A trip to remember

Today I realized that I have lost most of the photos of my solo trip in 2017 due to some technical problem in my phone. No, there was no back up! The captured moments are now gone but the memory lives on. Here I am of sharing three of the most important learnings that I gained from the birthday gift that I gave myself.

1.       Muster up the courage and just give it a shot!

One fine day I woke up with the desire to visit the Golden Temple. The state of finances and my friend’s reluctance to accompany me made me chain down my wish. However, I could not drown it into oblivion. I did not want to look back and blame my friend or my circumstances for my unfulfilled dream. So I decided to go alone.

I took a stock of my situation. Did I really not have the finances? Maybe I was contouring my trip with luxuries that I could surely give a miss. Indian railways, dharamshalas, local buses and backpackers hostels came to the rescue. As soon as the light was visible, I made all the possible bookings so that no black out happens.

The next problem was myself. Though I was a good planner, I was not as organised as I would have loved to be. Also, I was capable of being embarrassingly clumsy at times. To all this, I wore the badge of accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of getting lost on five different occasions to reach the same place.  Knowing oneself too well sometimes holds one back. Knowing myself too well, I had already planned the route of no return. Ta da! All the bookings were done!

So one rainy and eventful day (literally so as it was the day of the Elphinstone Bridge stampede) with a throbbing head I embarked on my first solo trip to the peaceful Golden Temple and the serene beauty of the mountains at Dharamshala.

And yes, here I am full of experiences and planning my next one. I survived!

The Golden Temple, Amritsar

Hostel La Vie, Dharamshala

2.       Mistakes and adventures

At Amritsar, after visiting the Golden Temple premises and Jallianwala Bagh, I proceeded towards Wagah-Attari border. I took a shared auto. The auto would bring all of us back to the starting point. My co-passengers were a group of five boys, a family of three and two men. At the border, I chose to deposit my bag together with those of the boys. All of us parted ways deciding to meet at a common point after the Beating Retreat Border Ceremony. After catching a glimpse of the proceedings from far, escaping a near stampede and few photos at the border, I came back to the meeting point. The family and the two men were there but the group of boys were missing. Then I went back to the place where I deposited the bag and I found one of them waiting for me. He enquired about the others and confirmed that the bag was with him in the auto. He asked us to come fast as the auto driver was getting impatient. While walking back, one of the young men was found to be missing. I informed the boy and asked him to wait while the others went to look for him. He asked us to come fast and walked away. Finally after the man was located we went looking for the auto but it was nowhere to be seen. The boys were also not there. All around us there was utter chaos because of the unexpectedly high footfall on the Dusehhra weekend. The network was bad so the auto driver could not be contacted. Then suddenly I realised that I did not have the contact number of the boys, my bag was with them and my passport was in the bag! I ran down the entire stretch of the road looking at all the autos but they were gone! When I returned, the others were waiting for me. They had managed to get an auto for going back. Finally after an exciting episode of breakdown of the auto in the middle of the highway, a session of questioning by the night patrol of the Punjab police , narrating my lost passport case(courtesy one of the concerned co-passengers) , we finally managed to reach the starting point. I was dejected but hopeful of getting back my document the next day by contacting the auto organiser. I realized I was stupid in depositing my bag along with others, not because I shouldn’t trust people but because life is unpredictable and everybody doesn’t share the same sentiments. The thought of discontinuing my trip flashed across my mind. The local team from my office's global security helpline called. They promised to help me lodge an FIR the next morning, ensured my safe return to the guest house and then hung up. After calming down, I decided that I would continue my trip. I went back to the square to lift my mood up with a good meal and also to see whether I’d bump into those boys miraculously. And miracle it was! I saw one of them finishing their dinner. In a daze of thankfulness, I went and tapped on his shoulder. He seemed relieved and happy to see me. They brought my bag and apologised for leaving us stranded blaming the auto driver for the same. I just thanked them, reached my dormitory, freshened up and went to sleep. I was too overwhelmed by the turn of events.

The day was rich in many lessons but the most important one was to never lose faith.

Attari-Wagah border

The Golden Temple Guest House

3.       Strangers

After the miracle at Amritsar, I was a bit wiser. I huffed and puffed uphill to reach my hostel at Bhagsu, Dharamshala. I entered my room and smiled. There was my bunk bed just beside the window overlooking the mountains. It was one of my dreams which just got realised as I stood there. I freshened up and went out for dinner. When I came back there were five other girls in the room from different corners of the world. I was engulfed with a feeling of reaching out for the Invisibility Cloak. Somehow I always felt conscious and uncomfortable among strangers. This was more to do with my insecurities than anything else. However, I took a deep breath and smiled. I introduced myself and thereafter we transitioned from being strangers to roommates. One of them invited me to join them for a visit to His Holiness’s talk the next day. So at 5 am in the morning I was up, walking down the mountain roads, trusting my companions and joining them in their spiritual quest. By end of the evening as we all settled down on our beds, laughing, sharing jokes, sharing insecurities, moments of joy, seeking advice and giving advice, the geographical borders melted and a connection of friendship was forged. All friendships may not end up in something rock solid but what mattered was the honesty, the vulnerability and the genuine emotions lived in those shared moments.

Now amidst strangers I am a bit more relaxed, a bit more confident than before. I know that the person in front of me is not much different from me. It’s just a matter of being you, a genuine smile and a handshake to try and break the ice.

View from my bed

The roomies-Brenda,myself,Sophie,Noel,Lise and Katie(from the left)