This is the first time I am away from the Himalayas in the winter of January. I am living in a tent 1796 km away for the last 45 days. This is a tribal area where people are very simple and innocent. Electricity is available here only for two and a half hours a day. Water from the river or dam is used for drinking. There is network for mobile but only at some places. Small villages and every village has a temple. Meaning, I have got a chance to live a minimalistic life.
Yesterday we went to the top of the Bhandaradara dam and enjoyed the sunset. If you have read yesterday's post, then you can see that the golden sunset looks very different and more beautiful from some places. This type of sunset can be seen only from a summit in the Himalayas. Watching the sunset from the valleys is a very bad experience most of the time because the high mountains hide the sunset much before.
But in this part of India, I am watching the sunset every day and recharging my soul with these magical views. This morning after breakfast Raghu says that we have to go to Uddavane village where his uncle lives. Since technology has not yet reached this part of the country, we have to go to Uddavane village because Raghu's uncle needs money. So today we will go to Uddavane village on foot which is located behind Kalsubai hill.
Today we have to cover a long distance so after breakfast we quickly get ready and I boil 2 liters of water for myself to take with me. By then Raghu takes the money and after completing the necessary work, he leaves with me for a new mission. I am feeling good because Raghu trusts me and considers me a part of his family. He tells me all the problems and also discusses the solution.
So anyway let's go on this long journey which I think will be more than 30 km long. We can go on a motorbike but we are not able to go because Raghu's elder brother has gone somewhere for some work with the only motorbike of the house and will return after 2 days. I have no problem with a 30 km long hike because I am used to it and I am used to hiking, anyway hiking is fun... this is what I explain to Raghu who is feeling a little awkward.
We leave from Shendi village, the first destination is Murshet village which is situated on the banks of Bhandardara dam. The first 5 km is covered till Murshet village and we reach there in about an hour and a quarter. So far everything is fine and the walk is fun. On the way we have to climb mountains and then descend. The mountains here stand straight like pillars and they are so technical that one cannot climb them without gears.
We are walking while talking about a lot of technical things, Raghu enjoys listening to my stories of the Himalayas while I enjoy knowing that Raghu's life has been very difficult and development came very late in this part of the country. He says that I got the opportunity to wear slippers for the first time at the age of 22. Before this, the family never had enough money to buy us anything. Raghu further says that since I started taking people hiking, the financial condition of his family has improved.
With the money from hiking and camping, he first bought a motorbike which made their life very easy. But even though he has a motorbike, Raghu is still not afraid of hiking 20-25 km. He says that someday I will also go hiking with you in the Himalayas. To which I say that you are welcome and we will go on a long trek with tents and ration. We will lie on the glacier for many days and have a lot of fun.
Panjre village is 7 km away from Murshet village. By now the walking distance has become 12 km and the time has become three and a half hours. Now Udadawane village is only 4.5 km away. I hope that we will reach there by around 3 pm. Now we have to descend from the mountain towards the village. On the way, we come across the fields of the village where we find Raghu's uncle working.
He is very happy to see Raghu and takes us to his house. After an hour, we enter the village where houses are made of mud and stone. Uncle's family welcomes us warmly and gives us water to drink, after which they give us tea and food to eat. Raghu and I both refuse but they do not agree, after which we have lunch. Raghu gives the money he has brought with him to uncle. Raghu's uncle takes the money and says that he will return it soon.
At around 04:30 we start walking back, while uncle says that we should stay here today and go tomorrow because we will be very late in reaching Shendi village. Understand that it will definitely be dark but there is one advantage and that is that this time while going back, after climbing the first hill, we will get a descent to Shendi village. Walking with the sunset, we reached Panjre village where the sunset is almost over.
On the way back, we used the mobile light to see the way. We walked for about 3 hours in the dark and reached Shendi village at 9:30 pm. Both of us were really tired after walking on the 33 km long path and just wanted to eat and sleep after coming back. After dinner, when I was about to go to my tent, Raghu said, “Uncle has to get his daughter married, so he needed money and with this money he will repair the roof of his house from where water drips during rains”.
Of course I didn’t want to know but when Raghu told me this My respect for Raghu increased even more because later I came to know that Raghu also did not have any money so he took money from someone else and gave it to his uncle. I became a fan of the tribal society here and started considering every person present here as my own. After saying good night to Raghu, I come to my tent where I fall asleep thinking that there are still good people alive in this world.
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from Canon 77d camera and edited in lightroom. I want to declare that I have already posted 2 photos of this post on hive.