A DREAM CHASE
A sense of satisfaction & confidence was more than clear on his face. Standing aplomb, with a very visible but gentle smile, he was trying his best to capture the moment for whole life. Undoubtedly it was the most beautiful scene he had even seen. He was looking towards a huge frozen lake. The dried leaves of the giant tree he was standing near had covered the bed of the lake, as if the carpet of leaves.
Suddenly some of leaves on the bed shook a little, to his wonder, there were some fishes making there way. They were very beautiful brown and red. The sight was so captivating that he quickly bent on his knees on the pure white snow to have a closure look. A golden fish with bright and red eyes came out of some leaves as though a Queen marching off. It was amazing, he thought. All of a sudden, a snowball hit him in his face, it hit him so hard that his nose turned red, and he woke up from his dream. The dream that he saw every night from the day he had seen the notice on mess notice board “Snow Peak Adventure”.
After much debates and discussion by parents, And last minutes approvals and denials of many of his friends, he & one of his classmate were on board with 17 people for a trek to Dodital. Dodital, it is a high altitude lake at a height of 3307m. It is situated amongst pine forests with the backdrop of Darwa Bugyal, a high altitude meadow. Dodital is the birth place of Lord Ganesha and is said to have witnessed the beheading of the deity by Lord Shiva. Everyone on board had his own reason to join this adventures journey. Someone wanted to prove his masculinity to their girlfriend and for someone it was just the search of peace. He too has his reason. He wanted to walk on that frozen lake and spread his hands in air, looking towards those mighty hills and the blue sky. He had felt some sort of power in his dream. The power, it might be of accomplishment or of self-confidence, he wanted to experience it. Because he had always believed,
“Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”
So, the group of 17, all armed with rucksacks carrying tents, matrices, sleeping bags and bare minimum to keep them alive in the dense forests of Himalaya’s, started the journey. They all looked like some aliens with those jackets and bags and skullcaps and goggles. It was time of the year when no one visits to Dodital because of dense snowfall. Even the people of nearby villages Manjhi, Kachera, Bewara had left their homes and went downhill.
The trek began from “Sangamchatti“ . Everyone was excited and full of energy. 20 kgs of rucksack felt nothing. All of them were posing awkwardly for the camera. Probably, it was only the captain who knew what and where they were heading. He was the boy in his early twenties but his love and experience for trekking had made him wiser than a seasoned man. He was very humble and a wonderful motivator to say the least.
The nature was at its best, life seemed easy, he loved walking towards his dream, It had been more than two hours he was walking up the hill, he had to break and rest every 15 minutes to gain back his normal breathing. It was getting difficult. His whole body was soaked in sweat. Chilled air breezes were slowly killing him. He was tired but still continuing. People with him started taking frequent rests, but he was determined & continuing on his pace. One young athletic chap was also with him. Both seemed restless, they wanted to reach as early as they can. They decided to go ahead, they thought they can reach and then wait for others to come. Captain permitted them and asked to wait at Bewara. They were planning to put up there camp there.
Distance began to pile up. They might have covered more than 5 kilometers; still there was no sign of any human being nearby. All they can see was dense forest and 1500-2000 feet sharp valley. One wrong step and you’re gone for life. Landslides were so frequent that anything could happen any moment. It was dangerous. But there was a beauty in it. Those huge mountains had some story to say. Those natural counters on the terrain mixed in the clouds looked like a painting that he thought, probably, exists only in dreams. The scene was definitely the most beautiful one he had ever seen in his life. As the hours passed by, they continued walking, at times motivating each other, helping to reach destination for day one. They spotted a board indicating that the destination was nearby. Their pace suddenly fastened and they reached Bewara quickly. Both of them were exhausted but excited over finally being able to reach destination. So, they celebrated their victory over Cadbury Silk. It felt sweeter than ever before in their life.
