Stranger on the plane

Sometimes, no matter how much you wish, you never strike gold and sometimes, very rarely though, lady luck showers her blessings generously on you. Some of you would be thinking that I am going to talk about some other film star whom I happened to bump into. Well, not so lucky but not bad either.

I was flying from Singapore to New Delhi and further on my way to home. I was excited ‘coz one, I was away travelling on business for almost 6 weeks and two, I was visiting home and was also looking forward to attend one of my best friend’s wedding. I was allocated 48H (an aisle seat) and this lady was sitting on 47H-another aisle seat. Well, can’t help but remember the details. :) I thought even today I was not lucky enough to have some nice company for the next 6 hours. But this time, when the opportunity came, I grabbed it. ;-)

There was a couple which was allocated separate seats-one in the 48th row and one in the 47th row. Of course, they wanted to sit together so, they requested me if I could move to the middle seat in the 47th row-next to the lady. My first reaction was NO. I always prefer aisle seats in a flight, particularly long flights because it is easy for me to walk around and visit the rest rooms if required. But, then I gave it a second thought and I am glad that I did so. I agreed and decided to shift.

The initial exchange was- “Excuse me” and she was prompt to get up and let me settle down in my seat. I saw her reading a book. And so, I also decided to open mine, “New Paradigm for Financial Markets”. After 5 minutes, she happened to ask, “Is the book that you are reading interesting?” Honestly, for a split second I was not sure if it was the woman sitting next to me who was asking that question. I, like a seasoned reader replied, “It is too early to comment. However, the book is a unique amalgamation of philosophy and financial markets”. She appeared interested or at least so I would love to believe and the next 2-3 minutes went in discussing about the book.

I told her that I had always been curious about reading about the recent financial crisis and that was the reason why I picked this up. However, I accepted that I was a Human Resources guy and have limited knowledge of finance. There is an automatic interest created the moment I tell someone that I work at Google. I am not blowing my own trumpet here but, it is a fact. This, in most cases, wins some talking points further. So, we discussed about my work at Google and I told her that I was an HR Analyst. By this time I thought it was time to introduce myself and we shook hands.

Let me call her N.

The next thing she told me was that she was afraid of flying. I happened to remember that movie, where the actresses go crazy in the flight and she quickly chipped in that there was nothing to worry about. There would not be any drama. I must say that throughout the flight there were few things that were really odd about her, like just staring at the flight path and the map, but I must say that she did a fairly good job of not showing her uneasiness and she remained poised throughout the flight. In fact, if she had not confided in me, there was no way I could have sensed it. However, I would have definitely found someone just staring at the flight path during a six-hour long flight really strange.

She told me that she worked in a bank. For a moment I wondered why she did not share that piece of detail earlier. But one thing good was that she did not make me uncomfortable with her knowledge of finance by throwing jargon at me. Not sure if she was really interested in knowing about what I was reading or, she was too scared of flying and whatever I was saying was falling on deaf years. However, after the initial discussion on the subject of financial markets, we did not broach the subject later. There were more interesting areas to explore. ;-)

For the first 45 minutes or so, we discussed about our interests. She told me that she loved travelling and then added herself that I would find it strange ‘coz she was afraid of flying. I shared some of my experiences from the Leh trip and she talked about her holidaying in Paris with her husband. By this time, the flight attendants had started serving. I suggested that she have some wine just to cool down her nerves. She narrated an interesting incident to me.

She was flying within Europe. She had purchased a couple of wine bottles thinking that the airport security would allow them as part of the cabin baggage. They allowed only one. Well, our wine connoisseur did not waste any of it. She drank three-fourths of the bottle leaving only one-fourth to her husband. Her husband and she were allotted different seats. She was assigned a seat next to an old lady who did not understand English. If the wine had just cooled down her nerves, it would have been ok. It just went a step ahead. She dropped all her inhibitions and scared the shit out of the old lady by behaving weirdly. So much so that the old lady had to request for a change of seats.

I am glad that she did not drink any wine. :) All that she had was a couple of glasses of Diet Coke!

I could not help making fun of her being scared of flying. I know I am insensitive at times. Though, it was all meant in good humor. She, I guess behaved in a civilized manner for some time. And then she said-“You are a jerk”. This statement and adjective was used many a times during the remainder of the flight. There was one moment where I guess I annoyed her and she said “stop fingering me”. I could not help it. I started laughing. She said she meant it “literally”. She wanted to say “figuratively”. That slip of tongue made me laugh even more. And then the statement, “You are a jerk” was repeated many times.

