The merry pack of 18 CATS made a brief stopover at a local resort half way to Tikkar Taal..
The breathtaking views we kept encountering on the way up..
Our Dulhan CAT Jasmine proved to be the braveheart... She was the first one to volunteer to climb up the rock after a detailed demo by our guide Dhyan Chand and his assistant Bhag Singh
Incase you have any doubts about the rock we were trying to climb, THIS WAS THE ROCK FACE challenging us... MEOW!!!!
Given any challenge, Cool CATS never loose their sense of humour...
Just as CAT Rachna was trying to scale the heights, our much loved Bhatia Family arrived... with dropped jaws at the sight they faced!!
CAT Ashish indeed was the first one to reach the top... amidst loud cheers :)
Our pretty CAT Gopika proved that she is no 'bheegi billi' by being the only girl CAT to reach the top... this is another matter that along with CAT Ashish A, she chose to regain some strength after reaching the top!
Incase you are laughing after reading this, please have it on my account that rock climbing is no joke.. you need immense upper body strength to take you up.. and given the sedantry lifestyles that we all lead.. reaching the top was indeed a tall order... 3 MEOWs to CAT Gopika :)
If you are still wondering, then here's another example for you.
The smiles on the way up...
The slips on the way down... ahem - that's me by the way ;-)
But if you think the trips and falls scared our young ones, then think again -
Here's our 7yrs old CAT Ansh trying his tiny paws on the rock.. he was followed by another 7yrs old CAT Aman and 12yrs old CAT Amanat...
Just when you thought you had seen enough, here's the CATS 'Pride of the Day' moment...
Here's the proof... 
After the rock climbing session, it was time to chill and relax by the lakeside...
CAT Kulwant watching over the young 'uns...
This is yet another inherent value of CATS - no matter who's children they are, everyone keeps an eye to ensure fun and frolick is not rocked by an untoward incident...
Yet Again- 3 MEOWs to CATS :)
After a delicious late lunch, River Crossing was the next activity as the sun was going down...
Whilst each CAT took his/her turn to river cross, the rest made merry on the ground!
CAT Aman entertaining everyone whilst everyone warmed their paws arund the bonfire...
If jokes kept everyone in splits, the riddles kept the grey cells in working order!
After dinner, it was time to bring out the cards in the dormitory booked for CATS...
Though the game was supposed to be for the kids, adults soon pounced in!!
Too hoots to anyone who wanted to catch 40 winks ;-)
Much against my own wish (!!), I ordered everyone to keep quite so that atleast some of us could sleep a while... But hardly had torches stopped flashng at 1.30am that I myself switched on all the lights of the dormitory at 5am!!
Given any challenge, Cool CATS never loose their sense of humour...
Just as CAT Rachna was trying to scale the heights, our much loved Bhatia Family arrived... with dropped jaws at the sight they faced!!
CAT Ashish indeed was the first one to reach the top... amidst loud cheers :)
Our pretty CAT Gopika proved that she is no 'bheegi billi' by being the only girl CAT to reach the top... this is another matter that along with CAT Ashish A, she chose to regain some strength after reaching the top!Incase you are laughing after reading this, please have it on my account that rock climbing is no joke.. you need immense upper body strength to take you up.. and given the sedantry lifestyles that we all lead.. reaching the top was indeed a tall order... 3 MEOWs to CAT Gopika :)
If you are still wondering, then here's another example for you.The smiles on the way up...
The slips on the way down... ahem - that's me by the way ;-)
But if you think the trips and falls scared our young ones, then think again -Here's our 7yrs old CAT Ansh trying his tiny paws on the rock.. he was followed by another 7yrs old CAT Aman and 12yrs old CAT Amanat...
Just when you thought you had seen enough, here's the CATS 'Pride of the Day' moment...Our 72yrs young, CAT DV Bhatia getting equipped to rock climb....
Here's the proof... 'Himmat-e-mardaan, to Mardaan-e-khuda'
This is the spirit of adventure that sets CATS apart form anyone or anything else in the world...
This is the spirit of adventure that sets CATS apart form anyone or anything else in the world...
Coming back to Tikkar Taal Rock Climbing session, our Dulha CAT Jasmine, CAT Ashish C and CAT Paramjeet were the ones in addition to CAT Gopika and CAT Ashish A beat the rock :)
After the rock climbing session, it was time to chill and relax by the lakeside...CAT Kulwant watching over the young 'uns...
This is yet another inherent value of CATS - no matter who's children they are, everyone keeps an eye to ensure fun and frolick is not rocked by an untoward incident...
