Amidst the mundane routine of work-home-whiling-away-a-weekend-work-home and the same on and on, when I saw the mail for the Nagala trek, I actually didn’t give it much thought. It was an irritating day at work that made me decide to go for it, to take a chance. And I must say, it was one of the most memorable experiences in my lifetime (not that I’m an 80 yr old, but still :P).
When we started in an undefined group, with smiling strangers, who seemed eager to help and were enjoying themselves, in the beginning I felt as though I was in a strange place. And me being a person who takes time to really open up felt even more alien. But after a while, it got to me. I also enjoyed when they laughed, be it a joke I shared or not. Slowly we reached the first pool, after having lost the people who were moving ahead of us. Once there, we got the message that we had to wait until further updates from the rest of the group. We were around 10 of us with a cute kiddo (Achantya) among us. While Achu found imaginary squids and jelly fish in the pool while swimming and found new ways of sliding down the small waterfall at the pool, the lost group met us there. And we quickly resumed out journey to the next pool – The crystal clear pool.
Everything around was in varying shades of green, and brown. Clear water went gushing around us, trickling and moving between rocks with a purpose, while we walked around or sometimes through it to make our way ahead. After sometime of climbing and trekking, we reached a scenic pool that was so beautiful, I’m so happy, the movie people haven’t found it yet. The crystal clear water, through which you could see the pebbles below, the fish moving around, was so pure, that anyone who comes back from another country claiming to have seen the best beach / lake in the world is going to get a sorry nod from me.
In less than 2 minutes, the whole group was busy thrashing around like kids in the water. The hesitation, inhibition all lost, fun seemed to be some gas that was being inhaled all over. After a while, it was time to move on – to pool 3 for the Level 1 camping site, and ahead for the others. Again after some climbing, some heaving and puffing, we had reached pool 3. A jade colored pool with shades of deeper green in the ends, it seemed like the water just decided to rest a while before it continued on its journey. As it happened each time we reached any water source, the swimmers dived headlong into the water, while the non-swimmers did everything else they could. Some wistfully watched the graceful swimmers having fun (That’s me! Scared to even keep my feet 2 ft into water) while some tried the floating technique with the tubes around them. Some others just relaxed, chatting and relaxing their muscles.
And that’s when fate decided to give this happy little gang a little more to think about. In other words, most of the gang decided to test themselves more, and go on to the next level. But for that we had to climb across a rock, clinging to the formations on it. And it was no simple rock. This one had rough, sharp edges, and turned at right angles in the midway. So there was no way to know what lay beyond that, unless we scaled that and went ahead. Well, anything looks scary until you do it. So saying, all the enthusiastic 70 or so, slowly edged their way across. No one dared to look down, because down, it was all rocks, and a pool that was quite a few feet deep. One wrong move and it could be dangerous. Brrr!!
Enter the Trekking Tigers! Till now, this happy band of Merry men, were not so much in focus, as no one’s life was clinging on a cliff. But when the tough terrain came up, these guys quickly moved and positioned themselves in such strategic points, encouraging scaredy-cats like me. And surely in a few minutes we had all crossed the dangerous-looking rock. And next we moved over the rocks to reach a small natural water slide. While two nice people helped us to cross over the slide, lots of enthusiasts were sliding below to the mouth of the waterfall. Once that was over, we started the real trek! You are wondering, what that ‘real trek’ means? Well, picture toh, abhi shuru hua hai! Now the terrain was not easy at all. It was all steep and slippery. The previous day’s rain had made the mud give away at a lot of places. When we kept our legs on some rock, thinking that it could carry our weight, it mostly came away, having been loosened by the sloppy mud. So we all clung on to the plants and roots of the trees. It was only after a while that we realized we were in a wrong trail. But by then I had already slipped twice, barely missing a fall, clinging to a small plant, which seemed too frail to withstand my weight. I got scared. This minute I had my hands around a plant, right feet on a rock jutting out under the mud, and the left trying to fix itself at the base of a plant, and the next minute, the rock gave away, while the plant snapped and I was hanging in mid air clinging to the frail plant. Thankfully, Jagan came over and passed along a root to steady myself.
