Sandy was walking in front of me and Nadeem was leading further ahead. I asked Sandy what are the chances of survival if I fell on the side of that cliff and roll down towards Chandigarh which was visible from up there. He looked at me. " Let's try." He said and pretended to pushed me towards the cliff. " You idiot, it's slippery here." I said and fought back. We played like that for a few minutes, shuffling each other and laughing until Nadeem turned back to look at us and was wondering where we were. " Arrey. " He said in Hindi. " C'mon guys." He called.
At last we found the hotel where Sandy stayed at before. The owner of Gian hotel led us two floors down and showed us two small but very neat rooms. Both have wide connecting balconies with a good view of the hills.
" Yeah, this is good. " I told Sandy, smiling. " Let me check the bathroom." As I've told Sandy the most important place in a hotel room for me is the bathroom. It had to be clean. I took a peek inside the bathroom warily but to my satisfaction it was big, new and modern. There was even a hot shower.
" Okay let's take it." I said. I fell on the bed. " Aaaah, that's feel so good. Honey, I'm staying here. I'm not coming with you to take the bags. " I told Sandy, laughing. Sandy looked at me and fell beside me on the wide bed. " Lazy woman!" He joked, laughing softly. I laughed and snuggled beside him.
"No actually, I can pay some guys to carry the bags here. Nadeem won't be able to lift anything also with his injured arm. " He added seriously. I kissed him, feeling very grateful. " Okay I 'm going up. You're going to be okay by yourself here?" He asked. I nodded, still smiling. I closed my eyes as he closed the door and left.
After taking a bath and putting on some fresh clothes we went on a short trek on the hills around Kasauli. Nadeem had always emphasized that we should be doing some walking exercise to help us acclimatize for our ascent on the following days. I was loving my trekking shoes. It made climbing up so easy although I can't still keep up with Sandy and Nadeem who were now very deep in conversation. I was always falling behind and they have to stop and wait for me so many times. I threw an invisible rope towards Sandy and asked him to pull me up. He didn't think it was very funny and asked me to keep up with them. I stuck out my tongue to him. He pinched my butt and told me to keep going.
We were trying to reach Manki point, a small hill inside the Kasauli Air Force station. But since it was already late in the afternoon we decided to cancel the idea. We opted for Gilbert trail instead. Nadeem pointed to us Manki point which was visible from the trail after walking for thrity minutes. We can see Hanuman temple on top of the hill.
" The Manki Point is believed to be in the shape of the left foot of Lord Hanuman, who is believed to have kept his left foot on this very hill, while carrying the mountain bearing the Sanjivani herb for curing Lord Ram’s younger brother, Laxman. " Nadeem, informed us. Nadeem has a extensive knowledge of world and cultural history. Apart from my husband, he is my source of information about India's history.
We walked for about two hours on the narrow foot path. I was walking carefully all the time for fear rolling down the hills. Tall pine trees stood tall on side of the mountain. Litters of fallen pine tree leaves made the path slightly slippery. Sandy was walking in front of me and Nadeem was leading further ahead. I asked Sandy what are the chances of survival if I fell on the side of that cliff and roll down towards Chandigarh which was visible from up there. He looked at me. " Let's try." He said and pretended to pushed me towards the cliff. " You idiot, it's slippery here." I said and fought back. We played like that for a few minutes, shuffling each other and laughing until Nadeem turned back to look at us and was wondering where we were. " Arre. " He said in Hindi. " C'mon guys." He called. We laughed and resume walking. I belted into a song as we walk, singing the " The Long and Winding Road " over and over again. Sandy pretended to cover his ears. " Look where you are going instead of singing please. You better not slip and fall. I'll not rescue you." he joked.
It was nearly 7 pm and we had been walking for sometime around Gilbert Trail but the sun still showed no signs of setting. Although there was golden tint in the sky it was still bright. We did decide to head back for fear that it might suddenly get dark while we were on the trail. Sandy and Nadeem had resumed arguing about Sandy's theory that the architecture of a city like Chandigarh is a factor in the rise of autism in the area. Nadeem disagreed. As I don't know anything about Chandigarh and have nothing to contribute to the debate, I just walked behind them again and tried to enjoy the surrounding scenery in silence.
Sandy and Nadeem having tea at the parking lot in Kasauli.
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