All Those Who Wander

Chapter - 6 : A Stitch In Time

'What do you mean, there's no bus?' I blurted out.

'Here's the deal,' Nalin massaged his temple with great restraint. 'Our bus is apparently some computerized, sentient, Optimus Prime Jarvis hybrid thingy, and it's gone Blade Runner on us.'

'Our bus is computerized?' I guffawed. 'It doesn't even have a license plate. It groans every hour, and the brakes sound like the soundtrack from The Conjuring. I almost thought I'll crack open the diesel tank and find The Flintstones inside.'

'Whatever be the reason, our vehicle's finished. There's a mechanic coming from Sagara tomorrow morning to take a look, but we need a contingency plan.'

'Not to worry - there's two buses that'll arrive at Nittur, at 6 and 7. They'll go straight to Bangalore. All of us should be able to find seats.'

'All 28 of us?' Nalin asked sceptically.

I shrugged. 'What other options?'

'Let me call the travels guy once,' Kowshik spoke up. 'I'll tell him to send us another bus from somewhere close by. He has a lot of vehicles running all over the state.'

'Okay, that sounds good too. And I'll ask Quicksilver about the morning buses, their frequency, the approximate rush and other transport options.'

'Done. I'll make sure folks don't panic.'

I and Shankar walked out to our compatriots after talking to our guide. Buses were available, no problem, but there was no guarantee we would all find seats. Worst case, the least tired of us would go home standing. Now, to distract the populace.

'Hello people,' Shankar spoke in his characteristic tremble. 'Who wants a campfire?'

'That's your excitement voice?' I whispered angrily to Shankar. 'This is how we announce cremations.'

We dodged the hail of dirty socks and bolted back inside. I guess no one was in the mood.

Over dinner, we laid out the options, with suggestions and scenarios being thrown around, and updates being discussed. In the end, there was nothing we could do before the following morning, so we decided to save our energy for the next day.

As I was settling into my tent, Shankar came up to me, laughing silently. 'Dude, the driver was right there, eating with us, while we were discussing abandoning the bus and taking public transport. After everyone left, he suddenly lost it, muttering about how we were all taking decisions without consulting him.' He looked around furtively. 'We'll have to be careful about whatever we do tomorrow.'

I nodded. 'I knew from his mustache itself that he's repressed.'

Shankar laughed and went to his tent. I took one last look at the night sky and the moon, the mighty silhouettes of the trees and the musty, cool earth; being stuck here wouldn't be so bad.

Chapter - 7 : The Grass Is Greener

'Danish, you awake?'

Shankar was outside my tent. I had been floating in sleep limbo since 5 am, when his voice finally pulled me to the here and now.

I kickstarted my body into motion and got up, like an old Honda motor. The analogy reminded me; we didn't have a bus. I stepped out of the tent and greeted the early morning blue. Wordlessly, we walked off into the forest.

It was like watching dusk in reverse - except it was happening to the body too. After a point, I couldn't tell if the world was brightening or if I was waking up. Each colour grew deeper, each outline grew crisper, and orange swept over the blue, with yellow in tow, like the sky was an ocean with the rainbow as its waves. Birdsong came alive in the forest; how lucky, to have music as your language. I mentally noted the presence of doves, mynas, hornbills and egrets. After the Odisha trip, my bird-spotting and call-identifying skills had improved, owing to my parents.

We rushed up a small hill, to meet the line where the light was starting. The sunrise would probably be visible from there.

'Hornbills,' I whispered, as three of them alighted on a branch right above me. The angle and lighting was definitely not cordial now, but I could capture their silhouettes. We stalked other birds for a while - there were some thrushes, tits and magpies, along with a few smaller birds I had never seen before - until a black, majestic creature flitted into view, its twin tails fluttering like victory flags.

'Racket-tailed drongo!' I nudged Shankar furiously. 'My phone, ada paavi, where's my phone...' I man-handled him for a while until I realized it was in my pocket. By the time I'd gotten close enough for a decent shot, it flew off, probably in response to a faraway mating call.

'Did you see that tail? How does evolution do that?' Shankar mused.

'Boggles my mind, everytime.' I concurred. 'It's as if DNA is writing pickup lines all over birds' bodies.'

'Yeah,' he chuckled. 'So many colours and patterns...and apparently it's all random.'

The first rays of light meandered through the foliage and came to rest upon the valley. We climbed further, and waited. Like a distant, quiet explosion, a supernova emerged from between the hills, blinding and soothing at the same time. All our thoughts and the light we had left yesterday came rushing back to us, renewed and refreshed. Somewhere, there was now a sunset.

