I realised I had been on a streak, what with all that writing poems that focused too much on the dysfunctional aspects of my life. While, in its entirety, it was a channel to release the unsaid, I have decided to end that and broaden the scope of my lenses.

This post is going to talk to you about my recent personal conquest. Allow me to explain why I call it that

1. This allowed me to circumvent the delimiting clutches of the daily routine that I had imposed on myself – A daily routine is a comfortable territory. I found myself doing the same set of things everyday, and while they were productive, honestly, I was bored to my bones.
2. My world was limited to my room and my shooting range. There was limited social interaction, since all my friends have their exams when I have vacations and my parents were out almost the entire day. Their interaction with me revolved around them rebuking me for being irresponsible around the house haha! #TypicalParentsStuff
3. My egoistic bubble was growing, but wait, I’m going to save you those boring details.
4. Also, I’d been wanting to take this trip for a long time, but because of the aforementioned reasons was delaying it.

All in all, I decided to press the update button on life.

So, on 20th of May 2019, my cousins and I decided to take a trip to Triund, a small hill station in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, situated in the laps of the Dhauladhar Mountain Range.

You can find out all its description on wikipedia and hundreds of links that talk about it. This post is about my personal experience with the place.

Anyway, we set out towards Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, early morning. We started our trek from Mcleodganj at around 14:00 hours after filling ourselves with delicious servings from The Tibetan Kitchen.

Its a 6 KM trek from Galu temple (beyond which its impossible to take a vehicle), and it took us roughly 4 hours to reach the top.

Along the way, we witnessed the finesse of our beloved creator. The technicolored surroundings, against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and the beautiful symphony of the breeze and the comfortable silence, pushed us to a zone, where we no longer had to put the flight mode on. That world was a blur now.

On the way to Triund

Upon ascending we were awestruck by what we saw around. We automatically had two lives, the one before this trek and the one we were witnessing then. We were aware of what it was doing to us. That, which can’t be put into words. That, which is better left unsaid.

We reached the Aron at 18:30 hours.

Needless to say, the view around cast a spell on us.

A view of the Dhauladhar range from Triund

The camera had its own limitations. Honestly, none of the pictures or my limited vocabulary can do justice to what we witnessed.

Moolchand followed us all the way to the top

The place with a smooth matting of the green grass, and sharp rocks, supported by the snow-capped mountains in the vicinity, could easily pass for a Game of Thrones set. Additionally, a Crow perched on a rock contributed to my calling it so.

So here’s the crux of the matter:

1. I realised (for real this time), that the world is a much bigger place than your bubble, and visiting places like this, expands or bursts it, depending on the type you’ve built for yourself.
2. This was a huge deviation from my normal routine, since ascending tough terrains for 4 hours, is something one doesn’t do everyday.
3. This was something beyond our comfort zones, since it was our first time (minus one of us) sleeping in a tent. With planes flying over our heads, the bone chilling coldness from the Dhauladhar, the fact that our tent was slightly away from where other people were concentrated, and with an animal right out of our tent making weird noises, we had our share of apprehensions. Not to mention, lapse in a proper planning concerning a trip like this.
4. There was a myriad of people belonging to different cultural backgrounds, all submitting to this beauty in humility. We spoke to people without hesitation, and made a couple of friends, whose interactions as it would turn out, extended beyond just Himalayas. Everyone we spoke to had something unique to tell, all of which widened our angles with which we see the world.

For ya’all “been there done that” niggas, I’m aware I didn’t do anything special, but the entire point was to show the way to the ones, who can even remotely relate.

We got a glimpse of the primitive life, with no technology (except for taking pictures with a limited battery), no water connection, or electricity for that matter, and the comfort of our king sized beds.

Next morning we were back to the bustling streets of Mcleodganj, immediately feeling the sharpness of the contrast between the two worlds only 3 miles apart. Can’t say which one is better. I feel like we need both, with each saving us from each other’s extremities, balancing it all out.

Knowing, that it was time to head back, we bid adieu to this beautiful place by buying a couple of momentos, something that would serve as a physical reminder contrary to pixels on cloud, of the beauty we had seen and perceived for ourselves.

This post only goes a quarter of the way in describing what the place was, but then again no matter what, it is all subjective. We see the same things in different ways, and that is why, I haven’t written about a lot of things.

See it for yourself.

Was it easy?

My calf muscles would disagree

Was it worth it?

Everything would agree.

Ciao!