzle on the road oblivious to the ziggy mountain road traffic and picked up the semi-wet slip. Sometimes, things as little and as unimportant give pleasures which probably the most important and big won't. It reminded me of a saying “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If not, it was never meant to be,” - a reminder to let go and trust in the future, fate, and destiny.
Our one-point contact at the homestay, Amit arranged for a mule to carry our luggage to our homestay along with another group who had arrived earlier to us. Wow, what a trek of about 25 minutes trek of about 25 minutes to the homestay through some really dense forests of Khair, Thuner, occasional Deodar, Banj, Sal, lots of Chir, Rhododendron (Buransh) along with a splash of Red frangipani - none of them blooming at the moment. The vegetation too varies as we climb up, from the tree-lined heights to the meadows and then to the glaciers and the peaks... that is how it goes!  |
| Sunrise in all its glory! |
We were offered an overly sweetened Buransh drink as a welcome drink. Nice gesture indeed but could have been a bit less sweet, which they claimed was honey. The Zerostay, as named by the owner Manish, had a very nice house help Sanjay who addressed all our queries and cooked delicious food for us as per our choice. Well, you are at your wits end if you expect Kerala fish curry in the mountains of Uttarakhand for sure and we did have a taste of our folly😂.
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| Dense pine forests could be seen from our windows. |
As is usual with the mountains, and more so in the remote hilly places far away from the road, life is laid back, slow but yet serene, so to speak. At an altitude of about 1800 mtrs above mean sea level, Thuneri is cool (15 degrees centigrade) and breezy at night but warm (28 degrees centigrade) during the daytime. If you are into trekking in the morning and evening, eating, siesta, drinking (it was Bacardi exclusively this time), early nights, and soulful music, such lonely places are a boon to be. With many trekking trails for beginners as well as the experienced, the area is cozy, sunny, breezy, and cool - all in one.
While on one of the treks deep into the Thuner forests (the village itself is named after the 'Thuner' tree) which is also a kind of a Yew variety available in Europe, Pacific and Japan too but Thuner village has in huge numbers. The tree, according to locals, has medicinal values and is used in ayurvedic medicines. In fact, the entire Uttarakhand state is a treasure trove of medicinal resources from its forest so much so that the state government has a State Medicinal Plants Board which looks into its 'welfare'. Uttarakhand was carved out of the northern hilly region of Uttarpradesh in 2000 and has almost 86% land as hills/mountains. Agriculture is the mainstay but industrial development has been rampant too over the years with industrial estates at Haridwar, Pantnagar, Sitarganj, Selaqui; IT Park at Dehradun etc..
Travels, even if they are short trips, help to recharge and rejuvenate oneself from the grind of daily chores we all are used to in our daily lives. As Amit our local guide correctly put it, we in the hills plan to go to the plains during the wintery months exactly as you all from the plains move to higher ranges during the summers. Though it may be termed as 'comfort travel', I feel such traveling, meeting people, reaching out to others, and listening to their tales and travails is a good way of learning life as a whole. Helps place oneself on a pedestal to watch as well as listen to matters of importance in life and living!
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