We were chatting and she was describing to me the kind of person that she was. She said she was a minimalistic person. I was surprised. I happen to be a keen observer. When I heard her say that she was a minimalistic person, I said it didn’t appear like that as she was wearing solitaires in her ears. I guess I was honed in being more observant to what women wear when I was in TISS. My foundation was strong and I was groomed well. She said that she was impressed. I happened to ask her the brand of the clothes and the watch that she was wearing. Incidentally, all those items were from big designer houses. That just went on to prove how ‘minimalistic’ she was. By the end of this, she was looking for the right adjective to describe her.

We discussed a bit about our respective families and friends and it so happened that she too like me enjoyed the company of friends and family. She told me that she was a happy go lucky person. And she accepted what life had to offer to her. She, to my surprise had an arranged marriage. I was surprised because I have not known too many people from B-Schools these days having arranged marriages. We discussed about some crests and troughs in life and about our respective break-ups-in her case before her marriage. I told her that I had a break up recently and then she started telling me about her own story. I shared some of the parameters that I was looking for in a girl. She shared with me how priorities change after marriage. She gave me the example of how she had to leave her job where she was doing really well and she had to relocate. There was one thing that she said that caught my attention. And I subscribe to the line of thought. She said that as long as two people are ready to make a marriage work, they will make it work. It might sound simple, but sometimes, we tend to miss the most obvious and simple things in life.

We also talked about some of our basic instincts. I must say that she maintained her poise throughout the conversation where some women could have been uncomfortable. Though, she did ask me if I was always so direct in my dealings with people, especially women. My reply was in affirmative. I told her that I have come across people who appreciate it and there are a few with which this approach bombs.

I still wonder how two total strangers could be so comfortable with each other. Or, I guess that is what you call life. You keep wondering and then you wonder some more. I may not even meet her in the future. I do not even know what she thought of me. For all you know, I could have been a real jerk. But for me, I did not have the fear of being judged. I guess, it’s important to let off your guard once in a while. And now when I look back, I am glad I did it.

Robin Hood in the making!

How often have you tried your luck at archery? I guess apart from those few instances during our childhood of getting a make shift bow with a jute string and some arrows made of thick straw during Indian festivals like Dussera, I am sure you would not have had a chance to play Robin hood. I was lucky. Though, I could only manage to get a bow and a few arrows from the otherwise long list of paraphernalia that Hood otherwise carries.

I utilize my business trips to the US to the fullest. If last time it was skiing, this time it was archery. We, I and two of my colleagues, decided to go to the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on one Saturday when I was in California. The day was breezy and there was a nip in the air. Honestly, I was not sure what to expect. Having said that, I am glad I went for it.

One of my colleagues had tried his hand at archery before. He was the one who recommended that we go for it. We were supposed to reach the park at 3:30 in the afternoon…but we got delayed and by the time we reached, dusk had set in. However, the moment we saw the lush green field, some 7-8 targets and some 15-20 people with their bows and arrows doing archery, we got really excited.

Our coach, a soft spoken, methodical and knowledgeable chap, scientifically explained the dos and the don’ts of archery, the position of the quiver, the placement of the arrow on the bow, the stretch of the string, the stance and the final release. He was observant and thorough to the extent that he noticed my slouchy posture and asked me to correct it.

We had a common target and we were placed a couple of meters from each other, forming a small arc. After 10-15 mins of briefing, he left us to be on our own and the next 45 mins were nothing short of thrilling. Each one of us took aim at the target by turn and at the end of 6 rounds, we used to measure the points. We played three rounds and my colleague, who was visiting from the UK was clearly the one who stood out amongst us. He was very consistent with his scoring pattern too. However, it was the third and final round where I showed promising signs too and in one case almost hit the bull’s eye, which is worth 10 points. (The narcissist in me could not help but write about this :))

I am sure Hood himself would have been proud of us if he had seen our efforts. The 25 dollars were well spent.

Consumer forums for Hopeless Movie-Making

My weekend started a bit early. I, with some of my colleagues, went to watch the movie “Dil Bole Hadippa”. Though I wasn’t expecting much from the movie anyway, half an hour into the movie and I realized that it was a criminal waste of time. Since it was a team outing, we decided to watch the movie till the end; also hoping that hopefully the movie would gain some steam only to realize later that we were flogging a dead horse.

I would say that I frequent the theatres. However, for some people coming to a theater becomes very difficult. For example, a senior colleague, who has a three-year old daughter came to the theater after a couple of months only to watch this idiotic portrayal of stereotypes-cricket and of course Sachin Tendulkar, a separated couple (which is not divorced and the constituents still feel and care for each other) that reunites in the end, India-Pakistan, Punjab and London (Bollywood knows only these two places) discrimination of women, and to top it all the pedagogic speech by the protagonist at the end of the movie. Mind you, all it takes for the separated couple is a win in a cricket match. And how could I forget the hero who, in spite of staying in London has all the Indian values, falls for a ‘gaon ki gori’.

