By Sahil Kinha
2 May 2014
Mother: Kaisi tayaari hai exams ki?
I: Good, Mumma. Abki baar, 80 paar!
M: Arey wah! Internals kaise the tumhare?
I: Good! 24, 24, 23, 21, 13.
M: 13? Aisa kya ho gaya?
I: I missed the internal. Teacher refused to take a retest.
M: Kab?!
I: Wo Himachal gaya tha na main? Un ladko ke sath… tab miss ho gaya.
M: OH, Ummm…
***
My trip happened strictly by chance. 36 hours before our scheduled departure I was apprehensive whether I even want to go on a road trip to the hills, and with strangers. It was going to be my first road trip ever, first trip ever with strangers, and first to the Himalayas. In fact, this turned out to be one of those things it was easier to convince Mom for, than it was to convince myself.
***
4 February 2014
I: Ek trip pe jaane ka chance mil raha hai, to Himachal? Main jaaun?
M: Kahan? Kiske sath?
I: Zyada idea nahi hai. I’ll be gone for 5 days, and they’ll pay for my travel and food. 2 photographers and the 2 guys running india42, and me. One of them is an IITian.
M: IITian? Wah! Go. But… Those two are running the company, the other two will click pictures. What will you do?!
I: OH, Ummm…
Photography Inception: I ended up photographing the photographers
***
6 February 2014
We left Delhi (starting from Saket) in a blue Hyundai i20 at noon exactly. Come 4:30pm and we were still in Delhi. Standing in front of Azadpur Mandi, across the road from Jahangirpuri metro station, with a flat tyre. My thoughts then: Yahan se Chandigarh? 6 hours by road. Yahan se ghar? 70 minutes by Metro. OH, Ummm…
Later that night en route from Chandigarh to Solan, we stopped at Nikki Rasoi and had some yummy chai by their terrace. Before leaving we ran into a couple of drunk locals.The interaction was very warming though.
One of them: Mera naam hai Veer Thakur (V)- Tehsil Kasoli President of the Himachal Rajput Sabha. Add me on FB!”
I: Sure! Main bhi Dilli University mein student neta hoon.
V: Bahot badhiya. Hum toh Modi ji ke supporter hain. Dekhna is baar…
I: OH, Ummm… Facebook link kya hai aapka?
(No way was I telling a tall, strongly built, drunk Rajput that I’m an NSUI volunteer!)
Captured from Nikki Rasoi
The much famed Nikki Rasoi Terrace (This picture is from our journey back- Solan to Chandigarh)
***
7 February 2014
Parth holding a pair of later mentioned fresh vegetables
We left Solan early afternoon on the 6th for Shimla. The journey was smooth and we then went to a Himachal Pradesh Tourism Help Center there.
One of us: Great Himalayan National Park jaana hain. Please tell us about that.
TO: Aise mausam mein? Bilkul nahi! Summers ke baad body milengi aapki…
All of us: OH, Ummm…
We then decided to look for places to camp overnight. Knowing that we were going to camp overnight and would reach Mandi only by next evening, I decided not to eat or drink much that day. God knows when we’d find the next toilet?
We ended up camping in the middle of the jungles of Mashobra.
***
8 February 2014
We drove from Mashobra to Mandi and the journey took almost the entire day – good, bad and ugly weather was encountered.
View from the car
Himanshu playing Speed Governor for the day, Manan was on the wheel and his left hand can be seen.
We stopped for lunch midway for some tandoor and tawa paranthas, our staple diet over the trip, in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables. But the dhaba did not only have great paranthas, but also a huge, clean toilet!
And what was happening back home in College? Extra class, surprise internal assessment test announced, blah blah.
OH, Ummm…
Blah blah: Extra class, surprise test…
Later that night we reached Mandi and were informed it was unsafe to make the journey from Mandi to Prashar at night. Mostly bordering agnostic, I was humbled and amazed at the food and accommodation arrangements made for us at the local Gurudwara. The Gurudwara langar’s dal > ITC Maurya’s Bukhara, seriously.
***
9 February 2014
We left for Prashar Lake around 10am. We were told we’d be able to drive till around 10km from the lake and would have to trek the snow clad roads (well not really roads) from there.
Armed and fabulous: our Car parked in front of the Gurudwara accommodation before leaving for Prashar
I can now divide my trek into two parts. The first 9km when I was the fastest of us, took the least number of breaks and carried the most amount of weight (including an 80% filled 3.5kg LPG cylinder!) But then came the pagdandi. I still don’t know what the pagdandi exactly translates to in English, but it was a ~1km stretch, 1 foot in width. On the right and the left were acute slopes (~70 degrees) and the only thing I could see apart from immense lengths of snow on either side, was snow leopard paws! All along the 1km stretch.