We descended the hill and started walking back to our camp. Anurag met us halfway, and we went along a small bund of sorts, looking at the water birds rummaging about in the makeshift stream for their early morning baths and other rituals. It was time to get going.

Just next to our cottage, there was a small field, fenced away with barbed wire. We spotted a peacock and a peahen, prancing about like in a sensual tango. Our footsteps alone scared them away, as they strutted off to continue their performance under safer trees. I was reminded of the deer in the IIT Chennai campus, and the peacocks in Pilani; unmindful of humans, even allowing us to touch and pet them. Years of proximity to people had warped their very instincts.

We went inside, and joined the others for breakfast. It was a sombre, quick affair, as finding a way back home was on everyone's minds. We paid some of the remaining amount to the home stay people, promising to transfer the rest after reaching home.

'Okay, let's check on the bus, for the last time, and then decide accordingly. I think that mechanic came yesterday, that's all the info I have.'

The bus was located slightly away, so a few of us clambered onto the jeep and went off, leaving the rest of us waiting like loved ones outside an operation room. Nothing happened for five minutes.

'What if...' Shankar started with a tone of alarm.

'Don't say it,' I said dramatically, trying to sound like someone was dying. 'It won't help with the pain.' Shankar cracked up at that.

We heard a sound, increasing in volume steadily. Puzzled, all of us went out the door and looked towards the road. We were greeted by our bus, roaring into view, with our friends in the jeep just behind it, hooting louder than the engine.

Chapter - 8 : Worth A Thousand Words

We grabbed our luggage and climbed in, smiles being passed all around. Me and Shankar climbed a nearby tree, while the others settled in. Our driver with the bipolar mustache got into the bus, and started the engine.

'People!' I yelled. 'We need a group photo.' 

'Oh damn, almost pulled another Sharavati,' Shankar chuckled, remembering our Sharavati Valley trip, where the only group photo was in front of the Majestic Metro Station. 

We jumped off the tree and joined the others, while Vedant tried to fit us all in one frame, turning on the timer and hurrying back to us. After an anti-climactic click, we all boarded the bus. Time to visit the Nagara fort.

It was on the way back, just fifteen minutes from Nittur. We climbed the walls, looking up at the towering structure until our necks creaked with the effort. I was just waiting to get to the top and look back down at the ground.

We reached the top, one by one. It was like a huge playground in the sky, with strong winds threatening to blow Shankar's hat off. The expansive views were back, and we tried to find the horizon again, moving farther and farther away the more we looked.

The group sat on the edge, united for once, by silence. We dangled our legs and watched the kites, soaring almost at eye level. There was something about forts and mountains; a majesty, a sense of permanence that was a consolation; not everything ended.

People took more photos, and a few solitary members went off on their own, to find some peaceful corner where others had left similar thoughts behind.

We started making our way down, back towards the bus. The breeze slowed down and finally stopped, like a conversation that had ended. I took one last look at the gateway, and went back into the vehicle. Now there was nothing left to do but go home.

Chapter - 9 : All Play And No Work

We snacked on cakes, banana chips and other paraphernalia like zombies, in scattered groups and thoughts. Occasionally, everyone looked into each other's eyes and smiled, joking and laughing about everything that had happened. This was the reminiscing phase of the trip - people looked out the window and remembered meeting the sky, staring into infinity, watching an endless sunset, or walking under the stars.

They say that the eyes are windows to the soul. So are windows.

After an hour or so, people came out of their minds and started fidgeting about, looking for something to do. We decided to play 20 questions. It started with six people, and eventually everyone took notice, joining in.

'Any great photos this trip?' I asked Vedant.

'Yes, definitely. I'll send them to you after all the processing etc.'

'Dude you missed hornbills and the racket-tailed drongo again.' I smiled ruefully. 'But I'm pretty sure you'll capture it in the next one. How was the night-sky time-lapse, though?'

'We'll find out. The skies were brilliant this time - crystal clear and blue. Very different from Bandaje, and yet as beautiful.'

I sat at the back with Rhythm, listening to her sing; the waters of our Pensieve rippling with every note. The latter half of the bus slowly turned to her, transfixed into a meditative state by her voice and slow hum of the speeding breeze. She blushed when she realized everyone was looking at her.

'Let's all sing, please. I'll get conscious otherwise.' She covered her face.

'Cool. Antaakshari?' Radhika suggested.

'Are you crazy? You think those senior citizens in the front are going to agree to...' I had just started, when the senior citizens burst into song. Main shayar, toh, nahin....magarrr, ai haseen....