Yet Again- 3 MEOWs to CATS :)
After a delicious late lunch, River Crossing was the next activity as the sun was going down...
Whilst each CAT took his/her turn to river cross, the rest made merry on the ground!
CAT Aman entertaining everyone whilst everyone warmed their paws arund the bonfire...If jokes kept everyone in splits, the riddles kept the grey cells in working order!
As the stomachs started rumbling, the staff of Tikkar Taal restaurant once again served sumptuous snacks and soup before the bell tolled for dinner...
After dinner, it was time to bring out the cards in the dormitory booked for CATS... Though the game was supposed to be for the kids, adults soon pounced in!!
Too hoots to anyone who wanted to catch 40 winks ;-)
Much against my own wish (!!), I ordered everyone to keep quite so that atleast some of us could sleep a while... But hardly had torches stopped flashng at 1.30am that I myself switched on all the lights of the dormitory at 5am!!My morning call infact elicited a very quick response from our usually quite First Aid Officer CAT Rajpal, 'Pehle mujhe yeh bataao, agar 5 baje uthna tha to 1.30 baje sone ko kiss ne bola tha!!!'
Trust me, I took no sadistic pleasure in doing so. We faced a very practical issue. You see, there were 16 CATS in the dormitory... we had 2 hours to get ready for the trek... and there was only 1 washroom!!!
GOOD MORNING TIKKAR TAAL :)
See what you MISSED by not coming with us?!!
CATS had the most pleasurable morning of the month.. we had the luxury of boating in cool weather for an hour... This is before we sat down for some wholesome breakfast :)
Aaah - The FELINE BEAUTIES :)
However, just as every bloom has a thorn and every smile has a sorrow around, our picture perfect trip was marred a little when our dear Official Photographer CAT Paramjeet fell terribly ill with a migraine.. It was amazing to see how each CAT rallied around to offer as much comfort and relief to him as possible... our Doc-on-Trek CAT Rachna got a special tea made for him, whilst our Dulhan CAT Jasmine fetched some biscuits to calm down his revolting stomach. When this did not help much, then CAT Rachna went with CAT Ashish A to find some medicines to relive his condition. CAT Nirmal noticed that he could not get some peace in the dormitory full of 15 excited CATS, she asked him to go their room and try to sleep there instead.
Where else would you find some love, care and attention?
The only trouble with such exceptional care at heart, inadvertently all of us did not let CAT PAramjeet sleep at al, since we all kept knocking at his door, just to check upon his wellbeing :-)
Dearie Dearie ME.. Allah bachaaye in billiyon se!!!
With CAT Paramjeet left in the care of CAT Kulwant and CAT Nirmal, reast of us set foot on the dirt trail for our 15km trek, which was supposed to take us from Tikkar Taal to Morni..
The pleasant morning had turned into a hot spring day...
CAT Ansh and CAT Aman resting their paws, whilst holding a serious discussion as to why all heroes have KHAN as their surname? I overheard a smart one saying, 'Silly, to become popular heroes!!'
Qadam Qadam Baraaye chal....
Having taken off as many clothes as decently possible (!!), water offered us the only relief to keep us calm and collected due to the sudden change in weather.
Finally, we reached the top of what felt like only half the distance we were supposed to cover!
Eventually we found out that since a minister was coming to Tikkar Taal that afternoon, our guide had been instructed to bring us down half way through itself.. MEOW :(
This is the maginificent view we got from the top...
Tikkar Taal basically consists of two water bodies. Both are adjacent to each other and are at different heights, surprisingly with the same water level! It is understood that there is a hidden water channel connecting the two water bodies, though it has never been found thus far.
There were some pleasant surprises on the way down for us
GOOD MORNING TIKKAR TAAL :)See what you MISSED by not coming with us?!!
CATS had the most pleasurable morning of the month.. we had the luxury of boating in cool weather for an hour... This is before we sat down for some wholesome breakfast :)
Aaah - The FELINE BEAUTIES :)However, just as every bloom has a thorn and every smile has a sorrow around, our picture perfect trip was marred a little when our dear Official Photographer CAT Paramjeet fell terribly ill with a migraine.. It was amazing to see how each CAT rallied around to offer as much comfort and relief to him as possible... our Doc-on-Trek CAT Rachna got a special tea made for him, whilst our Dulhan CAT Jasmine fetched some biscuits to calm down his revolting stomach. When this did not help much, then CAT Rachna went with CAT Ashish A to find some medicines to relive his condition. CAT Nirmal noticed that he could not get some peace in the dormitory full of 15 excited CATS, she asked him to go their room and try to sleep there instead.
