Photo Gallery: CATS Choordhar Peak May 2010

Reception of Hotel Chandigarh Beckons was alive with CATS busy signing up the Registration Sheet..

cash was being tallied.. By 4.21pm, all the CATS were ready to leave...

Till we saw CAT DV Bhatia leaning over the bakery counter..

we thought he must be buying something for home.. till he turned around

with pasteries in his hands to send us off in a traditional manner with some 'MEETHA'

A gesture which only the elders can think of.. a gesture which all of us loved :)

We asked the youngest of the CATS present, CAT Sidharth to do the honours,

who had come to see off his father CAT Krishan... It's all in the family you see :)

The pack of CATS ready to embark on the journey, along with the send-off committee.. MEOW :)

The journey began with CAT Ashish driving towards Manimajra to pick up

CAT Paramjeet and I driving towards the nearest Petrol Station to get fuel for the car,

and then pick up CAT Chat from Panchkula main road.

Strangely enough a 3mins re-fuelling job turned into a 10mins argument

as they did not re-set the meter to zero.

Finally the manager gave us a discount for 2 litres when we showed him the

complete fuel record of the car, which clarified that the car's fuel tank is not large enough

to hold the amount of fuel they were claiming to have put into the tank

Eight of us got into two cars to drive into the hills... and our first pit-stop was Dharampur for some tea and snacks.

It was 6.50pm by the time we joined the tables together at Modern Dhaba for our evening snack

and by the time we waited for the pakoras and tandoori paranthas to arrive with

the cutting tea, we dived into the curd-rice made ever so lovingly by our CAT Gopika...

we were equally amazed by the food that had been packed by CAT Puneet' the better half

of our CAT Krishan.. even this tiny chicken sandwich was not spared..

it was torn into pieces to have consumed as 'prasad' by all :P

and this was till the paranthas arrived.. along with the pakoras.. not to miss the mint chutney,

pickles and THAT tea... burp!!!

We set off from Dharampur around 7.45pm.. and were stopped in our tracks by

this jungle fire in the valley shortly.. the point where the two cars separated

While we waited at Ochhghat as soon as we realised the other car had taken the 'wrong' right turn....

exploring the local market...

It took a while for the other car to realise that they are waiting at the wrong turning

and get back to us.. joys of driving together!

We might have lost about 45mins in the process of getting together,

but thoroughly enjoyed the warm but breezy weather...

From Ochghat onwards we drove together till we reached Nauradhar Rest House;

our base camp for the night.

The fun was not over yet!

Though I had been assured of 2 rooms at the rest house and told that the dinner

would be ready for us as well, upon arrival the chowkidaar Jitender even refused

to open the door to us. He said that he had no intimation of any booking and

there surely was no dinner available for eight hungry people!

We had an even bigger shock when an absolutely drunk caretaker of the rest house

Pyare Lal appeared and started hugging and kissing our men on their cheeks!

Claiming to be the 'Maalik' of the place, he said that no rooms were available,

but he could adjust 3-4 in his room itself ;-)

Fortunately, with one call made and one call received, 15mins later all was settled and

two rooms were opened for us. However, since it was not possible to cook dinner

at that hour, we opted to dive deeper into our travel and trek sustenance packs.

CAT Puneet's thoughtful gesture of packing some khakhra came in handy.

Trust me, CAT Chat is not looking rattled without reason.

He was the first victim of Pyare Lal ;-)

I remember there being just one chair in the room downstairs. Jitender would pile on

our rucksacks on that chair while Chat kept transferring them onto the floor alongside.

I kept looking at this drama, till Chat managed to get the seat for himself ;-)

The night held a different story for both the rooms.

CAT Krishan was one of the early birds, out to capture the beauty nature had spread around for us so liberally.

By 7.30am, we had washed and were packing for the trek ahead.

Remnants from the last attempt to Choordhar which four of us had made during

a non-CATS event. That attempt was our reccee for CATS in October of 2008.