All of us laughed and joined in. Me and Rhythm had our own fun in the back, harmonizing with the tunes and even making mashups. We played off chords and made dark versions of lullabies, laughing quietly at the back; playing on both sides.

'Danish!' Nalin shouted from the middle. 'It's the letter T!'

I unleashed our secret weapon.

'Tanhayi tadpati hai...yaad tumhari aati hai...thandi thandi parvaayi...chhed ke mujhko jaati hai...' I strummed on the ukulele soulfully, and everyone lost it. When we came to the chorus, I was pretty sure even the driver was singing.

Espiderman, espiderman, tune churaaya mere dil ka chain, dekh ke tere kartab yaara mai to bangayi teri phan...

We had to stop there before the driver crashed the bus and ended everyone's suffering.

'Let's play Dumb Charades, people.' A war cry issued from the vehicle, and that was that.

'All right, people.' Yash assumed the role of team leader for us and started issuing instructions. 'Vedant, open the IMDB list for all B-grade Bhojpuri movies. Danish, start noting down all the obscure English movies you've watched. The rest of you - I'll explain the notations for articles, prepositions, rhyming words and places.'

'Mother Of God,' I whispered to Vedant. 'He's like some District Level Second Runner-Up in this.'

Those two hours were one of the most fun times I've ever had. Trash talk, catcalls, hilarious goof ups, raucous singing and movie titles that had us rolling in our seats; this part of our journey had brought all 28 of us together, despite our differences. We stopped when we'd exhausted even the C-grade list.

'One last game of Mafia? I want to be God.' Nalin asked. After some mumbling and grumbling, everyone nodded. Little did they know this was going to be the best game of all trips so far.

'Okay, but paying homage to the trend we started in Sharavati, we need to make a character based on the guide we had in this trip.' I reminded everyone.

'It'll be called Quicksilver, of course. What powers, though?' Shankar asked, chuckling.

'Oh, the Mafia can never kill Quicksilver. He or she can only be voted out or killed by the suicide bomber.' I thought out aloud.

Everyone murmured in assent, and we started off. Nalin was a very conniving God, and he gave himself some special powers, like the ability to randomly resurrect anyone, or make a special character called Bunty who could detect someone to be a villager and reveal it in the day - apart from his frequent 'Flash News'. This was going to be fun.

'City sleeps.'

After a huge faux pas from Ritu, who literally used the word 'we' when referring to the Mafia, she was voted out unanimously, in the first round itself. Then, things started to go downhill. As was my usual gameplay, I talked and debated a lot, posing scenarios and possibilities and timelines more screwed up than in the X-Men franchise. Pooja played brilliantly, remaining undetected till the very end. Yash delivered a deus ex machina to the game, when he revealed himself to be the suicide bomber and took Quicksilver down with him.

'Trends,' Nalin spoke ominously, in one of his Flash News. I pondered. Ritu, Surendra, Radhika, Priya, Nipun and Shankar had been voted out. And three of them were the mafioso. What could the pattern be? Or was he just messing with us, like always?

'Another Flash News. I don't like beards.'

I grunted and turned my thoughts elsewhere. He was messing around.

Soon, the entire village was in a quandry, not being able to figure out the rest of the Mafia. We voted out Deepti and Abhishek, and realized another Mafia was gone. Then the trend hit me.

'We've reached Bangalore, people. Game over. All girls were the Mafia.' Nalin announced and ducked, shielding himself from the insults and dirty socks.

Nipun was especially outraged. 'You said the Oracle was right, even when he was already dead.'

'I'll say whatever I want to,' Nalin threw back, still keeping out of sight.

The post-analysis went on for even longer than the game, even when people slowly started dropping out. We said our goodbyes to everyone, and started packing up. Finally, we all sat around, looking at each other, with smiles on our faces. It didn't matter if we never met or talked after this; in that moment, everyone knew each other.

Chapter - 10 : Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

I sat next to the driver, telling him the drop off points, while the others came to the front, reconciling themselves with Bangalore. People thanked me as they left, and as I hug and shook hands with them, it hit me how large a group this had been. 

'Thanks, pra. Everyone's saying it was amazing, and they want another one,' Anurag grinned, as he got down at Kalamandir. 

I smiled at him. Another one would happen soon enough. Once a wanderer, always lost. 

We dropped off Nelson and some others at Spice Garden. 'Pra, choose a really hard trek, and let's some 5-6 of us go. It'll be fun,' Nelson told me. 'You're soon going to be opening a startup.' 

I chuckled. It could actually work - every trip had been great, and people bonded effortlessly. I really needed to learn Kannada properly, though.