While watching the movie, I was hoping that there should be a consumer forum for consumers like us to sue the makers of a film like this-who take the consumers for granted and abuse such an effective medium of entertainment. After all, a movie is a product and we are the consumers. I know it may be impossible for us to have guidelines for differentiating a good movie from a bad one. Nonetheless, we need to find ways by which idiocy and stereotypical portrayal do not become the virtue of film making ‘coz the box office verdict no longer seems to be a deterrent.

Ghastly…errrr…Ghostly Politics

Sometimes I wonder if our political system will ever evolve. Or, probably it has and I have failed to acknowledge that.

What frustrates me the most is the adeptness of our political system to dig old graves. I’m sure you would all read or at least heard about Arabian Nights at some point of time in your life. I’m not sure if it is universally true but as far as I remember the genies in Arabian Nights are ‘good’ genies. In Urdu language, a genie is known as ‘Jinn’. What is unfortunate is that even after 62 years of partition, we still see the ‘Jinn-ah’ effect.

What I do not understand is the fact that RSS still talks about “Akhanda Bharat” (Unified India). Why talk about unified India when having a failed state like Pakistan is like having NPAs on your balance sheet? Whether Jinnah was a nice person is not the point that I am discussing here. Honestly, I do not care. What is most unfortunate is that the ‘Jinn-ah’ effect’ continues to haunt the largest opposition party to the extent that it has become a matter of ‘chinta’ (worry) and the party is still busy with their ‘chintan’ (brainstorming).

Even before the furor caused by Jinn-aah had hardly subsided, we had the ghosts from Kandahar resurface to haunt the nation in general and the BJP in specific. What difference does it make NOW whether Mr. Advani knew about Mr. Jaswant Singh being sent to Kandahar? To top it all, the Congress, whose regime had seen the most spineless Home Minister (Mr. Patil) the country has seen till date, is asking Mr. Advani to apologize for misleading the nation. Wonder what Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhavi meant when he was referring to ‘misleading the nation’.

There have been multi-crore scams. But, the Bofors issue (a paltry 65 crore defense deal) gained maximum steam. And even after numerous years from the time it first surfaced, it has been discussed on and off.

It has been 10 years since the Pokran II tests happened. As an Indian I am keen to know whether they were successful. But, why discuss the success or failure of the tests now? Why is a scientist declaring it now that they were partially successful? The only silver lining in the entire episode was the PM putting to rest all such rumors and showing complete faith in the declaration by Dr. Kalam and Dr. Kakodkar.

Did someone say we were progressive? ;-)

Media Menace

“Thousand deaths are statistics, one death is a tragedy.” I was having a discussion with one of my friends when he said this. Indeed; so true.

I do not surf through many news channels. Hence, my observations may not be universally true. One such evening, while working out in the gym, I was watching the 8 PM news on the English news channel that I follow. The flash news was the unfortunate death of a 14-year old student in Pune who was diagnosed pretty late of Swine Flu. My deepest and most sincere condolences go to the family of the girl and her close ones. However, the news did not warrant capturing the entire 30 minutes. The channel went on dissecting that news item-“what was the name of the school”?, “Have other classmates been quarantined?”, “Was it a case of negligence?”, “What will you do now?”. It just went on.

More so, the coverage or should I say the ‘report from ground zero’ is meant to sensationalize these news items. The falling of a child in a bore well becomes the top news story. I am sure there were many people dying of hunger. I am sure there were many committing suicide owing to drought. I am sure infant mortality rate is still a cause of concern. I am sure that mothers are dying while giving birth due to inadequate medical facilities. But, how often do you see these things making to the top of the news? Or, guess what? These have become commonplace and hence, these are not news items anymore.

Not long before, the Aarushi murder case became a piece of entertainment for the news channels. So many theories evolved. Psychologists were consulted. “Was it ‘honor killing’?”, “Did it have something to do with teenage infatuation?” For heaven’s sake, a young girl had been killed. The least that could have been done was leave the family in peace and not come up with baseless motives for the murder. But, these interpretations did achieve what they were intended to -the TRPs had shot through the roof.

Amidst the vivid portrayal of human opportunism and (later) guilt, Kirk Douglas, in his masterpiece Ace in the Hole, said something which caught my attention-Bad News sells best. Coz good news is no news. Today, I see the opportunism. But sadly, I do not see the guilt.

Ladakh-A travelogue

My most interesting holidays have been with two of my friends-incidentally both of them share their Zodiac signs (Capricorn) and their names begin with V-Vijay (aka Vj, aka Chow) and Vishal (aka VD, aka V, aka Nautanki). They have a couple of more things in common but, I would not discuss those.

