It was my paramount dream to visit snowy regions especially Manali. Almost in every Indian romantic film I can find this place. It was eleven in the night with all the chillness running through my body and veins, we arrived at The Manali Inn with the exuberance to see the snowy mountains. After an hour's wait we got our keys for our respective rooms. I was hoping if I could get a scenic room while walking up the stairs. I opened the door, it was dark. Then I switched on the lights, I was too tired to examine the room and was fast asleep.
'Voila..!! I know that's her. That delightful sight of her... I can hear Mohammed Rafi's sweet cadency 'chaudhvin ka chand ho' running through my ears. Her luxuriant curly hair flowing through the air like the waves of an ocean in the vibrant morning. "Who made her with such a craftsmanship?!!", I always wondered. "This time I am not gonna miss her, I will see her beautiful face", I thought'. "Hey dude wake up, its seven in the morning", Sai shouted. AHHH!!! friends I say.... if it is about a girl wherever you go they come, even in dreams. I reluctantly tried to open my eyes but my heart said, "sleeeep idiot!!, U will see her face this time". Preoccupied with her thoughts I opened my eyes slowly, I can feel the sun rays peeping through the curtain openings. I went near the glass window and drew the curtains open, I gazed in awe at the beautiful mountains with canopy of snow, "sometimes God listens you", I thought.
"Weather's lively, we will have great fun", I thought. We were a team of 50 members with eclectic habits and thoughts. It was all set for an ebullient journey to the top of the mountains. The tortuous roads of Manali made our bus journey difficult, so we drove in 5 sumos. On the way we were given snow suits, "am I an Eskimo now?", I thought. I went back to the sumo and we started our journey.
"Lets start anthyakshari", shouted Sharath. I was sitting in the front seat of the sumo shooting the road, steep valleys, sinuous turnings, deciduous forest with my sony camera listening to their songs. In less than an hour we reached the top of the mountain. We were almost 6000ft above Gulaba, village at the foot of the mountain. Boys started climbing up as if there is a competition."Chalo, we will have noodles here", KK said excitedly. "freezing weather...scorching noodles...awesm", I thought.
"Bhaagooo......Bhaagooo", shouted everyone. "What's happening", we wondered. "climb down fast, snow is falling heavily", screamed chaiwala."We are here to enjoy the snowfall!! why is he alerting us??", I thought. Everyone climbed down and went in to their respective sumos and headed down hill."We made a futile effort to come all this way for snow", I felt disappointed.
"Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein.... khayaal aata hai... Amitabh is caressing rakhee's hair as if he is moving his hands on the soft snow in the snow-capped mountains. What a soulful rendition and picturesque scenery!! it is an evergreen romantic number!!. I will go to this place sometime", I reminded the days when I used to watch this song. "Bhayya!! just stop the sumo for twenty minutes, we will have fun in the snow", asked sofi. I was back from my thoughts and was hoping if he could stop the vehicle. He remained silent and after 10 min he stopped the sumo and asked us to come fast. "Snow every where, we can have lots of fun, YO!! amitabh ji...I made it but no rakhee!!", I thought. Everyone gushed with vigour in that slushy snow. We had an amazing time throwing snow at each other.
Snowfall intensified. "It's already been two hours guys, lets move", yelled vishwa. With the delighted feeling we moved back to the sumo. "Where were you? you took so long, snowfall is heavy now, roads are totally accumulated by snow, we have a tough journey ahead.", shouted the driver. The sumo started slowly, everyone remained silent, all the bliss turned to fear. I took my phone and called Gautham, "Hello....Hello...vehicle is skidding here!!________". Battery went dead. There was a steep left turn ahead, driver applied breaks but it was still skidding. Pictures of my family flashed in my mind. Mom, dad and the times I spent with them. All my dreams shattered. "That's it, this is the end", Sindu yelled. "Tomorrow's headlines - MISSING TEN", Sharath declared. "We made a mistake coming here, now its irreversible!!", Pooji screamed. Cliff is approaching much faster, "only few minutes left", said nandini. I closed my eyes, praying..... everyone screamed!!Boooom!!______.
After walking for another hour we heard a ballooning sound, "yes!!! may be they are snow bikers, lets signal them and get the hell out of here", KK shouted. After few minutes the sound was clear and luckily he expected right. "Bhayya hame neeche jaana hai.. hame apne saath le chalo!!", Sinduja asked him in typical Hyderabadi accent, she's the only one with good hindi knowledge in our team."Hum upar jaa rahe hai..kisi aur ko leke aana hai upar se", he yelled. His voice barely audible in the howling wind. "Please bhayya!! Please..", we requested him. Finally in less than an hour we were at the foot of the mountain.
All the events were circling in my mind, few hours before it was entirely different!!. "I haven't seen anything wild yet!! did nothing crazy yet!! moreover no girl friend, not experienced the essence of love....Thanks God... this isn't my last day", I thought feeling safe. Everyone felt relieved as if someone rescued them when lost in a snowy Antarctica. Finally we were going back to the hotel with mixed feelings. It was the craziest experience happened to us. "Lets write this experience somewhere!!" KK shouted in a sense of achievement. "Yeah!! memories forever", I thought. We almost reached the hotel, all our friends were waiting for us outside. "Yo!!! Gautham, we had an awesome experience man", getting out of the sumo I roared in happiness seeing all of them. Slap___, "Idiots where have you been, we were waiting for u guys, really horrified, don't know what to do", he screamed. I expected this reaction and stayed calm."Okayyy!! now get in the hotel and stay warm", he helped us in.
'There she is!! curly hair...Rafi's music is back again. Her long greenish yellow gown is sweeping the tiny droplets clinging to the blades of grass. The blue jewels she wore reflected in the indigo sunrise. Her dense hair portrayed the moving black clouds. Her lithe body flickered in the shimmering morning light. Suddenly everything was so colourful. I could have stayed there for ages to live in a moment like this'. "Hey dude!! wake up..we are getting late", Sai shouted. "That same grating voice..m gonna kill him today", I thought. "Hmmm!! I will see her face tonight!!", I said to myself.
Our journey continued to Amritsar......
'There she is!! curly hair...Rafi's music is back again. Her long greenish yellow gown is sweeping the tiny droplets clinging to the blades of grass. The blue jewels she wore reflected in the indigo sunrise. Her dense hair portrayed the moving black clouds. Her lithe body flickered in the shimmering morning light. Suddenly everything was so colourful. I could have stayed there for ages to live in a moment like this'. "Hey dude!! wake up..we are getting late", Sai shouted. "That same grating voice..m gonna kill him today", I thought. "Hmmm!! I will see her face tonight!!", I said to myself.
Our journey continued to Amritsar......
