“Kahaan
hai saale? Bus choot jaayegi! Late ho raha hai toh tickets mail kar de, main chala jaaunga!” he said…
How? Just how is this guy my friend for the last 17 years??! Thankfully, I made
it just in time after a long hard day at office. The rendezvous point was Majnu ka tila in Delhi (I wonder what
the story behind that name is)! Our destination was a small town called Dharamsala
in the northern part of Himachal Pradesh, known for housing The Dalai Lama, and
of course, hyped to have the most beautiful cricket stadium in the World! It
was 1st October 2015 and we were on a long weekend trip to watch the
T20 International between India and South Africa the next evening. There was no
time to exchange pleasantries as I arrived at our bus stop and frankly, after a
lifetime of knowing each other, there wasn’t a need for it! “You’ve grown old
man” he taunted as I took an avomine to survive the 12 hour journey up the
Himalayas.
Direction
signs to the T20 International venue had made their appearance some 50 kms
before Dharamsala. The roads narrowed almost uncomfortably as we entered the
town. The bus dropped us at a junction and moved ahead to Mcleodganj. There was
no sign of any public transport which got me thinking about a trek up the 5 kms
route to the hotel. Just then we spotted a yellow number plate Maruti Alto
moving towards us. It was carrying a match official and refused to take us. I
requested him to return after dropping the official to the stadium, being well
aware that he wouldn’t! After all there would be 100s of others between the
stadium and us who would kill for his services. I looked at my friend’s
expression which said to me “Don’t even think of asking me to walk it up”. Not
having another option, we decided to stand our ground in hope that at least one
free taxi would stop by.
We stood there
for the next 15 mins without any luck. The sun rays were soothing in the 15 odd
degree temperature. Just then, our Maruti Alto taxi guy showed up! Why would he
leave all the other potential customers and come to fetch us? What if we had already
taken another taxi and gone? The smile on his face and the sweetness of his
greeting answered my questions. We were in Himachal Pradesh! The people here
are as sweet as the apples they grow. GPS and Google maps had failed us, but
this little taxi guy hadn’t! Used to being looted when touring a new place, it
was a pleasant surprise when he charged us a very reasonable sounding fare for
the drive to our hotel, The Origin. Brings me to the most important point of
this article – The experience of a tourist is defined not so much by the scenic
landscapes, architectural marvels or adventurous sports, but by the manner in
which he is treated by the locals! The assurance that you will not be harmed or
cheated gives you the confidence to explore the area that much more. Your
satisfaction at the end of a tour depends on how well you have traveled and
how well you have spent your time and money on your travel.
Take for
instance the hotel that we booked. This was 1 day of the year when all hotels
in Dharamsala would be a complete sell out! This town of 20,000 population was hosting 24,000 people for the match! But the hotels did not hike their
rates. Not very business minded you would think but very tourist friendly! The
Manager at the hotel was another example of the pleasant nature of people from
this part of the country. An early check-in and a delayed check-out was
acceptable even at this rush hour. Our small but cozy rooms were readied in a
jiffy and we were served with some delicious food, again at standard rates. He
had 8 guests at his hotel without a vehicle and he owned 1 small car which
would drop us to and pick us from the stadium. After many failed permutations
and combinations from his side, he asked us to figure out how the
pick-up and drop would work ourselves. Not very sharp but very sweet, I thought to myself.
All sorted by the afternoon, we were to share the cab with a guy who worked for
Google and his elder brother. They hailed from Delhi and seemed like smart
chaps… (Duh! He worked for Google!!!) The simple arrangement was that the 4 of
us would be dropped first and while returning, another family of 4 would be
picked first and us later.
We entered
the stadium about 3 hours before the start of play thanks to the not so long
queue in our segment of seating. A thick cloud cover hid our view of the
Himalayas but the atmosphere inside the stadium was electric! The arrival of
every player saw the sound levels rise a few decibels. The largest of the
cheers were reserved for Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers! Just then, the clouds
moved out and exposed the greater Himalayas to our sight… Oh what a sight it
was!
The next
morning, we set out on a half day sightseeing tour of Mcleodganj. This trip was
arranged with the cabby from last night, again for a reasonable sounding rate. The
crowd who had come for the match would be leaving and we would be driving
uphill, against the traffic. Anyone who has an experience of the roads in the
Himalayas would know that this isn’t as easy as it sounds! Hence, it was
crucial that we got there very early in the morning to avoid the traffic, and
so we did. The Bhagsunag waterfall
looked fresh and lively! The icy cold water re-energized the body after the
short but tiring trek to the fall. Breakfast was served on the way back. The parathas and the hot tea felt all the
more delicious to a tired, cold body!
Re-fueled, our next stop was the local market. This market was quite typical of any tourist hill station. The shops sold similar stuff - different varieties of winter wear and hand-made jewelry. The striking feature of this market was that it was completely set up and run by Tibetans. This place is the biggest refuge for Tibetans in India and that was clearly seen!
A short stroll
took us to the Dalai Lama temple where we saw a huge gathering of monks! I
asked one of them what the matter was and she cutely replied “Dalai Lama Ji aa rahe hain” (I didn’t know there
were female monks!) Were we lucky or what! People do not get to meet him after
years of waiting and here we were, ready to welcome him home after his trip to
Canada. We quickly joined the gathering and waited patiently for his arrival.
After a good 1 hour wait, he finally arrived with a fan following which could
rival a Shahrukh Khan in Mumbai! With closed eyes and folded hands, all the
monks welcomed their spiritual leader, their God! And my friend, who claims to
be a photographer and owns a DSLR, did not even manage to get a picture of him!
:-P
We came
back to our waiting cabby who was ready to take us to our last 2 sightseeing
spots, stopping every now and then to allow us to get a good shot of the
Himalayas. Expected him to be quite irritated by now, but he surprised us yet
again saying “Bhaiya yahi toh Memories hoti hain aapki”. The surprises from
his side didn’t stop at that. He went on to tell us how he spent an year in
this state called “Goa” trying to figure out there language called “Konkani”. This was soon after my friend had just said something to me in Konkani fully confident that no one other than me would understand! Luckily for us, our disbelief was resonated in him when we told him that both of us hail from Goa! The drive back to Dharamsala just got more enjoyable as we had some Konkani lessons to offer to our new friend!
Soon, the
trip ended and we hopped onto the bus to Pathankot to catch our connecting
train to Delhi. The Himalayas have it all! Breathtaking scenes, amazing
weather, meandering rivers, beautiful people (if you know what I mean ;-))! We
both considered setting up a small business and settling in here, forever… The
pristine weather, the freshness of the air, the innocence of the people were
all holding us back… The Great Himalayas never disappoint! Lost, I was in my
thoughts as the phone rang. It was my boss and I had a problem to solve in
office the next day…
No comments:
Post a Comment