While Chow and I had planned to go to Leh along with the larger B-Group (you will read more about this group in possibly some of my subsequent blogs), this plan fell flat unlike many others that we had successfully planned. The die hard in me decided to still go for it. And I happened to discuss the plan with Vishal, Maggi and Vineet. Initially all 3 seemed to be pretty excited about it. But then owing to some pressing personal issues, it boiled to just Vishal and myself. I decided to go for it because somehow I was not sure when would be the next time that I would be able to take out time. I was so grossly wrong. The moment I saw the place, I decided to come to this place at least once a year. Did I hear that deserts are not beautiful?

As always happens with most of my holidays, I took the lead in planning for this one. And Vishal, as usual, was happy to let me do so. Probably the STJ (Human Resources folks with some knowledge of Meyer Briggs Inventory would be able to related to this) in me does this always-but my friends do not seem to complain (or so I would assume) J While I would have definitely loved to go with a larger group, I must admit that the two of us together enjoyed for the rest of us too.

Initially, the trip was planned for 3 days. But from what I heard from all the folks who had been to Leh, it seemed too less. And they were right. So, I planned for 4 days and 3 nights. And still wish if I could have managed a few days more!

Comes 22^nd of July and after a hectic day’s work I was thrilled to take the flight to Delhi. Mr. Naresh Goyal did not play spoil sport and so I landed in Delhi with just (I am sure all my Indian friends will be happy to hear that) a 15-minute delay. I reached Vishal’s place around 11:30 PM and after a couple of hours of catching up, I dozed off only to get up at 4:15 AM to catch the morning flight to Leh.

Vishal, as usual, made fun of my sleeping early. And it did not come as a surprise when I had to kick him to make him get up in the morning. I had web-checked in the previous evening (courtesy my meticulous planning ;-)). So, we were relaxed. We reached the airport well in time and without any significant happenings reached Leh. Dr. Mallaya did not play spoil sport either. I was surprised to see so many foreigners in the plane. But I could figure out the reason during my stay at Leh. (I would broach this subject later)

Day 1-July 23

Planning fails or is sometimes inadequate-as it was in my case. No one had suggested that I should go for a window seat to catch a glimpse of the snow-clad peaks, the green patches in the middle of the brown barren mountains and the beautiful brooks flowing through them here and there. I have come to increasingly believe in the blessedness of Indians-and thanks to that I could manage to peep through the window and catch the breath-taking view by slightly pushing the passenger on the window seat.

I have increasingly come to enjoy the barren beauty of nature-glimpses of which you see in Arizona and Utah. But Leh beats everything that I had ever seen. There was a whiff of fresh air the moment we stepped out-or so I thought. The breeze was cool. After collecting our baggage we found the cab guy, who was sent by our guest house, the moment we stepped out. After a 15 minute ride through the city, we reached our guest house-Padma.

I was initially let down when we had to walk roughly 100m from the main road to reach this guest house. But the moment I saw the rooms, the kitchen garden and the roof top restaurant, I had no reason to remain grumpy. Do not go by the name. The guest house offers a unique amalgamation of Ladakhi hospitality, modern amenities (in a place like Leh) like hot water, 24 hours power supply and the rustic Ladakhi touch. I guess that was the reason why we had more foreigners than Indians in that place. It offered an ideal place to relax and unwind in the lap of Mother Nature.

Vishal and I immediately hit the roof top restaurant. They were playing some soothing music that just set the right tone to our holiday. We were having some Ladakhi bread when I see this beautiful damsel enter the restaurant. For those who know me well, my lady luck hasn’t been very strong. I don’t know whether it was mine or Vishal’s luck that she at the table next to ours. Her looks definitely weren’t Indian. And the sheen on her face was no less than that of freshly fallen snow. Vishal and I did exchange a few glances and both of us did steal some glimpses of her as she sat next to us. She was later joined by another lady who was not as ravishing as the former-but nonetheless very interesting-as we later found out. J

I will visit this chapter subsequently.

After having b’fast we were advised to rest and rightly so. We slept for almost 3 hours. The altitude sickness can be very taxing. And we got a hint of it when we got up. We did not tax ourselves that day and had a relaxed lunch. We decided to take a local trip and checkout some local places in Leh.

Usually I do crib about exorbitantly high fares. However, and much to my surprise, I did not crib even once during the trip. We checked out the Shanti Stupa first. And as the name goes, there was tranquility and silence all around. Even the white color of the Stupa looked like it conveyed the message of peace. We had to capture every moment and we kicked off clicking the first set of photos.