18months later, all of us had one thing or another emerging out of our rucksacks

which reminded us of that trip. CAT Monica had water purifier pen, I had the

mouth wash and CAT Paramjeet's camera. CAT Monica even had the same jacket

as last time while I was wearing the same black spaghetti and CAT Paramjeet

had the same white cap from the last trip.

We were holding onto the memories. We were about to embark on a trek to deliver

a promise we had made to each other last time, to scale Choordhar Peak together.

We were missing CAT Mini badly. She could not join us despite best attempts.

CAT Chat had scaled Choordhar Peak about 15years ago, when Mr chauhan had played host to him.

It was a delight to see the boys sharing some memories with each other.

CAT Chat had actually taken framed photographs from his last trek as gift for him.

In the meantime, CAT Monica and CAT Krishan went into the kitchen to see a pile of

aalu paranthas ready on a platter. Instead of waiting for the cook to serve it for us,

given there is no formality in CATS, they brought the platter into the dining hall themselves

and all the CATS were belled to come down for breakfast.

Jitender had packed aalu paranthas and jam sandwiches for the trek too.

It was getting close to 8am and we could not see our porters in sight. I decided to

distribute the trek sustenance packs, juices and water bottles while the three

assured porters came around.

Soon we realised that the porters meant for us had been given to the family of

Raja Saheb of Solan (whom you can see in the background wearing a red cap!).

Sure enough our feathers got ruffled since despite us getting up and being ready in time,

we had been delayed for no fault of ours.

Angrez chale gaye lekin aulaad chhorr gaye!

The sun was shining bright and we could not possibly proceed without the porters.

I asked CAT Monica and CAT Paramjeet to go to the market place and organise porters

if they can, as we had done last time.

The next batch of porters were not picking up the phone calls made by Jitender.

The resourceful CATS gone into the market place could not find any porters but they

made a deal with a mule owner instead!

They were told to steer the mule on the trail, using its tail ;-)

Eventually we called up CAT Chat's friend Mr Chauhan. Finally three porters were arranged for CATS.

This trip had been planned with a fine tooth comb a month in advance.

Why were things going hay wire?

Hats off to all the CATS, who despite the delay by nearly 1.5 hours, were cool as a cucumber.

The CATTY line up at 9.15am

The point where CATS left Nauradhar behind and hit the dirt track.

Someone had used hot coal-tar to make this smiley on a rock in the middle of the path..

were we supposed to leave a coin behind or walk past it?

We chose to click a picture and walk past...

The gradient was 60 degrees in the first one hour.. quite demanding, but we were prepared for it :)

Do you notice the shine in the stones? It is because of the quantity of mica

that is found in the composition of stones in this area.

Legend has it that when Sanjeevani Booti was required to treat Lord Laxman,

Hanuman was told that Sanjeevani Booti shines in the jungle. Since he was unaware of

any other ways to identify the herb, he came across this mountain which was shining in entirety.

It is said that it is this mountain of Choordhar that Hanuman had flown away with to treat Lord Laxman

Beautiful views surrounded as we trudged along the way...

Three of the four CATS who had set foot on this trail 19months ago, hand in hand.

Miss you CAT Mini... as CAT Monica's extended hand signifies, WISH YOU WERE HERE!

The trek was not without its' usual sights and scenes.

This lady might need crutches to walk around.. and she needs no assistance in running

her household... This is empowerment in action

Somehow, I am getting a feeling that our Kapoor CATS have a thing for the goats!

I remember CAT Puneet fussing over a 'memnaa' during our rafting trip last month and

here was her husband, CAT Krishan patting a goat :P

Same spot as last time.. memories being relived :)

Jai Shiv Shambhu....

(though we are not responsible for the graffiti on the board!)

Abhi dilli dooooor hai CAT Zubin :)

It was hot, we were sweating like pigs by now.. but in this little tete-a-tete

each one of us confirmed to be doing absolutely fine.

Our three porters were also confident that we would be able to trek up to out

destination for the evening. Though by this time the family of Raja Saheb of Solan,

carrying large handbags and umbrellas was having trouble. A porter was seen running to

fetch the medicines for them. Smugly we felt that we would have reached Jumm Nala

by now had our original three porters been given to us than this family.

