Valuable antiques of catching up with old friends and friendship after 24 years , a trip to Uttarakhand( India)
Prologue
Time again to break our barriers and have a blast among our group of colleagues who had become friends for ever since the time we got introduced in the year 2000. We all started our career together working as freshers, then parted ways due to the software recession and other life priorities. Even though we were associated together for less than 18 months as a team, our nostalgic bondage over two decades cannot be summarized in this blog. Each one of us had grown in stature, maturity, family life, like old wine that needs to be preserved for ever.
We decided to make a trip to Uttarakhand, Voco Corbett resort in Ramnagar, a prestigious five-star accommodation part of the IHG group, run by one our group buddies Mr. Pankaj Kashyap. We call him Panks affectionately. The contingent of people who finally agreed to have a rejuvenating break were Satish Maga (Mr. Satish Muniyappa), Venki machan (Mr. Venkata Subramanian), Subbu Gummu(myself Subramanian Babu) Santa General (Mr. Santhosh Vayakondan), Rishi buddy aka Gummu( Mr. Maharishi Kaushik) In this contingent of six people, Panks and Santa are the odd one out. One running a chain of hotels and Santa serving as captain in Indian Airforce. Remaining are slaves forever working as software professionals in our own capacity. I am sure few more would have joined our trip but due to some personal challenges they could not.
The travel glossary started with Rishi Gummu , taking the lead by booking the air tickets. Four of us are from Bangalore, Venki is from Chennai and Panks is from Delhi.
The plan was to stay for two nights in Voco Corbett, and one night in Haridwar. The itinerary was solidified by Panks by booking our accommodation and local taxis (Delhi to Voco Corbett - >Voco Corbett -> Haridwar->Rishikesh->Dehradun.
Our plan was done and dusted a month before and we all were looking forward to the trip.
August 14th, 2024
The day of exuberance arrived, and we all were set to become once again the freshers of the year 2000. Same fun, sarcasms, teasing each other and sharing our knowledge, journey and experiences. Santa and Satish maga reached the Bengaluru airport early whereas, my beloved friend Rishi Gummu blamed the autos for reaching late. It was a long weekend since August 15th was a holiday and we had taken a day off on Friday to have a blast. We had a hilarious nail-biting check in and security check, for the obvious reason of checking in for the first time through the Digi Yatra app a new self-check-in mechanism for boarding pass, and check-in baggage tags. The Indigo helper juggled our check-in tags since we had a group booking. My check-in was tagged as Rishi Gummu and Rishi's was tagged as Subbu. Since we were travelling together, we were never worried since anyone of us can pick all or some of our luggage's. The climax was that my friend Rishi gummu had checked-in with a power bank and did get a call from Virtual security which is located after the security gates. This was after we reached had the boarding gates after security. Our flight's scheduled time was at 8.30 PM, and we reached the gate at 8 PM. The Virtual security team called for Subramanian Babu since my check-in tag was tied to Rishi Gummu's check-in, stating that baggage got rejected due to the presence of power bank. I along with Rishi Gummu rushed to the Virtual security and with our guidance they removed the power bank and rechecked in the baggage. But they refused to send the power bank and as a policy were about to discard the power bank. They didn't allow us to go back to the ground floor to pick the power bank physically. After some persuasion, we requested them to send the, to be discarded power bank to our boarding gates to which Indigo staff obliged with a magnanimous mind. Rishi Gummu was on the edge of losing his cool temperament and was even prepared to take a physical fight with the baggage team. But with his wisdom prevailing, he won the battle of getting back his power bank, like a father receiving his daughter. He cuddled and kissed the power bank and gently handed over to me to keep in my hand carry on. An incident never to be forgotten for years to come.
The flight was delayed, and boarding started at 8.45 for the 8.30 PM departure. There was no delay announcement by Indigo, and they are as usual a pathetic budget airline. Biggest frustration was to keep us in the tarmac for almost 45 minutes since they didn't get clearance to take off. Finally, we reached Delhi after a delay of almost 2 hours, standing testimony to the pathetic customer service of Indigo flights.
We got out of the airport after a grabbing our dinner. We went to a place called "Vango" (Vango in Tamil means, please come) a south Indian veg outlet and ordered Idly and dosa. To our dismay food was pathetic. Probably they should rebrand their name to "Varathengo"(please don't come) or "Pongo"(Please go), which would have been an apt name for the quality of food they served.
Panks personal car with his driver was waiting at the Delhi airport for us and we started our journey to Ramnagar, Voco Corbett. The journey was for a duration of 5 hours from Delhi and a RED EYED road trip but was full of fun. Poking, teasing and pulling each other, reminiscent of our initial days of working together.
