Yamunotri
There weren’t too many takers for the Ruskin Bond plan.
Nobody was hell bent on meeting him. At least my son should have been inclined.
Alas, on the crucial moment, he looked the other way!
We proceeded headlong to Barkot. On the left side Yamuna
flowed shyly, Water level was far too low, flow was less than normal and the
river-banks looked deserted. Obviously, she had no grounds to put on airs! Since
there were too many stones and pebbles, water frothed while flowing over and the
whole river looked milky. The sight was magical! Yamuna was punctuated by tiny deltas
every now and then. Only cogon grass (darbha
grass - “Poa Cynosuroide”) grew there. No other plant wanted a sojourn with
Yamuna! Of course, darbha made a
strong presence. No idea whether
they were used in religious ceremonies. The
delta-darbha had very long blades with sharp edges, capable of inflicting
wounds! A biological sword, one could say! According to Bhagavatha, Lord Krishna’s descendants fought a biological warfare
using darbhas among other things and got
perished.
Miniscule water-falls were trying to intercept the River.
The full moon was reigning supreme. Yamuna was turning celestial.
Riding through a moon-lit dream, we found ourselves already high
without any props. We had almost lost the sense of direction. We reached at
Barkot when the night was still young. We were lucky enough to get an entire
hotel-Gau Yamuna- to ourselves. None else was staying.
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| Gau with a view |
We took the ground floor rooms opening out to the river. I
put some restraint and didn’t venture out into Yamuna at an odd time. However,
Jayakumar and Thulaseedas took it up on themselves to wade through the
knee-deep water to reach one of the deltas! It was getting scary, the moon-light
had an ethereal element which made the air real and pulsating! The environment
turned into an entity with life! As if the whole Nature was trying to convey a
secret message to us! I got frightened for no reason. Might be because I
couldn’t stand the onslaught of beauty.
I retired into the thick rajai
and had a good-night’s sleep.
We woke up early next morning and
hit the road by eight.
The sun was very bright and it was as if the whole Nature
got a face-lift. There was no pollution, and all sceneries were picture perfect!
Only the landslides made an aberration. On our way to Hanumanchatti, suddenly we were startled by a shriek! Thulaseedas
spotted the snow-capped mountains first and couldn’t contain his exhilaration! The jeep was stopped almost simultaneously and we jumped out. It was a village square with an accumulation of a few shops. The place was called Ranachatty.
We had breakfast from a local joint, watching the
snow-capped mountains. Everything was prepared on the spot before our eyes. One
could ask any question to the village folks and there would be a polite reply.
The customer-friendliness was no marketing strategy. Those villagers were a transparent
lot. They seemed to be happy living on essentials. They would never say
“no”. Expecting something positive, we pointed towards the snow-capped
mountain-top.
Can we set foot on the
snow?
Nope. We didn’t stand much of a chance. If we wanted a holiday
in snow, we have to come back in Jan exclusively for a freak-out! For six
months the whole place would be deserted!
Hanumanchatti, the starting point was still 2.5 km off. The road ended there. One was supposed to trek or travel aboard a mule. Total of 10 km to be trekked, to & fro with or without the help of mules. It would take a minimum of seven hours.Even before reaching the place, jockeys Arun Sony and his bosom pal Pramod Kumar had jumped onto the foot-board of our jeep! Yet another herd of young jockeys was following! A pony ride which would have fetched them Rs.900 on a normal day was being peddled at less than half the rate! The rates were still coming down. One guy even quoted Rs.300.
This would happen only in a Himalayan village, I thought. Competitors
at other tourist-spots would make a secret deal called “ring” and nobody was
permitted to under-quote. They are free to fleece the unsuspecting tourist!
We settled for Arun at Rs.400. Both Arun and Pramod were
very young, in their late teens perhaps. They had to drop out at tenth standard
to make an earning to support their large families. The duo was remarkably
intelligent and articulate. Pramod even had a live e-mail account. Ironically,
their village, situated 35 km away from Yamunotri was named “Khushi Matt”
(Abode of Happiness)!
They had raised enough money and bought two mules, Raja and
Rany, six years back, each capable of carrying 150 kg. Raja and Rani have to be
pressed into service together, otherwise they would refuse to move. We hired the
royal couple, not because we wanted the pony experience but to give their
owners a breather.
In a moment’s notice, Arun flipped me atop Raja. I was
worried on account of my overbearing 70 kg of body mass. However, I was no
match for the slim built, under-nourished pahadi!
He instructed me to keep cool and to clutch the hook provided at the lower neck
of my carrier. Needless to say, mine was a vice like grip. Frankly, I was
scared like hell! The mule was not comfortable with me and it started moving zigzag.
The trekking path was narrow with rock on one side and iron railings on the
other. On hair-pin bends, I had too many brush with rock projections. Ha, the pain was intolerable for a few
seconds. Anyway, I didn’t get down.
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| Jayakumar, Arun ,Pramod and an unknown traveler warm their bones while the tea is getting ready at Yamunotri |
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| trekking path |
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| Yamunotri temple and Saptarshi Kund |
(photo credits - R.Jayakumar)
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