Post that, we went to a monastery. We did not go inside. Somehow we were too overwhelmed with the scenery. The only sound that we could hear was the wind whistling past our ears. We ensured that we did not compromise on the style quotient (whatever limited I had and the abundantly gifted Mr. V had) and ensured that we clicked all possible poses (profiles, front views) and moods (pensive, joyous, relaxed etc.)

Then we went to the Leh Palace. Let me be honest-it did not appeal to me much. But it did give V and I an opportunity to get pics with the Ladakhi kids. Not sure why-but they seemed to be more loving to me than they were to V. And credit goes to V for clicking me with some happy kids. V did try a couple of times but I guess he could not win the love of those kids-Bad luck V.

Our final stop that day was the Hall of fame-a museum of sorts dedicated to the martyrs of the armed forces. It was at a nice serene place. We sat there for some more time and then left for our guest house. Somehow we were not keen to go back to the room. So, we thought we would go for an early dinner and go to bed. The next day we were scheduled to leave for Pangong-the famous lake.

While we were sitting in the roof top restaurant, Miss G (for the sake of privacy) entered. She was alone this time. Though she looked at us, she did not bless us this time by sitting at the table close to us. My intelligent mind was cooking up something. I thought since she too was accompanied by one person, I should check with her if she and her friend were interested in going to Pangong with us. It would have reduced the taxi cost by half and more importantly gives us some ‘cool’ company.

Somehow, V was not keen to take the lead. He preferred to be the silent spectator this time. So I had to do this. I was not sure how to strike a conversation and that too with a beautiful stranger. But I did. And looking back I think I was not too bad. J At least that is what I would love to believe.

Mo: “Hey! I am Mohit”

G: “Hi!: I am “G”

She said something which was difficult to comprehend. Later V addressed her as “Chisel”-not sure what he meant but I guess he was referring to her sharp looks and ‘chiseled’ body! ;-)

Mo: “Where are you from?”

G: “Brazil”

I was like WOW!

Mo: Hey! We are going to Pangong tomorrow. I was wondering if you guys would be keen to join us”

G: “I will have to check with my friend”

Mo: “Sure. We will wait here.”

We shook hands. And Vishal later told me that I did not let her hand go for some time. Honestly, I lost track of time. ;-)

Vishal was very happy with the ice breaker. And so was I.

We waited for 5 mins and then she came.

I’m sure our eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

Then Murphy struck.

G: “My friend is unwell and she is not sure if she would be in a condition to travel tomorrow.”

Mo: “No probs. We will leave at 8 AM tomorrow. If she feels better, you guys are welcome to join us.”

Pleasantries were exchanged and we ended the day.

Day 2-July 24

The next morning we waited with the hope that these people would turn up. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen. We began at 7:30 AM. We had a Scorpio and our driver’s name was Dava (means medicine in Urdu). The initial stretch of the road to Pangong was nice (for a road in the hilly region). However, as we neared Chung La (the third highest motorable road in the world), we were given a good body massage-to the extent that every muscle and joint hurt.

We stopped at Police Check posts for permit submission. We tried to capture everything--Yaks, the numerous beautiful brooks of gushing water and even while I was leaving my ‘footprints’ at 3,500 m above sea level. ;-). Almost 4 kms before the actual point, we got a glimpse of the Pangong Lake.

The blue water, locked between the brown, dull mountains, was clearly visible. The sky, filled with white clouds, added to the scenery.

There was a point where we actually had to cross a brook to reach the lake-pure adrenaline rush. This was the last of the hurdles.

We reached. The silence was all encompassing-apart from the occasional cheering from people who were probably awed by the beauty of the lake. I guess Lord Buddha did not know of this lake. Else, he would have come to Pangong to attain Nirvana. V and I had the first mover’s advantage. But I guess none of us were in a mood to give up worldly pleasures yet.

We went berserk clicking pics. V went a step ahead and climbed on the Scorpio. I could not resist the temptation either. While the two monkeys were busy trying these acrobatics, rain god decided to cut our adventure short.

We had hardly spent time when the driver said that it was time to leave. Reason-the brook that we had crossed gets more water as the day progresses owing to the melting of snow. Hence, we had to cross it before it became any more ominous. We did not have a choice.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. By the time we reached our guest house, almost 9 hours of travelling on the hilly terrain had done us in. V, the way he normally does on a holiday, crashed on the bed complaining of fever and body ache. I knew this time he was not pretending. Even I was quite tired. So, we decided to have a painkiller before it got any worse. Within half an hour, he was perfect and then both of us went to the cafeteria hoping that we would bump into G & M. We realized that they were just the opposite of GM (General Motors)-very vibrant.

We did not have much to do. So, we decided to listen to some songs on my laptop. Sitting in the roof top cafeteria, sipping ginger, honey and lemon tea, listening to music and feeling the cool breeze-it was a romantic evening. Only that V and I were stuck with each other.

