Dharchula to Delhi
I finally woke up at around 3am, feeling thirsty yet calm. Data must have started few minutes ago, as notifications were rolling in, albeit slowly. Thought of breaking the fast, but then thought of keeping it till Hindu next day and went back to sleep.
Finally I woke up around 5am, thirst was gone by now and head felt light yet calm. Replied to a few messages and finally left bed around 5:30 and drank some water and ate a few biscuits I had. Afterwards I took a bath and got ready and packed my luggage.
I had only stayed without water and food for around 17 hours, yet I felt calmer and more at peace after that. Funny thing was, although initially I felt quite thirsty, after a while amount of thirst I felt came down. I guess as long as you’re true to your cause and believe in it, everything just falls in place. In fact before falling to sleep, I had managed to write couple of blogposts which I will be publishing in couple of days.
I took a bath and got ready, packed my gear and walked out of the hotel towards the bus stand. Bus for Delhi was standing there, thankfully third window seat was empty and I took it. After about half an hour or so, bus started from Dharchula, almost fully packed and I was thankful for having gotten my window seat and could take photos.
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First break came at Jauljibi for tea, which is at the confluence of Black and White River. Most of the passengers got off and for a moment I contemplated, knowing fully well that there was a good chance someone else would come back and sit where I was sitting. Because everyone wanted window seats in front and UTC buses didn’t assigned seats.
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In the meanwhile a visibly intoxicate man was creating a ruckus outside, saying, “मुझे मारो, मेरा कोई नहीं है, मैं लावारिस हूँ| मेरी कोई बीवी और औलाद नहीं है|” (Beat me, I am alone and lost. I don’t have any wife or kids).
I sort of felt bad for that chap, but that is what life is. Sometime we regret the choices we make only towards the end of our life, when we realize where exactly they have lead us to and at times we end up on the street, drunk, crying and bearing our soul out with no one to listen to our plight, just strangers looking in disgust or amusement.
As I got off the bus and started looking for something to eat, I found most shops just selling tea. Finally I came across a restaurant, where I got some egg chowmein made, in fact it was the best chowmein I had ever tasted. Cook/restaurant owner served it with pride and lovingly, even added momo chutney and pudnia+tomato+pepper chutney in it and served it along with a little bit of soup. The way that guy served food and the way he was talking, made the whole experience that much more worthwhile and I really enjoyed it.
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By the time I came back to the bus, it was about to start and sure enough, my seat was now occupied by an elderly couple, who were earlier sitting in the back. There were seats available in the front, just not window ones, so I took the window seat towards the end on right hand side. Knowing I won’t get much if any views from here, since my side would be mostly along the mountain, however I had look out of the window, for I had to see and wonder.
Soon the bus started and so did my bouncy ride, thankfully driver this time around was a lot more careful and hence I didn’t feel as much bumps as I would have felt, had yesterday’s driver was driving the bus.
Bus ran and so did my mind, I was calm today, much calmer than I had been in a long time. Maybe it was the fast, maybe it was just my mind running wild, hopping from one thought to another.
Road was of course bad at places with nature trying to reclaim what we had tried to claim from her.
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However real fun began on the ascent for Askot, road was just wide enough for the bus to pass and even though driver was driving in the middle, bushes and trees from the right were rubbing the bus all across. It was a fantastic experience, though as a town Askot didn’t seem much and I couldn’t really spot the palace there either, though I wasn’t sure where it was in the first place.
From there on my mind just thought about a million things, majority of which I do not even remember. But thoughts came and I kept wondering, until we finally reach Ocala and eventually Didihat and then the beautiful drive to Thal began, which I consider to be second only to Tanmarg-Gulmarg stretch. Views were of course just fantastic, so I kept thinking and kept clicking.
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After a brief stopover in Thal, it was time to move on with the next pit stop being Seraghat, the usual place for breakfast/lunch for most buses heading towards or coming back from Pithoragarh district. I had stopped at the same restaurant for the fourth time in less than a week and sure enough restaurant owner recognized me and we chatted for a brief duration for the first time.
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It was time to come back into the bus and begin the journey back to Almora, a route which had become familiar enough in past couple of weeks for me to start recognizing houses which lay around it!
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En route I also received a phone call from
@ankitgoel10 and we chatted for a brief while, it always feels good to be appreciated, especially when you’re feeling a little down and his call did that. While I was in a happy place afterwards, suddenly as we crossed Almora, my mood changed. Maybe it was the re-realization of something or maybe it was the magic of Kumaon fading off as we descended. Whatever it was, not even uncensored songs from Honey Singh could change it.
Our bus arrived in Delhi at around 5:30am, I was in a serious mood, not sure why. So I decided to take the cab back, not much really happened till I reached home and started writing travelogue half an hour later.
Eventually something did happen, on its own, once I was done writing the first part. Answer which came to me was something which was always there, from the beginning. I always knew what had to be done and I was always ready to go all out for it. And I also knew that those who loved and cared about me, will stand by my side, no matter what. Only thing was, I couldn’t ask for their support, it had to come on its own, from their own free will. If it didn’t come, I couldn’t really blame them, since each person has a different journey and a different path they must take. I know what mine is right now and I must tread on it, with or without anyone’s support.
Because when you dream and you’re serious about that dream, and it is not just another flight of fantasy, you know there is no option but to surge ahead, no matter how much effort it takes, how much pain you have to endure and how much blind faith you have to place in the hand of God.
After all, it is God who gave me that dream in that first place and also the vision I had was not some random awakening in the middle of nowhere, it was due to that dream leading me to that vision. And for that vision to truly come alive, I needed that dream. There can never be any replacement for it or a way around it. Because in case of dreams which matter, there are no options or backup plans. It is either those dreams or a life devoid of dreams like that…
