Taalon main Taal : Nainitaal !

Like all other trimode ventures, this one too had a shaky start when the expected 14-seater vehicle arrived 3 hrs late  and turned out to be a mere 10-seater !! but no.. the delay had  a blessing in disguise for some of us like sangupta (Sanjeev) who was quite eager to attend his first QSM  !  and  that turned a 'shaky start'  into the one where we started by 'shaking  a leg or two' at the 'Taj Palace' party.   ( There was another reason for us to join the dance floor. We had  ignored people's  advice about attending the QSM  and *then* proceeding  to Nainital. We didn't bugde and when finally  we had to do that,  dance floor was the best  choice  to hide faces and   avoid answering many embarassing questions ! :-) right Ms Kaw?)   ...then we started off towards Nainital after the party...

Though it was quite an ordeal to sit in the vehicle for hours after  the dance(?)  session, it was _fun_.  We took a halt at  a dhaba to give the drivers a break and they just crashed on the charpais there and we had  a camp-fire-like( all the fun minus the fire!) session there at the dhaba in the early hours of the morning !

Shannu:

Being fast asleep most of the night(and having missed the late night  dhabba session), I was in full enthu when I woke up around 5:30 in the morning. The early morning breeze, sleepy beauty of the landscape and the sound of  'Rimjhim  gire saavan' ( one of my favorites) playing on the squeaky stereo of the Sumo made it one of the best drives I have ever had. Pity rest of the people were too  tired after the late night  masti to enjoy the early morning tranquility! The early morning tea at a roadside teastall was needed to wake up all the guys.  'Mr Kamat'  switched vehicles and so did the stereo of our Sumo. We decided to replace it with our melodious voices. Here are some of the results:

Yeh raat hai aur saare trimode waale telecon kar rahe hain
Yeh paton ki sarsarahat hai ya SDL ne crash maara hai...
Bug mil nahi raha aur yeh dil hai ki keh raha ki yahin hai....
bas yahin hai yahin kahin hai.

Telecon ki yeh raaten HSS mein bhi hai HNS mein bhi hai...
Dil karta hai ki HSS-HNS mein jo deewar hai woh gira dein hum
Nigel ko bata dein hum.............
Haan Slippage hai..... Slippage hai..... slippage hai.....

Debnath:

I guess the QSM party and all that "liquid n solid" stuff  ( for some of us ) rejuvenated us with more vigour and energy especially at the earlier thought  that we would have to spend the whole night travelling.. :).. and the  break was  good at the dhabe.. though in between once or twice my heart almost came to my  mouth . seeing the driver putting to practice his expertise in  overtaking a huge  truck on the highway with  another approaching dangerously close to  our veicle from the opposite direction.. a few of them were close chaves indeed  !

Reaching Nainital, it was a lovely sight with the bright morning sun streaming down the mountains and the placid lake on one side-- the sight was  simply charming, and instantly reinforced the thought that it was "the"  place to be in  for a peaceful weekend excursion.
 

Mahesh:

Here is my small account of the 2nd day, but yet incomplete.(I  hope nobody  dozes off ...)  After the tiring travel and the freaking out  in the rains (yah, we got strange  looks from the locals!) around 10 in the night it was time to crash  for the day.  It was agreed that we will be starting at sharp 6:30 in the morning to  Ranikhet. Every one was secretly wishing that 6:30 came a little bit late than usual when  they slept, but I was there sharp at 5:30 knocking and pulling their blankets much to peoples discomfort. The sky was clear and sun was already out of the hills with the Naini lake glistening. Occasionally you could find some clouds peacefully drifting over the lake. The troupe was getting ready, some people enchanted by the sound of the cymbals of the nearby Hanuman temple decided to make a trip there before we started for the day. By 7 in the morning every one was ready (a good record for a troupe of 14 people) and waiting for second round of tea. By 7:30 we had packed our bags to Ranikhet, with lot of anticipation for an exciting place with beautiful leisurely orchards and great view of some of the Himalayan mountains.

The winding roads, beautiful lush green hills, distant drifting clouds and very few vehicles on the road made an ideal start. Everyone was looking for something  exciting, even while they were singing and joking  for the first half an hour or so. Around 8:30, Shannu spotted a small  water  falls by the side of the road and there was a huge demand to get down and take  some snaps. I was a bit reluctant, as I felt that something better would be definitely on the way ahead. Good that I did not object, people just  raced  towards the falls after climbing the small embankment and were in the rocky path  to explore what lies ahead of the innocently gushing water.  50 feet up and slightly to the left and there we had the majestic falls of 20-25  feet in height. People were  excited and rushed towards it, but being careful not to step on the  wrong stone  as the soil was loose. With some effort everyone was at the foot of the falls and all up there were merrily shouting and splashing water  but being extra careful not to get drenched. I was one of the last to  reach and already hordes of snaps were clicked. I was reminded of similar water falls of the western ghats nearer to my home  town. I couldn't stand silent there just enjoying the falls and decided to go nearer, the water was  knee deep,  then I unloaded my glasses,  valets, and anything that was of value and did away with my shirt(but  my pants  were on!) and waded towards the splashing water. It was an inexplicable experience, the water was cold, but by then I had overcome the chill of water, water was splashing down my back with pretty good force, which was  tingling the bones. Hari followed my suit and his high spirited shouts were sufficient for Sandeep, YSR and Karthik(disregarding his sprained neck!)  to  undo their shirts and jump in. Ramki was the official photographer of the event with 4 cameras hanging around his neck (but I could sense he was upto something) and  Rakhi was the official banker for our clothes and valuable belongs, but off course after hard bargaining every time you handed over or took it from her! Ramki meanwhile was also in the water, and only the photographs can  explain his spirit! Fifteen minutes of fun and then  people were out frantically  searching for some covered place to change to dry clothes.

From there we proceeded towards Ranikhet while the rest went back to get somethings forgot at the hotel. Few kilometer down and we could here some sweet bhajan emanating  somewhere from  the hills and we could see a temple at the foot of the mountain. All  of us went  to the temple and we could feel the peace and tranquility, which has  divorced Delhi. People prayed to their satisfaction and waited for the other  van to get  back sipping some tea and milk.  Half an hour later we were back on the winding road and by 12 in the  noon were  at Ranikhet. Had sumptuous food at a restaurant and asked for  directions and  places of interest. When enquired of the supposedly beautiful  panoramic view of  the Himalayan mountains, I was directed towards the hotels balcony. I  was disappointed though the sky was clear, nothing really was visible  except for the nearby hill ranges. Still it was a treat to get a panoramic view  of  the Kumaoun  Ranges. The town was very small, but we were out on the road again in  search of  the imaginary orchards, were we had decided to have the picnic.

We stopped at well laid out military Golf course, the grass was even  but looked  different in colour and artificial from the natural surroundings,  meanwhile some of us moved up towards the nearby temple. Here I had one of the best  moments in  the trip, a small boy of around 8 years with carefully wrapped up  saffron robes,  a rudraksa mala around his neck and thick covering of vibhuti on his  forehead  was hugging an old lady, probably his grandma who was enjoying a hooka.. I  requested them to pose for a photograph but was refused by the lady.  I had no  choice, but I can still visualize it!

From here we again continued towards our destination, the orchards