Finding a meaning for me

By my upbringing I have been a Delhi boy but originally I am from Uttaranchal (New State above UP, remember?).Amazingly, it's been a decade since I visited Garhwal (FYI, this is another name for Uttaranchal) last.

Reasons? Honestly, there are not many to justify this long absence from my native but I always had this feeling that my visit is impending. Somehow, I didn't realize how this gap grew from months to a year to 5 years to now, 10 years (I still don't believe this).

I have very hazy memories of my last journey to Garhwal and one of them is that it was during my summer vacation after my 8th standard annual examination sometime in May, 1994 I guess. I was 13 then.

I don't remember much of that time but I still cherish it somehow. I remember I vomitted on the way when the bus started taking curves on the Rishikesh's snaky roads. But I wasn't alone in that, I had company even from the bigger guys and we all painted the bus with all we had inside.

Anyays, I had my grandparents waiting for me. I wasn't used to touching the feet but my mother signalled me to do so and I did. When I got up after touching the feet of my grandmother, she was crying and smiling all at the same time and I knew why. I tried to but couldn't cry myself.

I stayed that for almost two months and visited many interesting places including a really rigorous but exciting trekking stint to a place called Kushteo with all the village colleagues. They thought I am a city boy and cannot trek the uphills but I surprised them (as much as I did myself). It was an amazing trek and we stopped in between on hill tops and plucked fruits from the trees for the refreshments. It was close to a 4 hours of trekking and I almost slipped once at a dangerous turn (But it was almost and that's why I am writing today).


I enjoyed the trip and the stay and every day of it. I know why I enjoyed then. Because I was a kid. Because then I used to live the moments and not think on it like now. This is one curse which you get with age, you start to think and actually, think a lot and you miss the moment and soon you realize that you never lived it but only thought.