Through this stretch of the pagdandi, I was shit scared. There was terror in my eyes. I don’t remember much from this part of the trek, yes, I was that terrified. What I do remember however, is- Oye, Parth… Ek photo kheech mera.
Trek Uphill- 9.73km over 4 hrs 25 mins. Notice how last 1km took ONE GODDAMN HOUR. Grr, pagdandi.
Right after the pagdandi!
I did eventually conquer the pagdandi though and reach the Lake.
And it was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever witnessed.
***
Located at 9000 feet above sea level, the Lake could well be the next Windows 9 default desktop wallpaper. 49 km from Mandi, the Lake can be reached by road in the summers of March-September, but would require a generous trek ranging 6 to 20 km depending on the time of the year. Speaking of the weather, tourists often find themselves propitious enough of witnessing sun, rain and snow- all on a single visit. Add to that an occasional bear-spottings and variable paw prints on the ice.
Surrounded by mountains on all 4 side, the lake also houses a rather mysterious pagoda like structure right adjacent to it. While the Himachal Tourism board welcoming tourists mentions the structure as the Prashar Rishi Temple (it is complete with statues of deities as well a priest residing there full time) nobody has answers why a Hindu temple has Buddhist architecture? Or how many feet under the ground is the temple built till? (three tiers of the structure are clearly visible, it is however claimed to have multiple floors of architecture below the ground) Or is the temple really 600 years old as claimed by the locals?
There are also two guest houses within 2 km radii of the Lake- one owned and operated by the Forest Department and the other by the PWD.
A test of how virgin a vacation spot really is may not always be how white the snow there, or how blue the water is- a successful one could be the number of chips wrappers and disposed tea cups found at the location. By this newfangled test of ‘virginity’, Parashar Lake is as good as they come; not only is there lavish white snow and haryali galore (depending on the time of the year you visit) the spotless views make you wonder- How much longer until tourists and merchants mob this place like your typical Himalayan abode- crowded and mundane?
***
Coming back to our journey. Just about when we finished going around the Temple and had our chai, snowfall started. It was also dark by now. We were now in a fix. To brave the dark, the snow and potentially the bears and leopards, or to to stay the night in one of the guest houses? But the risk with the latter was that we could be stuck there for days perhaps, given how bad the weather had been last couple of days, and how long snowfall usually lasted there.
Then came Mr Dole Ram. Fantastic, brilliant, chai wala! (Slumdog Millionaire reference.) Dole Ram ji is a Prashar pahadi, born and raised. He runs the chai/maggi stall adjacent to the lake and makes a journey back home every evening. His house was around the same area where our car was parked. He offered to help us trek downhill in the dark. But that meant crossing THE pagdandi again, and this time in the dark, with snowfall.
OH, Ummm…
Except this was the sexiest (?) trek ever! Dole Ram ji, in the early part of the trek itself figured I was the scared one in our group, and held my hand tight, and told me once and for all- Sher ki tarha chalo. Darne ki zarurat nahi hai. He taught me the technique to walk through the thick ice-
1. Put down your ankle first
2. Put down either foot facing outwards. So the feet would make a V sign of sorts.
The trek uphill took us 265 minutes over a 9.73 km distance, and the one downhill took us only 147 minutes, this time over 5.28 km. Traveling between the Lake and the car (the same two points as before) and covering nearly half the distance meant- almost double the slope! Our journey downhill was hence way steeper. Not to forget it was snowing and that we were by now way past sunset.
Conquered!
Trek Downhill- 5.28km over 2 hrs 27 mins. Notice how in the last 2km, our speed doubled. Ab bas thodi door aur…
***
22 March 2014
Just a day earlier, our trip video was uploaded on youtube. Friends, family members, everyone was aghast at our body language in the part of the video we had just shot after the trek. (It can be seen here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SAY19Fb-L-c#t=317 )
“Dude, you look almost dead.”
“IIT wala thoda mature lagta hai, warna toh tum mar gaye hote…”
Indeed. We had just survived death. Seriously, summers ke baad body mili hoti… Mr Dole Ram was a Godsend.
***
Today
I can retrospectively answer my mother’s “What will you do?!” The trip made a man out of me. I learnt to set up and fold tents, be the car’s designated speed governor on hilly roads in the dark, to eat less, and to go potty even lesser. I started believing in God, and appreciating religion. I learnt that it takes only a couple of hours to bond with complete strangers and become like family with them.
I even learnt I must work harder for these coming exams to compensate for the “Insurance ka test” I had missed.
Lastly (and perhaps not most significantly) I learnt that there is still hope in the world, for us, the non-DSLR walahs.
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