God is kind. Within 30 mins of our sitting there, the ladies came. They sat on another table and G said hi to us. We had a brief conversation and then V and I asked them if they wanted to join us. They promptly obliged and came and sat in front of us. I had not got a hang of G’s name. So, I checked with her again. And I even requested her to spell it for me. She did. That helped.

We checked if M was feeling well. She definitely seemed a lot better. They told us that they did not go to Pangong but went to a nearby place.

Murphy struck again.

They told us that they would be going to Pangong the next day. That meant that there was no point asking them to come with us to Nubra Valley the next day. L

Some general yapping followed after that. M and V discussed about Thailand airport, beaches in Philippines and G and I contributed where ever we could. Vishal was clearly more talkative this time. I can never forget how he referred to G. He called her ‘Chisel’ -guess V’s way of showing his endearment for her. ;-).

We wished each other Good night and went to our respective rooms. The 9-hour travel did show its effect and within 10 minutes we were fast asleep only to get up at 6:30 AM the next morning.

Day 3-July 25

I got up at my usual time-6:30. And Vishal as usual was got up 30 mins later. And as usual, we exchanged ‘pleasantries’ while waking him up. By 8 we were ready for b’fast. Guess the roof top restaurant had become our favorite place in Leh-for obvious reasons.

Our timings used to match-or so I would want to assume. This time they joined us at the table without any invitation. I told them that I had written a CD of some songs to play during our trip to Nubra Valley. I offered if they wanted a similar one burnt too. They were more than excited. I was again pleasantly surprised when I got to hear about their love for Hindi songs. G knew some Hindi words (from her stay in Mumbai for the last 5-6 months) and in her Latin accent she said that she listened to Hindi songs “Thoda Thoda”.

G was taking V’s trip by noticing that he was late for b’fast as usual. I could see V was enjoying it. We finished our b’fast and I offered to have dinner together the day after on our return. They gladly agreed.

We started for Nubra at 8:30 AM in a new Scorpio, a new driver and Girmit-our new driver. We immediately started climbing the heights as we were headed for Khardung-La-the highest motorable road. Almost after an hour of our starting from Leh, it started drizzling. And by the time we reached Khardung La, it was snowing. The weather was so bad that we could not even step out to capture the milestone of reaching the highest motorable road.

Amidst all this our driver asked-“Sir, when is your flight?” We said-“Monday”. The problem was that if it would continue to snow, the Army would lose the road. And on Monday, no traffic is allowed on this road. This meant that we would not return to Leh before Tuesday. That was not an option.

After crossing Kardung-La, we stopped at a police check post. The driver suggested that we talk to the policeman there to see if he had any weather forecasts. He had none-not surprising 'coz Indian Meteorological Dept. is so efficient ;-). Neither did he tell us what would be a good thing to do. So, finally the driver called up our Guest House owner in Leh and explained the situation to him. The guest house owner told us not to bother and carry on with our plans. We realized it later what would we have missed if we had turned back mid way.

We halted at a place called Khalsar for lunch. On our way to Hunder, we stopped to take some cool snaps. I must admit that Vishal does come up with some bright ideas. And he did take some cool pics. Unfortunately, I could not reciprocate the favour in absolute totality! ;-)

We crossed Diskit and finally reached Hunder. Hunder is a small village with substantial army presence. It does provide one with an opportunity to try some amazing treks. We decided to rest for a while. We checked into this place called Snow Leopard Guest House. This too had a nice garden and a comfortable room. After resting for an hour, we decided to go to a Gompa, which was 2 kms away from the village. The Gompa was a small one and was built on a small hill. That gave us an opportunity to hike-though I must admit that owing to the reduced oxygen levels at that altitude, even walking 200 m made us pant.

The view from the top of the Gompa was nothing short of stunning. The green village was surrounded by brown mountains and to top it all, white clouds. Small and big brooks, resembling white arteries flowed through the village. At a distance we could see sand dunes. It looked as if nature had gotten its act together to create a spectacle.

After returning from the hill top, we went to the sand dunes. Hunder is known to offer camel rides. What is special is that these camels are double-humped camels. We thought that we would go for a ride. Instead, we decided to stroll through the plain area. It was overcast and very breezy. Vishal tried some poses. I clicked those. But, they did not turn out to be well. And he blamed me for not taking nice pics of his. Even in a place like Hunder, he did not introspect. ;-)

After the sand dunes, we decided to go back to the guest house. We rested for a while and then ventured to have some snacks in the evening. We went to another guest house which was further into the woods and spent some time eating and appreciating one particular foreigner lady. That did not go anywhere. We decided to then take a stroll in the village.