In some time whole team reached Bewara. They built their tents in a campsite adjacent to a beautiful waterfall. It was flowing over a huge old fallen tree. The boulders in between the flow made it very attractive. Among those rocks, there was something like a natural bathtub, covered from all sides, with fresh water coming in and out over rock. It was amazing, as if, nature had its own way of making things. The bathtub seemed ornamented with a wonderful green leaves in circle. They stayed in those tents for the night and had some hookah over the bonfire. It was an amazing night. Staying in the forest was a lifetime experience.
Journey again began very early in the morning. This time towards Manjhi, 15 kms up the hill. Their body had become quite used to trekking. It took them 7 odd hours to reach their destination. The path was more dangerous and, undoubtedly, more beautiful. That time they stayed in a deserted town. There was some horror in the air. They stayed in a beautiful hut. The cream white snow peaks of Bandarpunch were quite visible from this town. In the evening, the peak looked golden yellow because of sun’s reflection. They looked like a painting; it was difficult to convince oneself that it was all in real. It felt like an artist’s imagination. Next day, they were heading to their final target “Dodital”. Their eyes reflected a mix of happiness and tiredness. There were some people who were on verge of giving up and going back. It was understandable as the trek was indeed very difficult. The captain was at his best in motivating everyone. He had a mission to make sure each one of his crew gets an opportunity to see that rare view.
On that day also, they faced many tough times. A guy was about to fall in a huge valley and was saved accidentally by the porter. It was all luck; it was all a matter of destiny, he thought. The flowing water was frozen. Then, they came across a rare sight of a frozen waterfall. The upper cover of the waterfall was frozen like a transparent glass, The water was still making its way within those glass. It was beyond imaginations. He had never before thought that the water in canals on Ganga that he used to visit regularly in Roorkee made its way through those beautiful, dangerous and amazing places. Observing nature and listening to the rare sounds of wild animals like Chinkaras and stories of Leapords and Bears, he made his way though those narrow paths. One wrong step would have meant falling in a deep valley, where probably no one could have ever came even to recover his body. The thought even made him shiver.
After hours of walking, resting and continuing, he, finally, heard the distant sound of a temple bell. It gave him an electric shiver. It was the sign of arrival of their destination. It was the sound from the temple of Lord Ganesha. He almost started running, when only a few minutes ago, it had become difficult for him even to take one single step. It was probably magic, the magic of determination. He ran as fast as he could, till the end of the road without looking anywhere. His breathing grew and he was on the verge of collapse. Finally, all tired he collapsed at the end of the road, trying to control his breaths. He raised his eyes in front to find out what was next, and to his amazement, he was in front of the lake, the Dodi lake. It was not only same but perhaps more beautiful than the one in his dreams. All frozen and beautiful, surrounded by all snow-covered hills and on the bank was a beautiful green top temple. It looked gorgeous near the lake. He felt as if he was walking in the dream. It took lots of pain and tireless efforts from his side to see this. In his dreams, he had felt some power in that place. And at that moment, probably, he understood what that power was? But still his mind was racing fast to decipher the secret of that power.
Carefully, he took some steps on the frozen lake. He could clearly see the carpet of leaves at the bottom of the lake. It felt as if he was walking in the air. He had to walk miles up in those adamant and mighty Himalayas to walk over that lake. A feeling of conquer seemed evident from his movement. He might be of the size of a dust when compared to Himalaya’s but he had fought his way up in those hilly, scary and risky tracks. The joy he was experiencing then was much more than in his dreams. He wanted to shout and tell to the world that he had done it. Slowly he spread his hands in the air and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes with a gentle smile on his face and then he felt something cold right on the top of his nose, he opened his eyes and found a snow white on the top of his nose. “It’s snowfall!!” He exclaimed. The bright white snow calmly coming down from the sky looked like pearls falling from the sky. This was the first snowfall he had ever seen in his life. A tear drop appeared in his eye and rolled down over to his cheeks. And finally, he thought, he had deciphered that sacred power. It was none other than the power of “Conceiving, Believing and Achieving!!!”
