Now Now, before I start writing in detail, let me make you understand something. Imagine parched gals who saw no good looking human beings(specifically guys)for a week- no offence to the guys in our group btw, we were like nomads walking in the desert and finally we see an Oasis!

Now all this is in hindsight but that day I remember this fair, tall, lean, handsome, high cheek boned, full lips and a big smile vision giving us Chai. One look and I was like who is this?? He was a sight for sore eyes! And at that time I thought did anyone else notice this guy or is it just me?

Then one look at Priyanka and I knew I was not the only one, the best part was that our communication was non verbal. Our eyes spoke, we communicated with a look,Saw him? and laughed out loud! Honestly we felt refreshed, it was as if he gave us energy, a boost to move on! We dragged ourselves out of the Chai shop and started our ascent to Gorkhay.

And for all that talk from Tanmay that Gorkhay is right here,the ascent made it longer. So near and yet so far.

And here is where Priyanka showed her extremely funny side. The descents and ascents made her slow and she started grumbling, that in her 20’s she is walking slow like a grandmother then she put on this accent of an old woman and said, ‘Mein tho Naani ban gayi ab mein apne pota poti ko aashirwaad doongi, ja beta apni zindagi jeele, phoolo phalo, mera aashirwaad tumhare saat hain’!!( I have become a grandmother,I will give my grandchildren my blessings and say, go and live your life)

Her accent, her dialogues were so spot on, I dropped my trek pole, supported myself on a rock and laughed loud, I couldn’t take it anymore, I thought I would die laughing! This gal was super funny and it’s an art to make fun of yourself. This girl was making jokes on her situation! Love the gal!

She enacted the same scene to Subashbhai just before reaching Gorkhay and believe me the way he laughed, I didn’t see him laugh that way all these 7 days!

Finally we reached the final campsite Gorkhay. Today was the last night, tomorrow afternoon we would be going our separate ways.

The girls got one big dormitory and we were together again like the first day when we assembled at Jaubhari but everything was different. We were in it together.We bared our hearts to each other. Revathi, Sujitha, Amel, Manal the whole lot. From gender issues to relationships, from continental drift (Revathi’s term 😁) marriage,flings to Tinder profiles, everything was shared. And Yes Doofy too put in her bit by walking across the room and making her point.

Amel, a creative writer had finished writing a book, Sujitha was a published author,there were talented women in this room.

And yes everyone checked out the handsome Kashmiri guy. But Revathi and Manal had a valid point, would we find him that attractive if we were to see him outside this ambiance? Maybe our tired souls became a little delusional? If we were to see him tomorrow, the illusion would break maybe? Whatever it was, he gave us that respite and revived us and the loud guffaws, laughter and ruckus we created must have made the guys outside shudder!

And finally the Chicken dinner happened. There were 12-13 of us ready and waiting and Tanmay divided the Veggies vs Chicken lovers. There was a world of difference between the both. We silently devoured the chicken, not speaking a word, relishing every bit while the Veggie group had conversations galore over Dal and Rice 😊

Tanmay did the usual debriefing with certificates and we were tired and wanted it to end fast. This man had some patience to not only give certificates but do his own character observation on each one of us. It went on for what felt like forever and finally we called it a night.

We still had the final trek tomorrow to Sepi.