Finding Thyself ! Part-2 #RishikeshDiaries


In solitude there is hearing. Speak to your soul, listen to your heart. Sometimes in absence of noise we find answers. But has anyone ever heard pin drop silence? The sound of the cold places without any fan or A/C? No, not the wind, just silence. That’s what I slept to last night and woke up next morning trying to figure out where was I and what was I doing here all alone with a vacant bunk bed staring back at me. For a moment I thought I was dreaming, but the cold weather and temple bells got me on my feet and straight to the window. The view was just overwhelming, the gongs of bells in different temples, green clad mountains echoing the bell rings back at you and the majestic unhurried river Ganga flowing from one end to another. I decided to take a better view of this scene and darted to terrace, that’s when I realised it was very windy and I was not in proper layers to resist it but I was swayed by the beauty and persisted for next 5 minutes.
After not so hot shower I was still thinking about which side of the Jhulla should I start walking from and the morning receptionist (fairly better than the night ACP Pradyuman receptionist) showed me one of their walls which had the entire map of things to see in Rishikesh painted on it. I decided to go Ram Jhulla first and get to other side of it check out the other side, then head back and do a small hike to a waterfall, see if I had enough time to checkout Beatles ashram post lunch in Pyramid Café one of the must visit places on trip advisor and finally Triveni ghats in the evening. But before anything it was important to get stuffed with some nice wholesome breakfast, the Bunk Stay café is rooftop with nice and cosy seating arrangement. I saw two guys next to me having maggi, so I was tempted to eat maggi and a coleslaw sandwich half of which I packed for the hike. Travel turns me into chatterbox, the guy I came in with last night was on breakfast table as well and another gap year Brazilian law student spending his vacation around mountains of India, I put all my Spanish together and spoke to him in Spanish for 10 mins and in return he says “No entiendo” (I don’t understand) he explained that Brazilians unlike other Latin America inhabitants speak Portuguese. Waste! Switched back to English, I told them about my plans to go around and hike, they seemed interested and decided to accompany me on the hike.     

                 
Mighty Ram Jhulla
Seemed like I was showing them around, none of them remembered the routes and I was literally making them walk from one point to another in my attempts to find places to see, different routes, different scenery, different babaji’s every time. The waterfall hike was a hype there was no waterfall just a stream of water flowing across the mountain, we passed by it and yet we didn’t realise this could be it, we kept walking and after a point we were heading to a highway that’s when we decided to stop and ask someone for the way, one stranger said this highway goes straight to kedarnath and I was in no mood for all that padyatra, the only thing I could do was give the receptionist piece of my mind. Everything I had on my list was either at opposite ends or in hiding. The Pyramid Café specially was playing “hot or cold” with me, nobody could have imagined this place to be somewhere on top of a hill and road to this café was through an extremely narrow (can be easily missed) lane between two shops. In the mountains you have to climb for all basic necessities roti, kapda or makan everything. By the time we climbed up to café pyramid the monsters in my stomach were already fighting, but that was only the climb I guess we over-ordered and could hardly finish one platter completely. Rishikesh should be declared the yoga city, every lane, every step you will find yoga and meditation schools, you may not find chemist or a general store but you will definitely find a yoga school. Now walk to Beatles ashram is for sure walk to a ghastly place, apart from Beatles cave the entire place is a ruin. I could hardly imagine how Beatles stayed here for 3 months, surely high on drugs because the entire place is a forest cover with lots of wild animals and even after all these years looks terrifying. I was trying to time travel to this place in 1976, could only imagine leopards, tigers and wild elephants, that’s when we saw a wild elephant on rampage, gone completely insane and charging on the trees. The ashram guard shouted back at me atleast thrice not to go anywhere near that place.
Two is company!


Ganga Ghats at Ramjhulla

Tapovan
Looking for waterfall!
                                                 

Enroute Kedarnath!
The Parmarth Ganga
                                               

It was almost 4 pm and the Ganga aarti began at 5:30 pm we decided to head back to other side of Ram Jhulla. A piece of advice if you want to go to Triveni Ghat from Ram Jhulla always look for share rickshaw as they barely charge 10 bucks per person, do not fall prey to thug rickshawalas who charge 100 bucks. I am not at all a spiritual person and I oppose the idea of floating diyas in water and calling Ganga as Ganga Maiya or drinking its water because people consider it holy, but more than the chaos of aarti and spirituality, the warmth of lights and harmony in which the pandits swirled the diyas was astounding. It was so much like symphony; the synchronisation comes with experience I believe. More than anything I just wished for that harmony in my life. Please check out this link for my video of entire Ganga aarti: https://youtu.be/BjnhlOhWHe0
Let the aarti begin!
Save Ganga


 Tonight I was ready for receptionist’s fun-tip, although I wasn’t hungry but I was somehow high on energy and present in the café to have some fun, one of the helper boys in café sang really well, we made him sing almost all Arijit Singh songs, tried my luck at ludo and carrom but I guess I suck at indoor games as well, what kind of a person loses a ludo match? Shame! Sulking at my defeat I did one thing I am good at “Storytelling”, I told them all sort of stories starting from Panchatantra to Cinderella to Desi Ghost stories, felt like I was telling stories to 5 year olds. C’mon who doesn’t know the Cinderella story? Sigh! I think I talked their ears off and put them to sleep, as i could see my audience yawning and escaping. I pray next time I have a bit literature savvy audience.

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