August 15th, 2024 - Day of hard-fought Independence
We reached the resort Voco Corbett by 6.30 am and were received with a warm red-carpet reception, along with trumpet and conch (little exaggerated).
Venki machan who was travelling from Chennai and by train had reached Delhi the previous day, from where Panks had picked him and drove with him in his second car from Delhi. They had reached the resort the previous day.
We checked in to our room, behind the room we could hear the noise, ebb and flow of the river "KOSI" which originates from the Himalayas, and which forms the basis for the flora and fauna in Corbett. The river was docile with clear water in the morning but suddenly became a muddy water of silt after the noon, seems to some cloud burst in Himalayas caused it to become muddy and more aggressive. Panks and Venki machan received us with all their smiles and happiness. Once we entered our respective rooms, we were welcomed with a printed newsletter of Voco Corbett, with our photos and some introduction. We didn't know when Panks asked for our photos, and it was nice gesture and delight which everyone felt to be preserved for a long time.
We refreshed and prepared ourselves for the Independence Day flag hoisting ceremony in the upper deck of the resort facing the KOSI river. Guard of honor with a red-carpet welcome was given by the staffs to their MD Mr. Panks. I requested Panks to make Santa our air force guy to give an impromptu speech which he delivered like a macho with a punch.
After a light lunch, we gathered across the resort for sharing our journey, experiences, crushes, characters and all the fun we had decades ago. It was a never-ending talk of each one's knowledge and experiences which was shared as a crystal-clear water openly among us without any hesitation and ego. Talking on all those topics made us feel happy and relaxed. We had high tea followed by Aarti to KOSI river at 6 PM. Out talks continued. Santa and I had a SPA booking in the evening. The best massage I had been to so far and was very refreshing. Dinner was hoisted at the upper deck with live bands of Uttarakhand art and folk music. We danced to the tunes of multiple songs, and we all exhibited the child in us . At some point we took pride of our sensual dancing. Personally, I had never danced in my life, and this is what a reunion could do, making us dance like street children dancing to the tunes of our neighborhoods. It was real fun.
The day started very bright. The KOSI River had swollen overnight due to heavy rains in the mountains. Water was muddy carrying lot of silt We had plans to visit a small shiv lingam temple abode a small hillock opposite to the resort. It was alt walking distance. We wanted to chant 108-time Om NAMASHIVAYA before having breakfast. Some of us had trekked to the temple previous night as well. A secluded spot with just a Sadhu living there all alone. We chanted and meditated and returned to the resort to have a sumptuous breakfast. We had a booking for river rafting at half past noon.
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It was a first-time experience for me and few others. We drove to a place 6kms away and started the rafting after a small tutoring from the raftsmen. We were pushed in non-rapid waters along the riverbanks to float catching hold of the raft. It was a great and nervous experience. Post rafting, we were picked up to be driven back to the resort. We broke for lunch and started discussing on various topics and all our experiences. Satish maga was the pivotal storyteller in the group He had been an entrepreneur and a software professional who is hands on even today. His experience in running a business and the challenges one might face was a great learning and an eye opener for all of us. Great insights of running an own business. Rishi Gummu was in his own world singing Hindi songs in British English accent. Rishi gummu is always known for his accent of talking like an English man. It was fun to watch him speak but unfortunately none of English-speaking staff at the resort were able to understand. We always ended up in English-to-English translation when Rishi is around. But Rishi Gummu like great Rishis exhibited patience and stood as a testimony for all our jokes around him. You need people like him to really be an inspiration and as a role model. In the afternoon post lunch, we gathered as a group to indulge in singing Hindi songs by taking lyrics from the Internet. Even though we were bathroom singers we broke the jinx and sang to our heart's content. It was a great exercise.
For the Dinner apart from the menu there was a musical event, solo singing by a local singer and it turned out to be a mellifluous evening where the singer obliged to all our songs request. Some people were allowed to even sing. after dinner we were awake till midnight and feeling sad to check-out the next day morning. We wished to stay longer but our family and professional commitments reminded us to pack our bags to Haridwar.
Over the past two days Venki machan was on and off down with fever and he was under medication but still he was willing to spend all his time with all of us. He never returned to the room to take rest. He exhibited energy and involvement and definitely kept himself one among the group though sick.
Santa the Airforce guy is a tough individual who has silly funny comments on every sentence you utter. He keeps the discussion very lively and a jovial person to have in a group. A very practical man who had rose to positions with his hard work and mental toughness. He is a Malayali and no doubt we all admire his slang when to talks in English. His impromptu talk to the guest as part of the flag hoisting event was an impressive one which was as crisp as potato crisps. He is a matured individual who exhibits toughness in walking, talking, any other mannerisms you can think of, but inside he is softer than a butter, maybe I am wrong in my assessment.
