"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."
- Lord Byron
These were the opening lines in the movie "Into the wild"; and the very lines reverberated inside me when I was returning yesterday from the Rajmachi Trek. It was my first TREK in literal sense, for those little escapades-with my friends and siblings now seem like a child's play, compared to the expedition led by Hydventura this weekend.
Neither the chaotic tribulations of our wild dreams, nor our worst expectations had prepared us for what we experienced. Similarly no amount of words and pictures can do justice to the dejections and the final elation of what the eyes saw and the soul went through. When we reached the fort, with the clouds below us, and the mist enveloping us from all sides, I asked if we were still on earth. Now, I've been to places which subdue the tempests raging within and around, but this place transcended even peace. I knew not what I felt... everything was at once so still and so calm. Even the perennial, over flooding stream of thoughts stopped, as if charmed to a halt by the overwhelming tranquility.
The return trek from Rajmachi village to Lonavla was no less eventful. I don't remember when was the last time I'd literally played in water with such abandon. The clear rippling streams were so inviting that it wooed away the last shred of resistance...it feels just wonderful to be a child again, not to think, not to be afraid. The waters didn't just wash away the mud from our clothes and shoes, it washed away the remnants (if any) of regret or futility. It washed away tiredness and exertions of the previous day. And just to see the antiques and theatrics and the poses for pics, for those laughs, for those small things in life which comes free, I really am grateful.
I won't talk about the near-death scares or the falls some of us had. Nor the misadventure of climbing the wrong mountain and sliding through mud (speaking for myself I enjoyed every minute of returning down, oh! and I hated every minute of climbing up). In this case we had our respective and fair share of wounds and fears...In fact I regret I've less no. of bruises, for almost always I had a helping hand handy and some or other encouraging voice. And the tips that came every time I stumbled, from how to balance and maintain grip to crossing mud tracks without getting your leg caught...
Who all do I thank, it'd never be enough. Still, to Hydventura for organizing, to Jiddu Sir for his anecdotes and encouragement all through the way, to Arjit for somehow managing all of us and handling everything so efficiently, to Ravneet and Shuchi for just being there and helping me out before having to ask for it, to the family in Rajmachi village who provided us with night stay and hot dinner and tasty poha for breakfast, to Hari for walking with us and for the pics, to Perry for leading us, to two Sunils, two Anujs, Shyam, Vivek, Raghav, Praneeth, Anshul, Tejas, Giridhar, Rakesh, Ravikanth, Venkatesh, two Rahuls, Aditya, Nandkishore(some people I know by name, rest by faces, hope I ain't missing anyone... yet thanks to each and every one of you). I don't even know the names of all who might have given me a hand or helped me avoid a fall, so Thank You All.
P.S. (to whosover it may concern): I'll reconsider whether I want to die near a sea or atop a hill.
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."
- Lord Byron
These were the opening lines in the movie "Into the wild"; and the very lines reverberated inside me when I was returning yesterday from the Rajmachi Trek. It was my first TREK in literal sense, for those little escapades-with my friends and siblings now seem like a child's play, compared to the expedition led by Hydventura this weekend.
Neither the chaotic tribulations of our wild dreams, nor our worst expectations had prepared us for what we experienced. Similarly no amount of words and pictures can do justice to the dejections and the final elation of what the eyes saw and the soul went through. When we reached the fort, with the clouds below us, and the mist enveloping us from all sides, I asked if we were still on earth. Now, I've been to places which subdue the tempests raging within and around, but this place transcended even peace. I knew not what I felt... everything was at once so still and so calm. Even the perennial, over flooding stream of thoughts stopped, as if charmed to a halt by the overwhelming tranquility.
The return trek from Rajmachi village to Lonavla was no less eventful. I don't remember when was the last time I'd literally played in water with such abandon. The clear rippling streams were so inviting that it wooed away the last shred of resistance...it feels just wonderful to be a child again, not to think, not to be afraid. The waters didn't just wash away the mud from our clothes and shoes, it washed away the remnants (if any) of regret or futility. It washed away tiredness and exertions of the previous day. And just to see the antiques and theatrics and the poses for pics, for those laughs, for those small things in life which comes free, I really am grateful.
I won't talk about the near-death scares or the falls some of us had. Nor the misadventure of climbing the wrong mountain and sliding through mud (speaking for myself I enjoyed every minute of returning down, oh! and I hated every minute of climbing up). In this case we had our respective and fair share of wounds and fears...In fact I regret I've less no. of bruises, for almost always I had a helping hand handy and some or other encouraging voice. And the tips that came every time I stumbled, from how to balance and maintain grip to crossing mud tracks without getting your leg caught...
Who all do I thank, it'd never be enough. Still, to Hydventura for organizing, to Jiddu Sir for his anecdotes and encouragement all through the way, to Arjit for somehow managing all of us and handling everything so efficiently, to Ravneet and Shuchi for just being there and helping me out before having to ask for it, to the family in Rajmachi village who provided us with night stay and hot dinner and tasty poha for breakfast, to Hari for walking with us and for the pics, to Perry for leading us, to two Sunils, two Anujs, Shyam, Vivek, Raghav, Praneeth, Anshul, Tejas, Giridhar, Rakesh, Ravikanth, Venkatesh, two Rahuls, Aditya, Nandkishore(some people I know by name, rest by faces, hope I ain't missing anyone... yet thanks to each and every one of you). I don't even know the names of all who might have given me a hand or helped me avoid a fall, so Thank You All.
P.S. (to whosover it may concern): I'll reconsider whether I want to die near a sea or atop a hill.
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