Suddenly Vishal wanted to do an Abhishek Bachchan-the act in the Idea cellular advertisement. I must say he did a fairly good job of it, though I could only capture it on camera after at least 10 attempts. He was visibly panting after the ‘act’.

We just continued to walk into the village. We captured almost everything in our camera. It had started drizzling by now. We were not sure if we should return to our guest house. But this time, rain god did not cut our adventure short. We noticed that we had two rainbows in the sky. I hadn’t seen two rainbows simultaneously. It was a beautiful sight. The evening hues, the clouds and the mountains in the backdrop-everything added to the splendor. At the cost of being melodramatic, I am saying this-I do not know how heaven looks like. But I am sure it would not be substantially different.

While we were strolling in the streets, we came across a place where we saw quite a few tents. Out of curiosity, we went to check with the caretaker. He showed us one tent and we immediately decided that we had to experience staying in a tent.

Though I had stayed in a tent/ tent house in Yosemite (US), Vishal did not have any prior experience. We decided that we will move into this tent even if we had to pay for the room that we had taken in the other guest house. We did the right thing.

We moved into the new place and immediately hit the bed as were tired after the hike and the stroll. The tent had basic necessities. Initially, we were afraid that it could be cold in there. But, soon we realized that it was very cozy. To add to the effect, we had a brook of gushing water flowing just next to our tent. We actually did not realize the beauty of the place where we were staying till next day morning.

The care taker of the place, Rahul, seemed to be a friendly young guy. He was from Bhopal and had an interesting itinerary. He used to live in Goa for most part of the year and during the off-season in Goa, used to be in Leh and adjoining areas. He was, for sure, a good host. W

We had dinner in the same place and Vishal was predicable by skipping it. Reason-he had a heavy supper.

Day 4-July 26

The next morning I got up first. Nothing new. It was 6:30 AM. The place had sharing toilets. So, I did the routine chores and then woke up Vishal. Vishal also got ready soon. I am sure he was anxious to get back. Considering that I am the writer of this travelogue, I can take the liberty of using someone else’s shoulder to shoot the gun! ;-)

There was a nip in the air. The sun was warm-though not hot. The mountain in the backdrop stood tall. We took individual snaps. And then, requested Rahul to take a couple of our pics together. Those moments were rare throughout the trip. We did not ever get tired of posing. And I must admit that Vishal was the more innovative of the two of us.

Meanwhile, there was a couple (a German man and a South Korean woman), which was keen to get a hike to Leh. We did not see a problem with that. Hence, the couple and V hopped into the back seat and I hopped next to the driver. Vishal was undoubtedly more courteous of the two of us. He was often striking conversation with them. I was somehow lost in admiring the beauty of the place-occasionally chipping in.

We stopped at a place 20 kms from Hunder. The place was a sea of sand with not a soul around. There were mountains at a distance. I had never seen anything like this before. And neither had Vishal. We had to do the customary-click snaps. J We continued further.

The day was beautiful and pleasant-a complete contrast to the day before. Then I realized how soon weather changed in the hills. Temperature fluctuates to the tune of 20 degrees. We had not had b’fast. So, we halted at Khardung-a village 13 kms before Khardung La.

Khardung is a beautiful place. The mustard fields added to its beauty. We took a good 30 mins long break. The air was fresh. We just strolled for some time. We had Maggi noodles and our co-passengers had tea. We also clicked some snaps with our co-passengers, our driver and an aged Ladakhi woman who had joined us at the table. She was showering blessings on our female co-passenger. Hence, we also included her to the ‘photo-shoot’.
Khardung also offers amazing views and some breathtaking treks. If we had got some more time on hand, we would have stayed for sure and explored.

Our next stop was just before Khardung-La- the highest motorable pass. There was an army trucks convoy passing. Hence, we had to stop-just half a km before the pass. Vishal immediately grabbed the opportunity and dashed for a snap to be taken with snow in the background. Even during peak summer season, there was snow all over. We were savoring every bit of it.

After 5 mins of halt, we started again. We reached Khardung La. There was visibly a lot of crowd. We had to take pics of this important moment. So, we spent 15 minutes taking pics and admiring the beauty of the valley below.

This time when we started, we stopped only in Leh. It was 1 PM. We dropped the couple and then headed for our hotel. The owner was smart. He had made us vacate (that made us save one day rent) and also helped him accommodate another guest. This time we were given a room on the ground floor, next to the kitchen garden. Meanwhile, Vishal told me that our friends were not back from Pangong. He had checked the place where the keys are put. Smart! Though, we realized later that their room too had been shifted.

