Crap

Dad and me may pay Everest a visit in May’08. It’s not certain (not in the least), but a plan is being made. Here’s a bit on what i feel about the whole arrangement.

Dad introduced me to it when i was 5. Since then trekking has been my one biggest pride. Trekking is just a loose term i use for everything i relish in the environs; be it month-long excursions walking along the himalayan foothills, or be it a weekend off to the sahayadris, or be it teaching kids (i consider myself one too ;P) the basics of mountaineering at the camp.

Yet, no one seems to believe this. They say looks can kill, and i dont deny it. The way i look does kill their belief that i’d once climbed for well over an hour with a 30kilo kid on my back. Pity i’m so lanky. Pity they’re friggin morons. Pity they’ve never experienced what i have. And they’ll never experience what i’m gona. All IITians can do is go bonkers over crappy metal bands, dc (i’m tempted to state what dc is used for, but i’m in a good mood today), ghissing (essentially, sticking a book to their nose and going invisible), and such hollow living.

Well, my despise for the fickle-mindedness of my peers, or the world in general, is reserved for a later post. Yet, i’ll need to say this, for fear of me being murdered come morning: Several humans can be real classy, and my despise excludes them entirely.

Back to brass-tacks.

Dad used to jog 20km every morn on the beach. And he’d been a hugely active hiker for, like, ever. So much so, that mom used to hate it when he and me’d run off to the Sahayadris every other weekend. Well, not exactly hate. Mom’s amazing. She never objected to dad’s fixation, coz she knew how much it meant to him. She prolly just hated that her back wouldn’t let her do everything we’d do. Yet, mom’s done a bit of Annapurna Circuit with dad when her back was still good, and i’m mighty jealous of that. One day, Ma, one day i’m gonna do it too.

Well, all of dad’s things have begun taking their toll now. His knees are wearing out, and not exactly gonna hold out for ever. And work had pulled him down like hell. But suddenly, work is good, and the fact that my future is not so insecure (and also, that he’s assured i’m not gona run off with my fat future-salary and abandon my dear parents) has tempted him to make this plan. Trust dad to quit big-time trekking on a high note.

The plan. Well, its not really all that great. Not in my eyes atleast.

Dad’s planning for him and me to trek to EBC this May.

EBC. Everest Base Camp.

And then i go and say to dad i’m not too chuffed. Well yes, i was once crazy behind EBC, and even got a chance to do it when i was 15; but something massively trivial came in the way then. Now that i’m all complicated (and a tag bit older), i don’t really enjoy doing things that everyone does. To me, the trek through the relatively unspoilt Pilgrim Route from Gaumukh to Kedarnath was way more fun (yea, i’ve finished half of every Hindu’s 4 dream destinations, but i’m still atheist). EBC’s almost a tourist destination. I don’t wannah trek for trophies. I’d have no maniacal love for a picture clicked on Hillary Step or the summit. It’s inviting (hell ya!), but somehow, i like to trek where my thoughts can wander free. I fear EBC won’t give me that chance.

Dad convinced me how wrong i was. “EBC’s almost a tourist destination”. Well, not exactly. Only a few (few: i relate to places that a normal human goes to for a vacation) people get to EBC every year. EBC still holds some of its charm (well, even that shall soon be dead. Do thank China’s road mania for that. Bloody fools are destroying the paradise that Tibet was. Destroying bliss). And basically, dad won’t do Ladakh or Annapurna with me coz he’s been there, done that.

And then he told me that we’ll visit Gokhyo alongwith. Gokhyo valley. That place IS heaven! Way less frequented by Everest-happy trekkers, and serene. No money-mongering sherpas build mindless settlements there. By the way, this is precisely the place where the Yeti was last reported to have been seen. But i aint gona get my hopes up. Figure the Yeti’s got better jobs in life than prance naked in front of me…

Hey, i never said that i didn’t wannah do EBC. That’d have been a lie.

Dad wants to do EBC. Wishes to sign off on a high note. That alone convinces me.

So the plan’s been made. Mind you, it’s still a plan. This post is not some grand declaration of an EBC excursion. It’s too early for such idiocricy. The whole thing could go kaphut any moment. Dad may just have to cancel everything at the drop of a hat. This post, i affirm, is just an expression of what i feel about the plan. And i’m not making it sound like i’m doing dad a favour (i couldn’t even imagine such…do dad a favour, seriously!). I’m all guns for it. And i’m dying to see Gokhyo valley!

Anyone wannah join in, can do so. Just leave me a note below.