Birthday gone wonderfully right- and then horribly wrong, and then some!

Last year on my birthday- I decided to go on a trek. Now I have been on treks before as well, both in the Himalayas as well as around the Mumbai region in the Sahyadri hills of INDIA. But there were some major differences between all my previous treks and this particular one.

First and foremost was the weather. Normally, it is pretty hot and humid with occasional bouts of rains. This used to make it pretty tiring but quite easy to climb. This time around though, it was incessantly raining the whole time. The weather forecast was bad- and the lightning outside, along with the dark clouds hovering around, made the situation even grimmer.

But the biggest difference was the fact that this year, I was travelling solo; unlike all my previous endeavors. I understand if you are going on a solo trek on a weekend. There are so many trek groups around that you can just blindly follow them and you would reach your destination. You don’t really have to do a lot of research or route mapping. But since it was a weekday, it was just me all along, and nobody to count on- but more on that later.

So I slept by 10:30 pm the previous night. I wanted to make the most of my birthday- so I knew I had to wake up on time. The excitement was such that I woke up by 4:30 am itself. I immediately prepared for myself some Maggi with eggs in it as snacks, packed my bag, took my DSLR, and left my room.

It was 5:30 am by then. But the first train wasn’t before 6:15 am. It wasn’t raining at that time- unlike the previous day when it was pouring throughout. I had my morning cup of tea and headed for the station. And that’s exactly when the downpour began.

It was raining so heavily and the visibility had turned so bad that I was skeptical of the whole thing. I took my parents blessings, told them I am going around but didn’t really inform them that it’s a solo trip lest they get worried.

I decided to get into the train anyway and see how the situation is at the other end. And if the situation didn’t really improve, then I might as well take a train ride back to my home and be on the bed by 10- no harm done I guess.

I heard some beautiful songs on the way, and replied to some of the wishes that had been sent through the night. I reached my destination at 8:30 am, and the rains had only increased further. I waited on the station and spoke to a couple of my friends who knew of my plans. I informed them that the situation is not really looking good and that most probably I am going to head back.

I waited for my return train to arrive- but in the meantime, the rains did subside to a large extent. And I was pretty hungry too. So I decided to walk out of Bhivpuri Road station near Mumbai city and at least have breakfast before I leave.

As I sat at a shop waiting for my Vada Pav and chai to arrive- I re-read some of the blogs that I had read previously to get an idea of the route. I realized that if I walked for about twenty minutes, I would reach a beautiful spot known as Dhom Lake. So I looked outside, and the rain had been reduced to a drizzle, so I decided why not just go and see the lake and come back. I had any way come this far. What’s another hour going to do?

So I moved ahead and reached the lake. It was a beautiful sight, and it was just me out there.

The visibility had significantly improved, and I could hear the sound of a waterfall somewhere nearby. There was a worker near the lake- and I asked him how far the waterfall is; and he informed that it’s about a fifteen minute walk- so I decided to go along with it and see the waterfall too. I reached the waterfall, which was absolutely beautiful, and I spotted some locals there who were busy with their daily chores. I went and spoke to them and told them that I had intended to do the Garbett plateau trek today, but considering how heavily it was pouring, I had given up on my plan.

They told me it was a good day to go on the trek- as there are no crowds. It’s just a three hour climb- is what they said, and encouraged me to go ahead with my plan. I asked them the route, and they told me I had to cross the waterfall’s water. It was flowing very furiously, and its very sight was scaring the life out of me. I decided to turn back and leave- and informed one of the locals that it looks very risky – I can’t really cross in that flow. The locals were amused to say the least, and one of them actually got up and helped me cross over- and then pointed to the direction that I had to walk towards. That’s when I realized that I had actually committed to the trek and that there was no going back. So I might as well get going.

The sights that I was greeted with almost immediately cheered me up. The climb was rather uphill right at the beginning, and I knew that I had a lot of time in hand, so I decided to take it slowly. The trek usually takes four hours to complete. I gave myself the same amount of time, and hoped things would go as per the plan.

