A Beautiful Trip to Shimla

To forget my all worries and virtually to get away from all the tensions which were rising like crude and Indian stock market till recently, I planned to go to Shimla....after living in Gurgaon it would seem to be the city of god and Gurgaon, of course, city of India(or city of demons). Jokes apart....The plan for the trip started when I received a call from my friend Bogna (Polish) saying that she along with some friends is planning to go to Shimla....as I have no respect for planning the things early I told her that i need little time to think and revert back when made ma mind. Which was not to happen till last day ,1st oct. Then I decided to leave all ma worries here and finally went home from office early at 6...Quickly squeezing all the things that I can remember and can come in that bag I left for Delhi around 7; not caring for how much money I had in ma pocket.I wanted to go to Shimla by bus or simply put had to go by bus because no reserved train tickets were available...I was in the cab and going...then I don’t know what came to ma mind i decided to go by train...I somehow managed to reach old Delhi station on time and then met Bogna there with 2 more gals Audrey and Irene...they were of course traveling with reservation and I had to travel by general...But I took this brave decision.
The atmosphere when i entered in general compartments was awesome . Ma fellow travelers were insects, mosquito and normal and abnormal human beings. After persisting (with little good Indian Language abuses) that i wd sit here to ma fellow traveler who was comfortably sleeping on a single sit while rest were squeezing 5-6 on a single seat, i got the luxury to sit(one of the abnormal human being). I removed ma shoes and put them on the fan(One of the luxuries one gets only with Indian Rail). While traveling i had the luxury of a nap but when I woke up I saw little flying helicopters landing in ma hair. Ma fellow passenger was blissfully unaware of the Airport terminal he had in his hair and was sleeping care free. I decided against sleeping now...But ma lil friends had decided to make ma night difficult or as an optimist wd put it ma night memorable...at 3:30 i finally decided to go to sleeper class no matter what TC would do to me or to ma pocket . The station was Ambala. Then came Chandigarh. I had a faint idea that in Chandigarh rules are generally followed so to not take risk I got off from sleeper class with ma luggage and sat on desk outside. But sleep was not the solace that i desired there...so i decided to go to the door and sit there (ma favorite place while traveling in train). The night was beautiful. The gloominess was adorable. I don’t know why sometime there is a secret pleasure in melancholy also…so I was loving that moment and was almost wishing that Kalka station never comes...
So at Kalka I went to ma girl Friends (J) and wake them up who were comfortably sleeping. The dawn was beautiful. We took the ticket to Shimla in the toy train...the same train over which famous ”Chhaya-2” song was picturised. This trains passes through 103 tunnels so plenty of opportunity for cuddling and many other things to do...This train trip was very good on social front as well met some good ppl. But last couple of ours was quite boring....the trains took whole 7 hours instead of 5 for 90kms... finally reached Shimla at 2pm and straightaway rushed to one of our friend’s, Mussarat, home. She is native of Shimla. Had some good home made delicious cuisines. After that we visited beautiful Mall Road. Good thing is that vehicles are not allowed in this street and in nearby area…so very purity of air can be felt...after heat and dust of Gurgaon I was loving that place...Dim lights, cool breeze, smell of coffee, so many jovial faces was making ambiance exotic.
Next day we went to Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. This place boast of Scottish Architecture. The famous Shimla Conference was hosted by this institute .This institute in its backside has botanical garden. According to some book guide the way to go to IIAS is just like the way from London to Hogwarts. I think that was an exaggeration but the way is beautiful. From there we decided to go to Polo fields”The Glen” by hitchhiking. In the way we found some government officials who dropped us to some nearby place….then we found a military colonel who took us to practice golf course for army ppl ”Annagdale”. There we visited golf course and spent some good time visiting Museum. While returning back again by Hitchhiking we got a goods vehicle carrying cement and when we got off it we were all in cement and then started rubbing cement on each other which was fun...then got back to our hotel and then had some good Chinese food.
Next day we got up early at 4:30 and at five we left to Narkanda which according to some guide book offers difficult condition for tracking and hiking....On asking to one local whom we knew, he suggested to cover half distance with cab and rest on feet but as we all were looking to some good tracking challenge we decided to not take cab...took some extra warm cloths, sticks, water, food and then set out for our journey....but when we started tracking we realized that nothing was needed as the temperature was not that low and rather conditions were amicable. All the way we had a good laugh on the advice given to us by local. We climbed for 10Km and reached a beautiful cliff top (Jako Peak) from there we could see all the nearby peaks. Fogs were covering mountains and clouds touching the peaks of cliffs...so after tracking disappointment that was refreshing...there was a rest house and benches in open..we all took a half an hour nap in nature’s lap...and then set to go...The journey back was quite easy and quick...reached narkanda in less than 2 hrs and then reached Shimla after facing heavy traffics jam...then straightaway left for Gurgaon. Some how managed to reach bus stand quickly. There everything was chaotic. No tickets in Himachal Tourism buses were available for Delhi. Somehow managed to get a seat in Haryana Transport bus and guess what....when conductor came for the ticket I checked my wallet and I had only 200 Rs, which were also borrowed form ma friends brother, which I thought was enough for going back...but it turned out i was wrong and the ticket was costing me 260rs.....well well that’s why ma mom dad always insisted on having good relationship with neighbors and one time I have listened to them and before conductor had come I had said hello to him…now was the time to use great Indian neighbor..I asked him to lend me 60rs(Jaan na pehchaan main tera mehmaan) he happily(I hope) lend me 60 Rs and I took a deep breath…this was one narrow escape…and again an incident to strengthen the belief that people in India are still good…On this good feeling I ended ma journey…