I had an official work at Sundernagar for one day. The place is 110 km from Shimla, on Chandigarh-Manali Highway.I decided to make the trip memorable! I discussed my plan with my wife and she accepted readily.
We had planned to start our journey early morning on thursday. But, due to heavy rains at Shimla, we
finally started at 12:30 PM.By the time we reached Sundernagar,it was 5:20 PM. The weather was hot and humid.I liked the beautiful lake there.
After attending to my work on friday, I was free at 5:00 PM.We decided to explore Rewalsar, 25 km away.When we reached there it was 6 PM.It has a beautiful lake full of fishes(fishing is prohibited). Hundreds of fishes would come near if you offer food.It has a famous buddhist monastery, a hindu temple and a sikh Gurudwara- all three on the bank of the lake.
There is a narrow road encircling the lake,with shops on the outer side. Almost all shops got closed at dusk,the people were happy and carefree. The area looked like a place from nineteenth century. People moved about their work at a relaxed pace - no rush, no tension.
By feeling the peace there I wondered why are we running after so called fast-paced, advanced lifestyle of today's world , which brings so many added burdens for us?
We returned to our rest-house, had dinner and slept, with plans to start early morning for manali.We started at 7:00 AM on saturday. Scenic beauty of the hills, the beas river by the side of highway, small natural waterfalls-all of these made our day. We took a detour to Manikaran Sahib,a pilgrim place for sikhs. There we saw hot water spring and hot cave inside Gurudwara.We also had food at langar there and ate plum fruit from roadside trees.Our next stoppage was naggar.It has a 500 year old fort made of wood and stones. We also saw the beautiful Roerich Art Gallery there. Its campus was full of lovely flowers.The natural beauty of naggar is hard to describe, it can only be felt.
We reached Manali at around 7:00 PM, kept our luggage at hotel and went for a walk to Mall road.
The next day we started early morning for the mighty Rohtang Pass.There we saw snow even at this time of the year.We then went ahead to Koksar,22 km away in Lahaul dist. Koksar was a barren place, loud howling wind,no greenery and surrounded by mountains and a river by the side.It looked beautiful and intimidating at the same time.
I got block while saying my mobile number at police check-post Koksar. The policeman told my wife-"Agar inko apna no. yaad nahi hai to aap apna no. bata dijiye". I finally completed my phone no. Just when my mind was criticizing me for failing to use the techniques,I remembered Sachin Sir's statement and told to my mind- "Chup raho ,Hakla nahi haklayega to aur kaun haklayega!"
After having food at a local "dhaba", we took the road to the beautiful Chandertaal lake, which was 50 km away. We could hardly travel 10 km on that "road". It was full of gravel, stones, big rocks. We were mesmerized by 20 feet high snow walls at the side of this road.We crossed four small rivulets on this road with great difficulty.They were full of large stones and my wife had to push the bike at these water crossings!
We gave up at fifth crossing , as the water current was so strong that we thought our bike would be swept away downhill!We were just 40 km away from the mesmerizing Chandertaal lake.We returned towards manali with a heavy heart.
We reached Rohtang Pass at 7:00 PM and were literally terrified. It was covered with dense fog and the wind was howling.There was not a single person there and it was so gloomy. So its my advice - never visit Rohtang Pass in the evening. All tourists leave that place by 5:00 PM. Also the meaning of Rohtang in local language is "pile of corpses"! We finally reached our hotel in Manali at 9:00 PM.
The next couple of days, we went for local sight-seeing in and around Manali. I liked the Beas river- fast currents and crystal clear water.We started back for Shimla at 7:00 AM on Wednesday. We enjoyed the myriad changes of landscape the whole day and reached Shimla at 6:00 PM.It was one of the
most memorable experiences of my life.
Aaaabhishek Kkkkumar
PWS, Shimla
9418002112
13 comments:
Wow- brought back many memories..(I drove a Bajaj Chetak once, from Dehrdaun to Leh...Kargil, Srinagar and back! Wow!).
You captured the landscape and the mood very well. Congratulate your wife too- She has plenty of adventure to write home about!
Great adventure !! Thanks for sharing dude..
While i know from your post that you completed spelling out your mobile no to the cop despite stuttering while doing so..but i wonder did you convey to the cop..that you stutter ?
Sometimes when i do not wish to stutter i sing along my number..following some tune..and it works..yes i do get the surprisd..taken aback..sometime delighted..sometime curious looks from the listener..but what the heck..it actually creates a talking point..the appetiser :)..and it actually feels good.
Wow what an adventurous trip.
hope you enjoyed :)
Regards !
great initiative.
No Joy Deep, I did not tell him that I stammer at first place.It was also a sensible option. Another way would be to bounce 3-4 times before conversation. Thanks for reminding
Hi Abhishek,
Really its a wonderful & adventurous trip. Gr8 bro.....
What is Next........
I think, telling that "I stammer"- may or may not be appropriate or called for in every situation. Sometime, just letting your self stammer or block or bounce is enough. That very act has told the other person that my speech is different. Then, the ball is in his court: if he wants, has time and inclination- he may enquire. Then, we should be ready to share our thoughts with him, calmly.
When we go to an interview, we do not talk about our creed or caste, unless specifically asked.. Flip side is- if it makes us comfortable and speak better, we may announce at the very beginning of the interview: I stammer and I will need time..
So, no hard and fast rules. Just some pointers..
@Abhishek : I was pointing at..that you could have told him about the fact that you stammer after you had shared your number..no problemo :)..
what was important was you had a great trip..these trivial issues didnt bother you both..way to go !!
"When we go to an interview, we do not talk about our creed or caste, unless specifically asked"
@ Sachin Sir, Certainly we dont..and we shouldnt..when it comes to caste and creed....but in my opinion when we declare the fact that we stutter..we are not asking for any favours..on the contrarory we are making him ..in this case..the interviewer at ease with declaration of stutter..so that he does not panic...or think that we are stuttering because we are nervous..or lack confidence...while we happily stutter..
Knowledge ..inclination. sometime needs to be pushed gently..in a subtle way..to those who are ignorant by making and also to those who are by choice...
Really great achievement by you and your wife. Even normal persons afraid of doing such things. Kudos to both of you.
Gorgeous!
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