A sense of satisfaction & confidence was more than clear on his face. Standing aplomb, with a very visible but gentle smile, he was trying his best to capture the moment for whole life. Undoubtedly it was the most beautiful scene he had even seen. He was looking towards a huge frozen lake. The dried leaves of the giant tree he was standing near had covered the bed of the lake, as if the carpet of leaves.
Suddenly some of leaves on the bed shook a little, to his wonder, there were some fishes making there way. They were very beautiful brown and red. The sight was so captivating that he quickly bent on his knees on the pure white snow to have a closure look. A golden fish with bright and red eyes came out of some leaves as though a Queen marching off. It was amazing, he thought. All of a sudden, a snowball hit him in his face, it hit him so hard that his nose turned red, and he woke up from his dream. The dream that he saw every night from the day he had seen the notice on mess notice board “Snow Peak Adventure”.
After much debates and discussion by parents, And last minutes approvals and denials of many of his friends, he & one of his classmate were on board with 17 people for a trek to Dodital. Dodital, it is a high altitude lake at a height of 3307m. It is situated amongst pine forests with the backdrop of Darwa Bugyal, a high altitude meadow. Dodital is the birth place of Lord Ganesha and is said to have witnessed the beheading of the deity by Lord Shiva. Everyone on board had his own reason to join this adventures journey. Someone wanted to prove his masculinity to their girlfriend and for someone it was just the search of peace. He too has his reason. He wanted to walk on that frozen lake and spread his hands in air, looking towards those mighty hills and the blue sky. He had felt some sort of power in his dream. The power, it might be of accomplishment or of self-confidence, he wanted to experience it. Because he had always believed,
“Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”
So, the group of 17, all armed with rucksacks carrying tents, matrices, sleeping bags and bare minimum to keep them alive in the dense forests of Himalaya’s, started the journey. They all looked like some aliens with those jackets and bags and skullcaps and goggles. It was time of the year when no one visits to Dodital because of dense snowfall. Even the people of nearby villages Manjhi, Kachera, Bewara had left their homes and went downhill.
The trek began from “Sangamchatti“ . Everyone was excited and full of energy. 20 kgs of rucksack felt nothing. All of them were posing awkwardly for the camera. Probably, it was only the captain who knew what and where they were heading. He was the boy in his early twenties but his love and experience for trekking had made him wiser than a seasoned man. He was very humble and a wonderful motivator to say the least.
The nature was at its best, life seemed easy, he loved walking towards his dream, It had been more than two hours he was walking up the hill, he had to break and rest every 15 minutes to gain back his normal breathing. It was getting difficult. His whole body was soaked in sweat. Chilled air breezes were slowly killing him. He was tired but still continuing. People with him started taking frequent rests, but he was determined & continuing on his pace. One young athletic chap was also with him. Both seemed restless, they wanted to reach as early as they can. They decided to go ahead, they thought they can reach and then wait for others to come. Captain permitted them and asked to wait at Bewara. They were planning to put up there camp there.
Distance began to pile up. They might have covered more than 5 kilometers; still there was no sign of any human being nearby. All they can see was dense forest and 1500-2000 feet sharp valley. One wrong step and you’re gone for life. Landslides were so frequent that anything could happen any moment. It was dangerous. But there was a beauty in it. Those huge mountains had some story to say. Those natural counters on the terrain mixed in the clouds looked like a painting that he thought, probably, exists only in dreams. The scene was definitely the most beautiful one he had ever seen in his life. As the hours passed by, they continued walking, at times motivating each other, helping to reach destination for day one. They spotted a board indicating that the destination was nearby. Their pace suddenly fastened and they reached Bewara quickly. Both of them were exhausted but excited over finally being able to reach destination. So, they celebrated their victory over Cadbury Silk. It felt sweeter than ever before in their life.