Where else would you find some love, care and attention?
The only trouble with such exceptional care at heart, inadvertently all of us did not let CAT PAramjeet sleep at al, since we all kept knocking at his door, just to check upon his wellbeing :-)
Dearie Dearie ME.. Allah bachaaye in billiyon se!!!
With CAT Paramjeet left in the care of CAT Kulwant and CAT Nirmal, reast of us set foot on the dirt trail for our 15km trek, which was supposed to take us from Tikkar Taal to Morni..
The pleasant morning had turned into a hot spring day...CAT Ansh and CAT Aman resting their paws, whilst holding a serious discussion as to why all heroes have KHAN as their surname? I overheard a smart one saying, 'Silly, to become popular heroes!!'
Qadam Qadam Baraaye chal....
Having taken off as many clothes as decently possible (!!), water offered us the only relief to keep us calm and collected due to the sudden change in weather.
Finally, we reached the top of what felt like only half the distance we were supposed to cover!
Eventually we found out that since a minister was coming to Tikkar Taal that afternoon, our guide had been instructed to bring us down half way through itself.. MEOW :(
This is the maginificent view we got from the top...Tikkar Taal basically consists of two water bodies. Both are adjacent to each other and are at different heights, surprisingly with the same water level! It is understood that there is a hidden water channel connecting the two water bodies, though it has never been found thus far.
There were some pleasant surprises on the way down for usA beautiful 'natural' carving made by wood termite...
A little hut to dry firewood in the farm...
Generous hearted animal friendly CATS feeding stuffed alloo paranthas to a stray canine!
A rusted canister hanging from the tree to ward off the birds picking on the crops below...
and Happy Diwali to you too :)
Get a little water built for the animals and have your name written for posteriety to remember!
A place for CATS to rest their posteriers for a while as well ;-)
Though this one was a far more tempting option to take a break...
A bed roll in a thatch shelter for the one who sleeps in the farm to keep an eye on the intruders/animals or tending to watering of the fields...
Straw/Husk stacks spotted in the last leg of the trek... which ended with a lovely lunch in the greens of the Tikkar Taal resort... which was followed by a trip to the Adventure Park on the way down to Chandigarh...
I was supposed to be scared out of my wits on this 'Skeleton Chair' !!
CATS making merry on the Tree Top platform leading to the Burma Bridge
... and it wasn't just the young ones who wanted to have fun... 
... even if we had trouble getting our legs through !!!
Kids had to fight for the swings.. oh boy :)
Finally, a humble visit to pay respects at the 12th century temple where we were told, the Pandavs had stayed for a little while during their exile. There are old statues and figurines scattered all around the temple. The script of the hand chissled stone tablets has remained a mystery till now for the scholars.
A little hut to dry firewood in the farm...
Generous hearted animal friendly CATS feeding stuffed alloo paranthas to a stray canine!
A rusted canister hanging from the tree to ward off the birds picking on the crops below...
and Happy Diwali to you too :)
Get a little water built for the animals and have your name written for posteriety to remember!A place for CATS to rest their posteriers for a while as well ;-)
Though this one was a far more tempting option to take a break...A bed roll in a thatch shelter for the one who sleeps in the farm to keep an eye on the intruders/animals or tending to watering of the fields...
Straw/Husk stacks spotted in the last leg of the trek... which ended with a lovely lunch in the greens of the Tikkar Taal resort... which was followed by a trip to the Adventure Park on the way down to Chandigarh...
I was supposed to be scared out of my wits on this 'Skeleton Chair' !!
CATS making merry on the Tree Top platform leading to the Burma Bridge
... and it wasn't just the young ones who wanted to have fun... The old and the wrinkly pack of CATS also tried their paws at everything!
... even if we had trouble getting our legs through !!!
Kids had to fight for the swings.. oh boy :)
Finally, a humble visit to pay respects at the 12th century temple where we were told, the Pandavs had stayed for a little while during their exile. There are old statues and figurines scattered all around the temple. The script of the hand chissled stone tablets has remained a mystery till now for the scholars.- CAT Supreet
4 comments:
good collection of the trip's memories....
though coming after a long time...
really good one ,its really good to see one working for a good cause. keep it up,if possible i would like to be amember of your team.
Yupp.. it was a fantastic trip Gautam... Thanks
Do join us Raj... send us an email on cats.chd@gmail.com to follow up.
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