It is a weird kind of rush that happens, when fear grips you. Suddenly the heart stops, voice seems forgotten (at least in my case) and adrenalin kicks in. But once you are safe, and the brain relieved that it is in no danger, all that adrenalin left out in the system, starts to act. After those two near-miss falls, by the time we reached the fourth pool, I was in a very bad shape. My muscles were trembling, and each breath was heavy. It felt like the muscles had given up. Both my hands and legs were trembling. At the fourth pool, where there was a waterfall, while others tried to refresh themselves in the water, I was taking stock of myself. There was a rock which had to be climbed to move further. Doubt, was setting in on my mind as to how I would do it. How I would move over that rock, which was angled in a way that we had to propel ourselves with our hands firmly on the dents in the rock. But when you have to do it, you just do it. While my mind tried that, my hands gave away. There it was Vandana, who caught me. It would not have been a fatal fall, but enough to injure me badly. And given that I’m sand-blind without my specs, if I had fallen, I would’ve fallen on my face, which means goodbye specs and goodbye vision. That thought was going in circles over my head, by which time, somehow I was pulled up on the rock and I quietly sat trying to calm myself. I knew I had to stop here, if I wanted to be alive. The next pool was 2 hours away, and the climb was going to be tougher. It was only common-sense to stay back. I said so to Biju the leader of Level 2. But logic was out, how could I be left alone? A first-time-trekker at a pool which was no camping site; all by herself? I had to somehow cling on, till the 5th pool. But again, going till there was going to be no easy task, and so the tigers came to my help. While one of them carried my bag, along with their own bags and other stuff like tarpaulin, rope etc., the others agreed to take care of me. Slowly motivating me, and the others, we moved forward. One step at a time, we kept going forward, until we reached the place.
I still can’t remember what place it was. Maybe it is because I automatically erase the worst memories from my head. All I can remember is, there was some rock like formation, where again I had to grip the rock and propel myself upwards to climb up. And when I tried, my both hands slipped! There was nothing below, only trees and rocks which are at an 80 degree angle to the horizontal. Where I would’ve fallen, I have no idea. But it would not have been nice at all. Two hands grabbed me at the right time, while lot of gasps escaped others’ mouths. I have no memory of how I reached on the top. But in seconds I was safe. I didn’t realize how much I valued my life until then. I couldn’t speak a word. I didn’t want to look below. I knew how bad it was. I knew how lucky I was. It would have been a major mishap, but those awesome guys saved me. From then on, there were always two people ahead and behind me. There was no saying where my next stunt would be. Abishek, Rinku, Vijay, Kaushik, RJ, Ganga, Nithya, and the other tigers, took the big burden called ‘yours truly’ into their heads. I was so embarrassed that I was such a trouble. I couldn’t even mumble thanks to those guys. Jitters were going over my hands and legs like some shock. But at the same time, I knew there was no way out. The only words, going over and over in my head were, “One big mistake. If I reach the pool in one piece, I’m not doing any more of this. From where did I get the idea that I can trek? How stupid can I get?” All this while, these guys kept at it. Encouraging, and motivating. Though they were all exhausted, being themselves new to this trail, plus having to take care of us, they did not show any signs of giving in. My mind was so scared that I would not move until Abishek was in the front leading the way. My only hope was that my fear was not rubbing on to the others. I was terrified, but I tried to keep it within me. Not sure, if that was working, but anyone who was near by, when I almost fell, were already looking at me like some sort of miracle.
It slowly became dark, and we used our torches to light our ways. Midway, we found Vaishu and her gang coming back from another false trail. The darkness was making it trickier than it actually was. After some more stops and careful climbing, we reached the pool. But by then, everyone had already slept. Where would I sleep? I didn’t have even a sleeping mat. God knows who had it, and where that person was. Ganga lent me a mat, and Archana helped me out. I was wet, exhausted and still jittery. Strange are the ways were you find real friends, and good human beings. Which stranger will go to the extent of applying a balm and rubbing the tired muscles, when that person was also in a similar state? While all the kindness and generosity of those really sweet people was weighing like a ton on me, Archana erased away all boundaries to that. That night, she was there, and that was all I had to know. In her face, I saw the care, the fact that she would not let me feel left out or insecure.
‘Thanks’ at that point seemed like a word that was too silly, too mild, to even convey 10% of the gratitude that I felt. I cannot repay any of those people in any way. I cannot ever thank them enough. But I can also never forget them and those moments. (If I go on, this will turn into the climax of any Karan Johar movie, and we wouldn’t have to go all the way to Nagala to enjoy a pool.)
There is more to write, about the fun I had. About why inspite of all this, I’m still going to trek more. But if I write this here, no one is going to read it. It has already been a very long post.
So sit tight, while the next part is on the way. :)