In some time whole team reached Bewara. They built their tents in a campsite adjacent to a beautiful waterfall. It was flowing over a huge old fallen tree. The boulders in between the flow made it very attractive. Among those rocks, there was something like a natural bathtub, covered from all sides, with fresh water coming in and out over rock. It was amazing, as if, nature had its own way of making things. The bathtub seemed ornamented with a wonderful green leaves in circle. They stayed in those tents for the night and had some hookah over the bonfire. It was an amazing night. Staying in the forest was a lifetime experience.
Journey again began very early in the morning. This time towards Manjhi, 15 kms up the hill. Their body had become quite used to trekking. It took them 7 odd hours to reach their destination. The path was more dangerous and, undoubtedly, more beautiful. That time they stayed in a deserted town. There was some horror in the air. They stayed in a beautiful hut. The cream white snow peaks of Bandarpunch were quite visible from this town. In the evening, the peak looked golden yellow because of sun’s reflection. They looked like a painting; it was difficult to convince oneself that it was all in real. It felt like an artist’s imagination. Next day, they were heading to their final target “Dodital”. Their eyes reflected a mix of happiness and tiredness. There were some people who were on verge of giving up and going back. It was understandable as the trek was indeed very difficult. The captain was at his best in motivating everyone. He had a mission to make sure each one of his crew gets an opportunity to see that rare view.
On that day also, they faced many tough times. A guy was about to fall in a huge valley and was saved accidentally by the porter. It was all luck; it was all a matter of destiny, he thought. The flowing water was frozen. Then, they came across a rare sight of a frozen waterfall. The upper cover of the waterfall was frozen like a transparent glass, The water was still making its way within those glass. It was beyond imaginations. He had never before thought that the water in canals on Ganga that he used to visit regularly in Roorkee made its way through those beautiful, dangerous and amazing places. Observing nature and listening to the rare sounds of wild animals like Chinkaras and stories of Leapords and Bears, he made his way though those narrow paths. One wrong step would have meant falling in a deep valley, where probably no one could have ever came even to recover his body. The thought even made him shiver.
After hours of walking, resting and continuing, he, finally, heard the distant sound of a temple bell. It gave him an electric shiver. It was the sign of arrival of their destination. It was the sound from the temple of Lord Ganesha. He almost started running, when only a few minutes ago, it had become difficult for him even to take one single step. It was probably magic, the magic of determination. He ran as fast as he could, till the end of the road without looking anywhere. His breathing grew and he was on the verge of collapse. Finally, all tired he collapsed at the end of the road, trying to control his breaths. He raised his eyes in front to find out what was next, and to his amazement, he was in front of the lake, the Dodi lake. It was not only same but perhaps more beautiful than the one in his dreams. All frozen and beautiful, surrounded by all snow-covered hills and on the bank was a beautiful green top temple. It looked gorgeous near the lake. He felt as if he was walking in the dream. It took lots of pain and tireless efforts from his side to see this. In his dreams, he had felt some power in that place. And at that moment, probably, he understood what that power was? But still his mind was racing fast to decipher the secret of that power.
Carefully, he took some steps on the frozen lake. He could clearly see the carpet of leaves at the bottom of the lake. It felt as if he was walking in the air. He had to walk miles up in those adamant and mighty Himalayas to walk over that lake. A feeling of conquer seemed evident from his movement. He might be of the size of a dust when compared to Himalaya’s but he had fought his way up in those hilly, scary and risky tracks. The joy he was experiencing then was much more than in his dreams. He wanted to shout and tell to the world that he had done it. Slowly he spread his hands in the air and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes with a gentle smile on his face and then he felt something cold right on the top of his nose, he opened his eyes and found a snow white on the top of his nose. “It’s snowfall!!” He exclaimed. The bright white snow calmly coming down from the sky looked like pearls falling from the sky. This was the first snowfall he had ever seen in his life. A tear drop appeared in his eye and rolled down over to his cheeks. And finally, he thought, he had deciphered that sacred power. It was none other than the power of “Conceiving, Believing and Achieving!!!”