Soon, it was just me and Shankar at Kundanahalli Gate. We sorted out the expenses with our Dr. Jekyll of a driver, trying to bargain based on 'psychological trauma' because the bus had broken down (and sometime later, so had the driver). We had reached pretty early - it was only 9 pm. It did not feel like a trip had ended, as the previous three had always concluded with us walking on quiet roads under a midnight sky. 

After the payment, the bus roared off, as good as new, with still no license plate. 

'What was even wrong with the bus? Nothing changed. And I didn't even see this fancy computer they were saying our bus has.' Shankar mused.

'Plot twist: the driver was computerized.' I replied, and Shankar grinned.

As we entered our apartment, I remembered meeting the sky, staring into infinity, watching an endless sunset, and walking under the stars. 

Once a wanderer, always home. 

How far will you go to find yourself? 

You sit for hours with those you know, 

Or take a chance with strangers too,

All to answer - who is you?

Maybe they'll tell you who you are.

Maybe you should go somewhere far,

Somewhere, if everything is new,

The crunching earth, the whispering trees,

The gurgling water, whistling breeze,

The journey to you has begun.

Maybe it ends at a setting sun,

For there's no greater lesson learnt,

Than knowing everything will die,

But it is a birth in another sky. 

Maybe the sunset is a lie,

And you need answers from the night,

Maybe the stars and the fading moon,

Will tell you more than the afternoon.

But the starry night has passed so soon,

And you're standing where the sun will rise,

Maybe morning will sympathize.

But now I'm back on my way home,

And now there's no place left to roam.

The valleys, trees, the sun and the night,

The water, breeze - all our paths have crossed.

And they whispered but one small truth,

Not all those who wander are lost...

Photos, courtesy of Saurabh Dubey, Anurag Rastogi, Kowshik Kumar, Abhishek Malani, Rachana Kalidindi, Vedant Sapra, Abhinav Sethi and Vishnu Raveendran.


Anjana's Blog : https://anjlifeexperiences.wordpress.com
Vedant's YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-wTP-OKAF6HskDOqSeREw
Vedant's Instagram Page : https://www.instagram.com/vedantsapra/

TL;DR (February 23-25, 2018)

Costs:

1) Transport from Bangalore to Rajendra Homestay, Nittur: Hired a Preetham Travels 33-seater bus, Rs. 1026 per head, round trip.

2) Cost of Rajendra Home Stay (all meals, night stay and guide): Rs. 1000 per head. 

Itinerary:

1) Bangalore to Nittur: 11 pm bus - 9 and a half hours, overnight journey

2) Next day, trek to Kodchadri peak, via Hidlumane Falls: Started at 11 am. 1 and a half hour to Hidlumane Falls, 2 and a half hours more to lunch point, 2 hours more to Kodchadri peak.

3) Sunset at Kodchadri peak: Blissful.

4) Night trek on jeep trail, back down to Nittur: 3 hours - advisable only on full moon nights. 

5) Next day, visit to Nagara fort: Leave at 9 am, half an hour journey to the fort.

6) Nagara fort to Bangalore: 10 hours.

7) Bangalore to your homes: Sunday night traffic. Despair. 

Contacts:

1) Rajendra Home Stay: 09449145540

All Those Who Wander

Chapter - 1 : Too Many Cooks

'Danish, I'm adding three friends. They're looking to do a trek next weekend too.'

'Danish, one of my friends wants to add two more friends. They would like some familiar company.'

'Danish, our project will end sooner than expected. We're free this weekend - add us to the trek group.'

'Danish, one of my colleagues wants to join. Is there space?'

It had been a month since the Sharavati trip, and extended weekend or not - the time had come for another trek. So, after eliminating Kudremukh and Tadiyandamol owing to the heat, we'd settled on the Kodchadri peak, with Hidlumane Falls en route.

'Are you opening a start-up?' Parag asked in all seriousness, looking at the WhatsApp group. I understood his astonishment - there were 31 people on it - but I knew that on the D-day, we would be 20 odd adventurers remaining.

To my surprise, by Friday, only four people had backed out, leaving a band of 28. Among the veterans were Anurag, Radhika, Rhythm, Abhinav, Surendra, Shankar, Malpani, Jayasimha, Madhulika, Saurabh, Vedant and Vishnu, from previous trips. Kowshik was a colleague, whom I'd recently discovered as a fellow trekking enthusiast. Nalin and Nipun were friends from college, Nelson was an acquaintance from a different trek (the Talacauvery-Mondrute trek by Get Beyond Limits), and I'd met Rituparna before during my internship in Intel. Me and Anurag had added our JPMC colleagues and their friends - Deepti, Krishna, Priya, Abhishek, Pooja, Rachana and Mayank. Kowshik had brought Anand, and Malpani had brought Tapas. Vedant had asked Yash - a fellow BITSian - at the last minute.