That would have saved us from trekking in the direct scorching sun too.

Nevertheless, our eyes were set on the Peak.. MEOW :)

We came across some lovely cottages and huts along the way..

and the path was getting less taxing by this time.... but for some strange reason, I had started

lagging behind.. I would plonk myself down the moment I would see a little shade and

drink a lot of water at every pit stop.

How is it possible that CATS go somewhere and not find something to hop on ;-)

I thought i felt a little spin in the head as we were having fun fooling around this

tree stump... i quickly put it down to the sun.. Unbeknown to me, CAT Krishan had

noticed a slight change in my gait at this point.. he thought I

was perhaps tired from the late night.. little did we both know!

Everyone was amazed at the determination and strength of CAT Chat on the way up...

whilst we kept our nose directly on the trail....

This was a nice spot to take a picture, but somehow I felt it nicer to lean against the rock than stand steady on my feet..

We were gob smacked to see this newly wed local Himachali woman was

carrying a bottle of water well balanced upon her head as she merrily skipped her way down the hill...

By this point I had realised that what I was feeling was not due to the sun.

I was staring at the monster I so desperately was hoping would not revisit me,

in the shape of high altitude sickness.

I was having difficulty breathing, had a slight headache, dizziness had reached

the stage where I could not walk in a straight line despite my best attempt,

was feeling too sleepy and my legs felt like logs.

Everyone else had gone ahead as we were closer to Jumm Nala while

CAT Paramjeet kept me company. He knew I was in trouble, but we both kept our fears to ourselves.

We had to reach the Peak. How could we not? This was our second attempt.

I was so ill that CAT Paramjeet had to point out the hut/cafe of Jumm Nala

atleast 4 times before it became clear in my head!

CAT Monica promptly took out the bedsheet she had brought along, and spread it out for me.

I was too gone a case to think anymore. I just wanted to lie down and sleep.

Some localites also taking a rest under the shade.. they were also on the way up to the temple.

Each of the CATS enjoyed lazing in the shade after trekking for 3 hours in the sun. Infact, CAT Chat's wish had come true.

I have no words to explain how well my fellow CATS took care of me.

The trip was not about reaching the peak anymore, it was how to get me back on my feet.

CAT Monica got the packed food out for me to eat, which unfortunately

I could not eat. High altitude sickness leads to extremely hightened sense

of smell, which meant that I could smell the oil and each ingredient with

which rice and daal were cooked. I could smell pine oil in maggie noodles.

I was desperately trying to keep nausea at bay. I did not want

the vomiting to begin as that would finish me further.

Despite my protests, food morsels kept appearing in my mouth from nowhere!

CAT Paramjeet ensured i drank a whole carton of juice whilst lying down.

CAT Krishan kept saying, 'dont let her go to sleep' as he did not wish me to

loose consciousness. Once everyone felt satisfied that I had eaten

some chocolate and juice, I was left alone for a while.

In the meantime, CAT Paramjeet went to ask if there was a pony available to

take me back to the base camp incase I was unable to walk back.

We rested there till about 2pm, when we woke up to lovely skies above.

Just as I got up and requested everyone to go ahead while I wait at the

little hut at Jumm Nala, my suggestion was promptly shot down by CAT Monica,

'In CATS, we do things together. No one has the luxury of having rules

changed to their circumstances!'

I felt guilty as hell that just because of me, this would become an aborted

trek for all of them. I knew i could not go higher, but I knew I could surely

survive another day here at Jumm Nala while they go to the top.

Each time I protested and pleaded that they must go and reach the peak,

i would be promptly reminded that this is the rule we had made since

inception of CATS, had grown up with this rule, had lived with this rule.

I was told quite firmly that I could simply forget about being left behind!

With a heavy heart and deep sadness, I accepted their decision.

The Baby and the Baba of the group for this trek ;-)

As we all accepted the jinx of Choordhar Peak, CAT Monica and

CAT Zubin crossed over the path which symbolises Jumm Nala.