I soon reached the first landmark of the trek, the hill with one tree. There were lots of people going towards the lake, and they informed me that I was the right path. I tried taking some pictures, but the rains were making me anxious if my phone could actually sustain in it or not, so I decided to be careful about it.

The next landmark was a village that would come along the way. I reached there pretty quickly, and was very happy with my progress. I spoke to some locals and asked for the route, and they graciously pointed towards the right direction.

Until this point in the trek, the route was marked by small paths made by the daily commuters which made the way for a solo traveller like me pretty easy.But then the landscape began to change after I crossed the village. For one, the rains grew stronger, and I couldn’t find any paths to guide me on my way. Very soon, I realized that I was lost. There was nobody to ask for directions, no path visible, and no way to know for how long exactly I was lost.

In Indian mythological and ancient stories, there is always this scenario that takes place- a person sets out on a mission, gets lost along the way, feels completely helpless, calls out to God for help, and then God appears in different forms to guide the lost soul back to the right track.

I was looking for any such signs to help me on my way, and spotted one pretty soon. There were a bunch of buffaloes grazing nearby. I waited for them to finish, and then saw one of them making its way up. I followed it keeping a safe distance between us, and very soon, I could see a path emerge from right under their feet. I patted them as I went ahead, and was happy to be back on track again.

But somehow, I seemed to be getting lost more often than not. On one occasion, I was lost for so long that I started questioning the very idea of coming out on a solo trek. I mean, what the hell was I thinking? I was clearly lost, my energy levels had seeped greatly. I had no clue how to go forward or backward, and I was so frustrated that I just sat on a rock and started cursing myself.

Taking long breaks while on a trek is never really a good idea, as your body loses its steam and it takes a lot of time for you to get back in the groove. Add to that the fact that you don’t even know which way to go- and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. I was looking around hopelessly, and when I could find no way out, I started looking upwards towards the mountain. That’s when I spotted a dog looking down upon me.

I have always been scared of dogs, and the fact that these were wild ones only added to my fear. I had already been barked upon by a lot of dogs on the way- mostly because of how my attire was, making me look like a character straight out of a Harry Potter book(a picture from another trek for giving you an idea) . So the sight of this dog did not enthuse me by any margins.

The dog barked loudly from up the hill, and started running downwards. I feared it was coming my way, but I had no energy to either run or react. I guess I was too scared to move, let alone run. The dog was covering the distance so furiously that I knew I had less than a couple of minutes before it reached me. I accepted the fact that perhaps this is indeed going to be a special birthday where I get lost in the woods and get bitten by a mad dog. Sweet!!!

The dog reached me in no time, but stopped abruptly right in front of me. Our eyes met, and the dog started moving uphill and barked softly, as if asking me to follow. I shook myself off from the shock that I was in, and very carefully and slowly, started following the dog from a distance. The dog barked as if it was getting pissed at my slow speed, and I slowly started taking longer strides.

Every now and then, it would bark when I would take a wrong turn, and when I would grow tired and seemed to making a gesture as if I was about to sit down, it barked so furiously that my fear was back and I was alert once again.

I didn’t know what was going on in my head- to be following a dog uphill when as it barked and led the way. I guess I did not have any other option at all, so I just went with the flow.

After an arduous climb of about fifteen minutes that almost felt like an hour that was marked with a lot of barking and fear and uphill climbing, I could see a path emerge from the bend. I couldn’t believe it. The dog had actually guided me back on track. It looked at me and I looked at it. I guess the relief of spotting the path was quite evident on my face. The dog barked in a pleasant way and wagged its tail, and then turned around and off it went downhill- as if the mission had been accomplished.

I couldn’t thank the Gods enough, and I knew I wasn’t really alone, considering how often I was getting lost and how some sign would always come in the form of buffaloes or markings on rocks to show the way, or dogs that literally acted as my tourist guide- it wasn’t really a solo trek after all !

