It is 3 AM of 20th May 2013, and it’s just been
few minutes, that I returned from a trek to Saandhan Valley.
I don’t know why today throughout the day, I have had a very
strange feeling & I am motivated to write this. This post isn’t about
today’s trek; this is an account of a trek completed seven and a half years
ago! Those were the days when I was a total amateur mountaineer rather just a
hiker and a very confused person. I hardly thought of this business as a
lifelong passion. It was perhaps to socialize that I joined for this trek. Said
to be a tough trek, this was taken also a personal challenge. Harishchandragad
it was.
There are 3 well known routes to the destination; we took
the one from Khireshwar. It was mid December
2005 & the sky that night fascinated me way beyond my expectations. Almost
every star was trying to prove its existence that night. I had never seen a sky
with so many stars, least that I had thought they existed.
As the darkness of night faded, we kept marching up &
down the hills. A few hills later I was tired, and the leader kept telling just
some more distance & we will be there. It was day break when we had reached
the destination. Right in front of us was the ancient “Hemadpanthi” temple of Harishchandreshwar.
We rested there for a while and ate Kande Pohe, traditional
Maharashtrian breakfast. And then it was time for sightseeing. First we went to
Taramati, the highest hillock on the mountain. Ajit – the guy I knew only as
leader then kept telling us that view from the Kokankada – the legendary concave
cliff is breathtaking so we decided move along the ridge to Kokankada. And
something fell down just 10 feet below the ridge & was clearly visible.
What, How, whose & why were the secondary concerns for many. Well, it was
my wallet! It had two precious things apart from money & cards. Everybody
advised me to forget about it and I panicked. But then Ajit came to my rescue.
Ajit made an anchor of few guys and used a rope to climb
down the rock face. I was horrified… The terror that a mountain can strike had
hit me, and I trembled. My brains had stopped functioning. It was a matter of
few minutes but it felt like a life time for me. The want that felt like a need had vanished
in a moment. I didn’t want that wallet
anymore.
And, then he slowly raised his head above the cliff, and I
felt as if life was returning to me. The
other outdoor experts helped him back on the ridge. My senses were returning
but I wasn’t back to normalcy completely. He handed me the wallet & I
didn't know how to thank him.
After all this drama, we walked to Kokankada & then back
to Harishchandreshwar Temple. After lunch we started walking back to the base
village of Khireshwar.
I was and still am obliged to Ajit for saving my family legacy
that afternoon. This legacy was passed on to me for protection in spiritual /
religious senses. We visited this mountain again in Jan 2010, this time I was a
volunteer & not just another participant
Today Seven and Half years later, sometime during the day
every day, the thoughts still flood my mind and I am still unable to sort out a
lot things. Ajit suggested I should to write a note about this trek. And I kept
saying, I will. But I hadn’t till date.
I hadn’t written a word because I didn’t know what to write…
To write about facts of that afternoon or to write about the things that
changed inside me on that afternoon. Should I be writing about how strong Ajit
is as a human being or how good mountaineer he is. Well, who am I to certify
him in either case!
After this trek, with time, my friendship with Ajit &
Manjiri – his wife flourished. I did most of my Sahyardri treks under Ajit’s
guidance. And even today, I seek Ajit’s advice before I set out for anything
new.
Today, just one line will hopefully suffice it all & I
know everyone who knows Ajit will agree with me.
“If you have a friend like Ajit then you will know what
friendship means.”