Localites believe that this is the place from where Ravan had made

a staircase to heaven, from where he brought the 'Amrit' back in his navel.

Why were we returned from exactly the same point TWICE in 19months?

What does this mean? Are we missing some signs? Or are we getting baffled

over purely natural circumstances as last time we returned as we did not

have enough warm clothes and this time we were returning because

every CAT chose to stay with an ill CAT rather than going up?

Deep in thought, wondering if turning us away was some divine intervention,

around 2.30pm we started walking back towards the base camp.

Nothing made sense.

CAT Krishan found this lone wild orchid on the way down..

You must be wondering what CAT Zubin is peering at... He's keeping an eye on CAT Krishan

who has gone inside the cave of a wild animal!

CATS on the way back, still managing to find many distractions :)

A fresh water spring offered a refreshing break with its' ice cold water...

As we were climbing down... i could feel a slight improvement in my sense of smell.. I could eat again!

Kids who had wished us on the way up in the morning, met us on the way down in the evening...

We were pleasantly surprised to see that each child greeted us strangers with a namaste with a smile :)

... wish our kids were as friendly!!

Homemakers were also waiting for their breadwinners to arrive...

The deep blues of the hills afar in the setting sun....

and we still had way to go before we reached our base camp... as we kept climbing down..

I got more oxygen to breath in and slowly I could begin to smile again!

I was able to eat the same dry fruit closer to the base camp, which I had found

difficult to even look at before. I was feeling hunger for the first time during the day

and my fellow CATS could hear me talk too!

We reached the same rest house where lovely tea was laid out for us, courtsy the son of Mr Chauhan.

Around 8pm we left Nauradhar as we did not wish to risk spending

another night under the watch of Pyare Lal.

We settled our bills, got into the car and left for Rajgarh. Here also, my fellow CATS

took charge of finalising the rooms and ordering the dinner as I was too unwell to do anything but sleep!

Guilty as I was that each one of them missed reaching the peak because of me,

I was glad that I had someone around to take care of me too. It was a frightening

prospect to be alone when you know you are wavering between consciousness and a drowsy state of mind.

DAY 3 - Another beautiful morning broke over the next day and filled our rooms with crisp sunlight.

CAT Krishan, CAT Monica, CAT Zubin and I left the lodge to explore the local fruit market.

We noticed tree laden with plums on the way and jumped over the fence to get our paws on some of them :P

Only to realise that we had trespassed into the property of the local SDM!

We did not see any fruits, but got distracted by this basket carrying some fluffy things bouncing around.

It turned out to be a basket carrying 3 days old being sold in the market!

You could buy 20 of these for Rs.100/-

In other words, cost of this life is a mere Rs.5/-

In search of fruit, we found this mithaiwala instead.. and bought mouth watering besan barfi :P

After eventually buying some fruit, CAT Paramjeet drove upto us to give us a lift

back to the hotel. We quickly got ready and packed up.

Sumptuous breakfast peppered with a fruit platter set us right for the day.

As some of us were putting luggage in the cars, we noticed this tree laden with figs.

Like school kids, we were throwing stones and using CAT Chat's trekking stick to steal some more fruit :P

Time to say goodbye to Rajgarh around 11am...

Over breakfast we planned to stop at Dagshai Cemetery, and then if time permitted,

we could visit Kasauli also before heading home.

Dagshai was not too far from Solan.

We were amused to be told by a couple of localites, that we were the first visitors

they had come across in a long time, who were asking for directions to the graveyard!

Dagshai is also a cantonment town built by the british as a sanatorium for

the TB patients. It has a british era graveyard overlooking the valley.The famous

MARY REBECCA WESTONS grave made out of marble figure of a woman , baby

and an angel. Dagshai is located at a height of 1734 mtrs.

Dagshai is 05 kms from the hotel and has lots of picnic spots with grand views.

One can see the entire chandigarh lights at night.

The famous ARMY PUBLIC SCHOOL and DAGSHAI PUBLIC SCHOOL are located here.

