On restarting blogging after a long trek.

Quick now. The longish absence from blogging can be explained. I fell in love. With the Himalayas. Again.

It was cold at the top and lonely despite the crowd. I loved the moon illuminating the hill sides and the tree tops, loved the way Milky Way took my breath away yet again, loved the many flowers and birds and trees and berries that I came across, loved the moss covered dead wood and the wild mushrooms and the grasses, yes I loved all these. But above all, over everything, I loved the Himalayas. Still do. Will do. Higher than the clouds, disdainful, imperious, alluring, sterile, fertile, seductive, aloof, they simply stood while I tussled with complicated group dynamics, wrestled with conflicting emotions about my fellow humans, head bent and breathing heavy, toiling up and down the slopes at the foot of the magnificent Himalayas. While all along they stood solid, shimmering in the mists and sun and moon light, daring me to love them. I tried. I tried my best.

The trek for 6 days concluded without incident for the group. Sadly, the same can not be said about the other groups. There was an unfortunate incident in one of the groups. Details will be shared when more facts come to light.

The route followed was as follows: Mussoorie->Hanumanchatti (bus, overnight stay at Forest Rest House (FRH))-> Darvadar Seema Range Camp (steep up hill climb, tent stay)->Dodital (stay at FRH)->Agoda (FRH)->Maneri(UJVNL Guest House)->Lata to Belak (steep up hill trek, Gujjar huts)->Budha Kedar->Mussoorie (bus).

The objectives of the trek may have been fulfilled in part. Very well. How much group dynamics can a man put up with anyway?!

There was a literary festival on the 2nd and the 3rd of this month. Think intellectual terrorism and fossilization of mind after 10 years in the service and that would sum up most of the content of the 'literary' festival. The only festival it was was of prejudices.

 Sometimes I wonder if I have grown more cynical than is necessary for my age. Like, cut some slack for the ossified civil servants may be? Go in to a love all free fall, a trippy, sugary, white washed world of absolute non-judgment. Enough of head scratching. The grind restarts tomorrow. I shall try and recount the aforementioned events in as much detail as it can be boring.

Feels good to have been missed, by the way. :)