Chapter 15_A Distant Dream

Chapter 15

A Distant Dream

Yes, we had heard it right – a landslide. A tsunami of thoughts attacked my mind – does it mean that we are trapped; that we cannot cross to the other side; that we would have to be airlifted or something; what about the vehicles? We pushed Khan to gather more details. The army was already at work. They were clearing the path. The taxi drivers told us that it may be possible for bikes to go ahead. We moved towards the epicenter of the calamity, passing a kilometer-long queue of taxi cabs and anxious tourists. Not everyone was worried though. Some of them were chilling outside their cars, exploring the area, clicking photos and so on. A little ahead, it was a dead lock – the cars were covering 90% of the road and the little gap on the side was in no way suitable for wheels to rotate on. A young man bent down and arranged pebbles to make the surface as even as possible. A smile was all we could return in gratitude for that kind gesture. Khan led the way and I had the test of my life. Given my height, the area of contact that my feet had with the road was limited. I wasn’t quite confident about my skills to tackle the situation. However, I trusted the machine. It didn’t fail me either. First gear and mild throttle was all I did from my end – that was all I knew to do as well. Batman saw me through it, like a loyal companion.

Crossing the landslide area…

At the head of the queue, there were trucks filled with debris. The road was clear. We had to wait for a couple of minutes for the lorries to move to the sides and then we were allowed to go ahead. We had passed the test – the Sikkim test – quite satisfactorily. It did definitely raise our confidence levels to negotiate tough roads (that we anticipate in our trips to come).

Waiting for the ‘go ahead’…

It started to drizzle. We had our rain gears on. We galloped ahead, without any further halts. Apart from an untethered horse that appeared on the road out of nowhere, there are no particular memories of the rest of the ride to the homestay. Perhaps, the landslide episode kept replaying in our minds till we reached back at deedi’s.

The untethered horse caught on Thorappan’s Gopro…

Back at the home stay, we told deedi that she shouldn’t expect her mother to be back home anytime soon. Deedi’s mother had taken one of the last cabs from Yumthang and it would definitely take her a lot of time to cross the landslide area and reach home. The Duke gang (that we had seen at Zero Point) passed that way. They stopped for a chat with us and told us that they were planning to visit Gurudongmar Lake the next day. Though the road to the lake was officially closed to tourists (due to adverse weather conditions), they had contacts in the army and hoped to be permitted to visit the spot. They welcomed us to join them. They were on their way to Mangan, from where they were to get the permit for Gurudongmar. We told them that we would confirm our plan before next morning.

The Sikkim test…

Gurudongmar is undoubtedly the most beautiful place to visit in Sikkim. At a height of 18,000 feet, this lake lays frozen for most part of the year. The mountains in the background and the blue skies along with the white clouds casting their image of the lake’s surface is said to be a sight to behold. But not every visitor to Sikkim gets a chance to witness this mesmerizing sight. It all depended on the weather conditions. Gurudongmar road was open when we started our ride from Pondicherry. Unfortunately, the army had closed the roads a day before we landed in Sikkim. We tried to get the Gurudongmar dream out of our minds and had almost come to terms with the fact that it was for another time. Yet, it kept coming back to us – in the form of that stranger, whom we met at a hotel on the way to Lachung, who told us that Gurudongmar was a sight worth seeing once in one’s lifetime; in the form of the Duke gang who now told us that they were hopeful of visiting the place. Thus, once again, the Gurudongmar dream resurfaced. “Gurudongmar is on” said an excited Thorappan.

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Gurudongmar Lake

Deedi’s mother came home with a doll for deedi. As she got out of the jeep, she held the doll in her arms, as if it was a baby. She kissed it and handed it over to deedi, who hugged it and held it like a doting mother. All three of them – deedi, her mother and the doll – were adorable.

We had a late lunch, at around 3:30 PM, and went back to our rooms. Mahesh had had a full day in bed, waking up only for food. He had quite decided that he wasn’t riding back home. His body had become a lot weak. He felt that he couldn’t take the cold anymore and wanted to reach back to the plains at the earliest. Gurudongmar was definitely not in his plan. With a heavy heart, I too decided that Gurudongmar was for another time. We could not let Mahesh ride back alone to Gangtok or Siliguri. One of us had to accompany him. Mahesh and I would ride back to Siliguri the next morning. Thorappan and Khan would go ahead with the Gurudongmar plan and later meet us in Siliguri. Mahesh and I would then courier our bikes and take trains back to our bases, while the other two would ride back to Bangalore and Mumbai respectively. Thus, over the few hours of the evening, plan B had to be rolled out.

Just before dinner, we were informed by the Duke gang that they couldn’t get permit for Gurudongmar. Once again, Gurudongmar became a distant dream for all four of us.

There was no power and we had ‘candlelight dinner’. Rocky bhai served us roti, rice and chicken. The cook eagerly looked through the kitchen window for acknowledgement, and our happy faces enjoying the food did indeed give him good feedback. Deedi served us tea at the shop, which was lit up by candles. The yellow flame gave a different beauty to the place.

Deedi’s shop lit by candles…

Deedi gave us apples that had been collected from their farm. She told us that the best apples would be kept for sale, while the ones with any visible damages would be kept for the family. We too were given those ‘family apples’. That meant a lot for us. Over the past two days, we weren’t much treated as guests, but more like family members. As recorded in the avalokanam of the day, “Sikkim, that includes Gangtok, Nathu La, Padamchen and Lachung, is definitely a beautiful place. However, Lachung will have a special place in our hearts. Perhaps, deedi, shop no. 41, Rocky bhai and the ‘family apples’ are all reasons for that.”

We munched the ‘family apples’ and went to bed, dreaming of Gurudongmar – a distant dream.

(to be continued…)