You must have thought The Last Night was a conclusion right? 🙂

Whenever I reach the end of a blog series, I do reflect on what all I experienced.

Every trek has been a unique experience. The more I go to the Himalayas, I learn more new stuff about myself, stuff that I wasn’t aware of it at all. And that happens not just because of Mountains but also because of the people.

Whether it was the locals, guides or the different trekking groups, each one of them have taught me so much. The good, the bad and am blessed regarding this, never the ugly side.

The good part was what I got in abundance, more than I ever asked for. The bad was a lesson, an incredible lesson teaching me new facets about myself, the people and the experience itself.

When it comes to this trek Rupin Pass, I learnt how one shouldn’t judge others instantly, how first impressions don’t matter. The people whom you respect just by a first impression can actually show you the other side under extreme circumstances and there are those people who are genuine, kind and helpful regardless of any circumstances.

I saw sensitivity, kindness and goodness in Nirvi, I saw strength, caring and carrying her pain and facing it with aplomb in Pooja. I saw Kashif’s kindness regardless of any circumstance. I saw Bhim’s heart opening up like never before in this trek. From being a loner when I first met him to being the strong protective cool Bro to anyone who needed help, he was there and you knew you were safe.

I saw groundedness and openness of the privileged Sarala Birla boys(Amish,Advaith,Neel,Aadit,Akash and Vishwaas), the way they mingled with everyone and no fussing over anything earned them respect. I saw how cool a Father son can be and have fun like Mihir and Karna. Mihir gave his son space and rarely they walked together during the trek. Karna would be with us and quietly his dad would join in if he wanted to. Akaash the drone guy was one of the quiet yet very observant guy. His presence itself was soothing.

Anand and Praveen mingled with everyone in their shy unassuming way and had no qualms in admitting they couldn’t get Hindi 🙂 Shravan was a true Leo in every way and would never back down from a challenge like Rokabhai challenging him to do 50 sit ups and he did it! Kiran made us laugh out loud with his jokes and at the same time showed he had an other side to him, a vulnerable side and being a loner.

Himanshu a 21 year old with his enthusiasm and unbounded energy swept over us all. His kindness, his caring ways, him not letting any one of us feel left out or neglected. He was there at the right moment for each and everyone when we truly needed him. A word, a sentence, a pat on the back, he was there. He gave me the courage to face an ambiguous present and future, he showed me that my life is going to get more beautiful because for the first time in my life, I don’t have any set plan and it’s wonderful to let go.

Rokabhai and Rabin showed us what is courage and selflessness, they didn’t allow us to lose hope under extreme circumstances

As I end my last blog on this trek, I give you pictures or shall I call it glimpses of the people who made this trek memorable in every way. And yes with their permission I am putting up the pics clicked by my pals capturing those special moments.

As I end this, I get that lump in my throat and think of each and everyone of them with love, bitter sweet sadness and pride. Before Rupin pass , I was skeptical thinking how can I get lucky twice?? After the fantastic super group of Har ki Dun trek, one wouldn’t expect it to happen again you know. It’s not even rare, it just doesn’t happen! But it did and how!

Promises were fulfilled post the trek. Kashif and Aakash met once they went back to Mumbai. I met Amish in Hyderabad when he was visiting his grandparents, Kashif, Nirvi, Pooja and Neel spent time together, Advaith, Akaash,Kiran and Bhim had a reunion in Bangalore when Akaash was on a visit to the city, I met Bhim on a super short trip to Bangalore with a promise that I would meet Advaith, Amish and the others the next time am in Bangalore.

I know I will definitely catch up with Kashif, Nirvi, Pooja, Akaash as well as Saish- my mate from Har ki Dun trek when am in Mumbai. The list goes on as I have so many awesome pals from Bangalore to Pune to catch up with.. So it’s definitely not over yet..

I bid a warm goodbye for now and let you enjoy these pics as much as we enjoyed experiencing it 🙂