Picking them up was like planning a BMTC route for VIP passengers. We got yelled at for delays and reaching early alike. When we'd finally picked Vishnu up, everyone settled down - some preparing to doze off, while some eager to start the fun.

'Hmm, what shall we play, I wonder?' I mused aloud, and the veterans groaned in unison. 'Could it be, say, Mafia?'

Like in a stampede, the veterans shifted to the front of the bus to get busy, leaving me to teach Mafia to the newbies. The JPMC people picked it up quickly, with Pooja and Mayank already playing mind games with the rest. Malpani got booted first - the most untrustworthy faces were eliminated in the first round (which was why God was the safest character for me). The Mafia had almost won, owing to a brilliant double bluff by Jayasimha, but he got too eager in the last round and gave himself away.

We stopped at a roadside stall for some bananas and milk, looking at the night sky, already clear enough to make out constellations.

Everyone succumbed to sleep, and as the lights of the bus and the roads winked out, only the stars remained, making an endless 'connect-the-dots' puzzle in the sky, the answer to which I was still looking for.

I drifted away soon after, with the night as my pillow and the wind as my lullaby.

Chapter - 2 : All Roads

I awoke to Rhythm lightly strumming her ukulele in the front seat. Everyone else was sleeping. Kowshik awoke soon after behind me, rubbing his eyes. 'How long?' he asked. 'About an hour,' I surmised, looking at the time. 'How's Anand?' Anand had a slight motion sickness problem, which had made him reluctant to come along. 

'As long as he doesn't wake up, he'll be fine,' Kowshik chortled. 'In any case, there's a half-cut lemon waiting for him.'

'Can I have that?' Shankar turned around and groaned, stretching his hand. He looked post-op, with heavy eyelids and a flushed face. Sleep was always hard while travelling, even in the most comfortable of vehicles. 

I joined Rhythm, and we sang I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Nalin came over from the back to join us - we'd played the same song together in one of the performances on campus. He played a guitar, and sang too. We'd never gotten the chance to jam together after college. 

He tried to play Blackbird, by the Beatles, on the ukulele, chuckling to himself. 'We should buy a guitalele next time.'

The bus stopped at Nittur. Shankar called the homestay owner, and he sent a jeep to guide us further in. We entered a dirt road, and the sounds of the forest woke the entire bus up. Me, Rhythm, Nalin and Vishnu sang for a while, until our vehicle came to a halt in front of a cream, cemented house.

'Okay, people. Gather your stuff, and let's freshen up here.' I called out, trying to optimize the harshness of my volume. This was the largest group we had taken yet.

The bathrooms were all right, even though the water supply wasn't. We filled a bucket from a trickling tap and took turns. Some of us were already excited, ready with shoes and jitters on. Deepti, Priya, Mayank and Abhishek tried to sneak away and get some sleep, but thankfully, Anurag got to them and smoked them out to the breakfast room. 

Breakfast was blissful; upma, idlis and coconut chutney. I saw the familiar transition from the band Kiss to Winx Club in everyone, and we moved to the verandah to redistribute our supplies. The veterans would carry the bags, with the supplies for the entire group. 

Our guide appeared and pointed in the direction we had to go, taking off. We looked at each other and hustled, breaking up into several groups and scrambling after him. This was actually the only way to get people to start.

And just like that, the trek had begun.

Chapter - 3 : Rolling Stones

'I hope he's not taking us through the jeep trail,' Nelson told me, looking at the route sceptically. He, Nalin, Nipun and Ritu had been to Kodchadri once, through a different route. 'That'll be really boring. I was expecting a proper trek.'

'Hmm, I'll ask him.' I skipped to the front and pointed to an off-beat, rocky trail, nodding excitedly. He shook his head with the same vigour and pointed to the dirt trail. I gulped and stayed ahead, hoping there was a more challenging path later. 

Thankfully, we cut through a small forest soon, and came upon a rocky path flanked by trees in the embryonic stages of flowering - spring was knocking on this valley's door.

'Hey, hornbills.' I pointed to the topmost branches of a leaf-less tree. The silhouette was obvious enough, and there was a hint of colour in the beak; this was the endemic Malabar Grey Hornbill. 

I turned around to locate Vedant, and realized there were around ten people missing. I gave a SWAT team signal for Shankar to go ahead while I brought them along. He grunted in puzzlement.