Very soon, I figured I had got lost, once again. But by now, I was in a very different frame of mind. My enthusiasm levels were really high, and the indications I had received on the way was nothing short of a tale from an Indian fable. Without getting disheartened, I started looking for routes that could be taken. I couldn’t really find any, and so I decided to climb beside the small waterfall. The water is falling, so it must be falling from somewhere up-there, so I figured why not just follow it upwards and see where it takes me.

Very soon, I reached the summit, and my joy knew no bounds. More than happiness, I was relieved to finally be there. I looked around, and soaked it all in, coz the clouds were right across the corner, and I knew I would be losing visibility pretty soon.

More than happiness, I guess I was relieved to finally reach the summit. I checked my watch and realised I had managed to do it in two and half hours, which was very surprising to me considering the number of times I had got lost along the way. I relaxed for a while, knowing very well that I was done with the tougher parts, and now as per the blogs, it was an easy thirty minute walk that would take me to the hill station of Matheran, and then back to Mumbai. I spotted a few bullocks and its owner nearby, I eagerly ran to him, finally spotting a person after such a long time (it had only been a couple of hours, but I guess that’s how needy the mind becomes when you snatch something that you have become so used to- even for brief amounts of time). I asked him the route, although it was clearly visible as well. I guess I only wanted to hear another person’s voice. The man, though, just pointed me in the direction and didn’t say a word.

Nevertheless, I felt happy on seeing him, and started walking on a clear path that was supposed to take me about forty five minutes to cross.

Very soon, I reached a village, and met a lot of people too. There were lots of dogs around, who kept barking at me. The villagers asked me where my group was, when I asked them for the route; and were surprised that I had come alone in this weather. They showed me the right way. I thanked them and started walking along, eager to finish the trek in the time that I had set for myself.

After walking for not more than five minutes, the road seemed to diverge into two. I didn’t know which path to take, so I waited to see if someone was coming along. Sadly for me, nobody seemed to be coming along. I took the path that seemed to be going downhill, as I guessed that’s where I was headed considering I had reached the summit and was now heading down.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There was hardly any path at the first place, but fresh from the success of my uphill climb were I had succeeded against all odds, I was confident that ultimately, a route would emerge and then I could just follow it. But soon, instead of a path emerging, there was hardly any place to walk. The entire area was filled with shrubs and thorns, but for some reason, no alarm bells rang in my head even at this moment.

I had read the blogs, knew that this was the simplest part of the trek, and yet here I was, on all fours, crawling through thorns and shrubs, still not understanding that I was on the wrong path. I guess I was drunk in my own success, or you could say that I was so focussed on the uphill climb that once it was done, I had become very casual in my approach, and couldn’t really see the signs.

I spotted a waterfall in the distance as I continued crawling, and decided that just like I had used the waterfall to walk uphill and find the summit, I shall follow it downstream and reach the base. I might as well have decided on my own death wish for all I know.

I got stuck in the thorns at one point, and as I tried to free myself, I tore my poncho at several places, bruised my arms and legs, and somehow just pushed my way out of it with full force, only to find myself at a dead end where another step would mean jumping off into the valley. That’s when my mind finally registered the fact that I had been stupid all along, and didn’t see the signs. I was lost- BIG TIME!

I looked around for any paths, but there was absolutely nothing. I realized I had to crawl back exactly the way I had crawled in, and I couldn’t really control my frustration. I screamed, but it was a lonely scream. Once again, my mind had all but forgotten my recent triumphs during my uphill climb, and I began questioning my logic of going on a solo trek on my birthday on a day when it was raining cats and dogs, where I knew that if I got lost and fell off a cliff or something, then nobody would even know where to start looking for me. I mean, how much stupider could I be?

My mind was already romanticising the experience, telling me that I was having my “Into the Wild” moment, but I had to remind myself how badly that story had ended for the protagonist, and that’s not the path that I wanted to take.