There is one thing about Vishal that is admirable. He treats a holiday like a holiday. So, he was lazy for some time. And when I asked him to give me company for lunch, he said he would join me. I had a hunch that he would sleep off. Lunch was uneventful and I had it alone. Vishal did not turn up. When I entered our room, Vishal was fast asleep-as I had predicted.

Somehow, I tend not to sleep during the day when I am on a holiday. I dunno why. I guess the idea is to enjoy every moment, or so, I would assume. So, I picked up my book, on a Sudanese refugee (not the ideal read for the surrounding), and sat outside on the chairs, next to the kitchen garden. I lost track of time.

Suddenly I found G and M walking down the road next to the kitchen garden. We exchanged pleasantries. I was surprised to see them-as their previous room was locked. They told me that their room had been shifted. When I checked with them how come they were back so early, G told me that she was unwell and hence they had to return early. M added that it was G’s turn to fall sick.

When I asked them where they were headed for, G said that they were going to have ice cream. She asked me to join them. But Vishal was asleep. (That ass!-to which he himself admittedJ)Like a faithful friend, I declined the offer. However, we agreed to meet for dinner.

Vishal got up around 4:30 PM and when I told him about the ‘ice cream encounter’, he was upset. So, we ventured into the city hoping to ‘accidentally’ bump into them and have ice cream too. We ambled in the Main Bazaar for some time. The place was full of foreigners. This place, in fact, had more foreigners as a percentage of total tourists that I had ever seen (even more than Goa and Manali)-more the merrier ;-). By this time, Vishal started feeling hungry. So, we went to a roof top restaurant. The place was again full of foreigners-most of them enjoying beer and smoking leisurely.

Vishal ordered for some stuff. The place was nice. There was a slight breeze-cool and pleasant. The yellowish brown mountains were at a distance. The sky was clear with scanty presence of some white clouds. Vishal had most of the stuff and I gave him some company. We both were full. We would have liked to sit there for some more time, but owing to the constant inflow of customers, we thought it would be good to leave.

We strolled for some more time and then decided to go back to the hotel. After reaching the hotel, we settled the bill. Vishal was thrilled to check out the pics that we had clicked throughout the last day. After some time, we went upstairs to the restaurant to wait for G & M for dinner. We were stuffed. But who wanted to have dinner? ;-)

This time Murphy did not strike. J

They showed up and we had a long dinner. Since both of us were full, we decided to have just some milk shakes. They were keen to see the pictures that we had clicked. So, we showed them. They made fun of the various poses that we had struck during the day. I’m sure we gave G a run for her money J. Till the time G pointed out, I had not noticed that most of my pics had my left profile. Well, well, well…quite observant I must say. Or probably, her modeling career had taught her to observe such things. They made fun of us, for the numerous poses that we had struck, to the extent that M said that they were going for rafting the next day and they were going to try out the poses that we had struck.

They narrated a sad incident where the Indian army had harassed them at Pangong. Ladakh, being in the inner line of control, has a lot of army presence. It was unfortunate and more so because such incidents leave a lasting impression on the minds of tourists-particularly foreign tourists. I have the utmost respect for our Army and particularly those who live in inhuman conditions. However, this did not sink in well with us.

We apologized for it.

Then it was out turn to check out their snaps. They had clicked some awesome pics. But, most of their pics were did not have people. I can safely say that they belonged to the modeling world but we were the ones who had posed better. Or, they could have been sick of the camera for it forms their bread and butter.

They had gone to the magnetic mountain too, which we had unfortunately missed.

There was one interesting pose that G had struck in those pics. It was called the Brazilian pose. She explained-“You need to suck in your cheeks, pout your lips and put your index finger on the lips.”

We did not realize that our yapping continued for almost one and a half hours. We requested if we could take some pics. They gladly agreed though requested us that the pics not be shared publicly (only ‘private consumption’)

I must admit that Vishal is a bigger ‘nautanki’ (for folks who do not understand this colloquial term, the closest that I can get to would be melodrama) or sport between the two of us. He was clearly game to try this.

G got excited to see this. She immediately jumped from her chair and was keen on teaching Vishal the right pose. Vishal, like an obedient pupil, learnt well. I must say that he may not stand a chance in the Indian modeling industry; he sure does in the Brazilian space! ;-). I did click a nice pic of Vishal with the pout and the finger and the cheeks sucked in! There was one that I tried too where you need to stand and then arch backwards-though it was not close to exciting!

The evening came to an end with the exchange of our business cards. We could have sat for some more time. But they said that since we had a morning flight the next day, they should not hold us back.

We hugged and said good bye!

Day 5-July 27

We reached Delhi the next day. The weather was hot and humid-in complete contrast to the cool, nippy, pleasant weather of Leh. And I continued to wonder about two things-why are good things so short-lived?

And secondly, when will I get to be taught the Brazilian pose! ;-)