'You go ahead, I'll bring them along,' I sighed and waited. The morning had spread its hues over the landscape, adding its colours to the day like paints on a mixing palette. 

The first stop was a place with shade and spiced buttermilk. Everyone downed a glass each, and tore open biscuit and cake packets. 'Guys, there's still a long way to go,' Nalin piped up, visibly alarmed. 'Don't get the big guns out already.' 

We skirted a wide paddy field, coming across a stream lined with pebbles. It curved towards a rocky path, with lines of water breaking through, like roots from a tree. 'We're probably approaching the Hidlumane Falls now.' Kowshik said. Our guide had vanished, probably much farther ahead than us. Fortunately, there were more groups ahead of us, marking the route like human milestones.

We came to the Hidlumane Falls - it had lost half its grandeur along with the water, but there was a tiny pool we could step in, and we could climb up halfway through the rocks. Most of us stepped in, pulling in the more timid ones and guillotining them under the icy water. I and Shankar tried to climb up the waterfall, pulling ourselves up along the vines.

Nalin, Nipun, Ritu and Nelson moved on ahead, calling out to us. I and Shankar took everyone except the JPMC people, whom Anurag would bring. 

We reached a huge clearing not long after, and decided to wait for the rest. We were leaving the forest below us, rising up with the lofty hills. This was the perfect season for vast, unobscured landscapes; and they were starting to peek out at us. Shankar and I went inside a grove, leaving Rhythm, Madhulika, Vishnu, Abhinav and Radhika to rest.

Soon, the JPMC group arrived, and we continued. Now there was a proper ascent, straight up to the top of a viewpoint. Excitement fuelled my legs, and we were at the summit in a matter of minutes. I saw Nipun and the others there. I waited for the rest.

Turning around, I faced the biggest landscape I had seen yet. Rolling hills with patchy forest, and a crystal clear sky, meeting the land only at the lightly hazed horizon; if only I could fly. The wind hit me; unabated, with no hill in its way, or cloud to break its flow. Nobody seemed willing to move.

'Vedant, here's your landscapes!' I called out to him, my voice lost in the breeze. He'd been asking me for cloudless, expansive views ever since the Kumar Parvat trek.

I stayed for a while, feeling like I was standing in flight. I looked at the horizon - it seemed as if my eyes hadn't reached it yet, and they never would. If one could see infinity, this was it.

We tore ourselves away and walked on. The trail meandered around the next hill, moving into another forest area with a tiny stream. There was another steep ascent, at the end of which was the lunch point, where the home stay guys would come with the jeep and food. Again, Nalin and gang rushed on ahead, while we waited for Anurag and the others. 

The lunch point also had buttermilk, lime water and cucumbers. Everyone collapsed there, with arms outstretched. After the elixir, we roamed the valley for a while, rushing up to another rock for the view; there was no such thing as too much of a good thing. Finally, the lunch arrived, and Anurag called us down.

Lunch was sambar, rice, buttermilk, and surprisingly, holige - with ghee. I and Shankar lost it there, remembering our VV Puram Eat Street massacre, and bribed and begged people for their holiges. Since Nalin and Co had moved on ahead, we asked them to take the lunch to the peak.

After the food, people split up further, taking the rest of the trek at their own pace. I trotted ahead with Shankar, Vishnu and Jaya, to get the food to our friends. Our path had now merged with the jeep trail; dusty and gravelly, it was a simple, uphill walk.

The trail ended at a tiny village. There was a toilet and a tap for drinking water, and we dove right into them; separately. We waited for the jeeps to arrive with the lunch. There was no signal on anyone's phones, so we just waited in suspense. The harsh sun was getting to a few people, and they took shelter behind cars or under trees.

'Let's just us go up and tell them we're here, and waiting for lunch? The others can bring it up if and when it arrives.' I postulated to Shankar. Rhythm, Madhulika, Anurag and Rachana had caught up to us, and they decided to wait for lunch.

After a few steps and a short rocky climb, we came face to face with the steepest cliff I had seen in a long time; and the trail was right along its edge. We walked on it, staring in fascination to our left, down into the abyss that was surely below sea level.

There was a tiny spot with more lemon juice and watermelon. We stopped for a while, and our guide materialized out of nowhere.

'What the hell?' Shankar whispered to me, like we were seeing a phantom in a graveyard. 'Can you see him too?'

'Yes, yes,' I chuckled. 'I don't know how he got up so fast, though. He was in the jeep, right? We had at least a twenty-minute start on him.'

'Quicksilver, this guy is,' Shankar muttered, and went over to him to ask him about the lunch and the transport for the way back.

