Breathe in a bit of Brahmatal - II

The first moments of consciousness are generally filled with discomfort of unknown origin. Then comes the realization that the cause for discomfort is the water pressure in the bladder. Out of habit, with my eyes still closed, I tried finding my glasses, and when I could not find them at the designated spot beside my pillow, it all came flooding back to me and I felt a little helpless.

I was not in Bangalore and I was not sleeping on a pillow but some folded clothes inside two layers of sleeping bags, in a tent pitched on uneven ground, surrounded by almost knee-deep snow, 10000 feet above sea level, where the temperature was around -14°C outside, accompanied by howling winds. I felt a little helpless as just to relieve myself, an act that would take less than 30 seconds, I would have to find my glasses, two layers of jackets, gloves, a cap, the headlamp, and of course some courage to venture out in the cold. I grudgingly did all that and then remembered that we had been instructed not to go out alone at night. So mostly out of respect and kindness for a fellow human being, and very minutely because I am scared of my wife when she is hungry or sleepy, I found the same clothing for her and then sheepishly woke her up. After both of us were completely dressed, we came out of the tent. It was 2AM and was freezing cold but what I experienced next changed not only the Brahmatal trek for me but also changed my perspective of life. But more on that later.

NOTE: Those who haven’t read the first part of this article. Please do so before proceeding further.

Link to first part: Breathe in a bit of Brahmatal - I

Day 3 - Bekaltal to Telandi [Blown Away]

As I mentioned already told Telandi was windy.

Have a look at this video to get a glimpse of what it was like at the Telandi Campsite.

At Telandi we learnt how to pitch our tents. It was not easy but it was a fun experience.

After having lunch, we had the rest of the day to do as we pleased.

At Telandi I witnessed one of the best sunsets of my life. I tried to capture as many pictures as I could but as I have already mentioned, the experience is incomplete without being present at the exact location.

I am an amateur photographer. The sunset at the campsite was way cooler than this picture.

The rest of the view was amazing too.

Then at around 8PM we had dinner and went to sleep.

And then I woke up in the middle of the night to answer nature’s call as I have elaborately described at the beginning of this article.

Once out of my tent, I was completely awestruck by the view. Even though the wind had suddenly stopped blowing and everything was calm, to say that I was blown away would be an understatement.

The sky was clear. The moon was as bright as it is in my imagination. The snow was silver. Even though generally I complain a lot about the world in general and the state of my life in specific, at that moment I felt grateful.

I looked at Sagnika and though I was not fully able to comprehend the look on her face but I was sure she was feeling something similar.

We stood there for a while, hand in hand, and just gazed at whatever nature had been kind enough to show us that night. At that very moment, my eyes closed automatically and I broke into a short prayer, this time not to complain or ask for something from the powers that be, but just to say thanks. I was healthy. I had enough resources to come on this trip and I was fortunate enough to see this beautiful view with my partner for life. What else could a man possibly ask for?

It would be apt to say that I had a spiritual experience that night.

Now when I think about that night, I feel very lucky. Many people go on the same trip but not may have such an experience.

Do comment below if you had a similar experience that you would like to share. I would be thrilled to hear them.

Please understand, all of this happened in a very short period. It was very cold outside and we did not have the luxury to gaze into each other’s eyes and recite romantic poetry. It was so cold that the thought of opening the tent again to grab my camera to capture the night did not cross my mind. So, unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures. Sorry!!

For those of you with the lingering question of whether I accomplished my original mission, due to which I had to come out of the tent that night, the answer is yes, I did.

Day 4 - Telandi to Jhandi Top to Khorurai

This was supposed to be the summit day when we reach the highest point in the Brahmatal trek but due to excessive snowfall a few days ago that would not be possible. We would instead go to Jhandi top. Though this seems a little sad remember that even though we humans proclaim proudly to have conquered some peak it is actually up to the mighty mountains to grant up permission.

On the brighter side, this small hiccup made my case stronger to come back again on this trek. After what I had witnessed the previous night, there was nothing in the world that could dampen my mood.

Before I jump into the details of the day, first some pics.

Once you grasp the scale of the mountains, it becomes evident how insignificant we humans and our egos are in the grand scheme of things

The views were beyond comparison and I lost track of time and just kept walking.

My trek leader had aptly mentioned on some break that the body feels whatever the mind tells it to. I was too happy to feel tired.

At one point we reached Jhandi top.

While coming down from Jhandi top we experienced some snowfall and had to take out our ponchos. It couldn’t have been timed more perfectly. Clear skies throughout the trek and snowfall towards the end, just for the experience.

That night we camped at Khorurai(meaning Oak forest). Unable to describe Khorurai with my limited set of adjectives. I will let the pictures do the talking.

That evening it snowed quite a bit and we all huddled up in the dining tents and shared stories and had a lot of fun till dinner.

Day 5 - Khorurai to Lohajung

It was sunny but I was feeling a bit heavy. This was the beginning of the end. The last few days had made us pretty comfortable with the trekking part and we talked all the way to Lohajung and I interestingly rediscovered my trek mates.

We reached Lohajung just before lunch and we did not feel like strangers anymore and so we caught up with people and their varied experiences throughout the day. We did some local shopping and tried out some local food.

After dinner, we did some stargazing and then some dancing for no apparent reason. I felt really happy and peaceful.

We all chatted and played cards till late at night.

That night I slept like a baby. Finally having cleansed the wrinkles on my forehead, I was ready to take on my city problems with a refreshed mind and a happy heart.

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Please let me know down below in the comments what you felt about this trek or if you want to know some more details about this trek or if you want to share some of your own stories.

P.S. - In this article and the previous part, I have actively avoided talking about my trek mates not because I don’t have a lot to tell, it is just because some of them might have privacy concerns. But there are some things which I need to say to make this article whole. In the few days of the trek we, the team, had become something more than the sum of our parts. During the trek people talked about how we were such an awesome team to trek with, how the food was nice, the weather was favorable, the stories we shared were memorable. A lot of it was true, but what made it magical were the parts that we did not talk about. Silently fighting the cold, trying to sleep on uneven ground, feeling tired on the trek, hard to catch one’s breath. As they say “Silence has the power to convey things which words never can”. In our minds, we were all alone, but thinking of mostly the same things. It is the friends that you make during times of hardship are the ones that matter the most. I am almost sure that most of us will lose touch with each other after some time, but whenever I think of the Brahmatal, I will think about you people and the silent things we did not talk about and whenever I think of you people, I will breathe in a bit of Brahmatal.