Jim Corbett Diaries- I

I had just reached Jim Corbett or Ramnagar railway station, to be exact. We, the touring History association of Sri Venkateswara College, were made to wait for a good twenty minutes before our resort's transport service picked us up. The time was around 4:30 a.m. in the morning. The journey from the station to resort took another thirty minutes. I enjoyed the ride, partly cutting through the jungle as tigers slept, so did the twenty odd friends of mine. Once at the resort, we were all busy unloading. The resort was pleasing in it's appearance. While checking out the surroundings, it happened to look up at the night sky. Uday followed my gaze. The sky was illuminated with infinite stars gleaming the cosmic radiance at us, the lowly mortals, I felt. There is nothing more welcoming than a night sky full of shining stars, I shared my thought with Uday. He nodded in assent. Kartik, Uday and I put up in a single room. Sleep had dawned on us, the dusk had set. More than six hours of train journey at night with friends practically mean little sleep. We said our good nights.

(from right) Rakesh, Abhinav, Kartik, I, Vatsala and Aastha- from the train ride

Room delivery served us tea around nine o'clock. Boys had slept barely for three hours and the day was already starting. There was no stopping Aastha and Vatsala. Aastha was like "Guys, we have only three days in front of us. Do you intend to sleep it off?" The kind of child-like yet contagious enthusiasm was the hallmark of the entire trip. It kept the fun alive.

The entire History tour group

The breakfast was good. A good day to begin. The first on the list was trekking. Sounds fun, eh? We checked with the guide regarding the possible duration of the trekking. He gave us an estimation of thirty minutes. As it turned out to be the longest thirty minutes of my life. First of all, it didn't look like trekking at all. As I climbed the treacherous steps, I kept looking back. The image that came to me was that of a fleeing army, lost and stripped of honour, seeking refuge in some mountain hideout. It is just me. As we trekked our own Mt. Doom, the climb became steeper and murmurs of discontent had risen. Mutiny, my imagination called aloud. Everyone was already feeling tired. Understandable for the urban-pampered cry-babies. Still, the fun was too much to leave it midway. Without turning back, we marched ahead to the tunes of chit-chats. We rested at many spots, photographers didn't seem to have missed a single frame, as the number of Facebook pictures stand testimony to my claim. Some of us lagged behind, playfully enjoying streams and even termite and ant hills. Whatever said and done, once at the pinnacle, the view was breathtakingly awesome. The quaint village of Ramnagar laid in front of us in a panoramic view. Green and lush, wow! The climb was worth it and no one could agree more. As a rule of margin, all things go downhill. The trek is no exception. Our descend was cautious since the step were steep. Yet, thank goodness, we reached safely back. Although Jaya Ma'm vented her fury at the guide for having taken an arduous path, Uday and I later thanked the guide-bhayya for the challenging trek. As Uday says at times, "It's not the destiny; it's all about the journey."

Vatsala and Aastha; the trail follows- during the trekking

We had a great lunch, as the food was generally good throughout the trip. Shortly after the lunch, I stumbled upon the Table Tennis table at the reception. Something of a time-filler for the next three days, the discovery turned out to be. In no time, Kartik was standing at the side, waiting for his turn, as I played against Uday. Such is life, as we played our hearts out, the call for afternoon jungle safari came running in. Earlier we had tried to postpone the safari as we all were kind of tired from trekking that morning. Alas, the jeeps had already come and had to be paid at cancellation too. Thus we took the bet. Our rides were in five open roof Gypsy vans. We were cruising along the roads of Ramnagar. The feel of wind blowing at you, as the Gypsy sped at a speed close to 80 kmph, is wonderful. As a matter of fact Uday feels it should be on everybody's bucket of 'to-do' list before you die. Soon we reached Jim Corbett National Park, in heightened expectations of spotting a tiger. Indeed we spotted, a dozen of monkeys and countless dogs and a handful of sambhals. To our disappointment, we learned the hard way that no one expects you to spot tigers at the fringes of the jungle. Anyway, the ride through the forest was awesome to say the least. One freakish thing that happened during our safari was the breakdown of a Gypsy in which the first years were travelling and everyone stopped. Isn't it sort of scary to be stuck inside a jungle, famed for it's man-eater predators? Well, Rakesh and I took a stroll down the woods, not long before he directed my attention towards a footprint. Apparently a pug mark, he claimed. So much hullabaloo for a pug mark. We all left the scene a little later, halting at a Maggi point inside the jungle before exiting the national park. The Hindi party songs gave us the verve to groove on our way back to resort. At resort, shortly after our dinner, we celebrated Uday's birthday. The boy turned 20 as the clock struck twelve o'clock. All credit goes to Aastha for pulling off a memorable birthday eve. And guys too were ecstatic too. Salute the spirit, literally!

Aastha, Uday, Kartik and I- from the Gypsy ride