Prathima's Miles & Milestones

There are two types of people in the world. There are some people who have Plan A and a backup plan in case they miss the target. But then there are another set of people who have a series of backup plans like Plan B, Plan C and so on. I belong to the latter set of people with plans until alphabet Z!

I believe in the process of planning all activities and almost everything in life. It’s not that I don’t appreciate surprises. I prefer to be prepared for life. But, in life, you come across influencers and people who believe in different perspectives. I happened to work with one such start-up founder. Initially, I could not control my obsession. But repetitive situations made me take them as challenges and get rid of my obsessive compulsion disorder. We connected with each other during the journey. I didn’t know that one of my colleague-turned-friend Srishti had “Flight songs” since she hated the take off and landing noise during her flight journeys. It was interesting. Everybody had an interesting incident to share and it’s always nice to hear from people how unique they are. Such narrations created a good the bonding with the team.

I had never been to a trip or be it a trek without multiple reviews of the proposed itinerary by a couple of friends. Rest of the group swear by the itinerary and tend to stick to the plan. Its usually shared on Evernote or Trello. The trip shopping begins early. Then the research such as means of transport, hours needed to reach, weather, clothes to wear, is it the right time to visit the place, difficulty level of the trek, are there leeches and so on. In this case, the only pre-requisite was the head count so that we have our private vehicles ready.

It pretty much started a day earlier that — “Announcement — We are going for a trek tomorrow. So, pack your bags and see you early in the office”. Life is full of surprises and so why not even for a trek where you have no clue on the destination. So the first point was the breakfast point — MTR at Kanakapura road. We all had the same question in mind- Where are we going? My parents even asked me to check if all of us were kidnapped or are we safe 🙂

Finally, the announcement was made that we are going to reach the destination in an hour which was called “Bananthimari Betta”. I checked the google reviews, the rating was 4.0 and I had a sight of relief that I will not be disappointed. We reached the destination in no time. Since it was a weekday, there were no people around and it looked pretty much like a deserted place. My bladder seemed to be full amidst all these. Plus the no human around was an advantage. I proudly enacted myself as a free fertiliser for the plans behind the cars in nature for a nature call! Pun intended. Meanwhile, the rest of the cars arrived and most of us started exploring the place. It seemed like we were a team of 30 people allocated the task to conquer the hill, we had fun.

The base camp was set and we picked our bags, water bottles and energy bars leaving the heavier bags in the car. We even carried Barbeque grills, a tiny cylinder, tongs, panner, a set of fresh fruit like pineapples, mangoes etc. We trekked for a certain distance and settled behind a huge boulder of rock to camp and cook. It was sunny but not scorching heat luckily. We pretty much had the set up a pantry over the hillock amidst the different shades of green with our culinary skills intact along with a trash bag. We divided ourselves into various teams — some started cutting the fruits with the cutlery, a few more worked on the marination and the rest were responsible for hygiene and cleaning the place when we evacuated so that we don’t exploit the nature. It seemed like a huge family cooking for their guests or much like a langar in the gurudwara. It was totally new to me since I was just about to complete my probation and I am glad I could connect with almost everybody at different levels apart from work.

We played various games in between while the cooking was work in process. Memory games, technical dumb charades and so on. It was just us, the breeze and no distractions at all. We had lots of laughter, giggling, cooking and enjoying every moment. The food tasted so different than the usual. In no time, we were energised and wanted to reach the top. We packed our stuff and were set to conquer the next half of the mountain.

The trail was poorly visible as we made assumptions and proceeded further. The bushes and herbs brushed against our skin leaving a few rashes. We did not bother since its a part and parcel of the trek. It was scorching heat as we moved on top. The rocks were steep making it very difficult for us to climb. One of my mentors’ Ujjwal shoes were separated from the sole. We burst into laughter when he narrated that he lost his “sole”.☺ We made sure that if we lose our way back, we can trace his shoe sole as a trial. We were tired and panting for breath. Yet we did not lose hope. We were motivating each other so that we keep our spirits high. Pretty much like a teamwork. We encountered various types of shrubs and flowers. The grass was like the carpet. There was a flock of sheep grazing. We spotted unique patterned lizards, spiders and many other insects. The view was mesmerising as we stopped to catch our breath. There was pin-drop silence. Each one of us was lost in ecstasy!

Away from all the traffic noise, pollution in the city, life was so peaceful at the moment. We felt accomplished on reaching the top. We captured the view in our eyes rather than the digital cameras. We were in the state of trance for a while talking to ourselves. After a while, we just wanted to come back to the base camp safely. We enjoyed the view immensely and started walking downwards. Downhill is usually tricky since it involves comforting the mind rather than physical strength. We helped each other and made sure we don’t lose our path. Yet we lost our way twice! The rocks looked familiar and hence we reached the same place twice! It was pretty much a back to the pavilion for us.

We played with our instincts and made a decision together. We were lucky to find a few villagers passing by and they guided us the path towards the base camp. We were so thirsty and drank lots and lots of water. We were drained out even after eating the energy bars 🙂

The sign of our cars made us peaceful. We turned back to see how far were we! It was a sprint retrospective moment so we cherished and clapped for ourselves. Then began the innumerable pictures with the team, boomerangs and what not! We wished to find a stream or a water spot nearby so that we could relax. Since it was in the opposite direction and it had started to become dark, we had to opt out. We were damn hungry and started our journey back to the city to find a snack spot followed by reaching our homes. All’s well that ends well.

It was a spectacular day with people whom we spend most of our times with. We could connect well with each other apart from work on a personal note. Such a good break it was amidst the production releases, regressions, support tickets, priorities and so on. We had zero expectations since the destination was unknown to us. I realised that at times we need to trust in the leader. Out of all the planned treks, the unplanned trek was out of the world to me. Now, we are back with loads of memorable moments and skin tan 🙂 I can’t wait for the next set of marathons, cyclothons, treks and trips loaded with more surprises to unveil 🙂