Dagshai has a story to tell , so one turns the pages of history to trace its

emergence from a cluster of hamlets in wooded wilderness to an establishment

of historical importance .

There is the oldest pologround where the very first Durand cup was played.

There is a large jail in Dahsgahi built in 1846. Freedom fighters , law breakers and

rebels were subjected to rigourous imprisonment here.

The Cemetery rooted in Brit-Indian history in this quaint hill village of Dagshai greeted us with peace...

Wish people paid head to this sign hand written at the gate of the cemetery...

However, nothing prepared us for what we saw once we stepped inside..

Though CAT Chat, an expert in European graves told us that this was one of the best kept cemeteries in India...

Chowkidar's house was nothing beyond a room which was locked with barred windows holding some railings inside.

The room opposite was strewn with broken pieces of gravestones...

Rubbish for some.. memories for others :(

A sole window which divides the outside world from the inside!

Most of the CATS had visited a graveyard for the first time in their lives...

they were feeling as awkward as perhaps the tomb stones themselves staring back at the CATS!

The mute spectators since 1800's to the world going past..

Each with a story to tell of their own.. if only we had more time to spend with them..

if only we had the ears to listen to their tales...

The famous MARY REBECCA WESTONS grave made out of marble figure of a woman,

baby and an angel. The tomb reads on one side,

TO THE SACRED AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY WIFE
MARY REBECCA WESTON
WHO DIED AT DAGSHAI 10TH DECEMBER 1909
AND OUR UNBORN BABE

Mary was pregnant when she died. Her husband transported marble statues from Europe

for her grave her, which sadly has been badly vandalised since.

No steps have been taken by the Dagshai Cantonment Board or the district administration

to protect the memorial that has been damaged over the years by people who believe that

if a woman possess a piece of that statue will be blessed with a baby boy.

The head and wings of the elf have also been badly damaged. During the British regime,

the memorial was washed daily and Indians were not allowed in the area.

Why can't we leave them in peace?

I wonder who's darling this CISSY was?

Having many hours in the cemeteries in England myself, i must admit that I have

never come across a grave stone like this one before... wonder what the significance of this shape is!

A tombstone representing EIGHT!!!

The modern graves reduced to cemented gravel!

Moving away from the dead to the living... CAT Zubin.. Picture Purrrfect :)

Allah ke naam pe kuchh de de Baba!!!!

CAT Gopika, as most of us, was so hungry that she was seen literally begging ;-)

Dont really blame her.. it was nearly 2.30pm by now and we had had our breakfast at 10am...

time to move on.. taking our pensive CAT Chat with us :)

At Solan we decided to buy fruits to take home for our respective families..

where we came across this sight of a young chap resting underneath his hand cart...

while his friend had quietly slipped an empty pouch in his open mouth for some fun ;-)

All jokes aside, if you look closely, you will find two more boys sleeping underneath

the cart.. what was fun for us, was a hard earned rest after an arduous task undertaken.

Should we not be grateful for what we have?

A late lunch finally at Dharampur where the air conditionaing worked only

at 32 degrees and the ordered food arrived at intervals of 15mins each ;-)

and the much asked for, much desired chicken burger arrived THE LAST for our CAT Monica :P

After having eaten like pigs, all the CATS wanted to do nothing but sleep there and then ;-)

But we had a way to go as yet... time was around 5pm and we were still

short of 50miles from Chandigarh.. but that is not too far.. we will be there soon...

for the first time we will be reaching EARLIER than the time mentioned in the itinerary of the trip.. WOAH :)

Little did we know!!!

If you are wondering if I have put a wrong picture towards the end...

then allow me to assure you, I have made no mistake.

The strange set of incidents which had started from the moment we left the

assembly point in Chandigarh two days ago, were far from over!!!

After crossing Pinjore, and only 5mins short of dropping CAT Chat at his home, we got hit

by the gentleman in the previous photograph!

The rest, as they say, is another story!

We eventually reached home at 10pm.. the previously anticipated time of arrival!

Choordhar Peak... We have to come back... It's not done ;-)

- CAT Supreet