I sat down on a rock. I was completely drenched by this point; my wet clothes were making me feel sick. I removed my poncho and checked on the damage. I washed my hands, drank some water from the falls, put on my poncho once again, and began crawling back exactly the way I had come.

I crawled rather quickly, for very soon, I was on my two’s again, but my mind was nowhere on the trek anymore. I was missing my friends very dearly at that moment, and I could exchange anything for their company at that moment of time. I changed my earlier plans of spending my entire day alone, and decided to go back and take my friends out on a dinner, but first I had to end this trek.

I stared at the mountain rising over me. Empty. It was a pointless thing to have done. Climb up it, across it, and down it. Stupid! It looked perfect, so clean and untouched, and we had changed nothing. It was beautiful, immaculate, but it left me empty. I had been on it too long, and it had taken everything.

–Touching the void

So lost was I in my thoughts that I hardly noticed which way I was walking. I almost bumped into an old lady whom I only spotted at the last moment. And I was relieved to finally spot another person. It brought me back into focus. I asked the route to the village, as I figured that there would be an alternative route from there, and she pointed me in the direction. I thanked her profusely and started walking. In hardly ten minutes, I had reached the village, but it appeared to be completely deserted. There were wild dogs all around, who barked so furiously that it drove the shit out of me. It almost looked like the deserted towns in zombie films, and I was so scared that I was barely able to think anything at all.

I finally spotted two men sitting by the veranda of their home. They waved at me, and I quickly walked as fast as I could without running, as I was still being followed by the dogs. The men immediately asked me, “What were you doing that way? There’s nothing there, you could have been completely lost.” I had no energy to answer them.

I asked for water and just sat down on the steps. The men realized how tired I was, and didn’t question me any further for a while. Once I had drunk water, I asked them the way to Matheran, upon which one of the people got up and asked me to follow him.

We walked a short distance, upon which he told me that his house was right beside, and seeing how I was shaking from the rains, offered me tea. I was initially sceptical about it, thinking it would be a way to scam me of money in some way or the other. My city bred mind continuously told me to not do so, but the man insisted, and I always had a soft spot for tea, so I finally accepted.

I went to his place, where his daughter was sitting on a chair in the veranda. She must be all of three, and started laughing at me seeing my attire. I began to relax, and sat down on the other empty chair. The man started telling me that he has been living in this village for decades now, and almost everybody including him worked as tour guides and horse drivers in Matheran.

For your information, Matheran is one of the smallest hill stations located just two hours away from the booming city of Mumbai. It is a completely vehicle free zone- so the only means to see the hill station is either to walk or take a horse ride. The hill station provides you with impeccable views of the Sahyadri hills, and it is in this business of taking the tourists on horse rides that most of the people in this village were employed.

The tea was one of the best I had, the conversation enriching and the company the kind you always hope for. I finally felt good again, and asked if he could point me in the direction of Matheran.

The man walked beside me for a short distance, then gave me detailed instructions of exactly what I had to do, and told me that’s its going to take me exactly forty minutes to reach there. I thanked him profusely , asked him if I could offer him some money, to which he flatly refused.

“But you helped me so much” was what I said.

“That I did, yes. But if man doesn’t come of help for his fellow men, then what’s the point of anything in this world?” was his reply.

I had no answer to that reply, and the only thing that I could do was smile, fold my hands in the Namaste gesture and say “Thank You”.

He folded his hands too, and responded to the smile with a bigger and brighter one, and we parted ways.

He was right. In forty minutes, I had finally reached Matheran, and took the cab back to the railway station to take me to Mumbai. It had taken me five and a half hours to complete the entire trek, but considering how things had gone, I was more than satisfied with my effort. I texted my friends if they were free for the evening and could accompany me for dinner, to which they said yes.

It had been a very special time, almost as if the wheel had come full circle. I had spent a quarter century on this planet by then, and notwithstanding some of the bad experiences along the way, it only made my belief to go farther and wider even stronger, and to trust the people and the ways of the almighty to guide you all along.

We see the world not as it is, but as we are.

–Who will cry when you die