Harishchandragad!

It was a lazy afternoon.Almost a week had gone by and I had done nothing but just exist. I was lyingon the bed scrolling through an endless amount of content online and a message popped . It read "Harishchandragad la yetiyes ka ....udya ratri nightoy".My eyes lit up at the thought of going on this trek. I jumped up from the bed, went into the living room and asked mom if I could go. With all the shine in my eyes mom couldn't say no. My brain for some reason was still not convinced that I was going. I texted back saying "I'm in". All the details were shared and then I kept my phone aside and went out to meet some friends.

As I came home, I saw mom all tensed up. She fired all her questions back to back at me . Is it safe enough? Is it hygenic enough? How many people will be there? How many girls? Will I be able to complete the trek? And whatnot! After some discussion she seemed calmed but not convinced. We paid the fees for the trek and that's when things got real in my head. All the adrenaline gushed in. All the thoughts started crossing each other at the speed of light.

I couldn't function the next day. All my energy was put into controlling the anxiety. It was 6 O'clock ,I took a bath and went out to get some snacks for the journey. After coming back I packed all the stuff that I thought I needed and had dinner. I was all set to go.

With all the thoughts running back and forth in my mind I stepped into that bus. This was all very uncomfortable but I had to look the fear into its eyes and show myself that I could do anything only if I believed in myself . Slowly other people started boarding the bus . I stared at every face in search of some comfort . Suddenly I built walls around myself . It's weird how humans start building walls around themselves when they realize that they are alone in a crowd . We become so scared that people will see our weaknesses and we would be left alone forever but the walls themselves are the barriers. Everyone has their own flaws and that's what makes us unique.

While I struggled through these thoughts the bus stopped, it was 4:30 in the morning ,we had reached the foot of the fort.Everyone was half asleep. I stepped out of the bus and looked up. The sky looked like someone had zoomed it in . We warmed up and got ready to walk. After a few instructions and clicking a few pics we started the trek. There were no lights , no sounds but the light of stars and sounds of nature. It was icy cold. I was shivering but after walking for a few minutes the weather felt comfortable. The road was steep but the stones were quite firm. After following the road for sometime we stopped ,turned off all the torch lights and just stared into the sky . My face had sweat all over it , water running through my nose and my lungs struggling to get enough oxygen but as I looked up everything seemed so small . I felt grateful for everything in life . It made me realize that we are so small in this huge gigantic universe but still we are capable of feeling the greatest joys of nature inside of us. A tear rolled down my cheeks . I don't know why , I don't know how but it felt surreal.

Climbing up the fort was a real struggle. Panting , cheering , listening to sounds and having small conversations with people, we reached a point where we were going to have breakfast and rest for a while. We ordered breakfast and in the meantime we went to visit a temple nearby. It was a temple of lord shiva built in the 11th century. The sculptures on the walls of the temple were very intricate , it had been 1000 years but still the carvings were recognizable .From this temple we went to another place where there was a shiva linga surrounded by water on all four sides. The shiva linga was placed between four pillars three of which were broken and it is said that when the fourth pillar will break that would be the end of the world. Each pillar was a symbol of the phases that the known universe has lived through. First pillar represents the time when the good and the evil used to live in two different universes , the second one represents the time when they used to lived together on earth , the third represents the time when both of them lived in the same house and the fourth represents the kaliyuga when they live in same body of a human being. Sounds echoed in this place and suddenly all the swaras started aligning in a certain way in my head. I wanted to breathe ,all of this was a little overwhelming. I couldn't talk. Standing on the edge of a cliff I let the music out and it felt nice.

We had maggi and poha for breakfast and then started climbing up again. This part of the trek was not as tough as the previous one. As we climbed up , the view of nature kept getting better and better . Finally we reached the highest point . The view was mesmerizing , the wind was so strong that it was difficult to balance . We ate some snacks ,clicked some pictures and then started descending from the other side of the fort. Descending required a lot more concentration and focus than climbing up but it required lesser strength.On the way we visited Konkan kada , a very steep valley. We layed down and stared straight into the valley,it was scary but thrilling. Some of us had tea and then we moved on. We reached the point where we had breakfast in the morning . Some people went to take a dip in the water surrounding the shiva linga while others rested in a small hut. After about 2 hours we reached the foot of the fort . We freshened up, had lunch and went back to the bus. By this time we had gelled up quite well . While on our return journey we danced and listened to songs , took naps and had some snacks on the way.

This trek has been special in so many ways. Trekking taught me two things :

You should only be the one to decide the pace of your life , no one else gets to tell you how fast or how slow you should walk, take your time and soak in every moment and Even if you follow someone's footsteps make sure the road is right for you and the rocks you are stepping on are solid.Harishchandragad , Maharashtra

I don't know why this experience has become so close to my heart. But it was a life changing experience and I am glad I took this opportunity. I have loved how spontaneous this trek was starting from deciding whether to go or not to making new friends and having some refreshing conversations. In life I think it is important to be open and fluid to experience moments such as these and at the end this is all life is about , EXPERIENCES.