About myself, I am guy who doesn't like to indulge in extreme comments or fun or sarcasm about others. Sometimes I prefer to go silent indulging only in listening mode. I can be of fun for some time but would like to pause and the read the pulse of the group to continue or not. I would like to give preference to sleep and relaxation since I am an early bird who doesn't sleep for more than 5 hours. Whatever time I go to bed, my biological clock is set in such a way that I am awake by 3.30 am or 4 am. My buddies do complaint about my vanishing act from the discussions, but I didn't have anything personal against anyone, probably not used to late night meetings or being awake after 10 PM.
I made up my mind to stay together late night on the penultimate day at the resort. WE had talks going past midnight. We retired to our rooms and were not happy since we have to check out the next day morning to go to Haridwar. Panks was so nice in driving us to Haridwar and he also had plans to visit his daughter at a boarding school in Dehradun. It was a four-hour drive, and we checked in to a hotel called Regent Inn, by royal orchids, but definitely not up to the mark and was never comparable to the Voco Corbett resort where had stayed till that morning.
We never had a concrete plan of places to see and due to paucity of time wanted to stick to few important temples, followed by evening aarti at Harkhi Pauri at 7 PM.
We hired an auto for the entire trip after much bargaining, later realized it was an wise decision. We arrived at Chandi devi after a 30 minutes commute. There was long queue to pick cable car tickets for both Chandi devi and Manasa Devi. Satish maga had the patience to stand in for almost 40 minutes to buy the tickets. The cable car took almost 10 minutes to reach the abode of Chandi devi. It was lil crowded and darshan took 15 minutes. Main murti of Chandi Devi was installed by the great saint Adi Shankarar in the 8th century AD . Since we lost considerable time at Chandi Devi, it was getting late for the Aarti, we don't want to miss Manasa devi for which we had purchased the cable car ticket at Chandi devi ticket counter. We scurried and to our dismay we found a big queue for the cable car. Darshan time was less than 10 minutes but we ended spending waiting for cable car for more than an hour. By the time we reached Harkhi Pauri, Aarti had ended and with a grim face we proceeded to a ghat to have a dip in the holy river ganga. Our auto driver suggested this place which was clean and hardly few people bathing. With a shiver we dipped in to the Holy ganga and cleansed ourselves offering pranams to the holy river. later we had dinner and retired to our rooms. Meanwhile we found out that there is a Aarti in the morning between 5 am - 5.30 am, so in order not to miss this time , we all woke up by 3.30 am, had bath and left to the Harkhi pauri for the Aarti. It was most unhygienic place I witnessed on the banks of a holy river with people spitting and washing and getting in to the river. It was insane and doesn't have any justification to take a dip there for anyone. Post the aarti at 5.30 am, we left to the other side and I had planned for a tharpanam for my father. I worked with a pandit contact who said initially to pay what ever I want to but later found that this assholes demanding 5k or 10k just to do tharpanam. I said i cannot pay more than 1000rs and walked away. I think it is better to do yourselves on a peaceful ghat upstream from Harki Pauri. With the curtains coming to an end in Haridwar, we hired a cab to leave to Rishikesh before boarding the flight to Bangalore Dera Doon. By the way it was pricking hot more like heat waves at Haridwar and Rishikesh and we were struggling to walk all the way to all these places from the parking. The sweltering heat and humidity toiled the body but we were sure of completing the trip as planned. Rishikesh was 20 minutes drive from Haridwar. We took a guide to see Ramjula and other ashrams for Rishi Gummu wantesd to stay at Rishikesh for one more week. His idea was to spend more time in Rishikesh to liberate and rejunuvete. Many of the Ashrams refused to provide accommodation for single souls, so there was a challenge for Rishi Gumma. Like his purest thoughts and deeds he messaged us that he got in toa ashram who obliged to stay alone. I won't be surprised if Rishi Gummu returns with just a loin cloth like great sages standing testimony to his name "Magarishi". We need to wait and watch. We bid adieu to Rishi Gummu and left to Jolly airport in Dehra Dun. Our return flight was Vistara and with a heavy heart and all the talks and fun we had over the past 4 days we embarked on our journey to join our families who were eagerly waiting for our arrival. Thanks to each of our wife's who seems to be very understandable in making us plan for this trip without any cribbing.
The Epilogue
All good things must come to an end. This four days of adventure, empathy, fun we had, brought out the child in us forgetting all that is waiting for us in a mechanical, stressful, Bengaluru life. I wish we could plan many more such trips and have more fun at frequent intervals. We don't know the future but our group was determined to meet up at the next appropriate time.
My sincere thanks to Mr Panks for hosting us in his excellent property. He stood like a pillar beside us and made us feel very comfortable. The hospitality with which we were take care , doesn't have words to express.
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