At the end of the trail, was a small, stone temple. I spotted Nalin, Nelson, Ritu and Nipun sitting by its boundary.

'What took you so long?' Ritu scowled, her hands on her hips. 'At this rate, people won't be able to reach the home stay before nightfall.'

'Is this the peak? Where's that famous sunset?' I asked, looking around.

Nipun pointed to the temple. I went behind, and looked on ahead. I stood, transfixed. There was a tiny strip of the Arabian Sea between the hills, and the sun was going down into it.

Chapter - 4 : Out Of Sight

'Let's go to the very edge.' I told Shankar. 'That's the closest point, I think.' 

We climbed down into another cliff, walking up to its rim. There was just the valley between us and the sea, and the glow of the setting sun over it. In about half an hour, we would see a beach sunset from a mountain.

We sat on the rocks, looking at dozens of swifts darting around the hills. I envied birds yet again. I looked back at the temple; the rest of the group was arriving, trickling into the view. 

'Let's bring them here,' I tapped Shankar's shoulder; he seemed lost in thought. 'Then we can all reflect on our lives and make the sun a metaphor for existence or something.'

He chuckled, and we went back to the group. Everyone had arrived, and we were discussing the journey back.

'There's jeeps available,' Nelson spoke up. 'I think they take 2000 for eight people. Anyone willing to join us?'

So, it was decided. Twelve of us stayed back to watch the sunset from the cliff, while the others would go back to the lunch point, see the sunset and jeep it back. 

I, Shankar, Radhika, Anurag, Abhinav, Rachana, Mayank, Surendra, Vishnu, Kowshik, Anand and Jayasimha perched on the rock closest to the sky, and sat in silence. Talks about making a time lapse video started, and we spent about ten minutes trying to find the best position for the mobile.

I was sitting right at the edge. I mimed toppling over once or twice, but no one was impressed. Anurag grabbed my collar for the remainder of the sunset.

'All right, I'll just support it,' Abhinav said, and propped up the mobile near a rock, keeping his finger lightly at its base.

'It'll become really late by the time we get back,' Mayank muttered, as the sun dimmed to a mellow orange, rippling ominously in the tiny strip of water miles away, like a curtain unveiling the grand finale.

There were about twenty people with us, chattering away, their voices carrying down to the valley and darting about like the swifts. Soon, all of them quietened, and the only sounds were the gently whistling wind and the chirping of birds. The audience watched with bated breath, and the last sound as the sunset began was, 'Turn on the camera.'

The sky went down like a sinking ship, with the sun as its captain. The oranges and yellows of the horizon blurred seamlessly into the indigo and cerulean of the young evening, dying away like a fire being extinguished. It seemed as if all the light from the valley was running back to its source, riding the wind towards the infinite sunset. Like a candle winking out, the sun melted into the horizon, taking our thoughts with it. Somewhere, there was now a sunrise.

Night came in swiftly, and the birds fled to their nests. We took one last look at the day, and let go of the light, to return to us in the next sunrise.

Chapter - 5 : For The Night Is Dark

'This is going to be fun,' Vishnu grinned. 'Who knew we would get a night trek out of this?'

I and Shankar decided to race down, till the water tap point. We asked Anurag to bring the others, and we set off, hurtling down at breakneck speeds, jumping on rocks and sliding over gravel. To my right, the cliff looked deadlier than ever, with the depths not even visible now, like an endless fall right to the center of the earth. 

While descending, it was more about finding the right places to brake and arrest momentum, for otherwise, you would keep accelerating and pierce the ground like an arrow at the end. I'd done that once - fortunately, I'd rolled over and come to a stop at a sturdy tree trunk. 

We skidded to a stop at the jeep place, panting and smiling elatedly. This was the closest we could come to flying, with nothing but our feet. Vishnu joined us soon after, and we took our last photo for the day, as the world turned black, and the stars popped out like cat eyes. We looked to the sky and realized the moon was almost full. 

By the time everyone else arrived, the world was a mosaic of swallowing black, haunting blue and faint white, and we were moving as pawns on its various tiles; stepping in shadows and spots illuminated by moonlight like it was a chessboard. After a few slips and falls, we got used to it; measuring the gradient of the ground with our ankles and using our toes as hooves. 

'Hey, man, what's that?' I pointed to a silhouette in the distance. 'And why is it growing bigger?'

Surendra yelped. 'If this is a prank, I'll sit down on a dharna or something. Don't scare me.'

'No no, it's real,' I chortled, immediately making plans to scare him. The silhouette came into focus and parted into two dogs, trotting amicably over to us. 

