Me and this world - a tête-à-tête

7th August: The day broke a bit late for us. The view from the room was astonishing. The far away snow clad mountains were inviting me for a trek... but... My health was much better than yesterday so we freshened fast and left for site seeing.  We hired moped from another guy who had a shop right opposite our guest house.  Stanzin Tolden is a friendly young lad from a small village 80 km from Leh. We also asked Stanzin to arrange for a shared taxi to Pangong Tso next day. He let us the moped which already had a bit of fuel in it. Yet, we filled additional fuel worth Rs. 300. And sped fast to Spituk. On the way, we checked Hall of Fame, which is open till 7 PM every day.    Spituk Gompa is said to be the traditional seat of HH Dalai Lama(s). So, I actually wanted to walk from Leh. We had to be careful with utilization of time hence chose to ride the moped. On our way, we saw a group of cyclists pedalling all the way to Spituk. (I was so jealous.) Aft...

Like every Year, Youth Hostels rolled out The yearly program brochure. Me being a mountain person, was (again) fascinated by Valley of Flowers. Friends from all over the country were also pitching in and the long distance calls of long durations were added to my schedule. Hence, soon the date was fixed and tickets were booked. Then... Like every year, Valley of Flowers got cancelled (7th of July) (for 3rd consecutive year) and I was (again!) in middle of nowhere to go. This is when buddy called and said she wanted to go to Ladakh at least once before she gets married. So all the inquiries begaun, we had less than a month to prepare. But when the first quote came in and I was already dead looking at the figure (50K per head) quoted. A new business on its brim, few old loans to be paid... No, this cannot happen, I can't afford a trip to Ladakh is what I informed her. Ladakh has been a long long cherished dream, something like 15 years or so... I wanted to push my limits. And giv...

I cry For the time that you were .." Almost Mine ", I cry for the memories I've left .. " Behind ", I cry for the pain, The lost, The old, The new, I cry for the times I thought ... I had You .. I hide my tears when I say your name .. But the pain in my heart is still the same Although I Smile n Seem Care free, there is no one in the world who misses you more than ME........!!! 

एकदा डोंगरात जायची  चटक लागली  की चढाई -उतराई हि नियमित चालूच राहते. तशी आमची ही चढाई -उतराई चालूच होती, परंतु सगळे धोपट मार्गी ट्रेक्स केल्यामुळे काही  विशेष कामगिरी केल्याचे समाधान मिळत नव्हते. म्हणूनच आम्ही अनोख्या  ट्रेकच्या शोधत होतो. कुशलच्या सुपीक डोक्यातून अनेक कल्पना बाहेर पडत होत्या परन्तु उन्हाळ्याचे निमित्त करून आम्ही त्या परतवून लावत होतो.  अखेर एक दिवस, कुशलने ब्रह्मास्त्र काढले आणि सगळे या लाटेवर स्वार झाले. मुळशी जवळ असलेल्या, कुंडलिका नदीचे मूळ शोधण्याच्या उपक्रमात सामील व्हायला आम्ही सगळे उत्सुक होतो.  तसे या वर्षामधले बहुतेक treks घाई-घाईत झालेले असल्यामुळे हा trek तरी थोडा निवांत असावा असे आम्ही ठरविले.  सर्वात प्रथम या भागाची माहिती काढण्याचे काम सुरु झाले. चढाई - उतराई या  पुस्तकामधून बरीच माहिती मिळाली. कुशलने हा trek आधी ३ वेळा केला असल्यामुळे त्याला बऱ्यापैकी माहिती होती.  हा ट्रेक off -beat  असल्यामुळे आम्ही जास्त लोक नको हे ठरवले, तरी हो - ना करतकरत १६ जणाची  team शनिवारी रात्र...

A grand start with girls on my rooftop… First weekend well spent… at Rohida… Toughest trek, highest climb… AMK Sea shore and some explorations… Night out in a cave… Car broke down in March, broke me too… Sometimes I Led, followed sometimes… Mountains to Sea shores… Road trips to Drives… Off beats to general ones… Forth visit to Rajgad  for the night atop in the tent, one night near the sea… Few movies watched... Few pictures captured... Some champs retired, some champs surrendered to destiny... Some stayed strong, few had feet of clay... At times I Prayed, At times I cursed... Some partitions... Some reunions... Words of care and love sent and received across the globe... Many plans made… Few plans failed…Life goes on... New Year is just round the corner… New hope fills my soul... Some Dreams to work hard for… Some goals to achieve… Some places to travel… Some courses to complete... Some books to read… Some blogs to write... Happy memori...

So far, 2013 was the best year with regards to Mountaineering. But December seemed slow and uneventful. Me and my bestie- Parag had been out of touch for a long time until recent. One fine morning, we just bumped together. Besties are the best people in your life... They come handy when you need a push. So there he was ready to push me again.  Then one cold December evening, when I was trying to focus on my new painting, bestie's bestie - KV called me and put into conference with my bestie.  All in all the conference call was a chaos and the two chattered incessantly. I could gather was that they were planning for some night hike somewhere close and a few options were explored. It was taken for granted that I was going. Although, I was fighting bad health, since me and bestie had got back to each other after a long time, there was no chance of backing out. Couple of days later, early evening, both of them gathered at my place. We reassembled the backpacks and l...

Life is... living relentlessly. Life is... driving in a rowdy fashion. Life is... motivating someone. Life is... showing off yourself. Life is... opening your heart. Life is... falling in love. Life is... loving unconditionally. Life is... vaporized relationships. Life is... praying. Life is... falling sick. Life is... reuniting with a bestie after a year. Life is... bestie throwing you keys of their car. Life is... a night trek with besties to get over bad mood. Life is... Second cup of tea after trek. Life is... coming to knowledge of technology of your old phone. Life is... having a dog welcome you home. Life is... blogging at mid-night. Life is... staying healthy. Life is... caring for friends. Life is... being tired. Life is... watching a latest movie. Life is... bragging about yourself. Life is... being possessive Life is... having a dream. Life is... working hard. Life is... r...