One of them brushed up against me, its wagging tail hitting me like a jackhammer. The other one flitted through the shadows, disappearing and reappearing like the Nightcrawler. Surendra was looking back and forth at them as if it was one dog. 

The others caught up, and we set off with the dogs, now feeling more confident. We had reached the lunch point now, and the jeep trail was right in front of us, leading straight to the home stay - hopefully.

'Let's tell ghost stories,' Abhinav teased, looking sideways at Surendra.

'Let's not,' Anurag rebuked. 'Let's just go ahead and disappear one by one.'

'Or scream.' Rachana quipped.

'Oh, we could hide in shadows and just jump out at the right people,' Mayank piped up, looking straight at the right people. 

'Screw this, I'm going ahead.' Surendra scampered off and joined Vishnu and Shankar, me in his stead. 

'Damn it, the others are in a mischievous mood,' Surendra muttered to us.

'Others?' Shankar asked in mock puzzlement, looking at me pointedly.

'But it's only the four of us on this trip.' I looked at Surendra in complete seriousness. One of the dogs howled.

'Aaarrgghh,' Surendra grumbled and walked off further, as I, Vishnu and Shankar lost it.

It didn't even feel that dark anymore, with the moon brighter than a floodlight, and the sky having more stars than night in it. The sounds of the forest were deafening; yet, we could hear every whisper, every breath, every crunching footstep and skid. 

We came across a stretch of road in complete darkness; it was as if we had to swim through the river Styx. 

'Okay, people - test the ground before stepping on it, and use only your toes. Don't play pranks now, or we might have an actual horror story on our hands.'

We crossed silently. I was following the dogs, since they seemed to be stepping with ease everywhere. Our eyes adjusted quickly, and we could now see the subtle greys in the ground that told us where the path was. 

'A lot of the ground is sandy, so it's better,' Vishnu broke the silence. 'Otherwise, our heels and ankles would have been dead by now.'

The descent was over, and we were walking on plain ground like it was daytime. There was no familiarity - we were now dependent on the dogs and mobile network. 

We came to a huge entry gate of sorts; fortunately, the guard's hut looked alive, so we went inside to ask him for the route. He didn't know the homestay, but told us that the nearest town - Nittur - was straight ahead, from where we would get jeeps to wherever we wanted. 

We sauntered on, occasionally trying to reach our guide on his cell. We emerged from the forest into Nittur - civilization, at last. 'All right,' I started, as everyone collapsed onto the nearest sitting point. 'We should be getting network here. Let's call our guide and tell him where we are. He'll figure something out.' 

'Damn, where's Quicksilver when you need him?' Shankar smiled wistfully.

My eyes widened in shock.

'He's right behind me, isn't he...' Shankar sighed, and turned around. Our guide was standing there, casually looking at us. He pointed to a jeep in the distance, and set off. 

'Well, on your feet, jelly-legged sea urchins!' I barked, and followed him. Somehow, the twelve of us fit into the vehicle, with Anurag and Vishnu hanging from the back, and we roared away to our home stay. 

'I've never done this, it feels amazing!' Anurag yelled over the sound of the jeep, as we rushed through the night with the wind in our faces. I grinned; there was something for everyone. 

We arrived, hooting and cheering like maniacs, at our cottage. The others were sitting outside, resting their legs. Some had already retired for the night. We walked in through the gate, elation showing on all our faces. I could see Vedant's camera kept on one of the walls, pointed towards the sky. He was getting his night-sky time-lapse video, finally. 

We took off our shoes and walked around, cooling off. It would take a while for the throbbing in our legs to cease. 'We walked 27 kms today. On a hill.' Anurag proclaimed proudly. 

Nalin, Nelson, Ritu and Nipun were sitting outside, looking at us bemusedly. 'Anyone hurt?' Nalin asked.

'Nah,' I told him. 'In fact, people couldn't be happier. A few slips and falls, but they learnt really quickly. We were almost running down towards the end.'

'That's good. You're in a great mood?' Nalin asked again.

My face fell. 'All right, out with it.'

Nalin chortled once, and said, 'There's no bus.'

I stared at him.

To be continued, I guess.

Photos, courtesy of Saurabh Dubey, Anurag Rastogi, Kowshik Kumar, Abhishek Malani, Rachana Kalidindi, Vedant Sapra, Abhinav Sethi and Vishnu Raveendran.


Anjana's Blog : https://anjlifeexperiences.wordpress.com
Vedant's YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-wTP-OKAF6HskDOqSeREw
Vedant's Instagram Page : https://www.instagram.com/vedantsapra/